章節 1075: Sunlight Pearl

Looking at the vast expanse of endless yellow sand, Yuga and the group couldn't figure out their location for the time being.

"We should leave here quickly," Yuga said to everyone.

So, the group mounted their Pokémon, ready to depart.

Jessie, James, and Meowth immediately started shouting.

"Mr. Shimizu, take us with you too!!!"

Hearing this, Max pointed at them and said, "You've been following us the whole time, haven't you? We were nice enough to bring you out of the Mirage Tower, and now you've got the nerve to keep tagging along with us!"

Jessie, with her neck stiffened, retorted, "So what if we're following you? It's not like you've lost anything!"

Meowth quickly chimed in, "Yeah, yeah, exactly!"

May, clearly angry, said, "Don't think we don't know what you're after. Your target is Ash's Pikachu, isn't it?"

Jessie, refusing to admit it, shot back, "Oh, you say it's true just because you say so? I could say you're just jealous of us!"

While Jessie, Meowth, Max, and May were in a heated argument, James awkwardly spoke up, "Gym Leader Shimizu, do you remember me? I'm James, brother of Fujiro! We met back in Verdanturf Town."

Yuga glanced at Jessie and James, then said, "Fine, let's take them along."

"But..." Max was clearly displeased, but seeing how firm Yuga's decision was, he swallowed his objection and turned to Jessie and James. "You better not cause any trouble along the way, or we'll leave you here to eat sand!"

Jessie, smiling sheepishly, replied, "I promise we won't cause any trouble!" James and Meowth quickly echoed her promise.

Once the group set off, Ash, riding on his Pokémon, asked Max, who was sitting in front of him, "Who's Fujiro? Is he close to Mr. Shimizu?"

Max thought for a moment and answered, "I think he's one of Yuga's family's Pokemon Day Care employees, so they should be close." Max had stayed at Yuga's house for a while, but since Fujiro was a huge recluse, Max didn't know him very well.

Ash nodded and didn't ask further.

Unlike Ash and the others, who were riding Pokémon, Jessie, James, and Meowth didn't have it so good. Somehow, they had managed to find a large wooden plank, tied it to the back of Sawsbuck with a rope, and were being dragged across the yellow sand, sliding behind the Pokémon.

Nevertheless, Jessie, James, and Meowth were very grateful that Yuga and the others were willing to take them along.

"James, I didn't expect you to know that guy called Shimizu. No wonder you kept mentioning him. When it counts, you can really come through!" Sitting on the wooden plank, Jessie didn't hold back her praise for James.

"Hehe... I just happen to know him," James replied, a bit embarrassed. He was actually quite surprised that Yuga remembered him and was willing to take them along.

He had only met Yuga once a few years ago, during his first official mission for Team Rocket. The mission happened to take place in Verdanturf Town, though it ended in failure.

If Yuga remembered him, then he surely knew that James was a member of Team Rocket. Since Team Rocket and the League were opposing organizations, James found it surprising that Yuga, as a League Gym Leader, was still willing to bring them along.

Yuga didn't concern himself with what Jessie, James, and Meowth were thinking. His attention was focused entirely on the Absol he was riding.

...

[ Absol (King's Proof) ]

Type: Dark

Gender: Male

Ability: Pressure

Potential: Purple

Level: 81

Moves: Quick Attack, Swords Dance, Psycho Cut, Future Sight, Sucker Punch, Hyper Voice, Dark Pulse, Stone Edge, Shadow Claw, Megahorn, Perish Song, Night Slash, Slash, X-Scissor, Giga Impact.

...

He was astonished to discover that after the battle with Darkrai, Absol had leveled up, going from level 78 to level 81, becoming a fully-fledged Champion-level Pokémon.

It goes without saying that this was surely due to the power of th Seed of Unknown! Thinking about the abnormal behavior of the Seed of Unknown and Absol before leaving the Mirage Tower, Yuga naturally connected it to Absol's level-up. Otherwise, such a quiet advancement from Elite level to Champion level would have been impossible.

The group hadn't traveled long in the desert before night fell, and they were forced to stop and camp. Fortunately, they hadn't lost anything in their space backpacks, so they were well-supplied with food and essentials.

However, the desert had a drastic temperature difference between day and night. During the day, the sand was scorching hot, but at night, it was bone-chilling cold.

