The setting sun cast its golden glow over the waterways dividing Suimài City, making the river surface shimmer. The Suimài City Library stood quietly in the twilight.

From a distance, scholars in white coats could be seen descending the marble steps.

"Hey, Burnet," Professor Kukui, with his bronze complexion, chuckled cheerfully into his phone while keeping one hand in his pocket. "Yeah, today's exhibition was quite impressive!"

Sonia carefully assisted Professor Mustardseed down the steps, sighing in admiration:

"Teacher Lu and Champion Cynthia really presented amazing research results."

Professor Mustardseed nodded slightly with a faint smile. "I benefited greatly as well..."

"Though I never expected," the professor continued, "that those translation findings would come from Teacher Lu."

Sonia, holding her grandmother's arm, smiled. "I met Teacher Lu at last year's summit too~"

"With his talent, achieving such results in just a year would be effortless for him!"

"You..." Professor Mustardseed shook her head with an amused sigh. Her granddaughter still didn't realize the difficulty and significance of those research findings.

From Dr. Show's excited reaction alone, one could see the impact this work would have. Combined with the three groundbreaking Pokédex entries and flawless presentation conclusion...

Professor Mustardseed mused, "This year's Gold Award might already have a spot reserved for Mustardseed."

After the presentations, Cynthia had reserved a celebratory dinner at a high-end restaurant in Suimài City. Faced with numerous dining options, her indecisiveness had made choosing difficult.

Upon hearing this particular restaurant was famous for its desserts—especially ice cream—Mengmengda happily made the reservation.

"So have you decided which ice cream to order yet?" Lu Ye asked Cynthia as they walked to the restaurant.

"..." Cynthia seemed to just remember this dilemma, crossing her arms and resting her chin thoughtfully as she fell into prolonged contemplation.

"Let me choose for you," Lu Ye said, rubbing his temples. "I do have some expertise in desserts."

He knows my tastes. Cynthia smiled faintly and nodded. "Alright."

Thud, thud—

"Don't treat me like air," Professor Mustardseed said dryly, tapping her cane.

"Gengarrr!" Haunter popped out from Lu Ye's shadow, covering its mouth mischievously.

Little rascal, you're happy about getting the Mega Stone, aren't you?! Lu Ye felt a headache coming on and sighed softly.

Glancing at the reward screen showing the selected purple-red orb [Gengar Mega Stone], he consoled himself:

"Maybe in the next couple days, some Garen will jump out of the bushes to intercept it?"

"Nothing's final until the end—who knows what might happen!"

The setting sun stretched their shadows long—Professor Mustardseed with her cane in the middle, flanked by the young man with his straight back and broad shoulders in his well-tailored Western suit, and the two 'maidens' with graceful strides showing their resemblance, Cynthia's golden hair cascading like a waterfall down to her waist.

As their figures gradually receded into the distance...

"Gengarrr!"

From the elongated shadows of dusk, Haunter suddenly emerged, grinning mischievously. Facing an imaginary camera, it snapped its fingers as if signaling a scene transition.

The red REC dot in the upper left corner disappeared as Rotom chirped happily:

"Captured precious footage~ Rotom!"

...

Suimài City Library.

Professor Oak was organizing today's observations and beginning the evaluation process.

"Starting evaluations already?" Kris, wearing a white cap and overalls, asked curiously. "There are still two more days, right?"

"We'll rank today's presentations based on certain criteria first," Professor Oak explained with a smile. "If more outstanding work appears later, we'll adjust accordingly."

"But why is Teacher Lu's team's work..." Kris glanced at her notebook, then suddenly realizing she was overstepping, blushed and fell silent.

"Haha, no worries," Professor Oak nodded understandingly.

"Because... based on my decades of experience, this is work worthy of the summit's highest honors."

"Formal presentations end tomorrow afternoon. Then we'll know whether Lu Ye's team wins the Gold Award, Most Valuable Award, or both!" Professor Oak said heartily.

To receive such high praise from Professor Oak... Kris whispered in awe, "So impressive..."

Meanwhile, the chat group was buzzing with discussion.

"Results yet? Results yet?" A-Jin began spamming.

"You're hurting my eyes," Silver replied impassively.

"You there? You there? Who's the freeloader at my place watching tokusatsu..."

[Group member 'A-Jin' has been muted for 5 minutes by admin 'Lance']

Lance said coolly, "You're hurting my eyes too."

Marshal whistled. "That's brutal..."

