Completion

Four days after Sea Incense was placed on the shelves, the Verdanturf Gym was officially completed.

The entire gym had an enormous footprint, giving it an imposing presence from the outside.

Above the gym's entrance hung a signboard that read "Verdanturf Gym" in bold letters, adding a touch of grandeur.

Upon entering, there was a spacious courtyard devoid of any plants, but instead, there were eight neatly arranged battle arena.

These eight battle arena were divided into two rows, aligned in an east-west direction.

The size of the courtyard, which could accommodate eight battle arena, was truly vast.

In the future, this courtyard would serve as a training ground for gym apprentices and as the place where Yuga would accept challenges from challengers.

One could say that Mr. Ando had indeed made the most of the budget provided by the League.

Going further inside led to the gym's main hall, where guests would be received.

The entire gym was oriented with its back to the north and facing south, with the reception hall located at the very center. On both the east and west sides, there were long corridors with rows of rooms.

The rooms on the east side were designated for gym apprentices or other staff to reside in.

The rooms on the west side served as places for gym apprentices to study and engage in indoor training.

The materials used to construct the rooms on the west side were exceptionally sturdy, ensuring that intense battles inside would pose no problems.

Continuing along a north-south corridor, there were two small gardens on either side filled with flowers and plants. Adjacent to the gardens was the gym's kitchen.

Moving further inward, one would find the living quarters of the gym's trainers and a small-scale ecological park that Yuga had requested.

The trainers' living quarters were situated on the east side of the long corridor, while the ecological park was on the west side.

This was a small-scale ecological park, not as large as Yuga's original main Ecopark, with relatively lower construction costs and future maintenance expenses.

The reason Yuga had requested the construction of such a park was to divert attention from its true purpose.

In the future, the Pokémon of gym apprentices, including Beidou, Luna, and Lant, could be kept here. After all, others couldn't enter YoYo Day Care's ecological park.

After touring the gym, Mr. Ando asked Yuga, "How do you like it? Are you satisfied? If there's anything that doesn't meet your expectations, let me know while we're still here, and we can make changes."

Yuga shook his head and replied, "I'm very satisfied; there's no need for further changes."

Yuga and Mr. Ando chatted for a while before Sasaki Makoto arrived.

"Mr. Sasaki, why are you here?" Yuga asked Masaru.

With that, Yuga led Sasaki Makoto into the reception hall and they both took a seat.

Sasaki Makoto looked around the gym and remarked, "It's really well-built."

Yuga smiled but didn't say anything. The gym had reached its current level of completion largely thanks to Sasaki Makoto's reminders. Otherwise, Yuga might not have been so careful with the League's funds.

"I came today to share some news with you," Sasaki Makoto said to Yuga.

Yuga asked, "What news?"

Sasaki Makoto continued, "Firstly, the League Gym referee exam is scheduled for one month from now. Your selected referees should prepare in advance."

Yuga nodded upon hearing this.

Beidou's progress in learning referee knowledge was proceeding smoothly, so there shouldn't be any major issues with the exam in a month.

"Secondly, there's the matter of your gym apprentices' initial Pokémon. This requires an early application, so I've brought you a list of candidate Pokémon."

Saying this, Sasaki Makoto produced a sheet of paper with numerous Pokémon names written on it.

As Yuga's Gym was a Grass-type Gym, most of Pokémon on the list had a variety of Grass-type Pokémon on it.

Oddish, Lotad, Seedot, Cacnea, Budew, Eevee, Trecko, Staryu, Rhyhorn, Vulpix.

While there were some common Pokémon species on the list, it also included some rare ones, including Vulpix and even the three starters. However, since the initial Pokémon provided by the League were all Green potential, the options for Yuga were somewhat limited.

Yuga originally considered letting Arata Sena and Akihito choose for themselves. However, he realized that he wouldn't have a full team of ten apprentices yet, so he decided to make the choices himself.

In the end, Yuga chose Eevee for all of them. While there were other options, Eevee's diverse evolution paths allowed his apprentices to shape their teams to their preferences, avoiding any potential discontent.

Yuga had no intention of interfering with his apprentices' choices when it came to their Pokémon. He believed that the journey of a Pokémon Trainer should be a personal one.

As Yuga had only chosen six apprentices, the League would send over the Pokémon in batches. The remaining Pokémon would arrive once the other apprentices were selected.

To ensure there were no delays when the time came, Yuga submitted his choices in advance. According to Mr. Sasaki, the Pokémon would be delivered in about a week.

Yuga nodded in acknowledgment and saw Mr. Sasaki off from the Gym.

Due to the progress in the construction of the Gym and the curiosity of the townsfolk, many residents gathered around the Gym area in small groups, wanting to know when it would officially open.

However, Yuga couldn't provide an opening date as he needed to await further instructions from the League.

Mr. Sasaki assured him that he would be informed in advance of the Gym's opening, and on that day, representatives from the League would visit to present him with his official Gym Leader appointment and badge.

Although he couldn't give the townsfolk a definite opening date, Yuga did promise to invite them for the grand opening ceremony when the time came. This news brought excitement to the residents, and they left with high spirits.

In the following days, Yuga assisted Lain in procuring materials from the outside for the production of other incenses.

While some of the materials in the Ecopark were not yet fully matured, Yuga decided to buy a batch of materials from outside first, allowing Lain to use them. After all, the local materials would be ready soon.

Over the next three to four days, after the successful launch of the Sea Incense, other varieties of incense gradually made their way onto the shelves.

Due to the shortage of manpower, Lain was swamped with work during this period, so Yuga frequently lent a helping hand.

Yuga had also studied the incense-making manual, but he couldn't match Lain's expertise as a professional incense maker. His role was mainly to assist.

However, they found it challenging to stock enough inventory in such a short time. As a result, the quantity of each type of incense available in the shop was limited.

To promote the newly launched incenses, Yuga instructed Suzuki Koen to light a different incense in the shop every day, filling the air with the unique fragrances of each variety.

The incenses from YoYo Day Care soon gained favor among customers due to their high quality