Licia was very happy when she received Yuga's call. Although she hadn't dealt with Yuga many times, every time he did, he always brought her surprises—the Pokémon he traded to her were always of especially high levels.
For people like her who worked in Pokémon breeding, the better the seed Pokémon, the better. High-level Pokémon played a particularly important role in stabilizing and passing on quality genes.
Although she had mentally prepared herself, Licia was still shocked when Yuga sent over the data of the Pokémon he intended to trade. She didn't expect him to offer one Champion level Pokémon and five Elite-level Pokémon all at once.
Licia was involved in private artificial breeding, so she often had private dealings with many League Trainers. After all, League Trainers would, more or less, acquire some "spoils" during their missions that couldn't be dealt with openly. Even so, high-level Pokémon like these were extremely rare. It was not uncommon for Licia to go years without obtaining even one.
After looking over the data of the six Pokémon, Licia paused for a moment before saying to Yuga on the other end of the communicator, "Is there any particular Pokémon you want?"
Yuga asked in surprise, "Huh? I can actually make my own request this time?"
In previous trades, Licia would always bring out a list of Pokémon she had in stock and let the traders choose from it. It was the first time someone had been allowed to choose the species directly.
Licia said, "Normally, no. But Mr. Shimizu is certainly not like everyone else!" For the sake of future cooperation, Licia rarely flattered someone like this, but she gave Yuga a small compliment.
Yuga thought for a moment and quickly understood that Licia was offering him special treatment because of the six high-level Pokémon. So he asked, "Any Pokémon at all?"
...Well, not quite—just don't mention anything too outrageous.
Licia thought it over but still answered, "You can tell me what kind of Pokémon you're looking for. I'll try my best to get it for you."
Yuga wasn't offering Licia high-level Pokémon for the first time, so she was thinking of using this opportunity to strengthen their relationship. That way, they could cooperate more in the future. Taking a bit of a loss now wasn't out of the question.
Licia wasn't only a member of the Shrine Clan—she also had a place within the League itself. While not every Pokémon was within her reach, she could find a way to get most common ones without much trouble.
Yuga thought for a long time, then asked hesitantly, "Do you have a Riolu or a Lucario?"
w(°ｏ°)w Licia nearly choked on her breath. She hadn't expected him to be so bold—right out of the gate, he asked for such a rare Pokémon.
Seeing Licia stay silent for quite a while, Yuga asked a bit awkwardly, "What's wrong? Don't have one?" Then why let me choose for myself?!
Gritting her teeth, Licia finally said, "I'll try my best to find one. But you should mentally prepare yourself—even if I can get a Riolu or Lucario, the quantity definitely won't be much. So think about what other Pokémon you'd like, and I'll make it up to you later!"
"Oh, and don't ask for anything else of that level, like Riolu or Lucario!" Licia quickly added, fearing Yuga would come back with something like Zorua or Zoroark next.
Upon hearing this, Yuga replied awkwardly, "Then Psyduck, I guess. Just make up the difference with Psyducks."
Licia let out a breath of relief. She had Psyducks ready at hand—it wasn't a difficult Pokémon to acquire.
"Alright then, we'll go with that. I still need to think about how to get Riolu. I'll contact you again later." She wanted Yuga to know that she was taking a loss—otherwise, her compromise would have no meaning.
After chatting with Yuga a little longer, Licia finally hung up the call.
"Okay, then I'll wait for your update."
After finishing the transaction talk with Licia, Dodo and the others had almost finished preparing dinner, so Yuga sat down at the table, ready to eat.
At some point, Ninetales appeared across the table from him. Yuga asked in confusion, "Where were you all afternoon? I didn't see you anywhere."
Ninetales glanced up at Yuga and said, "Didn't go anywhere special—just went to the island to clear my head a bit."
Upon hearing this, Yuga didn't ask further. The island was quite large and still had many unexplored areas. Not only did Ninetales occasionally go there to relax, but Nana, Dragonite's mother, and the others also went on adventures there from time to time. With their strength, they were rarely in danger—and sometimes even stumbled across unexpected rewards.
Ninetales had originally wanted to say something to Yuga, but after thinking for a moment, it closed its mouth again: forget it, better to say it another time.
After dinner, Yuga returned to his room and took out two items from his system backpack—the Palkia Gem that Chief Ghris had given him and Mew's Crystal gifted by Mr. Fontaine.
