Meeting Again

The next morning, Luvia and Iori arrived at Petalburg Gym to meet up with Yuga and Mr. Norman. After briefly discussing their itinerary, the four split into two groups and set off on their respective journeys.

That day, May and Ash were also planning to head out, but since they didn't have any tasks to complete, they weren't in a rush to leave. By the time Yuga and the others had already departed the gym, the kids were still enjoying their breakfast.

After leaving Petalburg City, Luvia took out a Poké Ball and handed it to Yuga. Accepting the ball, Yuga looked confused and asked, "What's the meaning of this?"

Luvia, acting mysteriously, said, "Open it and see."

At her words, Yuga opened the Poké Ball, and out popped a soft, pink Pokémon. Yuga was surprised and exclaimed, "A Ditto?"

"Mhm," Luvia nodded with a smile, clearly pleased with Yuga's reaction.

"Why are you giving me a Ditto?" Yuga looked at the squishy, wobbly Ditto on the ground, not quite understanding Luvia's intentions.

...

[ Ditto ]

Type: Normal

Ability: Imposter

Potential: Green

Level: 45

Move: Transform

...

Yuga activated his sharp eyes to further examine Ditto's stats. It was just an ordinary Ditto, although its potential was green. Yuga had seen plenty of green-potential Pokémon before, so a Ditto wasn't anything extraordinary to him.

The only notable feature about it was that its ability was the hidden ability Imposter, but that wasn't exactly a rare occurrence either.

"I have one too," Luvia said with a cheerful smile as she took out another Poké Ball, releasing a Ditto that was identical to the one Yuga had just received. Not only did they look exactly the same, but their levels, potential, and abilities were also identical.

"Don't underestimate these two little guys! They're more capable than you think!" Luvia said proudly, clearly confident in the Dittos. "Come on, Ditto, show Gym Leader Shimizu what you've got!"

Next, under Yuga's astonished gaze, one of the Dittos nimbly climbed onto Luvia's body. Its form gradually flattened and then spread over Luvia's face. In an instant, Luvia's face transformed to look exactly like Yuga's. (Only her face.)

Yuga stared at the face identical to his own: What in the world?!

"How about that? Pretty impressive, right?" Luvia laughed softly, noticing Yuga's shocked expression. The gentle tone of her voice felt oddly mismatched with Yuga's hard, stern-looking face.

"When we visit the Gyms, we can go openly, or we can be discreet depending on the situation. When we need to hide our identities, Ditto will be our best ally," Luvia explained with a smile, no longer keeping him in suspense, as she revealed the reason for giving Yuga the Ditto.

After hearing the explanation, Yuga suddenly understood. Luvia also mentioned that it wasn't just the two of them who had Dittos—Mr. Norman and Iori had them as well.

However, Yuga and the others only had temporary rights to use these Dittos. Once their Gym evaluation mission ended, all four Dittos would have to be returned.

These Dittos came from the League's Supervisory Bureau, and they were only temporarily loaned out due to the special circumstances.

According to Luvia, even though these Dittos weren't high-level or of the best potential, they were still incredibly valuable. Even the intelligence division itself had only a few of them.

The value of these Dittos didn't lie in their potential or level, but in their extraordinary transformation ability.

These special Dittos had been trained by talented experts from the League's intelligence division, and each one was hard-earned.

Most trainers who hadn't raised a Ditto before assumed that its transformation ability was innate. But in reality, except for a few Dittos with exceptional talent, the majority of them required postnatal training to master their transformations.

Ordinary Dittos could easily transform into other Pokémon, but transforming into a rock, a hat, or even a human face was beyond their capabilities.

Only Dittos with the hidden ability Imposter can ultimately achieve such seamless transformations.

However, not all Dittos with the Imposter ability can, like the two in front of Yuga, effortlessly replicate a human face they've only seen once. Every Ditto capable of this level of transformation requires extensive and specialized training. The method for this training has always been a tightly guarded secret of the League's intelligence division.

After listening to Luvia's explanation, Yuga's perspective on Ditto changed instantly. He hadn't expected such complexity behind a small Ditto. Like everyone else, he had assumed that all Dittos could transform into anything at will.

After Luvia carefully explained how to use Ditto, the two of them set off on their prearranged route, with their first stop being Rustboro City, which was adjacent to Petalburg City.

Meanwhile, Mr. Norman and Iori's first destination was Dewford Town on Dewford Island, which required them to travel by sea.

