After arriving in Laverre City, Yuga met privately with Valerie and handed Kondo over to her, also telling her about Kondo's identity as a member of Team Flare.
After taking over the matter, Valerie stated that she would handle it with caution. With that, Yuga bid her farewell and headed toward Zenith Academy.
Several days later, Yuga successfully arrived at Zenith Academy. Although he had been away for a while, the academy had already completely recovered from the previous disaster, and the campus was filled with the cheerful laughter of students.
Headmaster Fontaine hadn't expected Yuga to return and welcomed him warmly.
When Yuga took out Mew's Crystal and handed it back to him, Mr. Fontaine hesitated for a moment and said, "If Mr. Shimizu doesn't mind, why don't we give this crystal to you as a gift?"
Yuga was very surprised when he heard that. "This... this doesn't seem appropriate."
Mr. Fontaine smiled and said, "Strictly speaking, this crystal doesn't actually belong to our Zenith Academy. Mew was the guardian Pokemon of the Psychic Remnants back in the day. It only remained with our Fairy Remnants because the Psychic Remnants was wiped out. Now that the Psychic Remnants is long gone, we'll just pass this crystal on to Mr. Shimizu."
Yuga was indeed very tempted, but still said, "But this is far too valuable."
Mr. Fontaine explained, "Mr. Shimizu has rendered a great service to both our Fairy Remnants and Zenith Academy. We should be repaying you properly, but unfortunately, we don't have anything worthy enough to offer. So consider this crystal a humble token from us, like offering a Buddha a flower borrowed from someone else."
"Well then, I'll shamelessly accept it," Yuga said, seeing as Mr. Fontaine had already put it that way, and so he took the crystal.
Yuga did not stay long at Zenith Academy. After visiting Ayamu, he left the Kalos region the next day and returned to Hoenn.
Mr. Harrison had already returned to Hoenn with the Flabébé that Yuga had entrusted to him, so Yuga didn't run into him this time at Zenith Academy.
A few days later, Yuga successfully returned to Verdanturf Town. Coincidentally, Ninetales had just wrapped up filming and returned as well. When Yuga got home, it was squatting at the door with Doudou, waiting to greet him.
By now, Yuga had been in the Kalos region for quite a while and hadn't seen Doudou for a long time. So the moment he got home, he gave Doudou a warm hug. Ninetales, watching from the side, rolled its eyes.
Noticing its expression, Yuga wrapped his arms around Ninetales' neck and gave it a playful cuddle. Ninetales acted extremely annoyed and used its psychic powers to push Yuga away, then gave a snort and ran off. But its fluffy tail was wagging with joy.
Just back home and still looking travel-worn, Yuga went upstairs to his room to freshen up.
As lunchtime approached, Doudou had already prepared a hearty meal for him in the dining room, full of all Yuga's favorite dishes.
Having been away from home for so long, Yuga deeply missed Doudou's cooking. As soon as he entered the dining room, he began to dig in heartily.
Doudou quietly sat across from Yuga, watching him eat with a gentle gaze, clearly enjoying the moment. From time to time, Doudou would push dishes toward him when he was having trouble picking them up.
While clearing the table after the meal, Yuga helped out while asking Doudou about the Flabébé that Mr. Harrison had brought back.
Doudou said the Flabébé had already been properly settled in the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark and were currently getting along harmoniously with the original Florges, Floette, and Flabébé already living in the Ecopark.
After tidying up the dishes, Yuga and Doudou went together to the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark to check on the Flabébé.
Just as Doudou had said, the Flabébé had already adapted to life in the Ecopark. When Yuga arrived, he couldn't even tell which ones were the original residents and which ones had recently arrived—everyone was happily fluttering among the flowers.
The Florges line of Pokémon are naturally close to flowers and have a talent for cultivating them. As the number of Florges in the Ecopark grew, the flowers blooming in the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark became increasingly lush.
The flowers in the Flower Sea Sub-Ecopark not only nourished the Pokémon living there, but many also served as raw materials for making incense. Of course, Yuga hoped the flowers would bloom as abundantly as possible.
Yuga thought that in a little while, the Flabébé could be added as a new species available at the YoYo Day Care—right alongside the Helioptile. Once Helioptile was listed, another part of his system's main storyline task would be complete, and there would certainly be a handsome reward at that time.
