LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 1307: Reasons
After entering the hotel, Joyca and Joysa still had no intention of leaving. They stayed close to Yuga, engaging in lively conversation with him. From their talks, Yuga gradually learned more about the identities of the two women.
The Joy family was incredibly large, with branches in every region, and the relationships between these branches were similar to those between various factions of the Pokémon League.
Although Joyca and Joyla appeared to be of similar age, Joyla had already become the leader of the Sinnoh branch of the Joy family, while the leader of the Hoenn branch was Joyla's mother, Joyma.
In fact, both Joyca and Joyla had once been outstanding members of the family, receiving training at the family headquarters for a period of time, which was when the two of them met.
As a young girl, Joyca was a prominent figure among her peers. She was highly sociable and the center of attention wherever she went. Within the family, she was very well-liked, not only by her peers but also frequently praised by the elders.
However, her academic and medical skills were not impressive. She performed poorly in studies and lacked talent in Pokémon training.
In contrast, Joyla had a more introverted personality but excelled academically. She was always at the top of her class and stood out among her peers in medical skills.
Because of this, Joyla had a strong dislike for Joyca. She felt that aside from her social skills, Joyca had nothing else going for her, and was not representative of the Joy family.
Later, when Joyma became the leader of the Hoenn branch, Joyla frequently helped her mother with family affairs after finishing her training at the family headquarters. This gave her more opportunities to interact with the branches in other regions.
Coincidentally, Joyca's mother was an elder of the Sinnoh branch, and often brought Joyca along with her to family business matters. Over time, the opportunities for Joyla and Joyca to interact increased.
However, perhaps due to their incompatible personalities, the more they interacted, the less Joyla liked Joyca, thinking that she was too opportunistic.
After several decades, Joyca became the leader of the Sinnoh League branch, while Joyla took a position at the family research institute. They each went down different paths.
Despite their differences, whenever they met, Joyla still instinctively resisted Joyca.
However, Joyma seemed to like Joyca, treating her very differently from her daughter.
After Joyca and Joysa escorted Yuga to his room, they didn't rush to leave. They stayed and chatted with him for a while longer, showering him with compliments—calling him outstanding, young and accomplished, good-looking, successful... Anything that could be said to flatter him, they said it. Yuga, feeling awkward, couldn't help but think: although they were speaking the truth, being so straightforward wasn't very modest.
Since Joyca and Joysa didn't leave, and as hosts, Joyma and Joyla also couldn't just leave, causing Joyla to feel quite frustrated. After all, it was the Sinnoh branch that had invited Yuga to the family meeting. She wasn't blind to their intentions.
Yuga had dinner with the Joy family that evening. To show their respect for him, they held a small banquet in his honor.
At the banquet, Yuga met the Elder Patriarch of the Joy family, the true power behind the family, Joyqa.
The Elder Patriarch was over eighty years old but was exceptionally spry. Despite her white hair, her energy and vitality made her look much younger, which was probably why she hadn't retired from her position yet.
The headquarters of the Joy family was located in Johto, and this Elder Patriarch was a native of Johto.
The following day, Joyla and her team brought Yuga from the hotel to the Joy family's mansion in Rustboro City, where the family meeting was being held.
When the time came, Yuga was taken to a conference room where the important members of the Joy family were already sitting upright. The branch leaders from various regions, the headquarters' leader, and several elders—all of them were key members of the Joy family.
As a characteristic of the Joy family, these members were accompanied by Pokémon such as Blissey, Audino, and Wigglytuff.
Yuga casually scanned the room with his sharp eyes, noticing that the Blissey sitting beside the Elder Patriarch Joyqa was at the Champion level. There were also several Pokémon at the Elite level, making the group's strength quite formidable.
When Yuga entered the room, everyone's eyes turned toward him. The Elder Patriarch immediately stood up and introduced Yuga to the group, saying, "This is the Gym Leaders of Verdanturf Gym, Shimizu Yuga. Although many of you haven't met him yet, you've likely heard his name."
Although the Joy family had hosted a small dinner for Yuga the day before, not everyone attended—hence it was called a "small" banquet.
Hearing the Elder Patriarch's introduction, many who had never met Yuga cast curious glances at him. Setting aside his association with the Joy family, Yuga's personal strength and position alone made him an attention-grabbing figure.
After introducing Yuga, the Elder Patriarch went on to introduce the other members of the Joy family present.
