Seeing someone ruining his plan, Botan shouted loudly, "Who's there?!"
Everyone turned toward the direction the Fairy Wind had come from. Not far away stood a brown-haired girl in a short skirt, upright and calm, with a Sylveon by her side.
The girl noticed everyone looking at her, but she didn't seem afraid at all. She glared and said, "So many people bullying just one girl—aren't you all being a little too despicable?"
Botan saw that it was just an inexperienced young girl and let out a breath of relief, sneering as he replied, "You think this is despicable? You haven't seen anything yet!"
As he spoke, he signaled his companions, directing a few of them to surround the girl as well.
Yuki grew anxious at the sight. "You should get away quickly," she called. "There are too many of them. The two of us can't take them all!"
But the girl, already surrounded, simply waved her hand and said, "Hmph… These weaklings? They're nothing!"
Her words made the group incredibly angry. They immediately ordered their Pokémon to attack the girl. The girl turned to her Sylveon and said calmly, "Sylveon, I'm counting on you!"
"Sylveon~"
Sylveon nodded gently and walked forward gracefully. Above her head appeared a full moon, and moonlight poured down on her. Under her control, it transformed into a silver beam of light that swept across the attackers. The Pokémon charging toward her screamed in pain as they were all sent flying backwards.
Seeing this scene, both Yuki and Botan widened their eyes in disbelief.
"She's amazing…" Yuki whispered, her eyes full of admiration.
Botan, on the other hand, roared in anger, "You little brat! How dare you ruin my plans! All of you—get her!" He pointed at the leader of the hired thugs.
The leader didn't like Botan's bossy tone, but since he'd been paid—and paid quite well—he had no choice but to move forward with the remaining men.
However, he didn't let his underlings attack. Instead, he took out a Poké Ball himself and released a Shiftry. From the girl's earlier display of strength, he knew his henchmen wouldn't be able to beat her.
When the Shiftry appeared, the girl's eyes narrowed slightly. She gently signaled for Sylveon to step back, then took out another Poké Ball. With a flash of red light, a Delphox appeared to face the Shiftry.
Not far away, Yuki looked at the Delphox standing opposite the Shiftry with a worried expression. That Shiftry looked fierce—clearly not easy to handle.
"Shiftry, Hurricane!"
With that command from the thug leader, the Shiftry leaped high into the air. It swung the two green leaves in its hands with force, creating a giant pillar of wind from the Hurricane move that swept toward the girl and Delphox.
Even though Shiftry isn't a Flying-type Pokémon, it has a special talent. Its fan-shaped leaf hands allow it to easily generate and control powerful gusts of wind, making it especially skilled at moves like Hurricane and Whirlwind.
But the girl and Delphox stayed completely calm. Delphox stepped back slightly, then casually waved the wooden staff tied with a red ribbon in its hand. Fire-type energy quickly gathered in the air, forming a magnificent fire dragon that roared and slammed into the approaching wind pillar.
Whoosh—whoosh—
The fire dragon's roar and the storm's howling intertwined. Red flames and white wind twisted together, creating a unique and beautiful scene. Then, the fire and wind both dissolved into pure energy and returned to the atmosphere, leaving sparkles of light floating in the air.
"So beautiful…" Yuki murmured, stunned.
But the battle wasn't over yet.
The Shiftry leaped again, using its excellent jumping power to quickly close the distance to Delphox. Then it raised its palm and used a surprise strike, aiming to chop down at Delphox.
But unlike most Delphox that are usually good at special attacks and long-range moves, this girl's Delphox held its wooden staff horizontally in front of itself, ready to meet the incoming blow from the Shiftry. Shiftry's face showed a flash of surprise.
However, Delphox's reaction was very fast. It quickly spun the wooden staff in its hands, flinging the Shiftry aside. Then, it raised the staff high above its head, and immediately, flames burst from it.
It was the move Mystical Fire!
Bang!
The wooden staff struck hard on Shiftry's head. With a miserable howl, Shiftry fell to the ground.
The girl sneered silently in her heart: Hmph… Trying to fight me in close combat? All the special training I did with Ash wasn't for nothing!
Yes, this girl was none other than Serena, who had parted ways with Ash, Clemont, and the others to travel through the Hoenn region.
She had been traveling in Hoenn for a while now and had already participated in quite a few Pokémon Contests. Recently, she arrived near Verdanturf City and remembered that Yuga lived there, so she decided to stop by for a visit.
