The turbulence from the Team Plasma incident had settled for now, and Unova gradually started spreading rumors about the person where truth and ideals intersected.

They said this hero had earned the favor of both Reshiram and Zekrom and had crushed Team Plasma’s plot.

That feat was no less impressive than “Red single-handedly taking down Team Rocket.”

Interpol did not reveal the hero’s name, and people speculated wildly.

“Could it be Champion Alder, or that prodigious girl from Dragon’s Homeland?”

“Must be that returning King!”

“Half a month ago Teacher Lu arrived in Unova, and half a month later Team Plasma collapsed… that can’t be a coincidence.”

“You mean Teacher Lu joined the World Juniors while casually wiping out Team Plasma on the side?”

To ordinary citizens, it was nothing more than after-dinner gossip.

But to the witnesses of the Twinleaf City incident and gym leaders like Mayor Drayden, the answer was already clear.

He finished his work and left without fanfare, hiding both merit and fame… Teacher Lu truly lived up to the name “Champion!”

At that moment.

That champion was riding Arcanine, strolling along a country road while scanning left and right for suitable targets.

“What are you looking at, Teacher Lu?” Ash asked curiously.

“See if any wild trainers pop out,” Lu Ye replied.

Ash froze briefly, quietly clenching his fist, his eyes flickering like flames.

Even as a champion, Teacher Lu didn’t miss any chance to train and grow stronger…

I have to follow his example!

Perhaps because of Arcanine’s Intimidate, wild Pokémon were scarce the whole way.

Seeing there was still some distance left, Teacher Lu sat on Arcanine’s back and opened the group chat on his phone.

He happened to have been rewarded the Ultimate Move Tutor from the movie achievements—looking like a golden bracelet—so he wanted to ask how to use it.

In the chat group.

Alice had been chatting more with Kotone lately and often discussed Dragon-type Pokémon strategies with her.

“If you have time, you can come to Saffron Town to find me,” Kotone said. “We could have a real battle.”

“Sure~ I remember Lance’s hometown is also Saffron Town, right?” Alice said.

Kotone replied calmly, “Lance hasn’t gone home in many years. You won’t find him in Saffron Town.”

Lance… the red-haired man’s brow twitched;

crossing his arms, his cape suddenly looked a bit limp.

“I’m not that much older than you guys, am I?” Lance said.

“You’re older than Aunt Lorelei,” A-Jin said as he put on goggles and surfed through the wilderness, holding his phone with Tail Boy’s tail.

Xiao Yin said expressionlessly, “Watch your words about Master Lance.”

Lance’s mouth lifted;

he was about to tell A-Jin to learn from Yin.

Marshal laughed heartily, “Hahaha.”

Grimsley, one of Yu Long Du’s subordinates, tried to stifle his laughter: “Ahem… I didn’t expect Yin to make that kind of joke.”

Kris said helplessly, “Don’t learn bad habits from A-Jin, Yin.”

A sharp chill suddenly drifted through the group chat.

Looking closely at the lower-right group list, it showed “Ice Lorelei” online.

She promptly muted A-Jin, Xiao Yin, and Marshal in one clean sweep, then happily went off to read shoujo manga.

Teacher Lu had just come online and stared blankly: “Heavy casualties… what happened?”

“Nothing much,” Lance coughed lightly. “How’s your trip through Unova?”

“Got to know a few Dragon-type Pokémon,” Lu Ye said.

“Dragon-type Pokémon?” Lance’s eyes gleamed with interest: “Which ones? I might be able to give you some advice.”

Lu Ye hesitated, worried about bruising Lance’s confidence.

Ash counted on his fingers: “Reshiram, Zekrom… um, and Kyurem!”

Silence fell over the group.

Lance: “……”

Nodding slowly, Green said, “So the trainer spreading through Unova is Teacher Lu.”

“I had a hunch, but I didn’t expect it to be true,” Red said with a smile.

Alice shivered: “This is what being a big shot looks like…”

The Cerulean girl echoed: “This is what being a big shot looks like…”

Lu Ye interrupted the echo and said:

“I mainly wanted to ask about this—an unexpected gain from my travels. (Image)”

The image showed the Ultimate Move Tutor, a golden bracelet-like device that seemed to be worn by trainers rather than Pokémon.

The Cerulean girl identified it: “Isn’t that the Ultimate Wristband from the Sevii Islands?”

“What’s that?” Lu Ye asked.

Since Teacher Lu wasn’t the first to obtain a starter trio, it made sense he didn’t know about the Ultimate Move.

The Cerulean girl explained: “It lets trainers and Pokémon communicate heart-to-heart, enabling the Pokémon to master an ultimate move!”

“By wearing the wristband, new moves are realized through awakening… Back when Move Tutors didn’t exist, Pokémon learned moves through items like this!”

Lu Ye vaguely remembered related content from the Special Episode and pondered:

“Do different trainers learn at different speeds?”

Seeing the familiar device, Red nodded: “That’s right. I and Green once learned ultimate moves from Old Woman Jimei together… it took about three days.”

Green answered calmly: “I was a bit faster than you—my Charizard mastered Blast Burn first.”

Red: “But Ivysaur learned Frenzy Plant first!”

“I remember someone nearly lost then.” Green raised an eyebrow.

“If I hadn’t stepped in, you would’ve already lost to Old Woman Jimei’s Dragonite.” Red said.

The Cerulean girl groaned: “You two stop arguing in the group and just fight in real life.”

