CHAPTER 1499: HELPFUL NURSE JOY

After finishing the phone call with Wallace, Yuga immediately bid farewell to his master.

His master instructed, "Be careful in everything. Don’t act recklessly. If things truly become impossible to handle, prioritize your own safety."

Yuga replied, "I understand. Don’t worry, I know my limits. You take care too. I’ll come see you again when I have time. If anything happens, feel free to contact me anytime."

His master chuckled and patted Yuga’s shoulder. "I understand. Go on now. Why would I need you to worry about me?"

Yuga smiled, he then walked out of the shrine, released Dragonite, and mounted it. Seeing his master standing at the shrine entrance waving at him, he waved back, then directed Dragonite to soar into the sky.

Yuga didn’t rush to depart immediately. Instead, he made a short stop at Mauville City nearby. At the Pokémon Center there, he called home and asked Doudou to transfer Nana, Aegislash, Ninetales, and the Latias and Latios siblings to him.

Considering he might have to face Giovanni this time, he had to be fully prepared.

He also bought some supplies in Mauville City and stored them in his system space before finally boarding a flight to the Kalos region.

There were no direct flights from Mauville City to Camphrier Town, so Yuga had to first fly to Lumiose City, then take ground transportation to Camphrier Town.

Flying from the Hoenn region to the Kalos region by aircraft would take several days. Sitting in the aircraft, Yuga felt a bit anxious, fearing that his visit to Camphrier Town might yield nothing.

What Yuga didn’t know was that on the second day of his flight, Giovanni quietly arrived at Camphrier Town in a private aircraft while bringing Amina with him.

As for Professor Pedro and Celebi, they had already been brought to Camphrier Town by Alex a day earlier.

No one would have expected that the mayor of Camphrier Town was actually affiliated with Team Rocket. Under his cover, Team Rocket had built a laboratory right in the center of town, which on the surface operated as an ordinary biotech company—one that appeared to be struggling and on the verge of closing down.

Team Rocket’s smooth infiltration of the Kalos region was largely thanks to Lysandre. Through Ariana’s mediation, he had handed over a significant portion of Team Flare’s connections and resources to Team Rocket.

After experiencing a series of events, Lysandre no longer held the ambition to remake the world. But upon hearing about Giovanni’s grand ambitions from Ariana, he was deeply impressed and held great respect for Giovanni.

On the second day after Giovanni arrived at Camphrier Town, the events Yuga had dreamed about actually happened inside the laboratory.

The following day, Giovanni still failed to persuade Professor Pedro to work for Team Rocket. So he left Camphrier Town, taking Amina and the experimental data obtained from Celebi with him.

To Giovanni, Amina—a person from another world—was even more valuable than Professor Pedro.

Alex was left behind to continue persuading Professor Pedro, and Celebi was also kept for further research. However, as far as Giovanni was concerned, his main goal in capturing Celebi had already been accomplished.

Still, following a philosophy of not wasting resources, Giovanni believed the lab might still be able to extract additional value from Celebi.

Coincidentally, on the very same day, Yuga arrived in Lumiose City—barely missing Giovanni. It was obvious that all the preparations he had made to confront Giovanni had gone to waste.

In truth, unless absolutely necessary, Giovanni nowadays would try to avoid direct conflict with the League. If he had known that Yuga had come all the way to Kalos just for him, he might have gone out of his way to avoid Yuga.

From Giovanni’s current perspective, the League wasn’t truly an obstacle to his goals. His conflicts with the League only existed because they possessed certain things he needed.

Yuga originally planned to visit Citron and Bonnie upon arriving in Lumiose City, but because of time constraints, he didn’t stay there at all and immediately caught a ride to Camphrier Town.

In fact, Citron and Bonnie weren’t in Lumiose City at the time, but Yuga didn’t know that.

When Yuga arrived in Camphrier Town, it was already completely dark, so he had no choice but to stay at the local Pokémon Center.

Camphrier Town was considered a sightseeing town, but it wasn’t well-known in the Kalos region and lacked distinctive features. As a result, its tourism industry had always been underwhelming. Even though night had just fallen, the Pokémon Center was already deserted.

When Yuga entered, the lobby of the Pokémon Center was completely empty. There wasn’t a single guest in sight—only a Chansey was wiping down the tables, and Nurse Joy was behind the counter, resting her chin in her hands and dozing off.

As soon as the door sensor emitted the "Welcome" chime, Nurse Joy instantly snapped awake. She quickly adjusted her expression and greeted Yuga with a radiant smile. "Welcome."

"Good evening, Nurse Joy. Are there still any rooms available?" Yuga asked.

Nurse Joy nodded promptly. "Yes, I’ll get you checked in right away."

Yuga stepped forward and said, "No rush. Do you still have any food left? I haven’t had dinner yet."

"Yes, we do." Nurse Joy nodded again, then turned and called out to Chansey, "Chansey!"

Chansey had already overheard Yuga’s question and responded immediately, rushing toward the kitchen.

