Alola Region.
Melemele Island.
A modestly decorated meeting room, with a sign over the entrance labeled "UB Countermeasures Department".
"Natsuhiko, you finally made it."
As the director and strategic commander of the "UB Countermeasures Department", Lira was quite pleased with Natsuhiko's arrival.
Dressed as usual in black, Natsuhiko first nodded towards Lira.
Then he surveyed the people in the not-so-large meeting room, nodding to each of them in greeting.
Among them.
The ones that caught Natsuhiko's attention, aside from the Handsome Guy who accompanied Lira to the Alola Region, were the two sitting to Lira's right.
An elderly man clad in the relaxed tropical attire iconic of the Alola Region, whose face closely resembled that of Professor Oak, with the key difference being his much tanner skin.
Nari Omiki, Professor Oak's cousin and principal of Melemele Island's Pokemon Academy.
The other was a woman, with similarly dark skin, her white hair coiled on top of her head, wearing a gray vest and casually tied an outer garment around her waist, exuding a laid-back demeanor.
Dr. Barnett, Dr. Kukui's old acquaintance.
Who knows if she's earned the doctoral title yet.
Nari Omiki then smiled and said:
"Natsuhiko, Yukiaki has sung praises of your talents more than once, saying you have a chance to surpass Professor Elm. Exaggerated Eevee!"
He said, and even transformed into an Eevee's likeness.
Nari Omiki is a doctor who studies special forms of Pokemon and was one of the first personnel assigned by the League to the Alola Region, contributing greatly to the League's establishment there.
Through the Pokemon Academy, he influences the next generation in the Alola Region, making the League's introduction much smoother.
Of course, his original intention was only to teach students.
Natsuhiko ignored Nari Omiki's slightly eccentric facial expression change, smiling and humbly said, "Professor Oak exaggerates, I hope Principal Oak, you will guide me in the future."
Last time, Professor Oak announced Natsuhiko as his half-student, so Natsuhiko called him "teacher" as a sign of respect.
Nari Omiki liked this title "Principal Oak" very much from Natsuhiko, as he preferred teaching kids over the title of doctor.
"Hahaha—no need to be modest."
Then Natsuhiko turned his gaze to Barnett.
Barnett extended her hand, a hearty smile on her face.
"I've long heard the name of Mr. Dodo, both Dr. Cypress and Zhengu mentioned you many times, and I just went over your 'Beauty' paper that you published recently, truly impressive."
Natsuhiko politely shook her hand gently and released it.
This is what you call a small circle.
In the Pokemon Research Community, the truly renowned often have some connections.
Nari Omiki is Professor Oak's cousin, Barnett, and Dr. Cypress, along with Zhengu, were college classmates, with quite a good relationship.
Also like the mentor-mentee relationship between Professor Elm and Professor Oak, and Barnett and Dr. Kukui, who will get married someday.
"Dr. Cypress and Zhengu also mentioned you, Ms. Barnett, saying you are quite remarkable, especially in wrestling." Natsuhiko complimented in return.
"Hahahaha—is that so? Wrestling is my hobby indeed."
Barnett showed no trace of modesty, scratching the back of her head with a laugh.
"Okay." Lira's face also carried a smile, "Let's leave the chitchat for later, this time your call here is due to a situation."
Inviting everyone to sit down.
As the Deputy Police Chief in addition to being the deputy director, other than Lira, Natsuhiko was the one with the highest status and position among the International Criminal Police present, so he naturally sat to her left.
"A situation?"
Natsuhiko blinked his eyes.
He just arrived in Alola, and there's already a situation?
What luck is that?
Seeming to have seen Natsuhiko's confusion, Lira explained, "It's not an unexpected event, but progress has been made on an incident that has been troubling us for several years."
Then she looked at the Handsome Guy and nodded to him.
Thus, the Handsome Guy stood up, holding documents and explaining, "'UB Countermeasures Department' was formed over eight years ago, as that was when we first encountered the 'UB', what Barnett referred to as the Ultimate Beast."
Natsuhiko listened quietly.
"UB" was a code name assigned by researchers in the Pokemon Realm to the early Ultimate Beasts, these unknown creatures, hence the name "UB Countermeasures Department".
And the events the Handsome Guy narrated, Natsuhiko also knew.
Because it was at that time that Lira fell out from an Ultimate Cave, lost all memory, and was rescued by the Handsome Guy, eventually climbing to the top of his head, becoming his superior.
"Our 'UB Countermeasures Department' conducted years-long pursuits and investigations into that Ultimate Beast, but all were in vain, until not long ago..."
The Handsome Guy was halfway through when Barnett added, "We once again detected abnormal fluctuations in the Ultimate Aura."
"Yes. Now that the Alola Region is open, and trainers and tourists from all over the world are flocking in, for public safety, we've upgraded the importance level of this event to 'A', related to a region's stability risk level."
At this point, Natsuhiko understood the reason Barnett was sitting here.
She definitely counted among the top experts in the study of the Ultimate Cave and Ultimate Beasts.
After listening to their narrative, Natsuhiko thoughtfully looked at Lira.