It wasn't just Byron, even in Axel's eyes there was a trace of disbelief.
After Piplup swallowed the food, Axel saw a status line appear that didn't show up in the Pokédex before.
[Piplup's tag has leveled up.]
At the very beginning, Piplup carried a green tag called "Water-Type Beginner."
The effect of this tag was very simple: Water-type skill power increased by 15%.
The ridiculous part was, that tag suddenly leapt to purple.
And the boost also went from just now's 15% to 30%.
Strictly speaking, exchanging a secret treasure for this boost wasn't worth it.
Because a secret treasure itself could already increase move power by around 20%.
Without the system's existence, Piplup could only bring out less than one-third of this tag's effect.
But for little rich lady Platinum, trading a secret treasure for this boost was clearly worth it.
Because she could still carry another secret treasure.
This was the gap between a pay-to-win player and an ordinary player.
"All right, Miss, now you can go challenge Gym Leader Byron," Snapping back from the shock of the new tag's power, Axel squinted and smiled at Platinum.
"Oh, okay!", Platinum seemed to have made some sort of decision, nervously looking at Byron.
"Gym Leader Byron, please give me your guidance."
"Although I'm just a newcomer who has only just set out on the road of being a trainer, I still hope you won't hold back."
"As a member of the Berlitz family, I want to defeat every Gym Leader who fights with full strength!"
Byron glanced at his Onix and Geodude, then raised his head to the sky with a long sigh.
'Hold back?'
'I wish you could hold back on me!'
The battle began quickly.
First round: Geodude versus Piplup.
Geodude's eyes gleamed viciously, 'Piplup, you're done, take my Tackle!'
Piplup shivered in fright, and the young lady shivered in the exact same way.
"Piplup, absolutely don't let the opponent hit you, it must hurt a lot, use Hydro Pump!"
The vicious gleam in Geodude's eyes turned to dumbfounded confusion, and it fell flat on the ground.
Only one last thought remained, 'So I didn't even know what "hurt" meant, huh?'
Seeing Geodude get one-shot, Piplup and Platinum looked at each other, and in each other's eyes they saw deep disbelief.
'So Gym Leaders are this weak?'
Seeing their expressions, Byron took a deep breath and nearly cursed out loud.
'Can you not take a look at how far Axel's nurturing has brought this Piplup?'
'Calling me weak!'
'Without Axel, I guarantee you wouldn't pass my Gym even in half a month!'
But thinking of how Axel had just released Glastrier, Byron forcefully pressed down his unspeakable frustration.
'If your skills aren't as good, what else can you do?'
"Onix, I'm counting on you!"
———
Half a minute later, Byron watched Axel and Platinum leave, holding a handful of gold coins, and sank into deep thought.
'Wait, are challengers nowadays all into toying with Gym Leaders' emotions like this?'
'First press a guy into the ground and rub him there, then change to another way to press him into the ground again.'
'And when you want to get angry but don't dare to...'
'A rich kid throws a handful of gold coins at you.'
'This feeling... impossible to describe.'
'Want to hit them, but can't.'
'Want to curse them, but the words won't come out.'
Byron sighed, dialed the local maintenance team, and after handing over the coins for fixing the roof, opened a group chat in his communicator.
[Sinnoh Region Loving Gym Leaders Group]
[Mining World's #1 Handsome Guy (Byron): @Rapeseed-chan, Gardenia are you there!]
[Rapeseed-chan: What's up Byron, I just sent off a challenger and was about to rest.]
[Mining World's #1 Handsome Guy (Byron): Don't rest, take leave right now, hurry and leave your Grass-type Gym]
[I just got wrecked by a challenger. His Pokémon was the legendary Glastrier.]
[After beating me, his Glastrier was shouting about "bonds," "old Cloud," "saving the world"...]
[Anyway, shouting a bunch of slogans and charged out. The next stop should be your Grass-type Gym!]
To protect what little dignity he had left, Byron hid the fact that he was massacred by Piplup, and only mentioned Axel's Glastrier.
But in his view, this was already the utmost kindness.
Seeing Byron's message, the whole chat exploded instantly.
Glastrier taking on a Gym?
Was this for real?
Gardenia froze for a few seconds, then quickly reacted.
She rushed to the Gym entrance, grabbed chalk, and scribbled on the notice board.
[No Pokémon over level 25 allowed inside]
After finishing, Gardenia still felt a little uneasy.
Although Byron's words were vague, what if this Glastrier was under level 25?
To be safe, Gardenia decided to have her Pokémon learn a Fighting-type move.
Even though Ice-type skills counter Grass-types, Fighting-type skills also counter Ice-types.
[Rapeseed-chan Gardenia: @Fighting-type Gym Leader Maylene, recommend me a few Fighting-type TMs I can learn, thanks!]
———
[Eterna City Outskirts]
A few Bellsprouts and Hoppips were playing happily, when suddenly they felt a bone-chilling cold from the sky.
They instinctively looked up, and what they saw next was utterly shocking.
In the distant sky, a snow-white horse stepped through the air.
With each step, a pure ice lotus bloomed beneath its hooves, lifting its body.
As Glastrier advanced, an icy path spread out behind it, with countless Flying-type Pokémon curiously chasing along.
On its back sat a boy and a girl, both trainers.
The male trainer had sword-like brows and starry eyes, radiating powerful confidence.
The female trainer wore fine clothes, clearly the kind of young lady who could casually pull out loads of Pokéblocks to feed wild Pokémon.
Seeing the distant skyline of Eterna City, Platinum grabbed Axel's arm excitedly and shook it hard:
"Axel, your Glastrier is so fast, way faster than Gyarados!"
"Just not as big as Gyarados, so it's not as comfy to sit on."
Axel: "..."
'Can you talk properly, without bringing up Gyarados every other sentence.'
But looking at the young lady's pure expression, Axel still smiled and nodded.
"Glastrier, like you, has a goal. That's why it runs so fast."
"To finish your two goals sooner, today we won't rest, let's take down two more Gyms. Can you hold on?"
"Yes!", Platinum smiled wide, nodded hard, her big eyes sneaking glances at Axel's face.
If someone had said before meeting Axel that you could clear eight Gyms in three days, Platinum would have doubted them deeply.
But Axel was different.
Just now, Platinum had witnessed the miracle Axel brought.
Just as Axel said.
As long as you have the power of belief, you yourself are a miracle.
And Platinum truly believed in Axel.
Seeing the young lady gazing at him so seriously, trusting him to the extreme, Axel subconsciously shivered.
'Damn it! Isn't this girl supposed to be super suspicious?'
'Why did her suspicion vanish in less than a day with me?'
'Good thing this mission only lasts three days.'
'As long as I quickly cut through...'
The thought halfway formed, Axel shook his head hard.
'No, I can't randomly jinx myself. Jinxing is risky!'
"Glastrier, land, we've got work to do!"
"Young lady, release Ponyta, and take out some nurturing resources too."
"This time the opponent's Grass-type, so your Ponyta will have its moment to shine!"
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