Lt. Surge, proficient in poison attribute, is the Vermilion City Gym Leader.
He is also a Master of Ninja Techniques, always pursuing a higher realm.
Now, in order to compete for a spot among the Four Heavenly Kings on Quartz Plateau, he spends almost all his days in secluded cultivation in the forest outside Vermilion City Gym.
"Dad..."
One day, Lt. Surge's daughter A Xing hurriedly came looking for her father, who was in the midst of his arduous training, and excitedly said:
"Dad, Heavenly King Ke Na just called the gym."
A Xing, dressed just like Lt. Surge in a black and purple ninja outfit with a red ninja scarf fluttering behind her, said.
"Heavenly King Ke Na?"
Lt. Surge leaped down from a tree, looking at his daughter with a puzzled expression, and asked, "What does she want?"
"Heavenly King Ke Na wants to invite you to a public Pokémon World Championship battle...!"
"Pokémon World Championship..."
Upon hearing the name of the competition, Lt. Surge was slightly taken aback.
It seemed he had participated in such a competition before.
Before the King Cup had even started, he had signed up on a whim to seek out strong opponents to hone his skills.
However, he only fought a few matches at the start of the season and then, because the King Cup began, he neglected the tournament and hadn't fought in a long time. His rank had probably plummeted, hadn't it?
"Heavenly King Ke Na personally inviting me to a battle... Who is the opponent?"
"A Sinnoh Trainer named Fang Yuan, never heard of him." A Xing spoke up. "Do you want to accept?"
Lt. Surge fell into thought.
What was Ke Na's intention?
A test? Or was she helping him? Was it Ke Na's own idea or that of the Alliance?
Lt. Surge, currently ranked eighth in King Cup points, aside from the five people consisting of the Four Heavenly Kings and the Champion, there were two other Trainers with higher points than him.
They were the Poison series master Li Hua and the Super Ability Master One Tree.
Compared to the two of them, Lt. Surge's strength was still slightly weaker.
Now, with rumors that both Elite Four Kikuko and Heavenly King Ke Na were about to retire, leaving two vacant spots among the Four Heavenly Kings, his eighth-place rank was somewhat awkward.
Lt. Surge himself also felt the urgency, so he had always been pursuing a breakthrough for himself. He had been in secluded training for a long time now, but unfortunately, there had been no results.
"Then let's have a look at this battle, since it's someone chosen by Heavenly King Ke Na, it might help me break through." Lt. Surge said.
"Yay!!" A Xing's face broke into an excited smile.
Her father had secluded himself for a long time and had a stern expression every day because of consecutive losses in the King Cup, which worried A Xing. Now that Lt. Surge was going out to battle was a big step forward. A Xing hoped that this battle would help her father regain his confidence, then achieve a breakthrough, and then successfully become a true member of the Four Heavenly Kings!
As for the possibility of her father losing? A Xing hadn't considered it, her father was top 8 in the King Cup, a King-Level Trainer in waiting!
"Alright, let's go have a meal," Lt. Surge said, looking at his daughter's smiling face, suddenly feeling a bad premonition.
Fang Yuan, huh? The name sounded unfamiliar.
.........
"Forget it. Lt. Surge it is."
"The battle is in 7 days, right?"
At this point, Fang Yuan had also accepted the challenge.
A Poison-type expert, come to think of it, he rarely encountered one.
This Lt. Surge, it could indeed enrich his battle experience.
If the opponent is a Trainer at the level of the Four Heavenly Kings, how about letting Dragonite and Milotic take this battle?
"Then it's happily decided."
After Fang Yuan accepted the challenge, he began to pack up his things in the hotel.
Yesterday, he had already met the family of the Goldenrod Gym. Nastina's father and mother were both very kind, and today, he had an important matter for which he needed to visit the Goldenrod Gym.
It was also the first lesson Fang Yuan had arranged for Nastina.
"Eevee, let's go." After packing up, Fang Yuan called out to Eevee.
"Bwoo..." Eevee also lazily climbed out from the pile of gaming devices.
Finally, it was time to leave Golden City and head to the next destination.
......
Inside the Golden Pavilion.
At this moment, Fang Yuan had already found the Psychic Uncle and spoke of his plan.
"Uncle, Nastina has been in the Goldenrod Gym for over a decade now, hasn't she?"
"I think that whether she wants to become an excellent Psychic or an actress and star, staying in one place all the time won't lead to progress. Why not take a trip, see different sceneries and cultures? What do you think?"
Indeed, the first lesson Fang Yuan planned to assign to Nastina was to make this "Psychic homebody" travel like a normal person for a year or so before coming back.
The profound meaning of Heart Source Style is interaction.
Without interacting and meeting more people, without winning over more Pokémon, it would be very difficult for Nastina to understand what emotion is.
Of course, there was another important reason. Fang Yuan had a mission to continue searching for Tablets, and he could not stay in Golden City forever. So by coaxing Nastina away, following him to look for Tablets while learning from each other's abilities would kill two birds with one stone...
"Makes sense... makes sense..." Nastina's dad suddenly nodded in realization.
Indeed, Nastina was nearly twenty years old and had been in the Goldenrod Gym for so many years; this wasn't reasonable. Maybe this was one of the reasons for Nastina's closed-off heart?
Also, because Nastina was always at the Gym, he and the child's mother hadn't had that sort of intimacy for a long time.
Fang Yuan's suggestion immediately got strong support from the Psychic Uncle, who said, "As long as Nastina agrees, of course we hope she would go out and see more of the world."
"Then there's no problem," Fang Yuan said with a smile.
Nastina had certainly agreed already. Fang Yuan spoke to her first before asking her parents' opinion. Now that the Psychic Uncle agreed as well, Fang Yuan felt at ease.
"Speaking of which..."
Suddenly, it seemed like the Psychic Uncle had thought of something, and he said to Fang Yuan, "If you have time, there's a place I highly recommend you visit."
"What is it?" Fang Yuan asked, surprised.
The Psychic Uncle took out his phone, showing Fang Yuan some information.
"Just yesterday, a Supernatural Relic was discovered in the Sinnoh Region, but unfortunately, the entrance is sealed by a Psychic Seal."
"Many Psychics have a premonition that there are very special treasures inside."
"As far as I know, many Psychics have already gone there. A Psychic Master even took the opportunity to hold a 'Psychics Gathering,' inviting Psychics from all walks of life to join in breaking the seal."
"I think, an opportunity like this, with a gathering of Psychics, might be quite suitable for Nastina to socialize a bit. Treasure or not, the main point is the interaction. If Mr. Fang Yuan you have time, it would be good to take Nastina to have a look."
"Supernatural Relic, Psychics Gathering?" Fang Yuan began to show some interest.
It sounded somewhat interesting.
I wonder if Caitlin, Gordy, and other original Psychic characters from the lore will attend.
"Alright, I will take Nastina to have a look," he said.