In order to reach Rustboro City as quickly as possible, Yuga and Luvia both decided to ride their Flying-type Pokémon. Though Luvia was also a Water-type Trainer, being Wallace's older sister, her flying mount was a graceful white Swanna.

However, while Swanna had excellent stamina, its flying speed couldn't match either Yuga's Dragonite or Charizard. As a result, it took them more than half a day to reach Rustboro City.

It had been over half a year since Rayquaza and Deoxys had battled in Rustboro City. The once-damaged city had long since been rebuilt with the League's help.

Now, after the reconstruction following the catastrophe, the city's buildings were more orderly than before. The streets were once again filled with bustling traffic and pedestrians, and it seemed as though the disaster from half a year ago had left no trace on the city.

Since Yuga knew Rustboro Gym Leader Roxanne, for their first Gym evaluation, they used Ditto to conceal their identities.

Roxanne was a League-appointed Gym Leader with impeccable qualifications, so the evaluation task at Rustboro Gym went very smoothly.

Yuga and Luvia stayed in Rustboro City for two days. They first disguised themselves as ordinary citizens and observed Roxanne as she handled challengers. Once they confirmed that Roxanne was diligently accepting and conducting battles, they revealed their true identities and inspected Rustboro Gym's challenger records.

After completing the Rustboro Gym evaluation, the two didn't linger in Rustboro City and set off directly for their next destination.

However, just as Yuga and Luvia left Rustboro City, May, Ash, Max, and a young man with squinty eyes arrived shortly after.

The second destination for Yuga and Luvia after Rustboro Gym was Fallarbor Town.

In the Hoenn region, unlike what Yuga had seen in the anime in his previous life, there were more than just eight gyms. However, most gyms were not very well-known, such as the Fallarbor Gym.

These smaller gyms have always been the focus of gym evaluations. For a gym to maintain its reputation over the years, it must survive numerous evaluations.

After leaving Fallarbor Gym, Yuga and Luvia continued along their planned route, visiting gyms like Greenwave Gym, Taster Gym, and Lightning Gym. In just over a month, they evaluated nearly ten gyms.

During this time, they stayed in constant contact with Mr. Norman and Iori, sharing their evaluation findings. Many gyms indeed had issues, some more serious than others.

However, they could only record their findings and report them to the League once the evaluations were complete. How the League would handle these problematic gyms was beyond their responsibilities.

One day, after a long journey, Yuga and Luvia arrived in Mauville City, the only place on their route that overlapped with Mr. Norman and Iori's path.

Mr. Norman and Iori moved faster than Yuga and Luvia, and by the time they arrived in Mauville, Mr. Norman and Iori had already completed their evaluation of the Mauville Gym.

Although Yuga and Luvia didn't have any evaluation tasks in Mauville City, it was a necessary stop on their route to the next destination. Given that they had been working tirelessly for over a month, they decided to rest for a day. Both of them were feeling quite exhausted, so it was a perfect opportunity to recuperate.

Upon arriving in Mauville, Yuga naturally stayed at his master's estate. His master, Mr. Kuni'o, was still as robust as ever.

Since they hadn't seen each other in a long time, Ryuichi hosted a grand welcome banquet for him that evening. The attendees included Yuga, Luvia, Mr. Kuni'o, and the many Pokémon residing in the estate.

Luvia was deeply honored and excited to be staying at Mr. Kokuo's estate and to receive such a warm reception. Even though she was almost forty years old, she was so thrilled that she couldn't sleep all night.

For trainers in Hoenn, Mr. Kuni'o was a living legend.

Since they had decided to rest in Mauville City for a day, Yuga planned to take the opportunity to visit his friends in the city, including his young fan, Mitsui. It had been a long time since he had seen him.

However, much to Yuga's disappointment, when he visited Mitsui's house the next day, his parents informed him that Mitsui was not at home. He had left at the beginning of the year, joining a group traveling to Alola.

Just as Yuga was about to return to the estate after not finding Mitsui, someone called out to him after he had barely taken two steps.

"Brother Yuga?"

Yuga quickly turned around and saw May, holding cotton candy in one hand and takoyaki in the other.

"It really is you!"

May excitedly bounced over to Yuga. It was then that Yuga remembered Mitsui's home was near Mauville City's most famous food square. Considering May's love for food, it made sense that she wouldn't miss out on this place.

"Sis! Sis! Wait for me!" Max came running up, panting heavily. "Geez, you run too fast!"

Halfway through his complaint, Max noticed Yuga standing with May. "Brother Yuga, what are you doing here? Is it for work?"