Not everyone at the meeting was named Joy; there were several men as well. These men were the sons-in-law of the Joy family, similar to the situation with Masato Shirai , the head of the Verdanturf Town police station.
Although most of the key figures in the Joy and Jenny families were women, it didn't mean men weren't highly regarded. For example, the leader of the Alola branch, who attended the meeting, was a man, and currently, he was the only male branch leader in the Joy family.
Aside from those seated, the elders standing to the side weren't given special introductions.
After the introductions, the Elder Patriarch said, "Alright, please come and sit, Yuga," and gestured for the Joy family member who had escorted him to show Yuga to his assigned seat.
Yuga's seat was placed very close to the front, which showed the respect and importance the Joy family placed on him.
However, Yuga didn't expect that the person sitting opposite him would be Joyca, who winked at him, making it seem as though they were close friends.
Although many of the Joy family members resembled one another, Yuga could still easily tell them apart. Beyond appearances, people's energy and demeanor differ depending on the stage and state of their lives, so Yuga found it easy to distinguish them.
After a brief speech, the meeting officially began.
The main purpose of the meeting was for the various branches of the Joy family to report on their development. Due to the significant contributions of the Hoenn branch regarding the Moonlight Pearl matter, the meeting was held in the Hoenn region.
The first half of the meeting consisted of reports from the branch leaders and elders. The fact that the Joy family allowed Yuga to attend and listen to these reports was a sign of their trust in him.
However, Yuga was not interested in the internal affairs of the Joy family, so he found the reports rather boring and nearly dozed off.
The Joy family was large, with many affairs to handle, spanning numerous industries, making the reports particularly complex. There were even some internal disputes within the family, which only added to Yuga's headache.
Thus, the work reports went on for the entire day. When Yuga returned to the hotel in the evening, his head was buzzing with all the various voices he had heard throughout the day, including the arguments and disputes among the Joy family members.
The next day, Yuga told Joyla that he wouldn't be attending the meeting, preferring to stay at the hotel and sleep in. Yuga knew the Joy family had invited him for a reason that was not related to these tedious reports. But since the time had not yet come for them to explain why they wanted him there, he decided to enjoy his time off in the hotel.
Joyla was put in a difficult position. She couldn't make the decision herself and had to call her mother, Joyma, who then consulted with the Elder Patriarch. Once the Elder Patriarch granted permission, Yuga was excused from attending the meeting again.
It wasn't until the third day that Yuga was invited back to the meeting by the Elder Patriarch's people.
During the two days Yuga spent at the hotel, Joyca came by every day to visit him with her daughter, Joysa.
If she had any business, she didn't mention it outright; she simply chatted casually with Yuga. Her attitude was warm and sincere, but she didn't bring up any specific matters. On the other hand, if she had no ulterior motives, her enthusiasm was excessive, and her words seemed to flatter Yuga continuously.
Excessive kindness often conceals ulterior motives, and Yuga didn't believe her warmth was genuine. However, since she didn't explicitly state her intentions, Yuga wouldn't foolishly ask her directly either.
On the Third Day of the Meeting
"Today's meeting will focus on the matter of the Moonlight Pearls," the Elder Patriarch began, her face warm and amicable as she turned to Yuga. "First, on behalf of the Joy family, I would like to sincerely thank Gym Leader Shimizu for choosing to collaborate with us."
When it came to pharmaceutical collaborations, while the Joy family was indeed Yuga's top choice, they weren't his only option. Given Yuga's current stature and influence, there was no shortage of entities eager to partner with him.
For example, the Devon Corporation, with whom Yuga had close ties, wasn't primarily focused on pharmaceuticals. However, with Moonlight Pearls as an entry point, their financial strength and reputation could allow them to easily establish a foothold in this field.
Thus, the Elder Patriarch was genuinely grateful to Yuga. The profits brought by the Moonlight Pearls were enormous, and if Yuga had chosen to collaborate with someone else, the Joy family would have suffered significant losses.
Hearing the Elder Patriarch's words, Yuga smiled and replied, "You're too kind, Elder Patriarch. This partnership is mutually beneficial, and the Joy family has been of great help to me as well."
After a round of professional pleasantries, Joyca suddenly stood up.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, the source of the Moonlight Pearls is in Sinnoh. From all perspectives, entrusting the management of the Moonlight Pearl source to us is the most appropriate choice," Joyca declared.