After checking on the Flabébé, Yuga and Doudou went together to see Mewtwo. Since he had brought back so much equipment and apparatus from Team Flare's laboratory, of course he had to make full use of it by giving it to Mewtwo.
Mewtwo was still buried in work inside its lab, and its assistant Pokémon were all busy as well, so it didn't even know that Yuga had returned. It was very surprised when it saw Yuga come through the door.
"When did you get back?" Mewtwo stopped what it was doing and asked in surprise.
"Just got back," Yuga replied, putting on a mysterious expression. "But I brought you a gift. You're definitely going to like it."
Hearing this, Mewtwo immediately became interested. "A gift? Let me see it right away."
Yuga glanced at Mewtwo's current lab and figured there was no way all that equipment would fit in here, so he said, "Come with me."
There were three stone fortresses in the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark, each comparable to a royal palace of a small kingdom in the outside world, so there was certainly no shortage of rooms.
Finding a spacious empty room, Yuga took out the equipment one by one from his system space. At first, Mewtwo was stunned, but as more things came out, it became more and more delighted, more and more excited.
It really hadn't expected that the "gift" Yuga mentioned would be these things.
Mewtwo was now obsessed with conducting research, so it usually paid close attention to any news related to scientific studies. It was very familiar with the advanced instruments and equipment used in laboratories.
Thanks to Yuga's connections, it had even been able to communicate with Professor Oak, Professor Birch, and others, so it understood these devices all the more.
Of course, Mewtwo communicated with Professor Oak and the others online, using the identity of a friend of Yuga's, so they still didn't know that the one chatting with them so casually was actually a one-of-a-kind Pokémon.
It was precisely because Mewtwo had been communicating frequently with these experts that its research efforts had become far more systematic and professional than they used to be. No longer was it hitting aimlessly here and there—it was truly learning all kinds of knowledge in an organized manner.
Mewtwo learned and absorbed knowledge at an extraordinary rate. The saying "look at someone anew after three days apart" fit it perfectly. It made huge strides in progress every so often. The Mewtwo of today might not even be the same as the one from yesterday.
Lysandre had never been short on money, so the things in Team Flare's lab were all top-of-the-line. And the one Yuga "ransacked" happened to be one of their most important labs, so of course everything inside was first-class.
Mewtwo's eyes grew brighter and brighter as Yuga took things out. It kept reminding Yuga to be careful, afraid that he might break something.
Many of these instruments were ones Mewtwo had only ever heard of but never seen in person—let alone operated—so it decided to reach out and communicate with others about them later.
Yuga had practically cleaned the lab out to the last hair, so the amount of stuff he pulled out was enormous—it filled up a total of five rooms.
Looking at all the equipment, Mewtwo excitedly said to Yuga, "Later, assign me a few more assistants. The current ones aren't enough anymore."
Yuga asked in confusion, "Didn't the Metagross and the others just join you?"
Mewtwo kept its eyes fixed on the equipment in front of it, not even glancing at Yuga, and replied, "They were enough before. Now they're not!"
Yuga stood there dumbfounded, mouth agape. "Are you trying to build an entire research team?"
Mewtwo turned around and thought for a moment. "Hmm... That's a good idea. Let's go with that."
Yuga: "..."
"Alright then, I'll help you pick some later," he could only agree.
"Oh, and my current lab isn't big enough to fit all this stuff. Give me a few more rooms—I want to expand the lab," Mewtwo said enthusiastically.
Yuga didn't even think before agreeing. "You can use any room you want here. Just pick whichever suits you."
Mewtwo nodded, deciding to connect several of the rooms adjacent to its current lab so that the new lab and the old one could be joined together. That would make working much more convenient.
Because it was completely captivated by the equipment, Mewtwo had no interest at all in paying attention to Yuga anymore, so Yuga had no choice but to leave the Haunted House Sub-Park with Doudou.
That afternoon, Yuga had nothing to do and wasn't planning on going out either, so he brought the new members—Fletchling and Klefki—for a stroll around the Ecopark, letting them get familiar with the place they would be living in from now on. He even took them to visit the Island Ecopark.
Coco (Wigglytuff) had been staying in the Island Ecopark and hadn't gone back, so it had only just found out that Yuga had returned. Excited, it pulled Yuga along enthusiastically to patrol the Island Ecopark and passionately introduced the Pokémon living there to Fletchling and Klefki.
Coco was now managing the Ecopark more and more skillfully and had already developed a clear leadership aura. Under its management, the Island Ecopark was orderly and well-run.