"Please wait just a moment," Nurse Joy said. At that point, she got a clearer look at Yuga’s face and suddenly found him familiar. She hesitated for a moment before asking cautiously, "Are you... by any chance, Mr. Shimizu?"

This Nurse Joy wasn’t a Trainer, so although Yuga was well-known, she hadn’t paid close attention to the news. However, due to Yuga’s deep cooperation with the Joy family and his status as an important guest to them, most members of the Joy clan had seen his photo—including this one.

Yuga wasn’t surprised that she recognized him, so he nodded with a smile and said, "That’s me."

Just then, Chansey had already finished preparing dinner. Yuga asked Nurse Joy, "Would you mind chatting with me for a bit, Miss Joy?"

"Sure!"

Nurse Joy was delighted. Although she didn’t know what Yuga wanted to talk about, she had been terribly bored sitting there alone, and couldn’t go off-duty until her shift ended. Having someone to talk to was exactly what she wanted.

Then she suddenly thought to herself: Could this Mr. Shimizu be trying to hit on me? But he seems so gentlemanly... He doesn’t look like the kind of person who would do that casually...

She quickly brushed away the messy thoughts in her head and began chatting with Yuga while he ate.

Very quickly, Nurse Joy realized that she had overthought things. Mr. Shimizu didn’t seem to be flirting at all—it appeared he was trying to gather some information from her.

Could it be that he came to Camphrier Town on a secret mission? she wondered. With that thought in mind, Nurse Joy immediately became very open and forthcoming, eagerly answering all of Yuga’s questions and warming up to him even more.

Yuga soon noticed how this Nurse Joy suddenly became much more enthusiastic with him. Just moments ago, she had seemed shy and hesitant.

However, the reason Yuga had struck up the conversation was indeed to gather intel. Even though he had arrived in Camphrier Town, he was in the dark and didn’t know where to begin. Nurse Joy, as the manager of the Pokémon Center, was bound to know some behind-the-scenes information.

The Pokémon Center is the place where Trainers come and go the most frequently, so naturally, it’s also where the most Trainer-related news and rumors circulate.

But clearly, Team Rocket couldn’t possibly be careless enough to expose their own whereabouts so blatantly. After chatting with Nurse Joy for quite a while, Yuga hadn’t gotten a single piece of useful information.

"Ah..." Yuga sighed.

Seeing the look of disappointment on his face, Nurse Joy suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "Mr. Shimizu, are you trying to gather information?"

Yuga admitted frankly, "Miss Joy, you saw through me? Yes, that’s true. But as for what exactly I’m looking into... I’d rather not say."

Nurse Joy waved her hand nonchalantly and said, "I get it, I get it. Rules are rules. But if you’re looking for information, I can point you to a place. Go try your luck there."

"Oh? What place?" Yuga immediately perked up with interest.

"Wait a moment."

Nurse Joy turned around and left the counter. When she returned, she had a small note in her hand with a location and a person’s name written on it.

"Go here and find this person. Just tell them I sent you," Nurse Joy said in a bold, straightforward tone.

Yuga thanked her with a smile, thinking to himself how interesting Nurse Joy’s personality was. He hadn’t even explained what he was doing, and she was already eager to help.

He glanced at the note in his hand and decided he’d go check the place out tomorrow. Since Nurse Joy had spoken with such confidence, perhaps he really could find a lead.

After dinner, Yuga didn’t rush back to his room to rest. Seeing that Nurse Joy was alone and bored, he decided to stay and chat with her a while longer.

During the conversation, Nurse Joy gave Yuga a brief introduction to the person she was referring him to. Yuga, in turn, shared some of his own stories from his travels and adventures. Nurse Joy found these stories fascinating, and the two chatted all the way until her shift ended, at which point they said their goodnights and went their separate ways.

The next morning, after finishing breakfast, Yuga set out for the location Nurse Joy had told him about. The place was located in the southwestern corner of Camphrier Town. The town wasn’t very big, so it wasn’t hard to find.

When Yuga arrived, he saw rows of warehouses on either side. But these warehouses weren’t used for storing goods. Instead, people—trainers with Pokémon—were constantly coming and going.

This was Camphrier Town’s black market.

Yuga’s arrival didn’t attract much attention. Seeing new faces around here wasn’t anything unusual. Without lingering, Yuga walked straight toward one particular building.

When he reached the entrance, he saw two trainers standing guard with Furfrou by their sides, both looking fierce and alert. This was the residence of the black market’s boss.

The building itself was very simply constructed and not very big.

Upon seeing Yuga approach, the guards didn’t drive him away. Instead, one of them actually asked quite politely, "Is there something we can help you with?"

Yuga replied, "I was sent by Miss Joy. I have business with your boss."

As soon as the man heard that, he immediately said, "Please wait a moment, I’ll go ask," then ran into the building.

A short while later, he returned.

"Our boss invites you in."

Soon enough, Yuga was face-to-face with the boss of the black market. The moment he saw the man, Yuga was stunned—his appearance was... well, rather unruly and wild.

The man wore a black leather jacket, sported a mustard-yellow mohawk, and his ears were loaded with piercings.

"Haruna sent you?"