Yuga's group was well-prepared with everything they needed, but James, Jessie, and Meowth weren't so lucky. They had left all their belongings in the Mirage Tower and were freezing in the cold night, howling in discomfort. Eventually, Yuga couldn't stand it and threw them a blanket, allowing the two humans and one Pokémon to get through the night safely.

The next day, the group traveled for another full day and finally made it out of the desert just before nightfall.

However, no sooner had they left the desert than Jessie, James, and Meowth slipped away unnoticed. This prompted Max to angrily curse them for being ungrateful.

When it comes to running away, that trio is professional.

That night, Yuga's group stayed in a small village on the edge of the desert. The village was tiny, with only a dozen or so households, and it was quite poor. Still, the group was content to have a place to rest.

After asking around the village, they finally learned their location. It turned out they hadn't strayed too far off their original path, and the nearest city to the village was Fortree City.

The following morning, after paying the villagers for their stay, Yuga and the others continued on to Fortree City. This time, they traveled by flying Pokémon, and they arrived in Fortree by midday.

Once they reached Fortree City, the first thing Yuga did was take Absol to the Pokémon Center for a check-up. Although Absol had appeared fine throughout the journey and had even leveled up, Yuga was concerned about possible side effects since Absol's new levels had been forcibly obtained from Darkrai.

Fortunately, after a thorough examination, Nurse Joy confirmed that Absol was in perfect health, and Yuga finally felt relieved.

Since they were already there, Yuga also had Nurse Joy check on Chimecho. He had been worried about the mysterious Unown symbols on Chimecho's body.

Unfortunately, Nurse Joy couldn't even detect the presence of the Unown symbols, so Yuga had no choice but to put the matter aside for now. Whether the Unown symbols were beneficial or harmful to Chimecho would require further observation.

Afterward, Yuga and Ash's group settled down at the Pokémon Center. Having been on the move for two or three days, none of them were in the mood to go out and play, so they spent the rest of the day resting at the center.

Yuga took the opportunity to send the Pokémon he had obtained from the Mirage Tower back to Verdanturf Town, entrusting them to Audino. Audino was experienced in handling such matters, administering the necessary inovation potions to some, sending others to the Sub-Ecopark, and assigning new arrivals to the New Ecopark. Yuga didn't need to worry—he simply gave instructions, and everything was handled.

The next morning, when Yuga woke up, he saw Ash in the backyard of the Pokémon Center, training with his Pokémon.

So far in Hoenn, Ash had caught Baltoy and Solrock from the Mirage Tower, as well as Taillow and Treecko.

Seeing Yuga approach, Ash stopped his training and said, "Mr. Shimizu, you're up!"

Yuga nodded and replied, "Yes, I didn't expect you to be up so early."

Ash scratched the back of his head sheepishly and said, "Haha… it's just a habit."

"As a Trainer, that's a good habit. You should keep it up," Yuga smiled. "By the way, are you planning to challenge the Gym today?"

Without hesitation, Ash responded, "Of course!"

Yuga nodded and asked, "Mind if I and Luvia tag along with you?"

Ash curiously asked, "Is it for Gym assessment work?"

...

As they continued chatting, the conversation shifted to Pokémon training.

"Do you really not bring the Pokémon you've previously caught, except for Pikachu, when you travel to a new region?" Yuga asked, pretending not to know.

Ash was momentarily taken aback, then nodded, "Yeah, that's right. I want to start fresh with new Pokémon in each region."

Yuga, puzzled, asked, "Why are you so focused on starting over?"

"Why..." Ash was stumped by the question. To be honest, he didn't have a specific reason—it was just what he felt like doing, so he did it.

Seeing Ash struggle to answer, Yuga continued, "Starting fresh can be a good approach, but leaving your previous Pokémon at home and expecting them to grow into master-level Pokémon on their own isn't likely."

Ash wanted to say more, but Yuga changed the subject: "By the way, I made an interesting discovery these past couple of days." Some things are better left hinted at rather than explained in full, so Yuga didn't elaborate further.

As he spoke, Yuga took out one of the pearls he had obtained from the Mirage Tower. In the morning sunlight, the blue-and-white pearl began to shimmer with sparkling light. Ash was immediately captivated by the pearl's magical glow.

"Wow, that's beautiful!" Ash exclaimed in awe.

