Mischievous

While Dragonite and its mother were sharing their feelings of longing, Yuga picked up the fallen Guardian Orb.

Yuga couldn't help but wonder if he had a momentary illusion when he picked up the Guardian Orb. It seemed like he saw a fleeting transparent figure pass by.

Given that Dragonite and its mother hadn't seen each other for a long time, Yuga decided to leave them together. He held the Guardian Orb and gestured for the Audino to leave the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark.

Back in the main Ecopark, Yuga repositioned the Guardian Orb on the Weather Tree.

The Guardian Orb had been occupied by Dragonite's mother for several days, and other Pokémon hadn't benefited from it. The Gliscor Leader, had complained to Yuga for quite some time.

Fortunately, now that they had enough Razor Fangs, the Gligar clan's members who met the evolution requirements had evolved. Gradually, Gliscor Leader forgot about the Guardian Orb.

As the Guardian Orb was placed back on the Weather Tree, the Weather Tree seemed to react and swayed its branches and leaves. An invisible force spread throughout the main Ecopark.

With this force spreading, the Pokémon in the main Ecopark simultaneously raised their heads, looking toward the direction of the Weather Tree.

Most of the Pokémon living in the main Ecopark were Psychic-types, and they were highly sensitive to energy fluctuations, especially psychic energy fluctuations.

Yuga also sensed this energy fluctuation. He had a lingering feeling that something about the Guardian Orb had changed since the appearance of Spectral Celebi that saved Dragonite's mother.

After staring at the Guardian Orb for a while without noticing anything unusual, Yuga left the Ecopark.

Once Yuga left the main Ecopark, the Pokémon quietly gathered around the Guardian Orb, curiously observing it.

Many of the Pokémon here knew about the existence of the Guardian Orb. For instance, Pokémon like Medidite, which had lived in the Ecopark for a long time, were aware of it. Of course, there were also some newer Pokémon like Gardevoir (male), who didn't know about it.

After the other Pokémon had left, Gardevoir (male), too, approached the Guardian Orb.

It used its hand to touch the Guardian Orb but didn't find anything particularly special about it. Then, it leaned in closer with its eyes to get a better look.

The crystal-clear Guardian Orb reflected Gardevoir (male)'s image, and the distorted reflection on the curved surface piqued Gardevoir (male)'s curiosity. It used one of its fingers to tap the surface.

Just at that moment, Gardevoir (male) felt like its own reflection had suddenly disappeared, and a small, delicate, green arm had touched its own finger from the other side of the surface.

Startled by this sudden change, Gardevoir (male) quickly retracted its arm, and the small, transparent arm withdrew into the Guardian Orb.

As the tiny arm retracted, Gardevoir (male) seemed to hear a series of clear and pleasant laughter echoing in its ears.

Gardevoir (male) looked around at the other Pokémon in confusion, but they were all busy with their own activities and hadn't reacted to the laughter.

Perplexed, Gardevoir (male) once again used its finger to poke the Guardian Orb, but this time, the Guardian Orb didn't respond.

"Gardevoir?"

Is it just my imagination?

Gardevoir (male) tilted its head, its eyes filled with doubt.

What Gardevoir (male) didn't know was that, as it turned to leave, a petite green transparent figure emerged from the Guardian Orb.

The transparent figure watched as Gardevoir (male) walked away, covering its mouth and giggling mischievously. Its face was filled with the satisfaction of a successful prank. Then it pouted, looking displeased, and returned inside the Orb.

Yuga left the Ecopark and headed to the gym, but as he arrived at the gym's entrance, he saw Beidou walking out.

Seeing Yuga, Beidou said, "You've come at the right time. There's a challenger waiting for you."

Yuga nodded in response and entered the gym.

In general, gym challenges were either scheduled in advance or impromptu. Today's challenger seemed to fall into the impromptu category.

Impromptu challenges were acceptable when the gym wasn't too busy. However, the gym had become busier lately.

With the recent conclusion of the League Conference, many trainers who hadn't participated were now preparing for the next one. As a result, there had been an increase in challengers at the gym.

As Yuga stepped inside, he spotted a familiar face chatting with Akihito on the battle grounds in the gym's courtyard.

The person excitedly called out when they saw Yuga, "Yuga, you're here!"

"Isn't this Glenn? So, Beidou mentioned that the challenger was you?" Yuga hadn't expected his challenger to be none other than his enthusiastic fan, Glenn.

"Yes, yes! It's me! I've been wanting to come here for a while, but some things kept me occupied," Glenn replied with great excitement.

"I remember you mentioning your desire to participate in the League Conference earlier. But I don't recall seeing you in the recent League Conference. What happened?" Yuga inquired. Even though he hadn't attended the competition in person, he had followed it closely on television.

Listening to Yuga's question, Glenn scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Hehe, I did plan to participate, but I missed the chance. Back then, I hadn't collected all eight badges yet."

Admitting this in front of his idol made Glenn feel somewhat embarrassed.

Yuga reassured him, "That's okay. If you missed it last time, you can put in more effort this time. I believe you can succeed."

Elated by the encouragement from his idol, Glenn said, "Yeah, that's right! I even timed it perfectly to challenge your gym in its first year of opening. It would be a memorable achievement to win the first Verdanturf Gym badge, even if I didn't get a chance for the League Conference."

Glenn expressed his regret at not getting the first gym badge here.

Yuga chuckled and replied, "Well, then, give it your all. I won't be going easy on you."

With confidence, Glenn patted his chest and declared, "Bring it on!"

Yuga and Glenn positioned themselves on opposite sides of a battlefield in the gym. Beidou, acting as the referee, waved a small red flag and blew a whistle, announcing, "The battle between challenger Glenn and Verdanturf Gym Leader Yuga begins. The rules are 3-on-3. The first side to defeat all of the opponent's Pokémon wins. The challenger has the right to switch Pokémon."

The battle rules at Verdanturf Gym were similar to most other gyms, without any particular distinctions.

After Beidou declared the start of the battle, Yuga was the first to release a Poké Ball. A red light flashed, and a Pokémon appeared on the battlefield.