Yuga was momentarily stunned by Joyca's statement, while Joyla, standing behind Joyma, was visibly flushed with anger.
It was only at this point that Yuga began to faintly grasp the reason behind Joyca's excessive warmth towards him. He turned to look at the Elder Patriarch, who was smiling gently as she explained.
"Here's the situation. Currently, all matters concerning the Moonlight Pearls are being handled by our branch in Hoenn. However, it's indeed more convenient for Sinnoh to take over the management of the Moonlight Pearl source."
Yuga now fully understood: a conflict had arisen within the Joy family over the Moonlight Pearls. Due to its geographical proximity, the Sinnoh branch sought to replace the Hoenn branch in collaborating with Yuga.
Judging from the Elder Patriarch's attitude, the Joy family headquarters supported the Sinnoh branch in this matter.
This wasn't a case of favoritism; as Joyca had pointed out, Sinnoh's proximity to the Moonlight Pearl source made it logistically more convenient than Hoenn, which was located on a different continent.
Seeing Yuga glance her way, the Elder Patriarch continued, "The actual owner of the Moonlight Pearl source is you. We're merely acting as managers, so the final decision ultimately rests in your hands."
This, in fact, was the primary reason they had invited Yuga to the meeting.
Yuga nodded upon hearing this and fell into deep thought, remaining silent for a long time.
Meanwhile, Joyla was so anxious that cold sweat began to form on her forehead. It was only today that she learned about the headquarters' stance on this matter. Judging from her mother's calm demeanor, her mother had likely been aware of it for some time.
Thinking about this, Joyla glanced at Joyca, and a surge of hatred rose within her, wishing she could swallow her whole.
This woman is utterly despicable!
Perhaps Joyla's gaze was too piercing because Joyca turned to look at her. She even smiled, which made Joyla feel provoked.
If this weren't a family meeting, Joyla might have lunged at Joyca by now.
At this moment, Yuga finally spoke.
"I think my current collaboration with the Joy family is very stable."
Upon hearing Yuga's words, the Elder Patriarch immediately understood his stance.
"Very well, in that case, we'll continue to have Hoenn handle this matter," the Elder Patriarch said.
As soon as the Elder Patriarch spoke, Joyla let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Joyma maintained her usual cheerful demeanor from start to finish, as if she hadn't taken this issue to heart at all.
Joyca glanced at Yuga and then at the Elder Patriarch. She seemed like she wanted to say something, but after a moment's hesitation, she chose to remain silent.
In truth, Yuga was well aware that handing over the Moonlight Pearl business to Sinnoh would indeed be more convenient for the Joy family and would have no real impact on him. The only ones inconvenienced would be those in Hoenn.
However, the reason Yuga had chosen to collaborate with the Joy family in the first place was because of his friendship with Joyka and the significant help she had given him.
If he were to switch his collaboration to Joyca's faction now, what would be the point of collaborating with the Joy family at all?
If convenience was the priority, he could have worked with the Temple Clan from the beginning. They were one of Sinnoh's largest powers and certainly stronger than the Joy family's branch in Sinnoh.
After the decision was finalized, Yuga continued to chat with members of the Joy family for quite some time, mostly about topics related to their collaboration. This made Yuga regret not bringing Kiriha along.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, do you have a partner?" the leader of the Kanto branch suddenly asked.
"No," Yuga replied, stunned.
"Well then, what do you think of my daughter? Would you like to get to know her and see if you're a good match?" the branch leader asked while pointing to a young girl sitting beside her.
This particular girl showed no trace of shyness; instead, she looked at Yuga with excitement.
Yuga: ... Is she really being this direct?
From what Yuga knew, the Kanto branch leader's situation was somewhat unique because she wasn't a medical Joy but a battle Joy, and her daughter was the same.
She was also the only battle Joy among all the branch leaders present.
Hearing the Kanto branch leader's words, the eyes of the other branch leaders lit up one after another, and their gazes instinctively turned toward their own younger generation.
Yuga awkwardly responded, "I currently don't have plans to find a partner." Given his long lifespan, he wasn't in any rush to settle down.
"That's really a shame," the Kanto branch leader said with a look of disappointment, while the girl behind her also seemed visibly disheartened.
"Gym Leader Shimizu, there's something else I'd like to discuss with you," the Elder Patriarch suddenly called out to Yuga after the meeting had concluded.