"It's more than just beautiful!" Yuga replied with a mysterious smile, then called over Ash's Solrock. "Watch closely now."

Yuga slowly moved the pearl closer to Solrock. As the pearl made contact with Solrock, a faint red mist appeared on its surface. The mist slowly flowed toward Solrock and was absorbed by it.

After absorbing the mist, Solrock let out a contented sound.

"What is this? It's amazing!" Ash's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Pretty cool, right?" Yuga said proudly. "By the way, Ash, do you know the legend associated with Solrock?"

Ash shook his head. He was never a great student, and Solrock was a Pokémon he had only encountered since coming to Hoenn.

Seeing this, Yuga began explaining, "Solrock is a Rock and Psychic-type Pokémon. It's said that they grow stronger during the day and can absorb the sun's energy for their own use."

Ash, puzzled, asked, "But what does that have to do with what just happened?"

"It's directly related!" Yuga replied. "Absorbing solar energy is a natural ability of Solrock, but its efficiency in utilizing that energy isn't very high." Yuga then proceeded to explain his discoveries about the pearl and Solrock over the past few days.

"This pearl is likely polished from a rare mineral. I checked some references, and this mineral is almost impossible to find now. It can absorb light energy and store it. After the light energy is converted by the pearl, it becomes perfectly suited for Pokémon like Solrock to absorb, especially when they are drawing in solar energy. The conversion efficiency of the pearl is exceptionally high."

Though Ash wasn't exactly a Pokemon scholar and didn't fully grasp the specifics about minerals, light energy, or solar energy, he understood the basic idea.

"So, you're saying this pearl can help Solrock grow stronger?"

Yuga nodded. "In simple terms, yes."

Overjoyed, Ash exclaimed, "That's awesome!" He, too, had a pearl like this. Fortunately, he had followed Yuga's advice earlier; otherwise, he would've been left clueless about its potential.

"How do I use this pearl?" Ash eagerly asked Yuga, wanting to know more.

Yuga didn't hold anything back. He shared all his findings about the pearl with Ash, explaining in detail how to use it effectively.

"As long as you leave the pearl out in the sun each day to absorb enough solar energy, Solrock will be able to easily draw from it for its own growth... Although the pearl can absorb light energy anywhere there's light, it's still best if..."

And just like that, the entire morning passed as Yuga and Ash discussed how to use the pearl to help Solrock grow stronger. During their conversation, Brock also joined in. Since Brock's dream was to become a Pokémon Breeder, he was very interested in this kind of knowledge. The more time he spent talking to Yuga, the more Brock realized that Yuga had many unique insights into breeding. After a thorough discussion, Brock gained a lot from it.

In the end, the three of them even gave the pearl a name: the Sunlight Pearl.

In the afternoon, as planned, Ash headed to Fortree Gym to challenge the Gym Leader. They had made a reservation in advance, and Yuga and Luvia would accompany them to observe Ash's challenge.

Before setting off, Yuga and Luvia both pulled out Poké Balls and released their Ditto. After a bit of manipulation, their faces transformed drastically, completely changing into unfamiliar faces, leaving Ash and the others stunned.

"Wow, that's amazing, amazing!" Max exclaimed in surprise.

May, confused, asked, "Brother Yuga, why are you guys changing your appearance like that?"

Yuga explained, "We came to Fortree City to conduct the Gym inspection, and Luvia knows the Gym Leader there. To keep things fair, it's best if we hide our identities. So, you all need to make sure not to reveal who we are!"

The Fortree Gym Leader, Winona, was Wallace's ex-girlfriend, and Luvia was Wallace's sister, so the two of them had known each other for a long time. Not only did they know each other, but they were also quite close, as the Winona and Luvia families had been family friends for generations.

It was actually Luvia's idea to go to Fortree Gym in disguise for fairness.

After hearing Yuga's explanation, Ash and the others immediately swore, "Don't worry! We definitely won't reveal your identities!"

And with that, the group set off for Fortree Gym.

Fortree City is a very unique city. Thanks to abundant rainfall and sunlight, the trees here grow especially tall, which is why many of the houses are built in the trees, earning it the nickname "The Tree City in Harmony with Nature."

Because of this unique environment, many Bug-type and Flying-type Pokémon make their homes here, and Fortree Gym is famously known as a Flying-type Gym.