Red and Green both said at once: “Sounds great to me!”

Yellow originally wanted to speak up and mediate, but couldn’t get a word in. She blankly recalled:

“I, I learned the ultimate move without using the Ultimate Wristband…”

When it came to trainer talent, Yellow’s gift might be on par with a Doduo.

Ruby asked curiously: “So can Zuzu learn Hydro Cannon? Venusaur is also a water-capable starter.”

Saphira cheered: “I want to learn too! When Zhi Zhi learns Blast Burn, I’ll definitely be stronger than Ruby!”

Steven smiled: “In theory, all starters can learn ultimate moves, so there’s no problem.”

Wallace laughed: “Three days to learn an ultimate move is shockingly efficient… usually one month would already be excellent.”

“If you want to learn, I could invite Old Woman Jimei to Hoenn,” Wallace said. “The Glass Tribe and Old Woman Jimei’s Ultimate Clan are old acquaintances.”

“That’s great!” Saphira and Ruby said.

Teacher Lu stroked his chin.

I more or less understand how this device works… similar to Keystones and Mega Stones, it guides the Pokémon’s power through the trainer.

The higher the trainer’s talent and perceptiveness (insight), the faster the Pokémon learns the ultimate move.

I remember A-Jin and Xiao Yin also learned ultimate moves!

Lu Ye lifted the mute from both of them and curiously asked:

“How long did it take you two to learn the ultimate moves?”

Xiao Yin kept a poker face: “Less than a month… I forgot the exact time. Feraligatr didn’t like that move much, barely learned it, and doesn’t use it often.”

A-Jin raged: “Why did it take me three months to learn the ultimate move?!!”

“Doesn’t learning the move take no time?”

Green: “No time.”

Red: “Strictly speaking… no time.”

A-Jin: Σ(°△°|||)︴

The Cerulean girl covered her mouth: “Nobody should take three months to learn an ultimate move, right?”

Teacher Lu comforted A-Jin: “It’s fine, you’ll get used to it.”

Yellow kindly: “Maybe it’s because A-Jin has a better affinity with Electric types?”

A-Jin paused, wiped his nose, and proudly said:

“Yeah… that makes a lot of sense!”

When Pikchu was just born, it smashed Liu Bo with “Super Sunrise Shock.” A-Jin’s egg-hatching talent is unquestionably significant.

Of course, the imposing name is really just Volt Tackle.

Teacher Lu didn’t have excessive confidence in his own trainer talent.

To learn Hydro Cannon properly, he’d probably have to set aside one to two months of focused training.

Otherwise… would he really have Haunter train in his place?

“Training can wait for now.”

Lu Ye patted his chin and suddenly realized something;

his breathing gradually tightened.

Crap!

A familiar chill crept into his heart. Teacher Lu said dryly:

“Ruby, Saphira, you still haven’t learned the ultimate moves?”

“Doesn’t that mean… that Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon haven’t awakened yet?!”

According to the Special Episode plotline, three years after Steven’s sudden death caused by Hoenn’s Two Fools and the timeline shifted to a happy ending, Kyogre and Groudon would awaken again and undergo primal reversion.

In the primal reversion version, Rayquaza would also be strengthened… completing Mega Evolution with a final touch.

When Ash arrived in Kalos in the Pokémon XY anime,

Alain was traveling with Steven to investigate Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre!

Now Alain had only just begun traveling, Ruby hadn’t learned the ultimate move, and Ash was about to come to Kalos… by that calculation Primal Groudon was already on the way!

Only now did Lu Ye begin to understand the smile Arceus wore when granting him the Power of Transcendence, as if Arceus had seen through everything:

“I believe you will not stand idly by when the time comes.”

Lu Ye’s eyelid twitched.

I get it—pack up and run right now.

In short, the farther away from Hoenn the better!

……

With a nervous heart, Lu Ye rode Arcanine back to Twinleaf City.

He had originally planned to return the DNA Splicers to Mayor Drayden.

But the DNA Splicers hovered stubbornly over Lu Ye’s palm, as if unwilling to leave his grasp.

Drayden said, “If you don’t mind, please keep the DNA Splicers on your travels. I believe you can make better use of and safeguard them than this old man, Teacher Lu.”

Lu Ye glanced at the DNA Splicers in his palm and thought of the Rainbow Wing used to fool Aura, his expression turning complex.

Strange family members are increasing!

Because he had invited Mengmengda to ride the Ferris wheel and wanted to hold a concert for Meloetta,

Cynthia took Meloetta ahead to Raven City to coordinate details with the venue.

Lu Ye and Ash parted in Twinleaf City.

“Then keep working hard toward the League tournament, Ash.”

“I will!” Ash said confidently.

Anyway, you still can’t win the Vertress Conference in Unova…

Lu Ye coughed lightly: “If you’re joining the World Juniors, we might meet at the opening… see you then!”

Alice cheerfully: “Axew, say goodbye to Teacher Lu~”

“Yay~!”

After saying their goodbyes, Lu Ye took the nearest flight to Raven City.

Raven City’s gym was built inside an amusement park, run by Elesa.

Riding the city’s landmark Ferris wheel, when it reached the top you could overlook all of Raven City.

Lu Ye planned to buy two tickets and wait for Mengmengda.

Standing at the Ferris wheel ticket window, Lu Ye glanced at the green-haired youth’s back and was slightly taken aback.

“N?”

……