Since Meloetta chose to continue traveling with Teacher Lu,

Larry had no intention of forcibly taking it back.

After all, Meloetta can hear people's true feelings. If Teacher Lu were not someone worthy of trust, Meloetta would not have shown such faith in him.

Larry's tribe only needs to guard the Underwater Temple, which will be much easier for them.

And for Teacher Lu, this meant one more little companion at home.

The energy credits for Darkrai rescuing Twinleaf City had not been settled yet.

If it weren't for the System... just the raw materials alone would give Teacher Lu a headache.

Lu Ye: "The System brought you a berry. It says: Thanks, Berry Stall!"

[?]

Strictly speaking, Teacher Lu and Meloetta were not in a captured-and-master relationship, more like guardian and ward.

Caring for Meloetta, and for the ancient Poké Ball that housed it.

By Teacher Lu’s tradition of treating Pokémon like family… it was more like he’d adopted a daughter.

"The café will be livelier from now on..."

Lu Ye looked at Meloetta sitting on Cynthia’s shoulder, its eyes curved into a smiling crescent, and felt a small tug at his heart.

Instead of saying Meloetta resembled him,

it was clearer that Meloetta resembled Cynthia.

Same crescent eyes when smiling, same love for ice cream...

"Looks like the daughter takes after her mom," Lu Ye thought.

"Hmm?" Cynthia noticed the expression on Lu Ye's face.

"I mean, Meloetta really does look like you," Lu Ye replied.

Cynthia put one hand on the waist of her blue shirt, used the other to toy with Meloetta on her shoulder, then turned back and smiled:

"I feel the same way... Don't worry. While you go to Ein Doach these few days, I will take good care of Meloetta."

"Be careful yourself," Lu Ye nodded. "We can’t rule out Acerola returning to Twinleaf City."

Cynthia's gray eyes flashed with a hint of danger as she said,

"I’d like him to try."

"Melo~" Meloetta blinked while perched on Cynthia’s shoulder.

It had wanted to accompany Lu Ye to Ein Doach, but Lu Ye had refused.

The reason was Meloetta’s frail constitution and that it had just recovered from a fever—traveling now would be risky.

Meloetta placed its small hand over its chest and, to the microphone-like ornament, let out a disappointed little sigh.

"Melo~"

"As compensation, when we get back I'll organize a concert for you."

Lu Ye tapped Meloetta’s head lightly with his finger and smiled:

"I already thought of the name: Meloetta's Shining Concert."

It shared the name with the Pokémon Short Film No. 24, and it would be Meloetta’s home-stage special.

Meloetta raised its little downcast head;

its expression shifted from dazed to radiant, and it nodded happily.

"Melo!"

**

Two days had passed since Lu Ye's rescue of Twinleaf City.

The media had reported the UFO incident in Twinleaf, along with Teacher Lu's heroic deed saving the city.

Because of this event, the Champion left a deep impression on the people of Unova, and his popularity even showed signs of surpassing the local champion Alder.

A hero who stands up in the face of disaster... always moves the public.

A captured Team Plasma member, now imprisoned, said in a low voice:

"The King of Team Plasma won’t return. Team Plasma was a complete sham... but at least I saw a real hero."

Whether spoken from genuine feeling or a bid for leniency,

Teacher Lu had truly affected members of Team Plasma, and he had saved them in front of their falling warship.

Given the dazzling success in dismantling Team Plasma remnants,

in Unova, Flycloud City, at the Interpol headquarters,

Officer Jenny made an unusual public commendation for Inspector Lu Ye, nominating him as a prospective head of the Countermeasures Department—a move that met strong opposition from many colleagues.

"In any case, Mr. Lu Ye is far too young."

"Although his resume is excellent, appointing him as a provisional head of Countermeasures requires further review."

"No matter." Officer Jenny set the matter aside for now.

In truth, recruiting a Champion into Interpol would be an honor for the organization.

Officer Jenny’s superior was also a decisive person.

Since the former prospective head of Countermeasures couldn’t take the post... why not create an entirely new Countermeasures Department?

Coincidentally, there had been an internal proposal recently to establish a UB Countermeasures Headquarters.

That 'Fall'—the one who’d fallen out of the Ultra Wormhole and lost his memories—had strong operational abilities and could be assigned to Inspector Lu Ye as a colleague and reliable assistant under the codename "Handsome Guy."

Officer Jenny fell into thought over this future plan.

…

Snowpoint City, Dragon Spiral Tower.

A tall, rough-looking man with reddish-brown hair stood with "Kala"—an ice-forming bud—treading on a frozen step, gazing into the distance.

His eyes passed over the shattered ruins;

sparse snowflakes drifted across the mountains, leaving the world in stark black-and-white.

