The next morning, as Yuga prepared to leave, Vespiqueen voluntarily entered his Poké Ball, making things a lot easier for him.
As Vespiqueen entered Yuga's Poké Ball, he suddenly heard the system's voice.
[ Congratulations, host, on completing the 'Heroic Rescue' task. ]
[ Reward: Qualification to unlock the Flower Sea Sub-Park. ]
Yuga was stunned. This system was truly cunning. It didn't give any hints earlier but now it was notifying him. It seemed like the mission wasn't about saving Vespiqueen but rather about capturing her!
No wonder even the reward was specified as unlocking the Flower Sea Sub-Park. Previously, the choice of Sub-Parks was flexible, but this time, it was predetermined. It seemed like there had been a hidden agenda all along.
Yuga was exasperated. Where did this devious side of the system come from?
Riding on the back of Honchkrow, Yuga soared out of the unnamed island, retracing his path back to Lily of the Valley Island. It took several hours, and by the time he arrived, it was nearly noon.
Outside the tournament venue, a large screen displayed a battle between two Trainers, one of whom was Volkner.
"Volkner's Electivire delivered a stunning 100,000 Volts, decisively defeating the opponent's Rapidash and ending the match. Let's congratulate Volkner for smoothly advancing to the quarter-finals!"
As the commentator's voice faded, the audience erupted into applause and cheers. Volkner walked out of the battle area.
It seemed that the competition had progressed to the round of eight. Yuga wondered how the battle between Flint and Reggie had gone.
After Volkner's match, all the morning matches concluded. Yuga called Reggie.
"You're finally back! How did it go? Was everything successful?" Reggie's voice came through the phone.
"It can be considered successful, I guess," Yuga replied. He wasn't sure whether the outcome was good or bad. He had successfully helped Joyna defeat Latias, but he had also witnessed the near-decimation of The Combees tribe.
"By the way, where are you guys? I'll come find you immediately!" Yuga said.
"Come to the main hall of the Pokémon Center. We're waiting for Volkner to finish restoring her Pokémon, and then we'll have lunch together," Reggie replied.
After hanging up the phone, Yuga quickly headed to the Pokémon Center. Many people had already gathered there. However, Yuga immediately noticed the bright red curls of Chatot.
As he approached, the observant Chatot was the first to notice him. It flapped its wings and flew towards Yuga.
"Darling, you're finally back! I missed you so much!" Chatot exclaimed as it flew into Yuga's arms, tears welling up in its eyes.
Yuga grabbed its tail and lifted it up, saying, "That's enough."
Chatot wiggled its tail out of Yuga's hand and then sadly said, "You have no idea! When you weren't here, that little rascal... actually..."
As it spoke, it even wiped away some tears, looking so heartbroken that Yuga thought it was genuinely crying.
"What happened to it?" Yuga asked, puzzled, as he turned to Reggie and Flint nearby.
Reggie and Flint both suppressed smiles as they explained what had happened to Yuga.
It turned out that after the morning tournament ended, Reggie took Chatot and Paul to the mall to buy some gifts for their grandfather. However, they got separated in the crowded mall.
Without knowing the way or how to find his brother, Paul had the brilliant idea to have Chatot sing and dance in the mall, which attracted a large crowd of onlookers. Eventually, they found each other thanks to the commotion.
Someone in the crowd recorded Chatot singing and dancing and posted the video online, which unexpectedly made Chatot famous.
Chatot's video gaining popularity was not because it had a great singing or dancing talent, but rather because its singing and dancing were comically bad.
Afterward, Chatot watched its own video and felt utterly embarrassed. So, it had a major disagreement with Paul, who had suggested making it sing and dance.
As Flint explained the situation, he also retrieved the video for Yuga to watch.
Chatot, who had been pretending to cry, had abandoned that act. Instead, it flew over to Flint in an attempt to stop him from showing Yuga the video. However, Yuga still managed to see it.
Yuga watched the video, trying to suppress his laughter. Chatot was mortified by its own performance.
Seeing everyone laughing uncontrollably, Chatot climbed onto Yuga's head, legs in the air, looking utterly despondent.
At this moment, everyone finally couldn't contain their laughter anymore.
Seeing everyone in stitches, Chatot puffed up its feathers and indignantly said to Yuga, "Darling, aren't you my Trainer? Shouldn't you be on my side and help me vent my frustrations?"
Yuga managed to hold back his laughter, cleared his throat, and said, "True, True. Paul is still young, and we shouldn't hold it against him."
"No, I won't let this little rascal off the hook!" Chatot exclaimed, pointing an accusing wing at Paul, who stood next to Reggie.
However, Paul widened his innocent eyes, seemingly unaware of what was going on, which only irritated Chatot more.
"How about I summon your wife to help you vent your frustrations?" Yuga asked with a mischievous smile.
"No!!!" Chatot shrieked sharply.
Hearing Yuga's suggestion, Chatot had a meltdown.
"I absolutely can't let Kitty-chan know about this! How can I show my face in front of her if she finds out?"
Of course, Yuga had never intended to release her, it was all just in good fun.
Amidst their cheerful banter, Volkner returned after restoring her Pokémon. He seemed surprised to see Yuga.
"Yuga, you're back!" he exclaimed.
Yuga nodded. "Congratulations on making it to the top eight!"
Through their conversation, Yuga had already learned that in the morning's matches, both Flint and Volkner had successfully advanced to the quarter-finals. Reggie's match was scheduled for the afternoon.
Luckily, they hadn't crossed paths with each other in the competition so far. Otherwise, someone might have to bow out early.
During lunch, the others asked Yuga what Gardenia had wanted when she came to find him. Yuga couldn't reveal the entire story about Latias and Joyna, so he simply said that Gardenia needed his assistance to defeat a particular Pokémon, and that's why she had sought him out.
While it wasn't the whole truth, it also wasn't a lie. With that explanation, the matter was dropped.