She hadn't expected that just as she was about to enter Verdanturf City, she would witness such a bullying scene.
After knocking Shiftry down, the Delphox didn't stop. It waved its wooden staff again and again, gathering flames without letting them scatter, and continued hitting Shiftry's head over and over—until Shiftry completely lost consciousness!
This Delphox had evolved into its final form not long after Serena began her Hoenn journey, and it was currently her strongest Pokémon.
Realizing it might have gone a little too far, Delphox quickly put away its staff and took a step forward, scaring the thug leader so much that he hurriedly stepped back.
Too terrifying!
"Mr. Botan, we're done with this job. I'll return your money later. Goodbye!" he said quickly, recalling his Pokémon and turning around to run. His subordinates saw this and immediately followed him.
But would Serena let them get away?
"Trying to run? Sylveon!"
As Serena's voice fell, Sylveon's ribbons extended and danced swiftly and gracefully. In no time, all the thugs were tripped up and fell to the ground with groans.
"You… you…" Botan pointed at Serena, but before he could finish his sentence, he turned and ran. Of course, Serena wasn't going to let him go either. Soon, Botan met the same fate as the rest of the thugs.
Yuki ran over to Serena excitedly and said with admiration, "Sister, you're amazing! Thank you for saving me!"
Serena felt a little embarrassed by Yuki's praise and waved her hand, saying, "It's nothing, really. Just a small favor."
Yuki was still thrilled. "Oh right, my name is Yuki. What's your name, sister?"
"I'm Serena," Serena introduced herself as well.
"Are you also a Pokémon Coordinator?" Yuki asked. She had noticed the elegant and stylized battling style Serena used, something common among Coordinators, so she was curious.
"Kind of," Serena thought for a moment and replied. "Are you a Coordinator?"
"Yes, yes! I even won the Pokémon Contest in Verdanturf City!" Yuki couldn't help but boast proudly.
"That's amazing!" Serena said in surprise. She had heard that Verdanturf City held a Pokémon Contest just over ten days ago, but she had been busy at the time and couldn't attend.
The two talked for a while, and then Serena asked, "I'm heading to Verdanturf City. What about you?"
Hearing this, Yuki replied a bit sadly, "I'm heading to Mauville City… Too bad we can't travel together." Their destinations were in opposite directions.
Serena glanced at the sky and saw it was almost noon. She said, "Then I guess this is where we part. Otherwise, we won't even have time for lunch. As for these people, I'll take them to the Verdanturf Police Station."
While they were chatting, Yuki had already told Serena about how Botan tried to steal Pokémon earlier. However, she didn't mention that the stolen Pokémon were from YoYo Day Care, so Serena didn't know that detail.
"Alright then, I hope we can meet again in the future," Yuki said reluctantly. Even though they had just met, she really liked this big sister.
Serena smiled and said, "We will. Aren't you going to take part in the Grand Festival? I'll be going too."
"Really?" Yuki asked in surprise, "You're going to the Grand Festival too, big sister? That's amazing!"
Serena didn't correct Yuki's words. Although she had already earned several Ribbon Badges, she still hadn't made up her mind about whether to participate in this upcoming Grand Festival.
She figured she'd decide when the time came.
After the two parted ways, Serena released all her Pokémon and had each of them drag two people—Botan and the other thugs—into Verdanturf City. On their way to the police station, they attracted quite a bit of attention from onlookers.
But Serena didn't mind. Compared to when she first started out, she had grown much more composed. After all, she had experienced many big events together with Ash.
When she told the police that Botan and his gang had ambushed someone, the officers took one look and exclaimed, "Yo, it's this guy again!"
The officers at the Verdanturf Police Department already had a bad impression of Botan. During the ten-plus days he was in detention, he caused a scene almost daily. He even picked and chose his food behind bars, which made the guards really angry.
After taking custody of Botan and the others, one officer assured Serena, "Don't worry, young lady. We don't tolerate crime. We'll make sure this guy gets properly punished!"
Satisfied, Serena left the station.
After leaving the police station, Serena followed the directions on her map and quickly found the location of the YoYo Day Care.
It was around noon, and there weren't many customers in the shop. Most of the employees had gone off for lunch, leaving only Kobayashi (one of the two new employees—the other being Chiyuki) watching the store.
"Excuse me… Is Mr. Shimizu here?" Serena asked softly as she walked into the store.
Kobayashi, who had been feeling a little sleepy, was startled by the sudden voice.
