Aiden scrolled to the very top of their chat history, and the timestamp of the first message showed it was sent five years ago.
That was when he had left Celestic Town with his parents and moved to Cabo Poco Town.
For a long time afterward, their conversations were limited to casual small talk, and they gradually grew more distant.
The intervals between their chats also became noticeably longer.
This lack of meaningful content continued until six months ago, when the conversation turned into one-sided messages.
[Cynthia:
Sorry, I've been busy preparing for the Champion's Road and had no idea something like this happened to Uncle and Aunt…
If you're having trouble living alone in Paldea, come back to Celestic Town for a while. Everyone there is worried about you.]
The last message was from five months ago, about two weeks after the accident.
Read.
Why does this Pokémon world have such an evil feature as "read receipts"?!
Aiden inwardly complained and sighed helplessly.
Given his original body's depressed mental state at the time, it was understandable that he hadn't replied even though he'd read the message.
In fact, he probably hadn't even cared what she wrote back then.
As he recalled, the image of a striking blonde figure in black clothing appeared in his mind.
Compared to the mature and composed Champion Cynthia from his past life, the thirteen-year-old Cynthia radiated youthful energy at every moment.
She was eye-catching.
But it had been five years—her appearance must have changed quite a bit by now, right?
"So, the system's description of the future…"
Aiden unconsciously thought back to the "intelligence from the future" provided by the system when it first appeared.
[Marry your successful childhood friend.]
This "successful childhood friend" obviously referred to Cynthia, right?
So, if he wanted to get back on the correct path…
Would accepting Cynthia's invitation and returning to Celestic Town lead him down the timeline of becoming the Champion's househusband, living off her wealth?!
This "Celestic son-in-law" route didn't seem impossible…
Aiden felt a strange flutter in his heart but quickly shook his head.
No!
"A true man born under heaven cannot remain subordinate forever!"
With his current popularity, if he could boost the Gym's reputation, his future achievements might rival or even surpass those of a Champion.
Besides, it had been five years since they last met. He couldn't base his decisions solely on the system's hints and fall prey to the "three great delusions of life".
That would be too pathetic!
He should focus on running the Gym first and take things step by step later.
After expanding his perspective, Aiden quickly typed out a message on his phone:
[Aiden: Sorry I didn't reply earlier—I'm feeling much better now.
The Gym my parents left behind is a precious treasure to me, so if possible, I'd like to try continuing to run the Sunshine Gym.
Also, congratulations on becoming the Sinnoh Champion!]
It was a formal and tactful rejection of Cynthia's invitation.
Though delayed by half a year, late was better than never. Ignoring her messages completely would have been too rude.
After sending the message, Aiden put down his phone and turned toward the bedroom.
---
"Eevee, use Confuse Ray once more!"
"Buii!"
After Eevee's tail wagged a few times, a glowing orb of energy slowly floated out, precisely hitting the moving target dummy.
After a quick breakfast, Aiden spent another morning training Eevee seriously.
Eevee's ability to learn Sketch—a move exclusive to Smeargle—was due not only to the absurdity of the system but also clearly owed much to its own exceptional talent.
Since discovering the correct way to use Sketch last night, Eevee's training progress had accelerated smoothly, like a nitro boost.
Just as Aiden had thought after reading the notes, with proper guidance, little Eevee's potential had been unlocked, and it no longer resisted training.
In just one night and one morning, it had already learned Encore and Confuse Ray.
This learning efficiency made Aiden fantasize again—
What if one day Eevee learned all the moves of every Pokémon, even the signature moves of Legendary Pokémon? Wouldn't that make it unstoppable?
Arceus?
Hmph, nothing to worry about!
However, achieving such a feat would require not only extensive training but also traveling across various regions.
Even using the system's travel function would take a significant amount of time.
For now, he should focus on boosting the Gym's reputation.
After finishing the training, Aiden was about to give Eevee some fresh Moomoo Milk to replenish its energy.
At that moment, someone suddenly knocked on the Gym door.
Knock knock knock—
"Is anyone here?"
How long had it been since someone visited the Sunshine Gym?
The sudden call startled Aiden for a moment.
"Coming."
After snapping out of it, he quickly responded and opened the Gym door.
A cheerful girl in an academy uniform with tanned skin appeared before him, waving enthusiastically.
"Hello! I'm Nemona, who just moved to Cabo Poco Town. Nice to meet you!"
Although Aiden had guessed yesterday that he would eventually meet this future Paldea Champion, Nemona, he didn't expect her arrival to be so swift.
Truly a human embodiment of boundless initiative.
"Hello, Nemona, presid—ah, student. I'm Aiden. Nice to meet you."
He almost slipped and called her president.
Luckily, Aiden caught himself in time, noticing her Orange Academy uniform and correcting himself.
"Alright, Mr. Aiden!"
Nemona showed a bright, sunny smile and handed him a beautifully wrapped gift bag.
"This is a housewarming gift. Please accept it!"
The culture of giving small gifts to quickly build rapport with neighbors wasn't just prevalent in his past life—it was common in the Pokémon world too.
When Aiden accepted Nemona's gift, his eyes fell on the prominent Rotom logo on the packaging.
If he remembered correctly, Nemona was the daughter of the owner of Paldea's Rotom Phone Company—a little rich girl herself.
So her housewarming gift was likely an expensive Rotom Phone…
Wait, why did it feel like everyone he encountered was a wealthy woman?
Was this normal?
Suppressing his inner complaints, Aiden accepted the gift and simultaneously pondered another question.
Now that he had received her gift, what should he give in return?
The answer came without him needing to think, because the impulsive Nemona had already taken care of it for him.
While speaking, her gaze had already passed over Aiden, observing the room's furnishings briefly before returning to him.
Sure enough, the neighbors were right—this was a Gym that hadn't been open for a long time.
Her sparkling starry eyes were filled with anticipation.
"I see, Mr. Aiden—you're the Gym Leader, right?"
"So, as a return gift for your housewarming present, I should be able to challenge the Gym, right?"
Challenge the Gym?
Aiden raised an eyebrow.
So Nemona's battle-crazed nature had shown signs this early?
If it had been yesterday, he would have rejected her outright without hesitation.
But now…
The four moves he picked for Eevee weren't random. With just the two it had learned so far, it might already have some decent combat ability.
At this point, Nemona had likely just received her starter Pokémon. As the first challenger, her strength should be just right, wouldn't it?
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