Lu Ye stared at the two glittering badges in his palm, his expression an odd mix of emotions.

He’d just been brooding in a sad mood, and you have to spring this on me now?

Looking up toward the direction the Delibird had flown off, Teacher Lu decided to wait until it started its delivery route and give it a good knock on the head.

“Wait—this blame shouldn’t fall on Little Penguin…”

Lu Ye mused, then took out his pocket diary and flipped through the thick pages. Between the lines, almost every page had two characters written over and over: A-Jin.

“So after returning from the Hall of Origin, I wrote so many more pages!”

As he flipped, Lu Ye sighed and then picked up his pen to write today’s journal entry.

[June 30, Clear.

Delibird crossed the seas to deliver the badges. Very touching.

Violet, Grant.

Also Delibird (crossed out), Liu Bo (crossed out)…

A-Jin—this grudge against Lu Ye is temporarily noted!]

Having completed today’s “divergent thinking training,” Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction and closed the diary.

There were a few developed photos in the package too;

framed in small picture frames, they could be displayed in the café.

“This must be the photography work Violet mentioned, mailing her pieces to me…”

Lu Ye’s mood became complicated.

Okay, Violet sending along a Bug Badge made sense, but why would Grant send the Cliff Badge too?

Does that mean I’m another step closer to getting a Shiny Stone and performing an even more embarrassing Z-dance!?

He shook his head and decided not to overthink it. He browsed the photos in hand and muttered:

“When the time comes… I’ll just have the mischievous Haunter dance.”

At the words, Haunter blinked and struck a “Shinin!!☆” peace sign.

“Gengarrr~! (^_−)☆”

Lu Ye: “…Once you accept this premise, it actually fits.”

Ding-a-ling—

The café door opened and the wind chimes chimed crisply.

Lu Ye sat on the sofa, holding a small frame in each hand, examining them carefully.

“Sylveon~” Sylveon leaped lightly from the counter, winding its snowy ribbons around an arm and blinking its azure eyes as it came over to look.

“This one was taken by Violet,” Lu Ye said with pursed lips. “Even just this photo could get you into the online preliminaries for the Triple Princess competitions.”

The Triple Princess competitions are Kalos’s exclusive glamorous events;

trainers who compete there are called Performers, distinct from Coordinators.

Performers upload short Pokémon clips and MVs online to boost their popularity and collect votes.

Coordinators focus more on the use of Contest battle aesthetics;

Performers lean toward showcasing the charisma of themselves and their Pokémon, more like an idol economy.

Serena from Pokémon X/Y is a classic Performer;

Marnie from Sword &

Shield, a popular idol in Spikemuth, could easily head down the Performer route.

“Sylveon~” Sylveon lifted its tiny head in disdain.

Putting the chaotic big sister-punk in fancy clothes and debuting as an idol?

Not a chance!

Lu Ye: “…”

He imagined Sylveon blushing in a pretty skirt…

Surprisingly, he felt a little tempted to try it!

Restraint… if someone tempts fate, fate will come for them!

Teacher Lu cleared his throat, stood up, put the frames on a shelf, then took down a book and began flipping through it.

It was twilight;

the café was empty.

Pupitar in the courtyard was “DuangDuang”-ing against a large hard rock, relieving stress while training the Iron Head move.

“We can livestream next time and show everyone Pupitar smashing a big rock.”

Lu Ye flipped through the book and let his mind wander.

The floor-cleaning robot chirped “beep beep beep” as it ran around;

a strand of Aura from the back room locked onto it.

Floor-cleaner: “……”

Getting flipped over by Haunter and treated like an explosive by Blastoise… this job is too rough!

The café’s languid atmosphere seemed to infect Arcanine.

The big dog shrugged lazily, baring its teeth and lying down behind the counter—majestic and massive, fat and comfortable.

Like a lion, it squinted for a long moment, wagged its tail drowsily, and yawned.

The Rainbow Wing had also been affected;

it glowed faintly in an energy-saving mode.

Rainbow Wing: “……”

I’m basically a useless feather now.

Lu Ye set the book down, glanced sideways, and smirked.

Trying to trick me into using Aura?

No way!

The Rainbow Wing shimmered, its aura roughly reading: o(╥﹏╥)o

Kanto region, Kanto League.

A red-haired man, cloaked, looked at Inspector Grimsley and frowned.

“Plasma and Team Rocket activity were both found in Unova?”

“Yes.”

Grimsley brushed his long black hair aside and said seriously:

“The remaining elements of Team Plasma are wanted criminals in the Unova Alliance. As for Team Rocket…”

“Should they be renamed Rocket Delivery now?” Lance folded his arms and rubbed his brow.

Grimsley nodded. “But we can’t be certain whether Team Rocket will again attempt to use a legendary Pokémon to realize their ambitions. Especially with the ‘Twin Dragons legend’ spreading like wildfire in Unova.”

The red-haired man’s brows knitted;

he fell into thoughtful silence.

He believed people could change… after all, he himself had once strayed down the path between justice and obsession.

From the current facts, Teacher Lu clearly had close ties with Team Rocket.

Lance trusted Teacher Lu’s character and judgment—

a trainer once acknowledged by Mew and even Arceus.

“Tell me that Twin Dragons legend again,” Yu Long Du said in a low voice.

“Yes.” Grimsley replied. “Before his imprisonment, Team Plasma’s head Ghetsis stated there would be a king inheriting his will who would liberate all Pokémon in Unova.”

“Liberate Pokémon?” A trace of memory flickered across Yu Long Du’s eyes;

he sneered. “That’s just an excuse to pursue ambition. Practical people don’t hide behind that kind of banner.”