[Group member 'A-Jin' has been awarded the title 'Muted One' by group owner 'Teacher Lu']

"..."

Natsume's icy expression cracked with an uncontrollable smile.

Celadon Anemone: [Pikachu dancing.gif]

"Masterful, truly masterful," Lance laughed, displaying his dry humor.

Ash replied: "HAHAHAHAHAHA."

Lu Ye blinked. Who's being this tactless... Oh, it's Ash. That explains it.

Plantina giggled, steering the conversation back:

"Results come out tomorrow afternoon. But Teacher Lu has probably secured the Gold Award already."

Teacher Lu: "!?"

Lance: "@Kris, any insider info you can share?"

So this is what justice looks like. Teacher Lu mused internally.

Kris suppressed her gossipy urges, blushing with the seriousness of a 'class monitor': "No, there's no insider information!"

As the mute lifted, A-Jin rubbed his chin with a roguish grin. "C'mon, just tell me—did Elm do well?"

"..." Kris.

"With my help," A-Jin declared proudly, hands on hips, "he's definitely taking first place!"

Kris flushed red and sent a voice message shouting: "Professor Elm didn't make the cut!"

The chat fell silent.

[Group member 'Crystal' recalled a message due to typos.]

Teacher Lu: "How do voice messages have typos?!"

Brock narrowed his eyes: "So Teacher Lu has a high chance of winning the Gold Award..."

"This young lady believes in you~ Teacher Lu," Lila said sweetly.

"Hey, my dad praised you too, Teacher Lu," Saphira added cheerfully. "There aren't many scholars he approves of."

The hype was overflowing, practically spilling from the keyboard!

Whatever... out of sight, out of mind.

Suimài City, high-end restaurant.

Teacher Lu quietly closed the chat and accepted the menu from Cynthia.

Noticing Lu Ye's expression, Cynthia smiled:

"It's over now, no need to be nervous."

"..." Teacher Lu nodded silently.

"Tonight's dinner is my treat," Professor Mustardseed declared, clearing her throat.

Yes! Teacher Lu was about to speak when he felt the professor's gaze and solemnly said:

"I'll pay."

Good student. Professor Mustardseed nodded approvingly.

Suimài City's famous specialty was Forest Yokan. The smooth, translucent dessert in celadon bowls resembled polished Shoushan stone. Its sweet red bean filling wasn't cloying. Lu Ye quietly savored it.

A random thought of Lu Xun's saying crossed his mind:

The pinnacle of desserts is when they're not too sweet, the pinnacle of restaurants is when they feel like home...

Wait, did Lu Xun say that?

"Forest Yokan has the effect of curing Pokémon's status conditions..." Cynthia read softly from the menu.

"Can it cure paralysis?"

"Mmm..." Cynthia lifted her head thoughtfully. "Yes."

"I'll take some to-go later," Lu Ye said. "Probably tastes better than Cheri Berries..."

Following [Fury Buns] and [Hot Springs Crackers], a new regional specialty was unlocked:

[Forest Yokan] √

This trip to Suimài City accompanying Cynthia for the research summit...

Mengmengda might profit slightly, but Teacher Lu never loses!

...

Following the planned arrangement of "Professor Mustardseed treats, Teacher Lu pays,"

When the bill came, Mengmengda had already paid via phone—but Teacher Lu transferred the amount back.

Cynthia gave him a questioning look.

Teacher Lu responded with an "Are you questioning me?" expression.

After glancing at her grandmother, Cynthia lowered her head slightly and texted under the table:

[Ice Cream Princess: Wrong amount.]

[Teacher Lu: Keep the change.]

[Ice Cream Princess: I mean it's not enough. (pleading)]

[Teacher Lu: ...]

[Teacher Lu: (Rich lady, hungry, feed me.jpg)]

Night fell. Cynthia and Professor Mustardseed returned to their lodgings to discuss tomorrow's schedule.

Lu Ye returned to his room, not feeling particularly lonely. His Pokémon companions immediately greeted him, with particularly strong Aura detection coming from the water tank...

Wiping sweat from his brow, Lu Ye asked cheerfully:

"Ducklett, were you a good egg-sitter today?"

Sirfetch'd blinked, then pointed to its nest. On the soft bedding lay two Pokémon eggs side by side.

"Quack?" (Which one do you mean?)

Rubbing his eyes to confirm he wasn't seeing things, Lu Ye said exasperatedly:

"Togepi, stop playing hide-and-seek in Ducklett's nest!"