Looking at these two items, Yuga began to think about who to give them to.
The Palkia Gem was suitable for Water-type and Dragon-type Pokémon. Yuga had both Water-type and Dragon-type Pokémon among his team—Dragonite, Lapras, and Salamence could all be considered candidates.
However, Dragonite was currently focusing on training its Electric-type moves, so giving it this gem would be a bit of a waste. As for Salamence, its level was a bit too low, and using the Palkia Gem on it would seem like overkill.
After thinking it over, Yuga finally decided to give the Palkia Gem to Lapras. The only regret was that Lapras didn't have a Dragon typing; otherwise, the gem would be an even better match for it.
Next was Mew's Crystal, which was only suitable for Psychic-type Pokémon. Among Yuga's current lineup, potential candidates included Chimecho, Nana, Lunala, and the sibling pair Latias and Latios.
Although Latias and Latios hadn't been with him for long, and the reasons they followed him were quite special, since Yuga had already decided to accept them, of course he had to treat them sincerely and couldn't exclude them from consideration.
Hmm… Ninetales might also be a candidate—after all, it was because of Mew that it advanced to level 100. Although it wasn't a Psychic-type Pokémon, it seemed like it might be compatible.
Thinking about it this way, the competition for Mew's Crystal was quite fierce.
However… Chimecho had just finished fusing with a large group of Unown to reach the Master level, so it definitely wasn't suitable to rush further development now.
Nana had also recently obtained the white stone from the Aerodactyl fossil and hadn't fully figured out how it worked yet, so it was fine not to give her Mew's Crystal either.
That left only Ninetales, Lunala, and the sibling pair Latias and Latios… For the moment, Yuga didn't know how to choose.
After thinking it over, and still unable to make a decision, Yuga finally decided to let them decide for themselves! So he grabbed the gem and the crystal from the table, pushed open the door, and walked out of the room.
After entering the Ecopark, Yuga called over Dragonite, Lapras, Salamence, Chimecho, Nana, Ninetales, Lunala, and Latias and Latios.
First, Yuga handed the Palkia Gem to Lapras and explained his reasoning for the decision to Dragonite and Salamence.
Although the choice had already been made, he still had to explain things clearly to avoid any potential resentment in the future. Now that Yuga had more and more Pokémon, there were naturally more matters to pay attention to.
Dragonite was mild-tempered, so of course it had no objections. As for Salamence, being the youngest among the Pokémon, it felt it wasn't even qualified to be considered a candidate, so it had even less reason to complain.
Next came the distribution of Mew's Crystal.
Yuga first explained the reasons why Chimecho and Nana were excluded. Nana naturally had no objections—she wouldn't have competed with the others even if she hadn't been ruled out.
Although Nana was now a Gardevoir, she had been influenced to some degree by her former self, Celebi. Her personality was not only peaceful but also somewhat self-sacrificing.
Of course, this only applied to companions!
Chimecho, on the other hand, was not happy—how could Yuga exclude her directly when giving out something so important? Chimecho felt like Yuga didn't love her anymore.
But seeing that Nana, who was also excluded, didn't say a word and even looked quite happy, Chimecho could only pout silently, sulking inwardly.
After explaining things to Chimecho and Nana, Yuga turned to Ninetales, Lunala, and the sibling duo Latias and Latios and asked:
"Now the rest is up to you all. There's only one Dream Crystal, and I don't know how to distribute it. Do you want to discuss among yourselves who it should go to?"
Ninetales originally wanted to say, "Isn't it simple? Just have a fight—whoever wins gets it!" But after glancing around at the others, it pitifully realized that out of the four competitors, it seemed to be the weakest one. If they really did fight, it would be the first to be eliminated.
Ninetales didn't want to back out of the competition!
Latias and Latios were the most surprised by Yuga's decision. They never expected that something as precious as Mew's Crystal would even be within their reach.
The siblings felt that they hadn't been with Yuga for very long, and they hadn't followed him willingly either. Even obeying his commands was only because of the Heart Scales' pact. In their hearts, they believed their position among Yuga's Pokémon couldn't possibly compare to the others, so they instinctively felt unqualified to compete for such a prize.
But now, Yuga's attitude of treating everyone equally made the siblings fall into deep thought, and neither of them spoke.
