Bab 915: Seeking Assistance
When it was time for Yuga's uncle's to get off work, he paid a visit to his uncle's home.
He went with his aunt, who had also finished work, and on the way, he revealed his idea for his uncle to become the hotel manager.
His aunt advised Yuga to discuss it with his uncle directly, mentioning that there was a good chance he would agree and provided the reason.
It turned out that there had been a change in management at his uncle's company.
Initially, Yuga thought his uncle was facing work-related issues, but it was more of a personal preference matter.
His uncle worked at a relatively small company, which was a subsidiary of a larger corporation. Recently, the old boss of the subsidiary had left abruptly, and the headquarters had sent a new boss.
The previous boss had been with the company for many years and had a good relationship with Yuga's uncle. However, the departure had been sudden, and the employees hadn't received any information, raising suspicions.
Despite being ordinary employees, Yuga's uncle and his colleagues had no control over upper management decisions and had to accept them silently.
The new boss, unfortunately, didn't seem competent in Yuga's uncle's eyes.
The new boss was quite young, in his early twenties, and made decisions based on personal preferences rather than considering the company's interests or the bigger picture. Working under such a boss had been frustrating for Yuga's uncle, to the point where he was considering changing jobs.
Yuga and his aunt arrived home before his uncle. When his uncle entered, he was surprised to see Yuga there.
His uncle asked, "Yuga, what brings you here today?"
Yuga couldn't blame his uncle for being surprised; in truth, he hadn't visited his aunt and uncle's home much since his aunt had started working at his place.
She had been eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner at Yuga's YoYo Day Care, leaving little reason for her to return home. This had led to his uncle occasionally joining them for meals at Yuga's place.
Besides, Yuga couldn't help but acknowledge that his aunt's culinary skills were not on par with Aunt Aoba and Audino.
With the family's main members rarely returning home, Yuga had fewer reasons to visit.
Yuga replied with slight embarrassment, "I have something I'd like to discuss with you, Uncle."
His uncle's surprise deepened. "Discuss something with me?" Since Yuga had become the Verdanturf Town Gym Leader, there were fewer ways in which his uncle could assist him. Hearing this request was unexpected.
Yuga explained, "It's like this…" and proceeded to tell his uncle about Barcas's resignation and his desire to hire his uncle as the hotel manager.
Initially, Yuga thought his uncle would need some time to consider, but to his surprise, his uncle agreed on the spot.
Seeing Yuga's astonished expression, his uncle chuckled and said, "What's the matter? Didn't expect me to agree so readily?"
Yuga nodded. After all, his Pokémon Paradise Hotel was not a big hotel, and the salary he could offer was far less than what his uncle used to earn.
His uncle sighed and said, "If you had told me about this yesterday, I would have needed some time to think it over."
Yuga asked, "So, you changed your mind today?"
Before Yuga could finish his question, his uncle explained the reason on his own.
It turned out that today, his uncle had gone out with the new boss of his company for a business meeting.
The person responsible for the other company in this business deal was an attractive woman, and Yuga's uncle's new boss had been quite infatuated.
During the negotiation, he had shown little concern for his own company's interests, blindly agreeing with whatever the woman said, almost giving away the company.
His uncle had observed all of this.
During the time the new boss had been at the company, his uncle had learned enough about him. He was essentially a rich second-generation individual who had caused trouble at home and had come to Verdanturf Town to lay low.
There was no future in following such a boss!
Although Yuga's salary was a bit lower here, it was peaceful and free of headaches.
Moreover, his uncle had high hopes for Yuga's Pokémon Paradise Hotel, seeing it as unique and with great potential. If it could be developed properly, it would offer more prospects than his previous job.
So, when Yuga had proposed hiring him as the hotel manager, his uncle had agreed without much hesitation.
With his uncle getting such a favorable result, Yuga was in a great mood as he hummed a tune on his way back home.
Not long after, his uncle handed in his resignation at his former company and immediately took up the position of hotel manager at Yuga's Pokémon Paradise Hotel.
His uncle was a very motivated person. After arriving at the Pokémon Paradise Hotel, he not only managed the hotel efficiently but also organized and planned many other facilities within the park, making the entire park more organized.
It had to be said that hiring his uncle as the hotel manager was a great deal. He did the work of several people on his own.
Time passed quickly, and more than ten days had gone by. The Hoenn League Conference finally started. Yuga didn't attend the live matches but watched them on TV.
Overall, the level of this Hoenn League Conference was not particularly high. In Yuga's opinion, only one person, Astrid, had the potential to win the championship. Arata Sena and Akihito were slightly behind.
With Astrid's skills, if placed in the same competition as the one with Cynthia, she wouldn't even have made it to the top three. Of course, part of the reason was the exceptionally Cynthia's high level.
As expected, Astrid eventually won the championship, with Arata Sena and Akihito taking the second and third places, respectively.