"Togepriii! ヾ(◍°∇°◍)ﾉﾞ"

The square-patterned, cream-colored egg suddenly revealed a head and limbs.

Caught red-handed,

Togepi leaped down from Ducklett's nest, placed its tiny hands behind its back, and swiftly climbed onto the sofa to play with a game console.

Lu Ye: "That... that ninja running style?!"

"Togepriii~(ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪"

On the sofa, Togepi held the game console, swinging its little feet.

Lu Ye: "..."

The worst part was there was nothing he could do about it.

Shaking his head, Lu Ye turned to Sylveon, who tilted its head curiously. "Sylve?"

"Nothing," Lu Ye said. "Just thought you'd make a great magical girl with your sparkly appearance."

"Gengarrr!" Haunter popped up, making scissor-hand gestures by its eyes.

"Vetoed," Lu Ye said flatly. "Urgot stays out of the K/DA lineup."

"Gengarrr~ ﾍ(;

´Д｀ﾍ)" Haunter grabbed its large mouth, its face drooping.

Amidst this playful downtime with his Pokémon, evening deepened.

Teacher Lu sat on the sofa, chewing on the takeout [Forest Yokan].

"Arf... (¯﹃¯)" Arcanine lay on the carpet with a dopey grin.

Lu Ye glanced at Arcanine, pondered for a moment,

Then turned his back with the plate.

Arcanine: "Arf! (இωஇ)"

Between bites of dessert, thoughts of tomorrow's results surfaced.

Teacher Lu looked up at the ceiling.

"Looks like tonight will be sleepless..."

...

Next afternoon.

Suimài City Library, award announcement.

The exhibition hall fell silent as scholars focused on Professor Oak under the spotlight.

His expression solemn, wearing a white coat, holding notes.

Under everyone's gaze, Professor Oak cleared his throat and announced:

"We're honored to witness so many outstanding achievements..."

"At this research summit, the team awarded the Gold Award is—"

"Professor Kukui's team, for 'Research on Alola's Aura Effects on Z-Moves.'"

"Professor Mustardseed's team, for 'Analysis of Sinnoh Mythology and Legendary Pokémon.'"

"..."

"Additionally, this year's 'Most Influential Young Scholar' award goes to..."

"Professor Mustardseed's team member, Lu Ye."

"..."

"Finally, the team receiving this year's 'Most Valuable' award is—"

"Professor Mustardseed's team, for 'Analysis of Sinnoh Mythology and Legendary Pokémon!'"

As all awards were announced, it was like a boulder dropped into a lake, creating waves.

Sustained applause focused on Professor Mustardseed's team.

Like a film sweeping major awards at Berlin.

All researchers offered sincere congratulations.

Titled 'Most Influential Young Scholar,' his bright future and reputation as an ancient language expert were well-deserved.

Lu Ye's mind was in turmoil, but with an impeccable smile, he stood and nodded under flashing cameras and congratulations.

A man of remarkable talent. That was the adjective rising in everyone's minds.

For his contributions, only "genius" would suffice.

After sitting down, Cynthia whispered with a smile:

"You can relax now."

"Yeah," Lu Ye smiled wryly. "I can relax now."

[Ding! Mission Complete]

[Mission Objective: Win project Gold Award at Sinnoh Suimài Research Summit.]

[Reward: Selected·Gengar Mega Stone*1]

This was the expected outcome. Teacher Lu had mentally prepared himself.

But.

Before he could catch his breath, Lu Ye's eyes widened, a chill running down his spine.

[Ding! Major Mission 'Sinnoh League' Progress Updated]

[Mission Progress: (2/3)]

[Objective: Challenge Sinnoh League, collect eight Sinnoh Gym Badges.]

[Description: Set sail from the researcher's path to become Sinnoh's most knowledgeable and powerful trainer.]

[Progress: (0/8)]

[Reward: Gracidea Flower]

Teacher Lu: "..."

[Ding! Mission Progress Updated]

[Progress: (5/8)]

[Description: 5 Gym Badges collected, halfway there. Trainer, persevere.]

"What's wrong?" Cynthia glanced at Lu Ye.

Teacher Lu took a deep breath and smiled:

"Nothing..."

Mission progress updated...

This was actually a chain mission?!

Gracidea Flower... You're forcing me to 1v1 Giratina.

This wasn't random mission assignment—it was premeditated—

Dammit, I want to file a complaint!