Chapter 49: Shared Space Stirrings (Patreon)

Renan's mouth twitched at her words, though he kept it subtle.

Gym Leaders were only human. Once their composure cracked, they pulled the same shameless stunts as anyone.

Take right now. Going by the psychic perception Renan was projecting outward, the mental aura of the Starmie Misty had sent out had already reached the Veteran level.

Yet the League Conference rules were clear: when a challenger went for the second badge, the strongest Pokémon a Gym Leader could field shouldn't exceed Level 18.

Then again, what he and Misty were doing now wasn't a real Gym battle anyway.

So it could be excused, just barely.

'Forget it. I'll treat this as a dress rehearsal for the last two Gyms.'

From the seventh Gym onward, Gym Leaders were allowed to field one Gym-class Pokémon in battle.

And the vast majority of rookie Trainers from ordinary families couldn't possibly raise a Pokémon past Level 41 in a single year. They might not even have a Pokémon with the potential to reach Gym class.

To win a badge, you either did what Ash did and relied on a Gym Leader who half fought you and half handed it over.

Or you needed to lean on tactics.

With that thought, Renan spoke again. "Quick Attack, close in."

He didn't repeat his old trick. Misty wasn't a fool, and she wouldn't fall into the same pit twice.

From the other side of the pool, the girl shouted, "Starmie, use Swift!"

Swift was fast, and it had a degree of homing to it.

It was a ranged move that was very hard to dodge.

At least for now, Pidgeotto, whose physique had reached the Veteran level thanks to the Breathing Techniques, could only grit its beak and take the hit.

And since his partner had already eaten one Water Gun earlier, the moment Pidgeotto landed on Starmie's platform, Renan switched commands. "Roost."

"Pidge!"

Pidgeotto folded its wings, and the Flying-type energy in its body gathered into the platform beneath its feet and turned into overflowing vitality.

Having taken a Swift head-on at point-blank range, it shook off its fatigue in just three seconds.

Misty looked visibly disgusted. If she hadn't remembered this was a Gym battle, and for the second badge no less, she'd have had Starmie use Ice Beam right then. For now she could only keep giving orders. "Rapid Spin, get some distance."

Renan's lips curled upward. "Quick Attack, close in, then hug it with your wings."

Misty: "Wha—?!"

She had already guessed what Renan was about to do, but there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Sure enough, two seconds later.

As Pidgeotto dashed up to the spinning Starmie and wrapped itself around it, Renan's voice rang out, calm. "Hidden Power."

The match was already lost, but Misty refused to concede. "Full-power Water Gun, blast Pidgeotto off!"

With the two of them pressed together, neither Water Gun nor Hidden Power could possibly miss.

Under Thunder Breathing, Pidgeotto's physique alone had reached the Veteran level, and not the freshly arrived tier Starmie was at. Converted into levels, it was at least 23 or 24.

A single Water Gun was nowhere near enough to hurt it badly.

Starmie, on the other hand, was taking double super-effective damage.

One Hidden Power had already pushed it into the red, its screen flashing a warning.

Renan stayed steady. Even with victory in hand, he didn't get hasty. "Hold Starmie and use Roost toward my platform."

By now Misty wanted to swear, and even clench her fists in a fighting stance, but she was helpless. With nothing to lose, she tried a move a second-badge Gym Leader shouldn't normally be allowed to use. "Confuse Ray!"

It worked well. Pidgeotto was confused.

But Renan had already pulled out a Poké Ball at nearly the same instant, and a red beam of light recalled it.

He threw another Poké Ball and sent out Nidorino, which appeared right beside Starmie, now sitting on his own platform. "Thunderbolt, end the battle."

"Nido!"

Misty's mouth fell open. She'd meant to give Starmie another command. "Use..."

But she had barely gotten out one word when she saw Starmie collapse, electrified.

The orange-haired girl knew she'd lost. She lowered her head, her eyes hidden in the shadow of her bangs.

For the first time in her life, she knew the suffocating feeling of being dominated from start to finish.

Misty was no weak girl, though. After two deep breaths, she'd pulled her mood back together.

She recalled Starmie, said "Good work, Starmie" to its Poké Ball, then turned back to the black-haired boy standing not far away.

"Renan, this battle is your victory."

Normally, hearing that, Renan would have offered a polite word or two out of courtesy.

But right now, he did no such thing.

Because in the very instant Misty's words left her mouth, the 'shared space' that had lain in the depths of his soul, stuck in cooldown ever since he'd arrived in the Pokémon world, suddenly sent out a message: he had obtained an authority that let him pause the time and progress of the Pokémon world at any moment and send his consciousness back to the DanMachi world.

For Renan, it was undoubtedly a huge boost.

To name just one use, if he met an enemy in the wild or in some dangerous incident that he and his three little ones couldn't beat for the time being, he could simply use this authority. Then, once he'd trained himself strong enough in the DanMachi world or another plane, he could come back and resume his exploration and journey through the Pokémon world.

On top of that, he could use the chance to return to the DanMachi world to find Astraea and update his Falna.

Of course, that all depended on his obtaining a second, even a third authority, so the Pokémon world would never hit a true dead end.

'So was it because I beat Misty? Or did the number of Trainer battles or victories hit some threshold? Or maybe...'

Renan narrowed his eyes. There were too many possibilities, and he couldn't pin down the exact condition for gaining the authority yet.

Still, he could rule out the wrong options one by one later, so there was no need to rush.

"...Renan? Renan?"

Just then, someone tapped the boy lightly on the shoulder.

Renan turned his head and found that Misty had somehow come to stand beside him.

Seeing him look at her, the orange-haired girl knit her brows slightly. "What were you thinking about just now? I called you several times and you didn't react."

Renan gave an apologetic smile, the lie coming easily. "I was thinking about how to strengthen Pidgeotto and the others."

At that, Misty couldn't stop the corner of her mouth from twitching. "You're already really good."

She hadn't forgotten that he'd only gotten his starter Pokémon a little over a month ago.

He'd trained his partners to the point where they could beat a Veteran-level Starmie in so little time. Sure, she hadn't gone all out, but wasn't that already incredibly impressive?