"I'm sorry."
Lucas walked up to Gothitelle and apologized proficiently.
"I forgot to mention it in advance again."
Gothitelle sighed and waved her hand, indicating she was already used to it.
Seeing this, Lucas grinned. "Hehe, I knew Gothitelle was the best and wouldn't have the heart to blame me."
Lilligant's next sentence made Lucas not dare to say another word.
"Lilli~"
It's all of you who spoiled him~
This was what Gothitelle was saying at the time.
Gothitelle's movements stiffened, and then she started chasing after Lilligant.
Lilligant skillfully hid behind Lucas, "Lilli~"
She's going to hit me, save me!
Lucas subconsciously spread his arms.
Gothitelle narrowed her eyes.
Seeing this, Lucas's heart skipped a beat.
Oh boy, I'm doomed.
In a moment of desperation, Lucas grabbed Gengar. "I'll leave this to you, Gengar. I'm going to talk to Gary about something."
Gengar, who was eating snacks: ?!"
It saw the way Gothitelle and Lilligant were looking at it, hesitated for a moment, then forced a smile and handed out the snacks.
"Geng, Gengar gargar?"
Want some snacks?
Gothitelle unceremoniously took the snacks from its hand.
"Gengar gargar——"
Leave some—— for me——
Watching Gothitelle and Lilligant make up as if nothing happened after taking its snacks, Gengar began to suspect if they just wanted to trick it out of its food.
Lucas walked over with Gary. Gary asked Byron to look after Shieldon for a while, while he and Lucas went to the Pokémon Center.
Lucas followed Gary, taking Gengar and the others to the Pokémon Center.
After handing the Poké Balls to Nurse Joy, Lucas and Gary sat in the waiting area.
"After the League Conference ends, are you staying in the Sinnoh region to research Pokémon?"
Lucas asked.
Gary shook his head. "I'll probably research here for a while, then head to other regions to look for more unknown Pokémon and encounter more of them."
Lucas quite agreed with Gary's idea. "If you go, you could head to the Kalos, Galar, Alola, or Paldea regions. There are still many Pokémon to research there."
"For example, researching which Pokémon can undergo Mega Evolution. I always feel like the current list of Mega Evolving Pokémon isn't just these few; perhaps there are more that can do it."
Lucas thought for a moment and continued, "Or perhaps the Island Guardians of the Alola region; it might be worth going to see them."
"I've heard that the Alola region also has Pokémon called Ultra Beasts. You can help me check them out. If I have time in the future, I'll probably visit those places one by one as well."
Lucas leaned back against the chair, exhaled, and said, "After all, there are so many Pokémon in this world; how can I not go and see them?"
Gary nodded. "I understand. I will include these regions in my plans."
Then he hesitated for a moment before asking, "But Boss, why did you mention all those other regions but didn't mention the Unova region?"
"Unova region?"
Lucas thought of Ash's Unova team, where the ace was actually a Krookodile, and there were even several Pokémon that hadn't reached their final evolution.
Especially the rival of that region, Trip, who made Lucas very annoyed. He had never seen one of Ash's rivals get knocked out in the first round of a League Conference, and Ash's record there was particularly poor.
This led to Lucas not being very fond of the Unova region.
However, the movies for the Unova region were still okay, especially the Tao Trio—cool and powerful.
And the cute Meloetta.
"The Unova region? I must have missed it just now."
Lucas really had forgotten the Unova region, mainly because the impression it left was not very deep.
Gary nodded, indicating he understood.
Afterward, Gary fell into silence. Seeing this, Lucas didn't speak either, and the two just waited quietly.
After a moment of silence, Gary saw that the Pokémon recovery wasn't finished yet, so he reached into his pocket and pulled out a fiery red Z-Crystal.
"Boss."
Lucas was spacing out. Hearing Gary's voice, he snapped back and looked at him, finding that he was handing him a red crystal.
"This is for you. A Pokémon gave it to me as a thank-you gift during my research. It should be the same as that Z-Crystal you have."
Listening to Gary, Lucas took the Firium Z, inspected it, then looked at Gary and asked, "Do you know what this is?"
Gary nodded. "It's a Z-Crystal, right? It can unleash intense power with a Pokémon."
Hearing Gary's answer, Lucas nodded and said, "Mine is Grassium Z, which is suitable for Pokémon that have learned Grass-type moves. But this one you gave me is Firium Z; any Pokémon that can use Fire-type attacking moves can use it. Can't your Arcanine use it?"
Listening to Lucas, Gary laughed. "Boss, of course I know Arcanine and I could use it."
Seeing Lucas's confused look, Gary explained helplessly, "But I'm still just a kid. The energy required for Mega Evolution already nearly drains me dry. Not everyone can be like you, Boss, able to use Mega Evolution and Z-Moves so casually at the same time. Both of these place great demands on a Trainer's body."
Lucas was even more confused. How did he remember that in the Masters Eight Tournament, Ash could use three systems in the same battle: Dynamax, Mega Evolution, and Z-Moves?
Seeming to guess the question in Lucas's mind, Gary continued to explain, "Of course, if I could undergo special training for a period of time, I believe I could use both of these abilities simultaneously."
At this point, Gary sighed. "But right now I'm just a Researcher. My main task is to study Pokémon. Mastering Mega Evolution has already taken up a lot of my time. If I spend more time mastering Z-Moves, the loss might outweigh the gain. Besides, for now, Mega Evolution is enough for me."
Lucas looked at the brown, spiky-haired youth in front of him and understood his meaning.
In other words, if Gary spent time on special training, he could also bear the physical toll required for both Mega Evolution and Z-Moves.
Hiss~ How terrifying. As expected of a Super Pallet Towner.
Lucas thought to himself.
But then he thought of another problem: he clearly hadn't undergone any special training, so why did it feel like although there was a momentary sense of weakness after using a Z-Move or Mega Evolution, he quickly felt full of energy again?
Had he already become a Super Sinnohian?
Lucas couldn't help but rub his chin in thought.
[————]
"So Boss, I feel like you need this power more than I do right now."
Gary thought of something and suddenly laughed, "Just consider it a gift from me, your student, to my teacher."
Hearing Gary's words, Lucas snapped out of it, looked at the happily smiling youth, and couldn't help but pat his head. "In that case, I'll accept it."
Then he continued, "When the time comes, I'll show you the new energy generated by me and Ninetales during the battle to challenge Gym Leader Byron."
Is the Boss going to challenge Gym Leader Byron?
Recalling the scene of his Arcanine being sent flying by Ninetales, if you added a Z-Move and faced the Steel-type Gym Leader Byron...
Gary kept nodding. "I'm looking forward to it. I believe Gym Leader Byron will be just as excited to see the new ability of you and Ninetales."
Just then, Nurse Joy walked over and informed Lucas and Gary that their Pokémon were fully recovered.