Chapter 47: Xiaoxia Arrives (Patreon)

Renan was about to open the Gym's front door, but the moment he slid the key into the lock, his expression sharpened.

He remembered locking the door properly when he left the Gym earlier.

Yet right now, the door was unlocked. Anyone could turn the handle and walk straight in.

In other words…

A possibility crossed Renan's mind, and his face darkened at once.

Then he shook his head and dismissed the guess.

Cerulean Gym looked run-down, but it had a near-champion-level Gyarados guarding it. If some ordinary thief slipped inside, the 'Intimidate' Gyarados gave off without even meaning to would be enough to leave them completely unable to move.

And anyone who could stand up to that kind of mental pressure was either a psychic like himself or a Trainer with a Pokémon of at least Elite Four-level strength.

Clearly, neither type would risk offending the League just to steal the all-show, no-use Pokémon in Cerulean Gym.

As for the near-champion-level Gyarados? Reality wasn't a game. Even if someone forced the big guy into a Poké Ball, a Pokémon wouldn't obey a Trainer who lacked the ability or didn't have its acknowledgment.

So, once every other possibility was ruled out…

One answer surfaced in Renan's mind.

'So, has Misty, the youngest sister of Cerulean Gym, come back?'

That was his guess, but he didn't let his guard down. After all, this world still had its share of morons who never seemed to think about what they were doing.

The black-haired boy pushed the door open slowly, his breathing quietly shifting to Meditate. The narrow passage that normally took half a minute to cross ended up costing him over a minute.

Still, by the time he reached the entrance of the stage hall, his two layers of Meditate had given him mental fluctuations that rivaled a Gym-level psychic, at least for the moment.

Against a near-Elite Four or Elite Four-level Pokémon, that might not break through its defenses. But a decapitation strike, taking out the Trainer commanding the Pokémon and leaving them completely helpless, wouldn't be difficult.

Luckily, the worst case never came.

A bell-like peal of laughter drifted into his ears: "Staryu, Goldeen, stop messing around~"

Renan didn't rush to judge. Standing in the blind spot, he sent out his mental power and probed the situation in the hall.

Besides the Cerulean Gym Pokémon and his own, there was only one extra human presence. Going by the voice, a girl.

She was crouching by the pool, playing around with the Staryu and Goldeen she'd called out.

Clearly, since she knew the Cerulean Gym Pokémon, she was unlikely to be the thief he'd imagined.

Renan let out a long breath.

Then he stepped out of the blind spot.

"Roar!" "Nido!" "Pii!"

"Squirtle! Squirtle!" x5

The girl by the pool had her back to the entrance and didn't notice the boy walking in.

The three little ones and the Squirtle Squad saw him first, though, and cried out one after another to welcome him back.

"Yeah, I'm back," Renan said with a smile to his Pokémon. "Did you all finish this morning's training?"

"Roar~" "Nido~" "Pii~"

"Squirtle~" x3

Except for Lao Si and Lao Wu, who were still recovering, the other seven Pokémon all nodded hard.

While Renan was chatting with the three little ones and the Squirtle Squad, the girl had clearly heard his voice too. She patted the heads of the "kids" at her feet, stood up, and turned to look at the newcomer.

Unlike Violet, who dressed with great care to show off her feminine charm, the girl who now met Renan's eyes had simply tied her shoulder-length orange hair into a side ponytail, probably so she could move around easily on the road. She wore a yellow crop top with a navel-baring hem, and denim suspender shorts.

A pair of long, pale legs was on bright display. But since she was still young, the effect was more cute than pretty or sexy.

While Renan studied the girl, she was naturally studying him too.

Then.

The corner of her mouth curled up, and she held out her hand. "You're the psychic Breeder who took the quest my sisters posted on the forum and can stand up to Gyarados's 'Intimidate,' right? Nice to meet you. I'm Misty, the youngest of the four Cerulean Gym sisters. I'm aiming to become a Water-type Pokémon Master, so I'm traveling around Kanto."

'Knew it,' Renan thought. He held out his hand and shook hers lightly. "Hello, I'm Renan, a rookie Trainer who just debuted this season. I plan to enter this year's Indigo League, but I'm still in the badge-collecting stage."

"Oh?" Misty had been surprised to see on the League forum that someone had taken the quest her family posted, and Violet had told her over the phone that Renan was a psychic. But she hadn't known he was planning to enter the Indigo League… No, wait. For the vast majority of Trainers, collecting badges was the first goal of any journey.

In truth, if she weren't a Gym Leader candidate who could stand in as Leader whenever her three sisters were away, Misty would have liked to make a name for herself at the Indigo League too, to raise her family Gym's prestige in Kanto.

Thoughts flickered through her mind, and the orange-haired girl asked curiously, "So how many badges do you have now?"

Renan paused at that. "Only two so far. The first is the Rainbow Badge from my hometown, and the second is the Cascade Badge from your Gym."

In the anime of his previous life, Misty had come across as rough, always shaking her fist threateningly. But that was because Ash was a complete newbie Trainer who knew nothing, and Brock kept confessing to every pretty older girl he'd just met. Watching those two act like fools at every turn, anyone's temper would flare.

In reality, as the true heir of Cerulean Gym, Misty had never lacked intelligence or emotional insight.

Hardly had Renan finished speaking when the future Mermaid of Cerulean City couldn't help narrowing her eyes. "How did you get my family's badge?"

She'd only met Renan today and didn't know his circumstances.

But she'd grown up watching her three sisters, and she knew exactly how they approached Pokémon battles and what kinds of stupid things they'd pull.

Renan hesitated for half a second. He'd meant to change the subject and brush off her question.

But the girl had clearly already guessed the truth from his reaction. She sighed helplessly. "You didn't get that badge by challenging the Gym the proper way, did you?"

She asked it flatly, like a statement. When Renan said nothing, or rather tacitly admitted it, she clapped her hands and summoned from the pool a Staryu whose mental fluctuations were only ordinary-level.

Only then did she look at the boy in front of her again and issue her challenge. "In that case, I'll make up the Gym battle that should have happened."