"Alright, once I get back, I'll definitely study it carefully."
"I don't really feel anything special. It doesn't seem to contain any strange power."
"It's not hot. Just warm, kind of like Pidgeot's feathers."
"Get lost. You want to touch it? One hundred million per touch. No credit."
Out of countless messages, Silas selected a few important contacts to reply to.
Even so, by the time he finished typing, half an hour had already passed.
"Finished?"
Whitney, who had disappeared at some point and now suddenly reappeared from who-knows-where, asked him.
"Yeah… but everyone's really curious."
Silas scratched his head and sighed.
Even when he had nearly died in the collapse of the Goldenrod Radio Tower earlier, he hadn't felt this nervous and exhausted.
"Well, it is Ho-Oh's Rainbow Wing. Of course everyone wants details."
Whitney spoke casually.
One of her strengths was that nothing could shock her for very long.
Especially after she had personally touched the Rainbow Wing.
She had almost immediately returned to her usual self.
"Oh right, I drove the people outside away for you. And the city council approved my proposal.
Come sign tomorrow, and you'll officially be an honorary citizen of Goldenrod!"
Whitney stood with her hands on her hips, looking extremely proud.
She had worked very hard during that half hour.
Silas smiled warmly.
"Thank you so much. I'll definitely be there tomorrow."
The people messaging him were already this excited, he couldn't imagine how intense the crowd outside had been.
Even as a Gym Leader, it probably hadn't been easy for Whitney to handle.
"But… the Goldenrod Department Store trip I promised you this morning isn't happening.
If you show up there now, you won't be coming back out."
Whitney sighed.
She was someone who kept her promises, and failing to follow through made her a little upset.
Silas nodded.
"True. But there's still something we can do."
Whitney blinked at him.
Then, as if realizing something, she grabbed her clothes and took several steps back in horror.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Silas looked speechless.
What kind of person did she think he was?
He glanced at her dismissively. "Please. As if."
"I meant we still have time for a Gym battle. That's something you promised me this morning too."
Seeing Whitney still backing away, Silas hurried to clarify.
Whitney straightened up in realization.
Oh, a Gym battle.
That was her actual job.
"Then come with me. I'll call a referee."
She turned and walked deeper into the Goldenrod Gym.
After a long corridor, bright light suddenly burst into view.
A massive circular battlefield appeared before him.
"So big."
The words slipped out of Silas's mouth.
The last time he had seen a battlefield this large was during the main rounds at the Indigo Plateau Conference.
"Big? It's alright, I guess."
Whitney didn't seem impressed.
To her, it still felt a little cramped.
But League regulations limited Gym battlefield size, so this was already the maximum allowed.
Silas felt tears of envy welling up again.
"Gym Leader Whitney!"
A deep, powerful voice echoed from the opposite corridor.
"Oh, the referee's here. Let's go."
Whitney pulled Silas toward the battlefield.
"He may be the referee, but he's actually a senior Trainer with incredible strength — especially when it comes to training Normal-type Pokémon."
Whitney enthusiastically introduced the unseen referee.
Silas quickly formed an image of a steady middle-aged man in his mind.
But when he saw him, he froze.
"Uh… hello?!"
The referee also hesitated slightly.
"This is Senior Norman. And this is the Trainer who caused such a sensation, Silas."
Whitney introduced them.
"This should be our second time meeting. Hello, Silas."
Norman quickly composed himself.
He hadn't expected that the opponent Whitney asked him to referee for would be half an acquaintance.
Just yesterday, he had reviewed Silas's general background.
"Hello, Senior Norman. Sorry to trouble you to referee at a time like this."
Silas spoke politely.
"No trouble at all. I needed a walk to help digest, and Whitney said she had a surprise for me."
Norman smiled kindly.
"Huh? So you two know each other?"
Whitney tilted her head.
"Not really. We met once at the hotel's training field."
Norman explained.
"Oh~ our hotel."
Whitney nodded.
Silas's mouth twitched.
Did she just say our hotel?
The hotel he was staying at was very high-end.
"You should've told me you were staying at our hotel. I would've made it free for you!"
Whitney thumped her chest proudly.
She understood value perfectly well.
Waiving a hotel bill versus touching the Rainbow Wing?
Obviously the latter was far more valuable.
"It's getting late. Let's begin."
Norman quickly interrupted before Whitney said anything more inappropriate.
Silas swallowed the joke he had been about to make.
Fine. It's okay.
"Challenger Silas Alaric i from Viridian City, Kanto, versus Goldenrod Gym Leader Whitney. Both parties will battle with a Gym Badge at stake.
Each side may use three Pokémon. When all Pokémon on one side are unable to battle, that side loses.
The challenger may switch Pokémon. The Gym Leader may not switch freely.
Battle begin!"
Since this was semi-private, Norman's explanation was brief.
None of the three had any issues with that.
"Go! Clefable! Show him our strength!"
Whitney energetically threw a Poké Ball.
The pink Clefable landed gently on the field.
Silas observed carefully.
This was the quasi-Elite-level Clefable that had carried Mary safely during the tower collapse.
He quickly made his choice.
"Then I'm counting on you this time — Togekiss!"
"Toge-kiss!"
Togekiss hovered in midair, staring down at Clefable with fighting spirit.
This was a battle between Pokémon of the same type, a [Fairy-type] mirror match.
"Togekiss, use Air Slash."
As usual, the challenger attacked first.
Silas immediately ordered Togekiss to use his signature, reliable and slightly infuriating strategy: flinch-lock Air Slash.
"Clefable, use Minimize, then dodge!"
Whitney reacted quickly.
Though usually scatterbrained, in battle she was highly competent.
