The next day, Phoebe returned to the Verdanturf gym and found Yuga.
She told Yuga that she was planning to take Bridges back to the League headquarters. Before leaving, she left two items for Yuga: a Gengar Mega Evolution Stone and a Key Stone.
Phoebe's Gengar Mega Evolution Stone was her own, while the Key Stone belonged to Bridges.
Originally, Yuga's spoils should have included Bridges' Sableye Mega Evolution Stone, but Phoebe knew that Yuga didn't have a Sableye, so she decided to replace it with her own Gengar Mega Evolution Stone.
Phoebe had just acquired her Gengar Mega Evolution Stone, but she didn't have a Gengar herself and hadn't had the opportunity to raise one, so giving it to Yuga worked out perfectly.
Of course, besides repaying Yuga for saving her life, Phoebe had her own selfish reasons.
Because she happened to have a Sableye, swapping her Gengar Mega Evolution Stone for Yuga's Sableye Mega Evolution Stone was a win-win situation for both of them.
After Phoebe left, Yuga looked at the Gengar Mega Evolution Stone and the Key Stone lying side by side in the box. He was happy about receiving the Gengar Mega Evolution Stone, but he couldn't help but feel troubled about what to do with the Key Stone. After all, he already had one.
If only he had known about this sooner he woulnd't trade the Metagross Mega Evolution Stone For Key Stone with Steven! Yuga sighed.
Then, Yuga left the gym and went to a jewelry store.
After obtaining the Key Stone from Steven, Yuga had visited this jewelry store to custom-make two pieces of jewelry for embedding the Venusaur Mega Evolution Stone and the Key Stone.
When Yuga arrived at the jewelry store, the owner had been waiting for him for a while. As a Gym Leader in Verdanturf Town, Yuga received a warm welcome from the store owner.
Yuga had only been in the store for a short while when an employee approached him, carrying a wooden tray.
The employee placed the tray on the table, and the store owner, smiling, pointed to the two items in the tray, saying, "Gym Leader Yuga, these two items were crafted according to your specifications. Please have a look, and if there's anything unsatisfactory, we can make further adjustments."
Yuga picked up one of the items and examined it.
It was a large earring designed to embed the Venusaur Mega Evolution Stone.
The other item was a necklace meant for embedding the Key Stone.
Seeing that both items had been crafted according to his specifications, Yuga nodded in satisfaction and said, "They're both excellent."
The store owner breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's great to hear."
Then, Yuga took out the Venusaur Mega Evolution Stone and the Key Stone and placed them on the tray, saying, "Please go ahead and embed these two stones."
The store owner nodded and said, "Certainly, please wait a moment. We'll have it done quickly."
The embedding of the Key Stone and Mega Evolution Stone was a swift process. In less than half an hour, the employee returned with the tray, and the two stones were perfectly embedded in the jewelry.
With the two pieces of jewelry in hand, Yuga eagerly returned to the gym and released Venusaur.
Venusaur's right ear had already been pierced in preparation for wearing the Mega Evolution Stone earring.
Yuga had considered directly attaching the Mega Evolution Stone ring to Venusaur, but his Venusaur was much larger than the average Venusaur, making it awkward to wear. So, he had opted for the earring.
As a Grass-type Pokémon with strong regenerative abilities, having an ear pierced was a minor inconvenience for Venusaur.
Venusaur had large ears, and the earring was hidden within its ear canal. Unless you looked closely, it was difficult to notice that Venusaur had something on its ear.
But this arrangement was ideal since Mega Evolution was a hidden trump card that could be concealed.
Yuga planned to embed the Key Stone in a similar manner with a necklace, making it easy to hide under his clothing when needed.
While at the jewelry store, Yuga had considered custom-making a special piece of jewelry for Gengar's Mega Evolution Stone, but Gengar outright refused.
It took the Gengar Mega Evolution Stone from Yuga's hand, much to Yuga's surprise, and swallowed it before patting its round belly.
Well, if that works for you, then so be it.
Yuga shrugged and let it be.
After fitting Venusaur with the Mega Evolution Stone earring, Yuga wanted to test if it could undergo Mega Evolution. However, he had concerns about potential incidents, similar to Robert's rampaging Gyarados.
Venusaur's strength was not on par with Robert's Gyarados, making Yuga unsure about what might happen during Mega Evolution. However, Yuga knew that whether a Pokémon would go berserk during Mega Evolution depended more on the bond between the Pokémon and its trainer rather than its innate strength.
If it were Pokémon like Florges, Absol, or Chimecho, Yuga wouldn't worry at all. But with Venusaur, he couldn't be entirely sure. After all, his time with Venusaur hadn't been as long, and he hadn't raised it from a young age.
The same reasoning applied to Gengar.
Nevertheless, Yuga decided to give it a try, and he knew he could intervene if anything went awry. Before attempting Mega Evolution, Yuga released Florges. In case of an emergency, Florges could intervene.
However, when Florges looked at Yuga, it seemed like it had something to say but ultimately kept silent.
Yuga patted Venusaur's head and asked, "Venusaur, are you ready?"
With a determined look in its eyes, Venusaur nodded in response.
Yuga retrieved the Key Stone necklace from around his neck, held the Key Stone in his hand, and said, "Let's Mega Evolve, Venusaur."
At that moment, colorful energy tendrils extended from Yuga's hand and intertwined with the white energy tendrils extending from the Venusaur Mega Evolution Stone.
Yuga could feel the strange emotional fluctuations transmitted through those tendrils—trust, affection, determination, joy, and more—all intense and passionate.
Yuga realized that these emotions were coming from Venusaur, and suddenly, he felt a deep sense of guilt.
Did he truly deserve such strong feelings from Venusaur?
As these emotions surged, the intertwined tendrils of colored and white light suddenly shattered, disappearing completely. The Mega Evolution attempt had failed.
The intense emotions that Venusaur had been transmitting abruptly stopped, and Yuga returned from the state of attempting Mega Evolution.
Both Venusaur and Yuga stared wide-eyed, not understanding what had just happened. Only Florges, standing nearby, let out a resigned sigh.
I knew it would turn out this way.
Florges patted Yuga on the back.
"What just happened?" Yuga's head was spinning.
He had been worried about Venusaur going berserk, but now, he couldn't even initiate Mega Evolution. It was almost comical.
Seeing Venusaur's dejected expression, Yuga felt a pang of guilt.
"Don't be sad; it's not your fault," Yuga reassured it.
Indeed, Yuga knew that the failure to Mega Evolve was not Venusaur's fault. The emotions transmitted by Venusaur had been so vivid and wholehearted.
Yuga had never experienced such emotions before—the feeling of being unconditionally trusted, the sensation of being wholeheartedly entrusted.
Faced with these emotions, Yuga couldn't place the blame for the failed Mega Evolution attempt on Venusaur.
Yuga reflected on his own feelings: Did he reciprocate Venusaur's emotions in the same way?
Yes, he realized he had doubted Venusaur's capabilities even before attempting Mega Evolution because he believed their bond wasn't strong enough. However, the lack of connection wasn't on Venusaur's part; it was on his own. Otherwise, why would he have been so skeptical about Venusaur's abilities even before they began?