Alder exhaled a breath of white mist, adjusted the string of Poké Balls hanging from his neck, and tilted his head toward the tower.

"One more hour… should get me to the top."

Alder rolled his neck and sighed, "Being a Champion is a thankless job."

After his partner Pokémon passed away, Alder lost interest in being Unova's Champion and in recent years had focused on finding a successor.

Still, Alder continued to fulfill his duties as Champion.

Since Acerola and Kyurem had escaped, confirming the location of the sealing stone had become the top priority.

Alder had heard that Cynthia and Lu Ye were also in Unova. He hadn’t met that young Champion yet, but from what he heard, the young man was fearless.

He had saved Twinleaf City and become a hero throughout Unova.

The thought passed, and Alder folded his arms, his face taking on a serious expression.

After this operation, the Unova League must properly thank Lu Ye and Cynthia.

Selecting Unova's next Champion should also be added to the agenda...

Alder's face carried a trace of world-weariness as he continued climbing the tower;

the Poké Balls at his shoulders jangled with each step.

Just as N disliked Poké Balls, Alder disliked the Pokémon storage system;

he chose to carry all his Poké Balls on his person.

The reason was simple: Alder wasn't keen on modern tech and preferred to stay with his partners and care for many Pokémon at once.

Snow fell in thick sheets. Alder's step suddenly halted—the snow on the steps before him was unusually thin, stretching toward the top.

Alder bent down and brushed away the snow, frowning:

"Footprints..."

Reaching the very top of Dragon Spiral Tower, Alder folded his arms and gazed up into the snowy sky.

Behind him, the stone tablet lay shattered. The dark stone that should have been sealed was empty, marked only by scorch marks from an electric discharge.

A trainer had earned the approval of the Ideal Dragon, Zekrom, and become the black hero...

Alder fell silent, staring at the sky;

he seemed to envision Zekrom soaring.

In the swirling snowstorm, intersecting bolts of lightning, the overclocked discharge blooming electric-blue thunder—Zekrom diving from the clouds—

Alder's brow tightened.

"Who was the trainer riding on Zekrom...?"

A day earlier.

N pressed down on his cap, lifting his dim eyes to the flickering dark stone.

"I came for your approval, Zekrom," N said.

The dark stone emitted thin tendrils of dark-red light. A grave, thunder-like telepathic voice sounded in N’s mind.

"Tell me, what is the ideal you pursue?"

N’s green hair, reaching his waist, fluttered in the biting wind. He held his cap in place;

his somber eyes brightened.

Before meeting that trainer, N would have spoken with fervent passion and rapid-fire words to Zekrom about his ideal to liberate all of Unova.

That too could win Zekrom's approval—because it was a pure, romantic, bravely lone ideal.

But now, N's lips trembled and his gaze flickered.

He recalled Pokémon hurt by Team Plasma, families torn apart by belief in the 'King of Team Plasma'...

He thought of Teacher Lu and the beautiful, painting-like true feelings of his Pokémon, which had moved him as well.

N lifted his eyes;

a bright resolve shone in them as he stared straight at the dark stone sealing the Ideal Dragon Zekrom.

In the mental world, beneath a chaotic sky crisscrossed by lightning, N faced a towering black dragon with armored, mechanical wings that stood on two legs.

N’s eyes were clear as he spoke slowly and distinctly:

"My ideal is to atone for the wrongs I caused."

"To become the king who returns Unova."

A long silence followed. N saw, in Zekrom's jewel-bright red eyes, a flicker of humanlike favor.

"Your awareness reveals an ideal."

Rumble—!

To N’s astonishment, the chaotic world began to collapse. When he opened his eyes again, the dark stone blazed brilliantly, and the black dragon Zekrom stood before him!

"Therefore, you have my approval," Zekrom bowed its head and looked at N.

N reached out and placed his hand against Zekrom's metallic black hide, closing his eyes.

"Thank you... Zekrom. I still have people I must thank, wrongs I must atone for. So please, lend me your strength."

A gentle white light bloomed in N’s palm. Zekrom's cone-shaped tail, like a generator, crackled with overclocked electricity;

dazzling thunder scattered the thick snow.

With Zekrom's roar, N mounted the dragon, held his cap, and flew off toward Ein Doach.

Ghetsis, Acerola, Kyurem...

N's eyes flickered as Teacher Lu's words flashed through his mind:

'Even when it’s destined to hurt, destined to fail, there are things worth fighting for... that is the reason for Pokémon battles.'

N’s gaze hardened in an instant.

A shadow of a black dragon passed deep within the clouds, and a low peal of thunder rolled across the sky.