White air blades sliced through where Clefable had been standing, but hit nothing.
"What an agile Minimize."
Silas's eyes lit up.
After using Minimize, Clefable's height shrank from around 1.5 meters to roughly 0.8 meters, its width halved as well.
With that smaller body, even without Flying-type speed, Clefable's mobility dramatically increased.
Normally not known for speed, Clefable now left afterimages across the battlefield.
Under these circumstances, Togekiss's Air Slash became extremely difficult to land.
"Interesting."
Silas immediately grew serious.
He had to admit, after spending the whole day with Whitney, he had formed a somewhat mistaken impression of her.
After all, with someone like her, it was hard to believe she handled serious matters well.
But just this execution of Minimize by Clefable proved he had been completely wrong.
Minimize looked simple, but mastering it was extremely difficult.
Sudden changes in body size often caused Pokémon to lose control of their movements.
Yet Whitney's Clefable showed none of those issues.
However, some moves in battle never miss.
Silas's eyes flashed.
"Togekiss, use Aura Sphere!"
"Toge-kiss!"
Togekiss, who had been continuously firing Air Slashes, immediately began gathering Aura at its trainer's command.
It was clearly frustrated at missing repeatedly.
From Togekiss's perspective, Clefable's dodging looked completely chaotic.
But the smaller size combined with high speed made it impossible to aim properly.
"Cha!"
A blue sphere of Aura formed before Togekiss's head.
With a flick, the glowing orb shot forward.
Let's see you dodge this.
Togekiss felt quite pleased.
"Clefable, use Amnesia!"
Whitney's command came just in time.
Clefable stopped midair. Its pupils turned pale for a moment.
Then Aura Sphere struck it directly.
Seeing Clefable emerge almost completely unharmed, Togekiss looked stunned.
"How's that? Our Clefable's special defense is amazing!"
Whitney said proudly.
Silas smiled slightly.
Of course he knew Aura Sphere wouldn't deal much damage.
For one thing, even without Amnesia, a Fairy-type Clefable naturally resists Fighting-type moves.
It's just that most Trainers still believed Clefable was a Normal-type and weak to Fighting moves.
That was why Whitney looked so proud.
In her view, using Amnesia to tank a powerful super-effective move and take minimal damage was impressive.
Norman, watching from the sidelines, sensed something off, though he couldn't quite pinpoint it.
As a specialist in Normal-type Pokémon, he clearly understood how devastating Fighting-type attacks were against Normal-types, especially Aura Sphere.
Even with Amnesia boosting Special Defense, a well-rounded Clefable shouldn't have taken so little damage.
But since he had never trained a Clefable himself, he couldn't be certain.
Perhaps, just as Whitney claimed, her Clefable was simply exceptional.
Pokémon were mysterious creatures, after all.
"Togekiss, use Tri Attack!"
Battle opportunities were fleeting.
While the three of them were analyzing the situation, Silas seized the moment and launched his next move without hesitation.
Amnesia was powerful, but it had significant end lag.
After all, a Pokémon needed time to recover from that "blank" mental state.
That window was enough for the opponent to strike again.
Of course, during that time, Clefable's special bulk was significantly boosted, so landing heavy special damage would be difficult.
But then again, moves weren't always about raw damage.
"Woohoo! Looks like luck is maxed out today!"
Watching Clefable get hit by Tri Attack — yellow sparks flashing across its body, its movements stiffening, Silas pumped a fist happily.
Tri Attack had triggered paralysis.
For a Clefable relying on Minimize and mobility, paralysis was devastating.
"Clefable, use Metronome!"
Whitney realized the danger and quickly commanded her species' signature move.
"Togekiss, let's do the same."
Silas waved boldly.
If it was a contest of luck, Togekiss feared no one.
On opposite ends of the battlefield, both Pokémon adorably began wiggling their fingers.
Once Metronome resolved, a blue and a red attack collided midair.
Hydro Pump and Flamethrower.
No explanation needed.
When all other factors were equal, type advantage was decisive.
Hydro Pump quickly overwhelmed Flamethrower and slammed directly into Clefable.
"Ahh!"
Whitney cried out in frustration.
In her view, this was the most infuriating outcome possible.
Silas shrugged.
What could he say? When you're blessed by luck, logic doesn't apply.
"Togekiss, press the advantage, finish it with Steel Wing!"
Still leveraging his knowledge of the Fairy type, Silas immediately ordered a Steel-type move that would deal massive damage to Clefable.
A flash of silver light streaked through the air.
Clefable, barely back on its feet, was struck again.
"Clefaaa…"
It cried out in pain.
"High special bulk resulting in weaker physical defense, quite reasonable."
Norman nodded thoughtfully from the sidelines.
It seemed Whitney's Clefable truly was a unique case.
Silas had no idea Norman's reasoning had gone slightly off-track due to his tactical choices.
But that couldn't be helped.
Soon enough, after repeated Air Slash bombardments, Clefable, heavily injured and drained, lost its ability to battle.
"I'm getting mad now!"
Whitney's face darkened.
She was still stuck on the fact that she had lost the Metronome exchange.
And of all things, it had been Hydro Pump versus Flamethrower.
After recalling Clefable and offering it comfort, she threw another Poké Ball from her waist.
"Miltank! Show them what defeat tastes like!"
"Moo~!"
Both Silas and Norman's expressions changed at the same time, before they could only sigh bitterly.
Why guess what a girl is thinking? Even if she's a natural airhead.
Appearing on the field was a pink dairy cow Pokémon with a black orb at the tip of its tail.
Miltank, a species that is exclusively female, counterpart to the all-male Tauros.
That wasn't the issue.
The real issue was this:
Whitney became a Gym Leader because of this Miltank.
...
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