Max knew that Yuga and Mr. Norman had work and would be away for a while.

"Sort of, just passing through," Yuga replied to Max, then turned to May. "When did you guys get here?"

"We've been here for two or three days now," May responded. "Ash challenged Mauville Gym twice, or we would've left the city by now."

Yuga suddenly remembered that in the original story, Ash did indeed challenge the Mauville Gym twice.

Speak of the devil, Ash and Brock arrived just then. They were equally surprised to see Yuga.

After getting to know Yuga better, Ash suddenly recalled that the "Yuga" Misty always mentioned was none other than the Gym Trainer of Verdanturf Gym!

Ash had long wanted to meet the person Misty always talked about, but he never expected the encounter to happen so unexpectedly. His feelings were quite complicated.

After some quick greetings, Brock leaned in and whispered in Ash's ear, "Who is this?"

Ash whispered a few words to Brock, and suddenly, Brock understood. He had heard Misty mention that name so many times before—it was almost like it was etched into his memory. Fate sure works in mysterious ways.

"Since it's rare to meet like this, why don't we find a place to sit for a while?" Yuga suggested to the group.

"Yeah, yeah, let's do that!" Max was the first to agree.

As they happened to be near Mitsui's family restaurant, Yuga led Ash and the others there.

When Mitsui's father saw Yuga returning, he curiously asked, "Mr. Shimizu, is there something else you need?"

Yuga smiled and replied, "I brought some friends here to sit down for a bit."

Hearing that, Mitsui's father happily found a quiet spot for Yuga and his group.

Once they were seated, Yuga turned to Max and asked, "Why are you tagging along with your sister? Did Aunt Mitsuko approve?"

Max, confident, answered, "Of course!"

But the next second, his lie was exposed by May.

"He snuck out with us. Mom only agreed after the fact."

"Sis!!!" Max, blushing from embarrassment, tried to cover May's mouth, but he was too short to reach her.

Watching the sibling banter, Yuga chuckled and shook his head. Then he turned to Ash and asked, "Did you get the Dynamo Badge from Mauville Gym? Have you decided where you'll go next?"

Ash looked confused and shook his head. "I haven't decided yet. I don't know where to go."

Max, acting like a grown-up, pulled out his navigator and said, "The closest cities to Mauville are Slateport and Fortree. Ash, where do you want to go next?"

Hearing Max mention Fortree, Yuga was surprised and said, "Fortree City is actually our next destination."

"Then we'll head to Fortree too!" Ash's eyes lit up, and he slapped the table, making a decision on the spot. "Mr. Shimizu, can we travel with you?"

Ash's thoughts were simple. The battle between Yuga and Mr. Norman had left a lasting impression on him. If there was any chance to learn from Yuga, he wouldn't want to miss it.

One thing was clear—under Misty's influence, Ash had become much more mature and rational than in the original story.

Yuga hadn't expected Ash to choose to travel with him. He couldn't remember Ash's exact travel route from the original series, but he knew it must have been different from now.

"It's fine if you want to join us, but we won't be traveling at a leisurely pace like you're used to. We might move a bit faster," Yuga warned.

"No problem! We can speed up too," Ash responded eagerly.

"Well... okay then," Yuga agreed, seeing no reason to refuse.

After chatting for a while, the group decided it was time to leave. May then asked, "Yuga, are you staying at the Pokémon Center too? Should we head back together?"

Yuga shook his head. "No, I'm staying at my master's estate."

Ash's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, Mr. Shimizu, you're such a strong trainer, and you still have a master?"

Yuga: …What kind of logic is that? Was I supposed to be born strong?

At that moment, Max confidently chimed in, hands on his hips. "Clearly, you don't know! Yuga's master is the strongest trainer in all of Hoenn!"

Seeing Max's proud expression made Yuga laugh awkwardly. Why does he seem prouder of this than I am?

Ash, playing along, asked, "The strongest trainer in Hoenn? Even stronger than Mr. Norman or Mr. Shimizu?"

To Ash, Yuga and Mr. Norman were already the most powerful trainers he'd ever encountered.

Yuga then asked Ash, "Ash, what's your dream?"

"Of course, it's to become a Pokémon Master!" Ash replied instantly.

Yuga nodded. "Good ambition. My master is what you'd call a Pokémon Master."

Ash was stunned into silence, completely floored by the revelation. He realized he was still a long way from becoming a Pokémon Master.

The next day, Yuga and Luvia set off from Mauville City, traveling alongside Ash and his friends.