**

"Zekrom has been awakened?"

Teacher Lu received the less-than-ideal news.

Gym Leader Drayden wore a solemn expression and said in a low voice:

"It was Alder's investigation of Dragon Spiral Tower... the dark stone was taken, and Zekrom's whereabouts are temporarily unknown."

"I see..."

The events did not match the games or the anime that Lu Ye knew, so he couldn't be certain who had awakened Zekrom.

Most likely N, but Black, and even Acerola, could also have awakened Zekrom.

"I understand."

Lu Ye was on alert and nodded:

"I’ll make haste to Ein Doach to investigate the situation at the Sword of the Land!"

……

July 12, Monday.

Lu Ye left Snowpoint City Airport and, feeling the biting cold wind, exhaled white mist:

"No wonder it’s called Snowpoint City..."

"It's already pretty late." Ash glanced up at the darkening sky. "We’ll head to Ein Doach tonight, right, Teacher Lu?"

"Gengarrr~~" Haunter opened its mouth wide and caught falling snowflakes.

Lu Ye glanced at Haunter and said:

"Let’s stay at the Pokémon Center tonight. Tomorrow we visit the Ein Doach natives."

"The Sword of the Land," he added, pointing toward the snow-covered city. On the other side of town, a tower rose above the white expanse, surrounded by patches of greenery.

"They say Ein Doach is unusually fertile thanks to a dragon vein blessing;

even in the frozen wastes there’s vegetation and rivers."

Ash blinked and murmured, "But then... wouldn’t people living on the tundra have other ideas?"

"Pika-chu~" Pikachu on Ash's shoulder nodded in agreement.

Lu Ye looked surprised at Ash, then nodded: "Indeed. Resource conflict led to a war between the two princes—Black and White."

"They each had their own ideals and truths;

to protect their homes and people they led two giant dragons into battle, which later became Unova's Twin Dragon legend."

Lu Ye had read all this in Cynthia’s collection of myths.

Cynthia was a mythologist, and Lu Ye had absorbed knowledge through her.

"Satoshi" nodded in realization, as if gaining knowledge.

There was still a bit of a walk to the Pokémon Center.

Lu Ye had planned to fold out his bicycle,

but because Ash was with them, he wisely sent out Arcanine instead.

Pikachu’s reputation as a bicycle-killer wasn’t for nothing!

"Howl~" Arcanine's magnificent mane stirred up a warmth in the snowy air.

"Every time I see Arcanine, it looks so cool!" Ash gushed, pulling out his Pokédex.

"Howl~" Arcanine shot Ash a sidelong look and smirked.

Kid, you’ve got good taste!

The fiery figure raced across the tundra. Lu Ye knocked on the Pokémon Center’s door—no answer for a long time.

Knock—knock.

"Sorry." Nurse Joy rubbed her eyes, drowsy in her heavy clothes. "Because Snowpoint City gets dark early, and for safety reasons, the Pokémon Center does not provide lodging. Please inquire at nearby inns."

"This information is on the Pokémon Center's website," Nurse Joy added with slight annoyance. "It helps to check ahead."

Lu Ye glanced at Little Rotom.

The Rotom Pokédex stiffened;

its screen showed a sweating face as it said:

"Beep beep... searched an old version of the website from two years ago, Rotom!"

Lu Ye sighed helplessly.

Given all of Rotom’s talent points put into 'kitchenware'... I'll forgive you this time, you electronic idiot!

"Sorry to trouble you."

Lu Ye turned to Ash. "Let’s just find a place to stay for the night. We’ll reach the Sword of the Land by morning."

Ash nodded, preparing to leave with Lu Ye.

"Wait!"

Nurse Joy suddenly raised her voice, looking intently at Lu Ye;

her cheeks were flushed in the cold night.

"Lu... Teacher Lu, actually there are spare rooms at the Pokémon Center..." Nurse Joy stammered.

Lu Ye paused.

Something's off.

"Blastoise." Lu Ye’s Power of Transcendence sensed: "Scan to see if this Nurse Joy is a Mismagius in disguise!"

He remembered Pokémon DP, when Ash's group entered a Pokémon Center that was actually an illusion created by Mismagius and the entire center and Nurse Joy were illusions.

When traveling, boys must protect themselves!

"It’s because of the news reports," Nurse Joy said with a faint smile. "A hero who saved Twinleaf City will, of course, be given preferential treatment in other Unova towns."

That explanation made sense, and there was no abnormal feedback from his Aura, so Lu Ye relaxed.

"Thank you then." Lu Ye said, "By the way, could you give me a business card for Snowpoint City's renovation team...?"

"No special reason, just my personal experience when traveling."

Nurse Joy: ?