"Skarmory, Iron Defense!"
"Skarmory, Body Press!"
Body Press—its damage increases the higher the user's defense!
This Tropius was really high-leveled. Even after stacking Iron Defense three times, it still took two Body Presses to finally bring it down.
Boom!
Tropius slammed into the ground, completely losing its ability to battle.
"Alright, that's the direct showdown you wanted. Now send out your Gyarados."
Kael: "..."
Battle over.
Kael walked out of the gym, utterly dejected.
Thinking back to the moment his Gyarados went down, he clenched his fists and swore silently, "I'll be back for sure!"
As he headed toward the Pokémon Center, eight youths suddenly jumped out—red, yellow, blue, green, gray, white, pink, and purple.
They had been waiting for this moment for a while.
In fact, they had started waiting the moment they stepped into the gym.
"Bro, wanna beat that gym leader?" asked the yellow-haired youth.
Kael raised an eyebrow at that. "You guys have a way?"
His gaze, filled with suspicion and scrutiny, swept over the unfamiliar faces in front of him.
The red-haired youth quickly chimed in, full of enthusiasm, "Of course! Just join our little family, and if we work together, we'll definitely find a way to take that guy down!"
Kael just snorted, crossing his arms with a face full of disdain. "Hmph, why should I trust you? People from Blackthorn always walk alone."
Clearly, he thought they were some kind of shady MLM group.
Seeing him about to turn and leave, the blue-haired guy quickly called out, "Wait, wait, don't go! Look, we've got proof!"
He handed Kael a photo.
Kael paused suspiciously and glanced over at the picture.
In the photo, the red, yellow, blue, green, gray, white, pink, and purple youths were surrounding a brown-haired boy.
The rainbow-colored hair made for a truly dazzling display.
At the center, the boy held a metallic, shimmering Feather Badge, grinning brightly with sheer joy.
"See? That kid's our student. Thanks to us, he already earned the Solaceon Badge," the blue-haired guy said proudly.
Kael stared blankly at the badge in the photo, deep in thought.
After a long silence, he finally said, "Alright. What do I need to do?"
At that, the colorful group all smiled.
"Simple. Just shout our slogan."
...
So weird. After that kid from Blackthorn challenged the gym this morning, no one else showed up.
Caleb rolled lazily back and forth on his bed.
Just then, a notification popped up on his phone.
["Kanto Region Masters Group Chat"]
[Lorelei: @Lance, hahaha, check out your descendant from Blackthorn (video.mp4)]
[Lorelei: Hahaha!]
[Lorelei: Hahaha!]
...
The spamming "hahaha" clearly showed just how much fun Aunt Lorelei was having.
[Erika: Stealth Rock, Whirlwind, Sturdy—what kind of cursed combo is that?! (Psyduck shivering in a corner.jpg)]
[Lt. Surge: Kid's got guts. Wanna learn some street-fighting tricks from me? Wouldn't want you to get killed out there, haha.]
[Lance: ...]
[Lorelei: Oh? Finally speaking up? Your clan's junior got wrecked—don't you wanna avenge him or something?]
[Lance: I'm busy right now. But when I get the time, I'll be sure to... consult with Gym Leader Caleb about those underhanded tricks. (smile)]
??? Lance wants to consult me on dirty tricks?
Caleb glanced at the Alolan Vulpix flipping through a fashion magazine beside his bed.
Would this be enough?
Since Vulpix couldn't return to Alola for now, Caleb was temporarily taking care of it.
The little guy was super clingy and insisted on sleeping with him.
Caleb had no choice but to give in.
"Owuu~"
Vulpix blinked and looked at him.
"It's nothing, go ahead and keep reading." Caleb chuckled, scratching its chin.
"Owuu~~"
Vulpix squinted in delight.
"Zzz~"
...What the heck was that noise?
Oh right—Pachirisu was still snoozing at the foot of the bed. Way to ruin the mood.
Already this big and still needs to hog my bed. Even Litten was more mature than this.
Just then, another friend request popped up on his phone.
["Ordinary Whimsicott" has sent you a friend request: Accept or Decline]
Friend request?
Normally, Caleb rejected random friend requests without hesitation.
But if he remembered correctly, "Ordinary Whimsicott" was one of the chatters in the "Sunshine" group chat.
Caleb had a good impression of the "Sunshine" group.
The people there were polite, eager to learn—not like the rage-filled gym challengers.
Whoever created that group must've been a genius!
He tapped "Accept," and a message came through right away.
[Ordinary Whimsicott: Gym Leader Caleb, can I ask you something?]
Aw, a curious kid? Caleb was delighted. He loved eager learners the most.
[SunshineBoy: Go ahead, ask anything you want. (Rapidash incoming.jpg)]
[Ordinary Whimsicott: Which do you think is better—Whimsicott or Jumpluff?]
Huh?
Whimsicott… and Jumpluff.
Caleb remembered both Pokémon were known as "disgusting cotton" and were excellent support mons.
If he were to quote Nurse Joy: they're both good kids.
Caleb was stumped. This question was no easier than "Who do you love more, Mom or Dad?"
Granted, that one wouldn't be hard for him at all.
[SunshineBoy: I remember you have a Whimsicott, right? What's going on—something happen?]
Instead of answering directly, Caleb tossed the question back.
[Ordinary Whimsicott: It's like this—my family has raised Whimsicott for generations. But after my parents divorced, my dad remarried and brought me back a younger sister.
After he and my stepmother died in a car accident, it was just the two of us. But we never really got along.
She likes Jumpluff and wants to replace all the Pokémon on our ranch with them. I couldn't accept that and said no.
She wouldn't let it go. We had a huge fight last night. She challenged me to a battle, saying the loser has to follow the winner's plan. I was hot-headed and agreed...]
???
What is this, Yu-Gi-Oh? There's nothing a duel can't solve?
[SunshineBoy: So what, you want me to teach you some tactics? (Marshtomp sees through it all.jpg)]
[Ordinary Whimsicott: Is that okay? (Pikachu shy.jpg)]
[SunshineBoy: No problem.]
Caleb was always happy to share. He had so much tactical knowledge just collecting dust—it was about time someone asked for it.
[SunshineBoy: You've got Self-Destruct Cotton, Tailwind Cotton, SubToxic Cotton, Offensive Cotton, Baton Pass Cotton, Weather Cotton… Which one you wanna learn?]