"How about it, are we fighting or not?"
Fantina stared at Axel with a provocative gaze. "I want to show you, you're not the only one who knows those dirty tactics."
"A truly strong trainer, besides tactics, must also have true strength!"
Axel nodded seriously, "You're right."
Fantina: "..."
'I'm damn well lecturing you here! What's with that look of agreement?'
"Enough talk, are you fighting or not?"
"Of course I'm fighting, why wouldn't I?"
Axel casually nodded. If it were a normal battle, he might still have to think about it.
But a wild battle... didn't even need to waste time.
"Glastrier, come out and mop the floor!"
"Neighhhh!"
Hearing Axel call, Glastrier quickly nodded, his body radiating the brilliance unique to a legendary Pokémon.
Frost spread beneath his hooves, looking exactly the same as when Fantina's Gengar had entered the field earlier.
The difference was, his ice was far stronger than Gengar's ghostly aura.
As shards of frost spread, Fantina's Bisharp instantly turned into an ice sculpture.
Not even a single breath later, Fantina herself couldn't escape either.
Watching the backs of Axel and Platinum leaving, Fantina, trapped in the ice, was instantly dumbfounded.
'The battle hasn't even started yet, how is it already over?'
Before leaving her line of sight, Axel sat on Glastrier's back, one hand resting on the young lady's shoulder to keep distance, the other hand waving back.
"Relax, this ice stops a few centimeters from you, it won't freeze you."
"At eight tonight, the ice will melt automatically. You can just get off work then."
Fantina: "???"
'I get off work at five, damn it!'
Just as she was about to pull out her phone, furiously question a few Gym Leaders ahead, and at the same time warn the Gym Leaders behind not to underestimate Axel, an irritating, cocky voice suddenly came from behind her.
"Big news, big news, everyone!"
A paparazzo who had been hiding at the side with a camera shoved the lens almost right into Fantina's face.
"Look what I caught!"
"Fantina, famed for her Ghost-types and eerie attacks, just got swept 1v3 by a Gengar!"
"And that's not all, her own Gengar was so scared by the opponent's Gengar it knelt on the spot!"
The paparazzo spammed messages into his work group, his two fingers flying over the phone like they were about to take off.
Fantina, standing by, had disbelief all over her face.
'When the hell did this guy get here?"
She'd just been thinking Byron was pitiful, and the next moment it was her turn to get ambushed on camera.
The "truth" of the matter immediately flashed in Fantina's mind, all the clues connecting at once.
'I get it, I totally get it now.'
'Starting from Byron, the whole Gym Leader group has been nothing but a setup.'
Especially Byron, that guy even went out of his way to lure her out of her Gym, making her lose face completely.
"Byron... such deep calculations."
"But I, Fantina, won't fall into your trap!"
"You wanted me to lose face? Then today, big sis will play along, let all the following Gym Leaders get caught in your schemes too."
"I want to see..."
"With the wrath of four Gym Leaders, how will you withstand it?"
Thinking this, Fantina commanded her Gengar to disperse into mist, then opened a group chat on her communicator.
[@Byron, thumbs up! (thumbs-up emoji, smiling emoji)]
Hearing his name mentioned in the chat, Byron, who was busy rebuilding his Gym, couldn't help but smile faintly.
The Gym was under reconstruction, even prettier and sturdier than before, to the point it could just barely withstand an Elite Four-level battle.
Fantina had also broken free from the curse of being beaten down, everything was heading in a good direction.
Thinking this, Byron clapped his hands, signaling the Onix and construction workers to look at him, "Masters, don't leave tonight. Let's drink and celebrate together."
"All expenses are on me, Byron!"
———
As night approached, the shadow of Mt. Coronet, under the sunlight, plunged half of Sinnoh into premature darkness.
At the Oreburgh Gym entrance, it was a scene of singing and dancing, countless Onix and other Ground-types dancing and singing.
Byron, standing at the center among these Pokémon, enjoyed the admiration alongside Kingdra, who had finally recovered from the power of the Z-Move.
Suddenly, his communicator rang, showing the profile picture of Wake, the Gym Leader of Pastoria City.
"Yo?", Byron answered the call while shaking his head, "What is it, Wake, calling to thank me?"
["Thank you?"], Wake ground his teeth, though he forced a smile at the corner of his lips.
["Send me your coordinates, I'd really love to thank you properly!"]
["Didn't your Gym get destroyed? I'll bring over a few Steel-types to thank you properly."]
Byron frowned slightly. Why did Wake sound so weird?
He said he wanted to thank him, but his tone was gritted teeth, like he'd been wronged.
To anyone else, it'd sound like Byron had betrayed him or something.
"I'm right outside my Gym. Come if you want, if you hurry you can even get some drinks."
Byron snapped a photo of the scene and sent his location.
"Bro, am I living it up or what?"
"Ha!", Wake actually laughed in anger.
Just earlier, seeing Fantina's thumbs-up and smile emoji, he'd thought Byron's words were true.
So he had also chosen to wild battle.
But now it seemed... when someone's overly angry, they really do laugh.
"Celebrating, huh?"
"Just wait, I'll celebrate with you too... Bastiodon, we're going on a little trip."
"And bring the held item. Also grab a Strength Boost Potion!"
———
At the same time, Platinum and Axel had arrived at the final city on the normal Gym challenge route, Sunyshore City.
The second-to-last Gym was in Snowpoint City, right by Mt. Coronet, so they had made that their last stop instead.
At the entrance of Sunyshore Grand Hotel, the lobby manager was instantly dumbfounded upon seeing Platinum.
'Didn't the general manager say the young lady wouldn't be coming here today?'
'Crap, crap, there's only one room left in the whole hotel!'
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