Both Fletchling and Klefki had very pleasant personalities—Fletchling was lively and enthusiastic, while Klefki was gentle and friendly. After Yuga took them around for a tour, they had both made new friends, and their confusion and unease about their future life disappeared completely.
By mid-afternoon, a Gastly from the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark suddenly came running to tell Yuga that Giratina had arrived.
Yuga and Doudou quickly returned to the Haunted House Sub-Ecopark, and sure enough, Giratina was already there.
It turned out that the day Yuga had promised Giratina that it could visit his Ecopark, Giratina had been waiting ever since. But since Yuga hadn't returned yet, Giratina didn't want to come uninvited.
So Giratina had asked Jellicent to stay in the Ecopark and keep watch. As soon as Yuga returned, Jellicent would go and notify it, which was why it had arrived so promptly.
As soon as Yuga heard that Giratina had arrived, he knew this guy was here to collect the favor. But there was no helping it—after all, Giratina had done him a huge favor.
"Hey, Giratina! Hello there, and thanks again for your help last time!" Yuga walked up to Giratina and greeted it warmly. Last time in the Arche Valley, Giratina had left in a hurry, and Yuga hadn't even had a chance to speak with it.
Giratina nodded at Yuga and didn't beat around the bush—it directly asked with its gaze whether it could absorb the life energy in the Ghost Sea.
Yuga made a "please, go ahead" gesture. Since he had already promised, of course he wouldn't go back on his word. Besides, the life energy here could always be accumulated again.
Giratina was still very polite. Even though it had wanted to come over for quite some time, it had not received permission from Yuga and would not absorb the life energy here without it.
After receiving Yuga's permission, Giratina dove straight into the Ghost Sea, swimming around freely inside and absorbing the life energy from the sea as it swam.
Yuga didn't leave. He sat quietly by the shore, watching Giratina swim.
Giratina did not absorb the life energy quickly. It seemed to deliberately slow down the rate of absorption, clearly enjoying the feeling of slowly "savoring" it.
After about an hour, only a thin layer of life energy remained in the Ghost Sea. The originally green seawater had almost turned colorless and transparent.
Giratina flew up from the sea and slowly landed beside Yuga. Then it opened its mouth, and a pile of colorful gems tumbled out.
With a rustling sound, a small mountain of elemental gems piled up beside Yuga—an enormous quantity, with every type of element represented.
Yuga exclaimed in astonishment, "This is…"
Giratina let out a call toward Yuga.
Yuga immediately understood and asked, "All of this is for me?"
Giratina nodded affirmatively. Although absorbing the life energy from the Ghost Sea was a reward that Yuga had promised it, Giratina knew very well that it wasn't easy for Yuga to accumulate that life energy.
These elemental gems were treasures it had collected over many years. They were now nearly useless to it, and far less valuable than the life energy of the Ghost Sea, so it had decided to give them to Yuga instead.
Having just absorbed the life energy, Giratina felt thoroughly refreshed—its entire body felt great, and even the golden armor on its body gleamed even more brightly than before.
Yuga never expected Giratina to give him a gift, let alone a gift of such massive quantity—so many elemental gems, clearly the result of Giratina's years of collection. It didn't take much imagination to know the number couldn't possibly be small.
Although Yuga wasn't in short supply when it came to elemental gems, no one ever complained about having too many of such strategic resources.
Yuga waved his hand and unceremoniously stored all the elemental gems into his system space. Then, with a flattering smile, he looked at Giratina and said, "Giratina, thank you so much! I absolutely love your gift!" After all, exchanging gifts between friends—refusing would only hurt the relationship!
In his own mind, Yuga had already decided that he and Giratina were good friends.
Giratina simply pretended not to notice Yuga's overly shameless grin. It took off, opened the Reverse Mirror, and dove straight back into the Reverse World.
By the time Yuga left the Ecopark, the sky outside had already darkened.
Doudou had gone to the kitchen to prepare dinner. Yuga had originally thought about going in to help, but Doudou didn't want him to. Instead, it dragged Clefairy into the kitchen to assist.
Clefairy was now basically considered Doudou's disciple. Whatever Doudou did, it brought Clefairy along. Although Clefairy was slightly less talented than Doudou in all aspects, it was still pretty decent overall—at least much better than the other assistant Pokémon at home.
With nothing better to do, Yuga dialed Lisia's number. He still had a few Pokémon waiting to be sold.