After confirming he wasn't dreaming and the reward wasn't some kind of trap, Cole finally grasped the reality of the situation. He looked down at the documents in his hand and began studying the information about this fruit tree.
It was a Ganlon Berry tree — eight hundred years old — a Grade A specimen that had earned its status purely through the passage of time.
The Ganlon Tree stood 18 meters tall. While this wouldn't be remarkable for other centuries-old trees, it was impressive for a Ganlon tree.
Ganlon Berry trees are quite rare, and though humans find their taste peculiar, Pokémon adore them.
Their most distinctive feature is their extremely slow growth. In the Pokémon world, they say that someone who plants a Ganlon Berry sapling in their youth won't see it bear fruit until their grandchildren's time.
This glacial growth rate explains why few cultivate these trees commercially — it simply isn't profitable. Their rarity drives up their value, making the fruits both expensive and hard to find in the market.
Besides their slow growth, these trees rarely grow upward, preferring to spread horizontally.
Though Cole's Ganlon Berry tree reached only about a dozen meters in height, its trunk was so massive that it would take fifteen to twenty people joining hands to encircle it. Rather than being slender, it was decidedly "short and stout".
According to the file's records, this tree originally grew on a mountain in Kalos, with an Altaria as its first owner.
Later, when a powerful trainer caught that Altaria, the berry tree was relocated as well.
Cole figured the Altaria must have been remarkable to possess such a tree.
After he had grasped the tree's background, Officer Jenny told him, "Find some time to move it away. We can't have it occupying our training grounds — we can't train like this."
Cole nodded and said, "Don't worry, I'll have someone come take it away tomorrow."
After chatting with her for a while longer, he returned to the hotel.
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Seeing how the kid's mood had visibly improved after his trip to the police station, Omura joked, "What, did Officer Jenny give you some money?"
Cole smiled brightly and said, "No money, but something that makes me even happier than money."
So he told Omura about receiving a Grade A fruit tree, which left the professor quite shocked as well.
"The League really is generous!" He exclaimed with amazement.
Just then, Daisy approached with Brionne and the others. Cole excitedly tried to pick up Larvitar but, finding it too heavy, settled for patting its head instead.
"Little one, your meals are secured now!"
Larvitar: (☉-☉?)
It looked confused, not understanding his excitement — after all, it was eating well every day already!
In his jubilant mood, Cole treated everyone to a feast at an upscale restaurant in Lumiose, even reserving a private room.
Seeing Cole's high spirits, Omura set aside his usual concerns about spending and simply joined in the celebration.
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Back at the hotel, Cole called Alfred to inform him about the Grade A berry tree and asked him to prepare for its arrival tomorrow.
Cole would arrange the tree's transport, while his brother would oversee the Diggersby planting it.
He had already chosen the perfect spot — behind his house.
Alfred was overjoyed at the news.
He felt increasingly optimistic about following Cole — now that they had their first Grade A fruit tree, surely more would follow. Perhaps a whole orchard of Grade A trees wasn't far off?
He couldn't help but feel excited about the future.
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The next day marked the Berry Exhibition's final day. Unlike previous mornings, Cole and Omura didn't arrive early.
Cole left his teacher at the hotel while he visited the Lumiose courier service to arrange the Ganlon tree's transport to Coumarine.
Despite the short distance between Lumiose and Coumarine, the shipping costs were considerable due to the tree's value and size, which complicated transportation.
The process of signing contracts and insurance agreements for such a valuable item took considerable time.
When Cole finally returned to the hotel at noon, he decided to treat Omura and the Pokémon to lunch before heading to the exhibition venue.
The exhibition's final day was notably quieter, with several vacant booths and significantly fewer visitors than before.
As they approached their booth, they noticed a young man — perhaps twenty-seven or twenty-eight — looking around their space.
"Can I help you?" Cole asked as he approached.
Seeing the kid he was looking for, and also the middle-aged man behind him, the young man brightened, "Are you the owners of this booth?"
"That's right." Cole nodded, feeling the young man looked somehow familiar.
"Great! I thought you weren't coming today!" The young man sighed with relief, "Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Augustine Sycamore, recently assigned here by the League. I'm a Pokémon Professor, and my laboratory is near the Centrico Plaza."
Hearing his introduction, Cole instantly understood why he seemed familiar — this was Professor Augustine Sycamore in his younger years. He had the same medium-length hair, but his face was much younger, his complexion fairer, and he was clean-shaven.
No wonder Cole had only felt a vague familiarity with this fresh-faced version.
Cole feigned surprise, "A professor? I'm honored! I never expected Professor Sycamore to be such a young Pokémon Professor!"
Coming from an eleven-year-old child, the man found these words somewhat incongruous, but he humbly replied, "Not at all, I still have a long way to go."
Cole then asked, "Professor, did you come here looking for us?"
Augustine nodded and replied, "Well, you see..."
His laboratory had just moved to Lumiose a few days ago, and his Garchomp, uncomfortable in the new environment, had stopped eating properly. Its digestive system was affected, leaving it quite weak.
Augustine was very worried. He had initially come to the Berry Exhibition just to look around but unexpectedly heard about Cole from others.
Someone had given him one of Cole's berries, and surprisingly, his Garchomp had loved it. That's why he came looking.
He had visited in the morning but found no one, so he returned in the afternoon. When Cole's group was late, Augustine feared they weren't coming at all!
Fortunately, persistence paid off, and the group finally arrived.
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