Grimsley kept talking:

“We currently believe a youth named N is the ‘king’ Ghetsis mentioned, so Interpol Unova contacted him and launched an investigation on N.”

“And the results?”

Grimsley inhaled deeply. “Nothing.”

Yu Long Du frowned;

Grimsley continued his report:

“That N and his companions possess mysterious powers akin to Pokémon. They can communicate with Pokémon and thus evade investigation.”

“Therefore, the detective code-named ‘Handsome Guy’ is still pursuing N’s whereabouts and has submitted a detailed report on the ‘Twin Dragons legend’ to us.”

Yu Long Du’s face turned grave;

he nodded. “Continue.”

Inspector Grimsley said, “According to Unova’s founding legend, the younger brother who pursued the ideal of the black dragon and the older brother who sought the truth as the white dragon fought a great battle.”

“The ultimate outcome is unknown. But it is certain that after that conflict, the cities of present-day Unova were established.”

“Team Plasma has been leveraging this founding legend to promote their doctrine: the ‘king’ Ghetsis spoke of will ride one of the twin dragons, destroy Unova and grant rebirth. Therefore, people must abandon Poké Balls and join Team Plasma to welcome the ‘king’.”

Yu Long Du scoffed, “That was a trick from two years ago, right?”

“Yes. Since Team Plasma was destroyed by an awakened great dragon, Ghetsis’s previous despicable deeds have been exposed and he was imprisoned.”

Grimsley continued:

“However, even now there are many Team Plasma members in Unova who believe their ‘king’ will return.”

“If it were normal times, stubborn Team Plasma remnants could be wiped out by a Champion alone—” Grimsley faltered.

Yu Long Du frowned deeply and finished the thought: “But at the very moment Alder’s will is down…”

Grimsley nodded. “We cannot interfere directly in Unova’s matters. Even Cynthia, Alder’s friend and the Champion, cannot act beyond her station.”

“So…”

The red-haired man, cloak wrapped, folded his arms. A flash of light came into his eyes as he said:

“We need someone not bound by official titles, but truly… a Champion.”

Silence filled the room. The light across the two men’s faces slanted oddly.

Yu Long Du and Inspector Grimsley exchanged a look;

each had an answer forming in his mind.

“How do we even approach him?” Yu Long Du let a bitter smile escape.

That Champion is not the type to step forward willingly;

saving Unova would be thankless and against his nature. Doing it purely for ‘justice’ would be a stretch.

Although Lance had always believed in “justice” and kept a constant eye on Unova, using his position as an inspector to aid Alder.

“My subordinates don’t know.”

Grimsley shook his head. “But I believe Teacher Lu will have his own considerations.”

A Champion will ultimately have his Champion moments, his beliefs and fearless courage.

Yu Long Du nodded silently, his expression becoming subtly strange.

But the problem is—

For Teacher Lu… those Champion moments seemed far from rare!

Thinking of Teacher Lu saying in the group he was about to head to Unova, Lance crossed his arms and fell into thought.

…It’s the middle of summer.

Teacher Lu felt a chill run down his spine, sensing a familiar coldness.

“Gengarrr?” Haunter looked at him curiously.

“Nothing… probably.”

Lu Ye’s face was complicated.

Who is plotting against poor Lu Ye behind my back again?!

He looked up at the sky, mentally tallying his schedule and muttered:

“I haven’t really set any flags recently…”

Suddenly Lu Ye froze;

a thin sweat crept down his forehead.

How can I say I haven’t set flags…

Agreeing to help the llama find the Fairy Plate is the biggest flag!

And I have no idea where that Fairy Plate is now… if X God has it, I’m not prepared enough to enter the dungeon.

At least I need to nab Ho-Oh the photographer’s Sacred Ash first!

Lu Ye looked up and said to himself:

“Maybe… I should take a long trip and hide out for a while?”

Cynthia was currently staying in Undella Town with her friends like Caitlin on vacation.

Asking his wife out for a meal beats fretting in Miare City.

Besides, the World Championships Junior Cup is coming up;

the event should give me some buffs.

Lu Ye confirmed his plan and nodded in satisfaction.

Trying to get at me?

I’ll feed Mengmengda some dog-food content ahead of time!

Do you think the stab is aimed at my back? Or at my monster?!

“Tomorrow I’ll treat Little Penguin to a meal… then head to Unova.”

Lu Ye thought: “And trick Darkrai from Sinnoh into coming along as a bodyguard…”

Even the mighty Red has black history of being frozen, petrified, and sinking in the gutter.

Now champions who behave as steadily as Teacher Lu are rare!

The Rotom Pokédex suddenly vibrated: “Beep beep… incoming video call from code-named ‘Handsome Guy,’ Rotom!”

Lu Ye paused and glanced at the night outside the window.

Calling at this hour?

“Accept.”

On the Rotom Pokédex screen appeared a middle-aged man in a brown trench coat, his hair slicked back in an unruly pompadour—weathered and somewhat weary.

“Ah Sir, sorry, I was busy with the investigation and haven’t had time to visit your café—”

This man ran a detective agency in Miare City, not far from the café, so his visit would normally be reasonable.

The middle-aged man gave a wry smile. “But I’m currently investigating in Unova and can’t come over for now.”

“No problem.”

Lu Ye considered and asked, “Then why are you calling me?”

The detective code-named Handsome Guy’s eyes hardened. “I want to apply for an arrest warrant. I intend to capture… a youth named N and bring him in!”

That familiar name stirred up familiar plot memories.

Lu Ye felt as if struck and stood there stunned.