After the competition, neither Arata Sena nor Akihito rushed back to Verdanturf Town. Instead, they called and said they would continue their training outside. Yuga didn't interfere, letting them make their own decisions.
In the following days, apart from focusing on training with Rowlet and Snover, Yuga spent most of his time taking care of his Pokémon Egg.
After using the essence fluid, the vitality of the Pokémon Egg had indeed been increasing. Sometimes, the little creature inside could even engage in simple communication with Yuga using its consciousness. However, the Pokémon Egg itself still showed no sign of hatching.
One day, as Yuga come out from the Ecopark with his Pokémon Egg, he was informed by Suzuki Koen that people from the Ancient Plant Research Institute wanted to visit him.
"People from the Ancient Plant Research Institute?" Yuga was somewhat surprised.
He did recall that there was an Ancient Plant Research Institute on the outskirts of Verdanturf Town. It was a research institution dedicated to the study and revival of ancient plants. However, he had never had any interaction with them, so he was unsure why they were coming to see him.
Suzuki Koen replied, "Yes, they're from there. It seems they have a Scientist from the institute waiting in the reception room."
Yuga nodded and said, "You can go about your business. I'll go see them."
The visitor was a man in his early to mid-thirties, approaching forty, and he was indeed a Plant Scientist from the Ancient Plant Research Institute.
He warmly greeted Yuga as soon as he saw him, "Hello Gym Leader Shimizu, I am Haruta. I've been wanting to visit a Gym Trainer from Verdanturf Town for a long time, but I've been busy. It seems Gym Leader Shimizu is truly outstanding."
Yuga humbly replied, "You're too kind."
The Plant Scientist had a young researcher accompanying him, who wore black-framed glasses, had long hair covering half of his face, and appeared somewhat introverted.
Yuga asked, "And who is this?"
Professor Haruta smiled and introduced him, "Oh, I almost forgot to introduce him. This is my student and assistant, Furuta. He's a bit shy, so please don't mind."
Yuga shook his head to indicate that he didn't mind.
"Hello, Gym Leader Shimizu," Furuta greeted quietly, then retreated back behind Professor Haruta. He indeed seemed introverted.
Noticing that Yuga had been glancing at Furuta, Professor Haruta curiously asked, "Gym Leader Shimizu, is there something wrong with my student?"
Yuga shook his head and said, "Oh, no, not at all. I was just thinking that I've seen Mr. Furuta somewhere before, but I couldn't quite place it."
Professor Haruta suddenly realized and slapped his forehead, "Ah, I see. Mr. Furuta participated in the Spring Festival held in Verdanturf Town before. Gym Leader Shimizu, did you happen to see him back then?"
Apart from that event, Furuta hadn't left the research institute's premises, as he was quite the introverted researcher. However, he did have a natural talent for botany, which was why the Scientist had taken him as his apprentice.
"Yes... yes, that's right, i've participated," Furuta softly added from behind Professor Haruta.
Upon their explanation, Yuga remembered where he had seen Furuta before - he was the champion of the Grass-type Pokémon farming contest at the Verdanturf Spring Festival.
Yuga then inquired about the reason for their visit.
Professor Haruta explained, "You see, we've heard that Gym Leader Shimizu possesses a Cradily, and we were hoping to borrow it for our research at the institute."
Yuga wasn't surprised that people from the Ancient Plant Research Institute knew about his Cradily. He had used it openly during Gym battles, and such information would naturally spread.
Yuga asked, "I'd like to know why you need to borrow my Cradily. If there's any risk to its well-being, I won't lend it to you."
Professor Haruta assured, "There won't be any harm to the Cradily. We simply want it to cooperate with our research."
Yuga pressed further, "May I ask what kind of research you're conducting?"
Professor Haruta hesitated, "Well..."
Yuga insisted, "Can't you tell me?"
Professor Haruta relented, "Alright, I suppose I can share some information."
It turned out that the Ancient Plant Research Institute was one of the research projects funded by Devon Corporation.
Over the years, Devon Corporation had been actively involved in studying the revival of Fossil Pokémon.
The Ancient Plant Research Institute was a subsidiary project focused on reviving ancient plants.
In fact, Devon Corporation had made significant progress on fossil Pokémon revival but still faced various challenges.
To address some of these challenges, they decided to explore a different avenue by initially reviving ancient plants. That's why they had invested in several Ancient Plant Research Institutes, with the one in Verdanturf being one of them.
Professor Haruta explained, "So, we aim to find opportunities for advancing our research by studying your Cradily."
After hearing Professor Haruta's explanation, Yuga pondered for a moment and then said, "I'm willing to lend you my Cradily, but I'd like to visit your research institute."
This request seemed to make Professor Haruta uncomfortable.
Yuga asked, "Is that not possible?"
In order to continue their research, Professor Haruta reluctantly agreed, "Fine, you can visit."
Yuga smiled and said, "Great, I'll bring my Cradily when I come."
Professor Haruta replied, "Then we'll eagerly await Gym Leader Shimizu's visit to our research institute."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone