Encountering Cynthia didn't have any impact on Yuga, as he wasn't a participant in this competition.
However, it seemed to be quite a stimulus for Reggie, Flint, and Volkner. Early the next morning, they each went out to train. Reggie even entrusted the task of looking after Paul to Yuga.
Yuga suggested to Paul, "How about we explore Lily of the Valley Island while the tournament hasn't started yet? Once the tournament begins, we'll be busy cheering for your brother, and we might not have much time to enjoy."
"Sure," Paul nodded in agreement.
"But you better stick close to me. With so many tourists and participants on the island now, if you accidentally get lost, I won't be able to explain it to your brother."
Yuga emphasized before they set off.
Before Paul could respond, the Chatot on Yuga's shoulder spoke up, "Don't worry, with me around, how could he possibly get lost?"
Yuga gave it a look and said, "Alright, if anything happens to Paul, I'll pluck all your feathers!"
"Wait, wait! Just keep an eye on him yourself. I need to keep these beautiful feathers intact for my date with a handsome bird." Hearing Yuga's threat, the Chatot clutched its wings protectively.
And so, Yuga embarked on a sightseeing journey around Lily of the Valley Island with Paul and the Chatot.
During the League tournament, although there were many merchants conducting business on Lily of the Valley Island, official management was in place, so all the stalls appeared to be well-organized.
"Paul, if you see something you like, don't hesitate to let me know. Just tell me directly," Yuga said heartily. After all, the food and attractions were quite affordable and wouldn't cost much.
Upon hearing Yuga's words, Paul nodded and then spotted a plush toy of an Elekid, bringing himself to a halt.
"You , huh." Yuga recalled that Paul's Pokémon was an Elekid.
Seeing Paul simply staring at the plush toy without saying anything, Yuga thought he might be a bit embarrassed and directly bought the plush toy for him.
Sure enough, after receiving the plush toy, a smile appeared on Paul's face.
Afterwards, Yuga took Paul to taste takoyaki, okonomiyaki, and also bought limited edition commemorative badges and Pokémon posters related to the League. They had a lot of fun.
At that moment, Yuga suddenly noticed a middle-aged man with a white scarf calling out to passersby.
Yuga thought, "Why does this slightly creepy-looking man seem so familiar?"
So, he led Paul in that direction.
Seeing Yuga and Paul approaching, the middle-aged man waved to Yuga with a sly grin, "Hey, young man over there, come over here."
Though Yuga found him quite sleazy, he walked over.
"Hey there, take a look at my Magikarp. Isn't it bursting with vitality?" The man lifted the white cloth in front of him and whispered to Yuga, "These Magikarp of mine are all treasures. What do you say? Want to buy one?"
Seeing these Magikarp and looking at the somewhat familiar face of the man, Yuga immediately remembered. Wasn't this the Magicarp Salesman who had tricked James many times?
"Uncle, do you think I look stupid?" Yuga looked at the tank full of red-colored, poorly rated Magikarp and asked the man.
"Hehe, hehe." The man chuckled awkwardly. "These Magikarp of mine can lay golden eggs, you know." He tried to continue to deceive Yuga.
Maybe he thought Yuga looked just as gullible as James.
"Really?" Yuga suddenly pretended to look pleasantly surprised.
Thinking that Yuga had fallen for it, the man happily nodded and said, "Really!"
"Could you show me one of them laying a golden egg right now?" Yuga looked at the sleazy man with an "anticipatory" expression.
Upon hearing Yuga's words, the man's smile immediately froze.
"It... it's not pregnant yet..." The man struggled to come up with an excuse.
However, Yuga didn't want to play along anymore. He told the man directly, "Alright, alright. Don't bother showing me these unsellable Magikarp. If you have anything good, just show it to me."
The sleazy man realized he had been fooled by Yuga. He put away his sleazy smile and said, "You little guy, are you having fun playing tricks on me for no reason?"
"And are you having fun playing tricks on others for no reason?" Yuga countered.
The sleazy man shrugged nonchalantly and said, "Well, it's all about business. It's a matter of mutual consent. If they fall for it, they can only blame their poor judgment."
Yuga thought that this man had the typical mindset of a cunning merchant, thoroughly rotten.
"I must ask, Uncle, does anyone actually fall for your childish tricks?" Yuga expressed serious doubt about it.
Hearing Yuga's words, the sleazy man looked left and right. Seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he leaned in closer to Yuga and whispered, "How can you say that no one falls for it? These days, money isn't easy to come by. There are plenty of fools with money."
Hearing this, Yuga thought to himself, "James is indeed one of those foolish rich people."
"Uncle, do you actually have anything good?" Yuga whispered quietly into the man's ear.
Yuga was certain that this man must have some good items. After all, this character had appeared in various places in the original work, such as the Kanto region, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh. If he only carried those worthless Magikarp around all the time, wouldn't he end up bankrupt?
Sighing, the man said, "You've put it this way, I can't really avoid showing you some real goods."
In truth, the man was thinking, "No matter who I sell it to, it's still selling. It's no different with this person."
The man beckoned to Yuga and then walked around his stall, reaching his car and opening the back to reveal a covered water tank.
"Ta-da!" The man dramatically pulled off the red cloth covering the water tank and showed it to Yuga.
Looking at the motionless group of Feebas inside the water tank, Yuga said to the man, "So, Uncle's so-called good items are this group of Feebas?"
Feebas could evolve into Milotic, which most people knew. However, what others didn't know was the method to trigger their evolution!
Someone like Yuga, who had transmigrated into this world, knew that Feebas could evolve into Milotic by either raising its beauty stat or using a Prism Scale. But to most trainers in the Pokémon world, these methods were still a mystery. As a result, facing the challenging evolution of Feebas, very few people were willing to raise them.
Not every trainer was from the Sootopolis Gym.
In fact, Yuga had already figured it out. Indeed, among this group of Feebas, there were some good ones. Several of them had a green potential rating. He just chose not to say anything about it.