Roughly ten kilometers from where Julian was having hot pot, Gabite stood triumphantly atop a pseudo-Elite Gumshoos, its foot pressing down on the unconscious opponent.
Despite being the victor, there was no joy on its face—only intense frustration.
'Why... why isn't it working?!'
"Raargh!"
Gabite let out a furious roar.
The roar was so loud it jolted the unconscious Gumshoos awake.
Trembling, Gumshoos stared up at the seething Gabite, not daring to make a sound—terrified that any noise would get it noticed and beaten up again.
But Gabite clearly noticed that the Gumshoos was awake. It lowered its head and growled: "Why are you so weak?"
Gumshoos: ⊙﹏⊙∥
'Excuse me?!' It wasn't weak! It was a pseudo-Elite, for Arceus' sake!
While not quite at the Elite level, but even in Top-tier secret realms, there weren't that many Elites around. A Pokémon reaching pseudo-Elite level was already impressive for most wild Pokémon.
It was the leader of its group, and yet not only had it been defeated and stepped on—it was now being called weak too.
Its dignity was obliterated.
Thankfully, the battle had scared off all the nearby wild Pokémon, so no one else saw this.
Seeing Gabite's disgusted expression, Gumshoos was furious but didn't dare say anything.
This was the first time it had seen a mere Advanced-level Pokémon defeat a pseudo-Elite.
But this Gabite looked unfamiliar, definitely not from around here.
Seeing that it was almost time, Gabite finally lifted its foot off Gumshoos, ready to head back for dinner.
"Hmmmm..."
But before it could go far, a voice called out from behind.
Gumshoos' face lit up with tearful relief as it scrambled toward the newcomer—a towering Drampa—whimpering and pointing accusingly at Gabite.
Gabite turned, sizing up Drampa, seeing that it was with Gumshoos, and assumed that it was here to retaliate.
And judging by Gumshoos's tone, this Drampa was probably stronger than it.
Gabite, who hadn't had a good fight yet, walked back again.
Gumshoos panicked and quickly hid behind Drampa. ""Wh-what are you doing?!""
Seeing how cowardly it was acting, Gabite scoffed. "I'm not interested in you."
Then, pointing at Drampa, it said, "You. You're stronger than this trash. Fight me."
Gumshoos: '...Trash? Me?!'
But Drampa shook its head and refused. It was the kind of Pokémon that didn't like to fight.
But Gabite wasn't about to give up. "If you won't fight me, then I'll just keep beating up this trash instead."
Gumshoos: [ ?_?? ]
'Why am I always the one getting hurt?!'
Under Gumshoos's pleading gaze, Drampa finally nodded after a pause. "Fine, I'll fight you. But first... come with me somewhere."
Gabite frowned.
Drampa added, "Don't worry, it's not far from here."
Hearing this, Gabite reluctantly agreed.
But it's like when a human says "I'm almost there", they might've just left their house.
And when a Pokémon says "It's not far", their definition of "not far" could mean dozens of kilometers.
After walking nearly twenty kilometers and still not reaching the destination, Gabite—already hot-tempered—snapped. It stormed up to Drampa, claws twitching.
"YOU'RE MESSING WITH ME!!"
It raised its claws to attack.
But Drampa calmly said, "We're almost there."
Gabite's claw stopped just short of Drampa's face—no more than a finger's width away.
Gabite stared at Drampa. It wasn't the words that made it stop, but the fact that Drampa didn't even flinch.
No resistance. No fear. Just quiet patience.
That made Gabite lose interest. It lowered its arm, turned around, and began stomping away, uninterested in whatever destination Drampa had in mind.
Drampa: "You've come this far. Won't you at least look?"
---
Meanwhile, Back at Camp...
Julian had finished eating hot pot. Bored, he leaned against Arcanine while Slowking cleaned up the table—not that Julian had any intention of helping.
"Meta~"
Metagross floated over to Julian and relayed its observation.
Hearing that, Julian's face darkened: "Gabite left with another Pokémon?"
He had been wondering why Gabite was taking so long—even during its usual battle binges, it never stayed out this late.
It had already been nearly two whole hours.
And now he heard that it had been lured away by some rando?!
But Metagross said it hadn't sensed any hostility from the Pokémon that approached Gabite, so it didn't intervene.
Still, why did Gabite just run off with some stranger?
Julian stood abruptly, irritation flashing across his face. "Let's go find it."
He wanted to see for himself what kind of Pokémon dared to "abduct" his partner.
"Arf!"
Arcanine barked, saying it wanted to go too.
Julian returned Arcanine and Aggron to their Poké Balls, then set off with them and Metagross, leaving the others behind to rest.
Using Teleport, Metagross brought Julian to where Gabite was supposed to be.
"…Where's Gabite?"
But Julian didn't see Gabite—until Metagross pointed above them with its arm.
Julian looked up and saw that above his head was a treehouse-like structure, complete with a ladder leading up to it.
---
Inside the treehouse, Gabite was curiously looking around.
The whole place was set up like a human-style bar—complete with tables, chairs, a counter, and even a "bartender." But instead of alcohol, the drinks served here were smoothies made from various Berries.
Drampa sat at the counter and gestured for Gabite to join.
Driven by curiosity, Gabite temporarily forgot about the fight and sat down at the bar beside Drampa.
Drampa placed a few berries on the counter. "One drink for him."
Interestingly, the currency here was Berries.
The treehouse owner and bartender, an Oranguru, nodded and selected several different berries from a basket. It crushed them in a specific order, strained the juice, and poured it into a hollowed-out coconut shell.
A hollow reed served as the straw, adorned with a tiny flower, completing the presentation.
Placing the juice in front of Gabite, Oranguru said, "Please enjoy."
Gabite eyed the drink suspiciously before taking a cautious sip.
Then—
Gabite: ヾ(￣▽￣)?
It was delicious.
The flavor of the juice wasn't any worse than the stuff Slowking made, and the Berries used here were all unique to this secret realm.
So naturally, the juice had a special taste Gabite had never experienced before.
It was instantly captivated by the fresh flavor.
Seeing Gabite's satisfied expression, Drampa ordered a drink for itself too.
While Oranguru was preparing the drink, Drampa spoke softly: "I don't know what's troubling you... but if it's not a threat, why not take a moment to rest?"
*****
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