After letting Gholdengo act as Iono's traffic-attracting mascot, the young lady clerk from the ice cream shop hurriedly handed Axel two servings of ice cream.
Iono was the streamer they had invited for the promotional collaboration.
Now that Gholdengo was helping Iono with traffic, they of course had to treat Axel well.
Axel watched Iono's livestream while picking up a small spoon and lightly tasted a bite of the ice cream, nodding in satisfaction.
This kind of ice cream tasted really good. It should have included secretion from Alcremie.
Eating it often would likely be beneficial to a Pokémon's growth.
'Might be worth researching this type of ingredient... Just in time since the little guys haven't had a change in flavor for a while,' While eating small spoonfuls of ice cream, Axel was simultaneously imagining improvements to the Pokémon's diet in his mind.
———
Time quickly passed...
A pair of snow-white little hands waved in front of Axel's eyes. The wide sleeves carried a fragrant breeze, waking Axel from his deep thoughts.
"Hey, what are you spacing out for?"
"Uh, nothing," Axel looked up to see Iono had already ended the livestream, standing in front of him with Gholdengo.
There were more and more customers in the store now, and almost all eyes were glued to Iono and Gholdengo.
"Already stopped streaming?"
"Yup!", Iono smiled sweetly at Axel, lightly blinking her eyes that sparkled with starry-colored contact lenses.
"I've been streaming for two hours already. I plan to go out and play for a bit. Want to come?"
'Two hours already?'
Axel glanced at the time on Rotom, then quickly grabbed Gholdengo and Duraludon, and ran out.
Iono summoned Luxray and followed him out of the store, curiously grabbing Axel's arm, "Hey hey hey, why are you running?"
Axel gave a brief explanation, "I planned to challenge Elesa's gym today, and I also need to get back on the S.S. Anne. Looks like it's getting a bit late."
After saying that, he oriented himself and continued running toward the Raimon Gym.
Hearing Axel's words, Iono was obviously a little delighted, "Just right, I'm going too. Shall we go together?"
Seeing Iono's natural and outgoing manner, Axel felt he might have a bit of tag-induced paranoia.
A girl this lively and with so many friends, how could she fall for someone so easily?
Thinking this, Axel's inner guard eased quite a bit.
Besides, he really didn't bring a riding Pokémon this time, so traveling with Iono would save a lot of time.
"Then thank you."
"You're welcome! Hop on the cat!", Iono pulled Axel onto Luxray's back, then turned her head to look at Axel, "Just so happens I'm close with Sister Elesa. I'll have her skip her break after the performance and battle you first."
Axel put away Duraludon and Gholdengo, then nodded to Iono, "Thanks a lot."
———
Although Luxray wasn't especially fast to react in battle, its travel speed was unexpectedly fast.
In less than ten minutes, Luxray had brought Axel and Iono to the front of Raimon Gym.
Raimon Gym was very different from the gyms in other cities. It was located on the outskirts of town.
And the entire gym covered a massive area, like an amusement park.
Roller coasters, pirate ships, Ferris wheels, every kind of amusement ride was present. Axel even spotted a drop tower.
Seeing the gym's unique layout, Axel couldn't help but mildly complain, "This gym... even Cynthia might not be able to clear it."
With Garchomp's fear of heights, it'd probably throw up before it even reached Elesa.
As they dismounted from Luxray, Elesa had just finished her stage performance and gave a light bow to the audience.
"Thank you all for coming to Raimon City. Today's performance ends here."
"Those with all-access tickets can go enjoy the amusement rides. If you didn't buy one, you can go get them now."
"I'll be taking a two-hour break before continuing to accept challengers from all you Trainers."
The audience immediately erupted into cheers from the Trainers, with loads of people waving money and rushing to the ticket booth.
Seeing this astonishing scene, Axel couldn't help but click his tongue.
No wonder so many Gym Leaders were never short on money.
Raihan's battle shows, Iono's livestreaming, Elesa's stage talent and amusement park... Compared to them, some Gym Leaders who just had Pokémon shout insults looked embarrassingly weak.
"Let's go, time to battle,".Before reaching the gym, Iono had already put on a mask and pulled Axel along as they walked inside skillfully.
"Didn't Elesa say she was taking a break?"
"No break. I already helped you book her while we were on the way."
Axel blinked, "You serious?"
"Of course! We're both Electric-type Gym Leaders. It's totally normal to keep in touch sometimes."
Axel twitched his mouth. He didn't expect Elesa to really know Iono.
But... Iono helping him book a battle with Elesa, wouldn't that make them plastic sister flowers someday?
Axel glanced at his two Pokémon, then patted the Poké Balls containing Nihilego and Little Phoenix at his waist.
Thankfully, he didn't bring any outrageous Pokémon today.
In a normal battle, Elesa shouldn't end up biting people.
The two of them walked through the amusement park and soon arrived at a semicircular room with a battle stage.
Elesa had changed outfits, a yellow coat covering her curvy figure.
She wore a pair of red-and-blue headphones on her head, adding an extra touch of fashion.
She was standing in the Gym Leader's command spot, smiling at Iono.
"Iono, you're here. Is this your friend?"
"Yup! His Pokémon helped a lot with my stream today!", Iono giggled as she walked over and familiarly hugged Elesa's arm.
"Is that so? Then I'll make sure to go all out today, so your friend can enjoy the battle."
After that, Elesa turned to look at Axel. Her crisp voice echoed through the arena, "Mister Challenger, why aren't you looking at the two of us?"
"As a challenger, that's a bit rude, don't you think?"
Axel: "..."
'You think I wasn't looking?'
'I was looking way too much, okay? I couldn't not look at you!'
"Hehe, looks like a pure-hearted boy. In that case, let's start the battle."
Axel took a deep breath and nodded at Elesa.
At the same time, a tiny sliver of anticipation rose inside him.
'If this follows the game's setting...'
'She should be about to fling off that yellow coat, right?'
'Damn it, challenging this gym is some serious mental training for a Trainer!'
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