"Excuse me, is Mr. Shimizu here?" Serena asked again when she didn't get a response.
"Oh, oh! You're looking for our boss? Do you need something?" Kobayashi asked.
"I'm Serena, from the Kalos region. I'm a friend of Mr. Shimizu," Serena explained.
"Oh, oh… So you're our boss's friend. Please wait a moment, I'll go get him right away." After saying that, Kobayashi dashed upstairs.
Yuga was eating lunch when he saw Kobayashi come running breathlessly into the dining room. He looked puzzled and asked, "What's wrong, Kobayashi? Is a Duskull chasing you from behind?"
Leaning against the doorframe, Kobayashi explained, "Boss, there's someone downstairs looking for you. She said she's your friend, her name is Serena."
Serena?
Yuga immediately remembered Ash mentioning that Serena had come to the Hoenn region after parting ways with them. He quickly got up and followed Kobayashi downstairs.
"Mr. Shimizu!"
When Serena saw Yuga coming down, she called out joyfully. A warm feeling of "meeting an old friend in a foreign land" welled up in her heart—though Yuga himself was also a foreigner.
"Serena, it really is you!" Yuga quickly walked up to her. Noticing how tired she looked, he asked, "Have you had lunch yet?"
Serena suddenly realized—maybe she came at the wrong time. What if Mr. Shimizu thought she had come just to get a free meal? That would be embarrassing.
Seeing the embarrassed look on Serena's face, Yuga immediately guessed that she hadn't eaten yet. "I just happen to be having lunch. Join me," he said, calling out to Doudou, who was following behind, and asked Doudou to prepare an extra set of dishes for Serena.
"T-That's not really proper…" Serena felt even more awkward. The feeling that she had come just to mooch off a meal grew stronger.
Yuga, however, didn't mind at all and said, "What's the problem? You rarely come to Verdanturf City. Wouldn't it be strange if I didn't at least treat you to a meal?"
And so, under Yuga's enthusiastic invitation, Serena stayed and had a delicious lunch. Doudou's cooking truly amazed her.
Serena was someone who also enjoyed cooking and was especially good at making Poké Puffs, so after lunch, she enthusiastically began chatting with Doudou. The two of them instantly hit it off, like long-lost friends finally reunited.
Poké Puffs were a type of special Pokémon food native to the Kalos region and were very popular there. Doudou was very curious about them, and so that afternoon, Yuga got to sample a variety of Poké Puffs with different flavors.
Later, at Yuga's invitation, Serena moved into Verdanturf Gym to stay.
Serena had originally intended to stay at the Pokémon Center, but Yuga wouldn't allow it. With a rare friend visiting the YoYo Day Care, how could he let her stay at a Pokémon Center? It wasn't as if his place lacked rooms.
Because of Yuga's insistence, Serena had no choice but to stay at Verdanturf Gym.
The next morning, when Serena woke up, she found two birds standing on her window frame—one was a Chatot, and the other was a Fletchinder.
At first, she thought they were wild Pokémon, but then saw the Chatot boldly flapping its wings and greeting her.
"Hello there, beautiful lady!"
Serena was startled at first but quickly regained her composure. It wasn't like she hadn't seen Pokémon that could talk before.
"Are you Pokémon from the gym?" Serena asked curiously.
Chatot shook its head. "Nope! We're from the YoYo Day Care."
Serena laughed. "That's not much different, is it?" After all, they were still Mr. Shimizu's Pokémon.
Chatot responded, "Of course it's different! Gym Pokémon have to participate in gym battles. We don't have to."
Thinking of how Verdanturf Gym was a Grass-type gym, Serena found herself unable to argue.
After washing up, Serena got ready to do morning exercises with her Pokémon, and it seemed that Chatot and Fletchinder were very interested in her, so they followed her around.
Just as she stepped out of the room, Serena suddenly heard a faint shouting in the distance.
"Did you two hear something?"
Chatot and Fletchinder both tilted their heads and listened carefully. A moment later, Chatot suddenly exclaimed in realization.
"Oh! It's that kid from the gym, doing training."
The "kid" Chatot referred to was Shoryu. Shoryu was a hardworking boy who woke up early every day to train with his Gastly and Phantump.
"This early?" Serena said in surprise. She thought she had already woken up early. "Is that kid also part of the gym?"
Chatot nodded. "Yep, he's one of the gym's apprentices."
So that's how it is…
Serena followed the direction of the sound, and sure enough, she soon saw a small figure training in the gym's practice field.