The first to speak was Lunala, who expressed its willingness to withdraw from the competition and let the others have the opportunity.
Ninetales, among the four, had the strongest competitive spirit. It had originally been thinking hard about how to win Mew's Crystal for itself, but the moment it heard Lunala's words, it couldn't take it anymore.
What? You think you're the only one with a spirit of sacrifice?
It made Ninetales seem like it hadn't considered Yuga's feelings at all. In a sudden impulse, it declared that it too could give up.
Actually, Ninetales regretted saying that the moment the words left its mouth, but since it had spoken, and it had always been one to keep its word, it wasn't in the habit of going back on what it said—so it had no choice but to grit its teeth and accept it.
For a moment, everyone's eyes focused on Latias and Latios, who hadn't said a word. When the siblings snapped back to reality, they were startled.
Because they had remained silent, everyone thought they had some objection to the distribution. After all, they hadn't been with everyone for long, and their personalities were a bit distant, so mutual understanding between them and the others was still lacking.
At that moment, Lapras—who had already received the Palkia Gem—spoke up, suggesting that if Latias and Latios wanted to compete for the gem, she wouldn't mind. After all, as Dragon-type Pokémon, Latias and Latios could also make use of the gem.
Yuga didn't object upon hearing this. It had indeed been an oversight on his part—he had forgotten that Latias and Latios were also Dragon-types. Whether it was a crystal or a gem, there would be competition either way.
Latias and Latios immediately realized that everyone had misunderstood them and quickly stated that they would withdraw from both the gem and the crystal competition.
And so, the Pokémon began to say, "You take it," "No, you take it," and the mutual humility went on and on—no one could make a decision about who the gem and the crystal should go to.
Chimecho lay on Yuga's head, watching this scene in utter boredom, thinking to itself: why is everyone so dumb? If it were me, I'd have just accepted it directly—what's all this fuss about!
Even after all the polite refusals, no conclusion had been reached, and Yuga's head began to ache from all the noise. So he finally suggested, "Since none of you can decide, let's just settle it the simplest way possible."
The Pokémon all turned to look at Yuga, wondering what he meant by the simplest way.
"Drawing lots!"
Everyone suddenly understood and had no objections.
So Yuga took out paper and pen from the system space and wrote "Gem" and "Crystal" on two slips of paper, then prepared a few more blank slips.
First was the drawing for the Palkia Gem, with the participants being Lapras, Latias, and Latios.
Yuga placed the slip with "Gem" written on it together with two blank slips, shuffled them, and let the three Pokémon draw. Latias and Latios were originally unwilling to participate, but under Yuga's "intimidating" gaze, they gave in.
It was just that their luck didn't seem very good. Even though it was two against one, neither of them got it, and the gem ultimately still went to Lapras.
Yuga said, "This way, no one needs to feel any pressure."
Latias and Latios, who didn't draw the winning slip, had no complaints.
Then came the drawing for Mew's Crystal, with the participants being Ninetales, Lunala, Latias, and Latios. The drawing method was the same as before.
Among them, Ninetales was the happiest about this outcome—it meant it didn't have to give up the chance. So when it came time to draw, it was very excited. To appear generous, it even intentionally waited until the very end.
In a luck-based selection like this, rushing to go first didn't mean much anyway.
In fact, Ninetales's luck turned out to be quite good. The moment it opened the slip, it let out a surprised cry.
(≧▽≦)/ "It's me!!!"
Everyone instinctively looked over at it. Only then did Ninetales realize it had overreacted, and quickly tried to rein in the expression on its face.
"Ahem… What I meant was, how could it be me?"
Yuga responded, "It's nothing—this just means your luck came through." After speaking, he turned to comfort Lunala and Latias, Latios, saying, "You don't need to feel discouraged. There'll be more opportunities in the future."
The three Pokémon nodded in agreement, expressing that they didn't mind.
Yuga, on the other hand, felt a bit sorry for the Latias and Latios siblings—their luck was really poor. They didn't draw the winning slip either time. It was misfortune on top of misfortune.
At that moment, something suddenly came to his mind. He said to the siblings, "Oh right, there's something I've been meaning to give you two. I actually wanted to give it to you a long time ago, but I've just been so busy that I forgot."
Upon hearing this, Latias and Latios looked at Yuga in confusion.