Luther placed the Veilstone Badge in his badge case. Perched on his shoulder, Espurr and Jumpluff couldn't help but let out a soft "Wow."
Luther touched the badge case and felt a wave of emotion. From the first Coal Badge to the final Cobble Badge, it had taken nearly a full year.
He had finally secured a spot in the Lily of the Valley Conference.
"There are still almost three months left. Senior, you're probably not in a hurry to leave Veilstone City, right?" Maylene's eyes shone brightly. "There are plenty of fun places in Veilstone City. At this time of year, there are lots of Pokémon Trainers around, so you can find entertainment and battle partners easily."
"I'll stay here a few days to see how you apply what I taught you."
Luther spoke plainly. Maylene happily hugged Lucario.
Although it was impolite, Luther was simply too curious. He asked softly, "I heard you can punch away an Aura Sphere."
Maylene froze for a moment, then immediately understood.
"Lucario, Aura Sphere."
Luther had only just stepped back when Lucario's Aura Sphere shot straight toward Maylene.
Maylene closed her eyes, held her breath, and suddenly threw a punch forward. Her fist struck the Aura Sphere head-on, knocking it forcefully aside and sending the flying attack straight up into the sky.
Luther hurriedly captured the moment on camera, and his Pokémon cried out in surprise when they saw it.
This was that legendary scene. Being able to witness it left Luther completely satisfied.
Seeing how excited Luther was, Maylene scratched her head shyly instead. "I've just been bullied by Lucario too many times. I trained it out of necessity."
Yan had also witnessed the scene, but he had always been paying attention to Luther.
The look in his eyes was complicated. It was only after watching Luther battle Maylene that he truly understood how vast the gap was.
As Maylene said, many Pokémon Trainers' first goal when setting out on a journey is simply to participate in the Lily of the Valley Conference. They don't dare hope to participate in the main tournament.
Watching Trainers battle in recorded videos can give you the illusion that you could do it too.
However, once you observe a matchup close up, you lose all courage to say such things.
After agreeing to return to the Veilstone Gym later, Luther took his leave. Maylene personally escorted him out of the gym.
Yan and Naomi watched Luther's departing figure. After sighing, Yan said, "After I adjust my team lineup, I'll challenge the Veilstone Gym again."
What he had seen today had made a deep impression on him. He needed time to process what he had seen.
When they returned to the Pokémon Trainer Association, the assessment was still ongoing.
The screen showed that the first-stage basic knowledge test had ended and grading had begun.
Like Luther, many people were waiting outside for the results. Looking at those around him, Luther found himself feeling anxious as well.
Moving away from the parents of examinees squatting in front of the electronic screens, Luther sat on a bench outside the Breeders' Association and casually browsed the news.
There wasn't much information about Team Galactic. The Pokémon League had already labeled them as an evil organization, but the information Luther wanted, anything related to Cynthia, was nowhere to be found.
At the time, Luther spoke lightly, only to ease Cynthia's unease.
She spent her life exploring and researching various legends. When faced with descending deities, hesitation was inevitable. Attacking them would be blasphemous, but not attacking them posed a risk if the two gods lost control and threatened humanity.
Suddenly, Kirlia tugged at Luther's clothes, interrupting his wandering thoughts.
He followed where Kirlia was pointing and saw a Pikachu looking in their direction.
He froze for a moment, then saw the Pikachu point at him and shout, "Pika pika!"
At that point, there was no doubt. As he approached with his Pokémon, the familiar Team lineup appeared from behind the flowerbed.
Ash, Dawn, and Brock also froze when they saw Luther. Piplup had run off and gotten lost when they had passed by earlier. Pikachu had followed to look for it. They hadn't found Piplup, but they did run into a familiar face.
"Long time no see! Why are you alone? Where's Mai?"
Seeing Luther, Ash hurried over and asked.
"She's taking an assessment at the Breeders' Association. If she passes, she'll officially become a junior Pokémon breeder."
As he spoke, Luther squatted down and gently rubbed Pikachu's face.
The last time he saw Ash, he had already wanted to do this. There was no way he was missing the chance this time.
That soft, squishy feeling was absolutely amazing. He'd have to find a way to raise a Pichu of his own someday.
Meanwhile, Dawn noticed that Ralts had evolved into a Kirlia. She quickly scanned it with the Pokédex, then reached out her arms.
Kirlia naturally leaned over, allowing Dawn to hold her.
"This skin, this texture... so great!" She's so well-behaved and not causing any trouble. She's way better than Piplup, who runs around causing chaos all day."
Hearing this, Pikachu wiped away a cold sweat, silently hoping Piplup wasn't nearby.
Unfortunately, things never go as hoped. The moment Dawn finished speaking, Piplup popped out from the greenery beside them.
Realizing that it had been replaced, Piplup fired a Water Gun at Kirlia. Sensing the danger, Kirlia immediately used its psychic powers to block the attack. Then, it quickly retreated to Luther's side to avoid any misunderstanding.
Dawn lunged forward in a baseball slide motion and grabbed Piplup. "Now let's see if you still dare to make trouble or run off again!"
While Dawn was busy calming Piplup down, Ash and Brock looked curiously at Milcery and Espurr on Luther's shoulder.
"They don't show up in the Pokédex. They're Pokémon I've never seen before."
"And they're really tiny," Brock added.
Luther explained the origins of the two Pokémon to Ash.
"Kalos and the Galar region, huh? They sound really interesting. It's decided, then. After the Lily of the Valley Conference, I'll choose one of those regions to travel in."
As Luther drank the beverage Espurr handed him, he suddenly choked.
Wait a second...
Did he just cause Ash to skip regions with one sentence?
After Sinnoh, you're supposed to go to Unova! Then again, Kalos is pretty good. If he goes earlier, maybe he won't run into the 'Golden Healing Shuriken' mess.
Luther glanced at Dawn, who was still coaxing Piplup, and sighed.
Whose side should I take here? This is way too hard.
Ash and his group were heading to the Azalea Conference in Azalea Town. The fifth ribbon Dawn wanted was there. Since they were passing through Veilstone City again today, they stopped to rest and resupply.
"You've already collected eight Badges? That was fast." Dawn looked at the badge case that Luther hadn't put away yet and exclaimed in admiration.
Only then did Ash and Brock notice the badge case in Luther's hand.
Ash showed his own badge case, which had only one empty slot left for its final badge.
Ash said openly that the last Gym he planned to challenge was the Sunyshore City Gym because he had heard that Volkner's partner Pokémon was once a Pikachu.
Luther couldn't help but complain internally. Too bad... Volkner's Pikachu has already evolved into a chubby Raichu.
(End of Chapter)
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