Volkner and Electivire waited and waited, straight from sunrise until sunset.
One man and one Pokémon stood there like a pair of "husband-waiting rocks," staring toward the direction of the Sunnyshore Hotel at the gym's entrance.
"This shouldn't be… wasn't it said those two were rushing through gyms? How come they still haven't shown up yet?"
Volkner glanced at the group chat, where the other Gym Leaders were still pouring out their complaints, and began to doubt whether he had slipped into some parallel world.
After all, having run into weird things like Volkner, maybe right now he really wasn't in the same space as the other Gym Leaders.
[Determined to Become the Strongest Volkner: @Gym Leader Byron, are you sure Axel left your place heading toward Sunnyshore City?]
Byron didn't reply in text, instead he sent a voice message.
["It's Volkner… Damn it, Roark you still dare to lift your head? Gabite, crash into him for me!"]
["I saw clearly, after Axel left he headed in the direction of Sunnyshore City… Gabite, use Heavy Slam!"]
["I'm telling you, don't you dare fight that guy in a wild battle, he's not even human!"]
[Snowpoint City's Candice: @Volkner, Axel didn't go to your place either?]
[I thought you stopped him. By the way, is that guy really that hard to fight?]
[Volkner: I don't know if he's hard or not, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.]
[Last night, I personally saw him fight Mesprit, and he didn't fall behind at all.]
[If I could battle someone like that, even if I died, it'd still be a damn satisfying thing!]
Reading Volkner's words in the chat, Candice froze, then quickly switched group chats.
[@Officer Jenny, my grandma's giving birth tomorrow, can I take a few days off?]
[Jenny No. 4: (smiling emoji) Everyone, please cooperate properly with the challengers' battle work, otherwise I'll come in person to supervise.]
[And Candice, what was it you just said?]
[Candice has deleted a message.]
[Candice: I was asking if Gym Leader Roark is doing okay?]
[Fantina (voice): Roark, let this old lady toss them both out the window!]
[Haha, don't worry, Gym Leader Roark's right here partying with us.]
[Byron, hurry up and block him, don't let that brat escape!]
After reading the chat, Volkner's eyes burned even hotter.
To have suppressed so many Gym Leaders in just two days' time, he was looking forward even more to Axel's arrival.
"Electivire, Axel's a strong trainer, someone like that won't waste time."
"Let's wait a little longer, Axel will definitely come."
Electivire looked at the moonlight, then gave a firm nod.
A powerhouse of that level was worth waiting for.
———
[Above the Sunyshore Forest]
A Hellcat with fully tinted reflective glass growled low as it drove at fifty meters per second through the wilderness.
At the wheel, Axel helplessly looked at Platinum sitting across from him.
"Young Lady… can you please get off the steering wheel?"
"If we keep driving like this, I'm afraid we won't even make it to Mr. Volkner's gym tomorrow."
Her silver hair swayed as the young lady, looking a little unnatural, gazed through the window at the scenery outside.
"Mm~ I… I just wanted to spend a little more time with you."
"Even if… even if it's just one more day..."
Axel glanced at the folded wheelchair tossed onto the passenger seat and sighed.
He had a feeling if things went on like this, tomorrow the young lady wouldn't even be able to sit in her chair.
Forget it, forget it. The money had already been paid, and to be honest, Axel really did like Platinum's bold, love-without-regret personality.
Since fate had already made things twist like this, and Axel wasn't the cold type anyway.
Then might as well do the job properly.
"General!", Axel cracked the window a little, calling out to the Archaludon running behind the car.
"You take Gyarados, Nihilego, and Dragonair over to Volkner's gym, and try battling him first."
After saying that, Axel summoned Glastrier, handed him Platinum's Poké Balls and a communicator.
He had Glastrier condense into a humanoid shape, cosplaying as Platinum.
Most of the time, Archaludon and Glastrier could serve as the trainers. When it came time for Gengar and the others to battle, Platinum could remotely control them.
That way, there would be both a "trainer" and the Pokémon.
"Neighhh!"
Glastrier and the General both nodded hard.
'Leave it to us, Master!'
Then, the General quietly reached into the backseat with his little claw and took out an old-fashioned Poké Ball.
During training that morning, they had found a very fun and very effective training method.
Lord Rayquaza possessing Gyarados could solve Gyarados's problem of learning moves too slowly.
At the same time, it solved Lord Rayquaza's problem of itchy hands, unable to easily make a move due to no suitable opponent at his level.
To make sure Master wins, borrowing Lord Rayquaza as a substitute, nothing wrong with that, right?
———
Volkner sat cross-legged at the gym's entrance for a long time before finally sighing lightly.
"Electivire, let's go back first."
"Last night Axel fought Mesprit, his Pokémon must've consumed a lot of strength."
"Maybe tomorrow…"
Halfway through his words, Volkner suddenly stopped.
His gaze pierced past the two statues in front of the gym and landed on the road not far away.
From that direction, a cloaked figure riding an Glastrier was slowly approaching the gym.
Volkner's eyes instantly sharpened, all the fatigue from waiting an entire day vanishing in an instant.
According to the info the earlier Gym Leaders had given, whenever Glastrier appeared, it meant Axel's group had arrived.
He just didn't know if the cloaked rider on Glastrier was Platinum or Axel.
But it didn't matter who. Archaludon, Dragonair, Gyarados, Gengar, Glastrier, that many Pokémon together would be more than enough for him to fight to his heart's content.
"Here to challenge the gym?", Volkner took a few steps forward, locking eyes on the cloaked figure.
"Neighhh!"
Glastrier nodded lightly, stopping in front of Volkner.
Seeing the cloaked figure silent, Volkner didn't feel snubbed at all. On the contrary, his excitement only grew.
This was exactly the kind of imposing presence a strong one should have.
"Since you've come to challenge, then enter the gym."
"I know the rules for gym challenges, two battles: one against my main team, the other against the Pokémon I raise for challengers to practice on."
"May I ask, who will go first?"
"Neighhh!"
Volkner: "...."
'Wait a sec, I'm talking to your trainer, what the hell are you neighing for?'
'You're not even a trainer!'
Volkner muttered, then activated the arena. A few electric arcs flashed, and his custom Pokémon analysis system whirred to life.
In just moments, a clear electronic voice rang out.
[Archaludon, Level 60 Pokémon]
[Dragonair, Level 45 Pokémon]
[Gyarados, Level 45 Pokémon]
[Nihilego, Level 40 Pokémon]
[Legendary Pokémon Glastrier, energy cannot be fully covered, approximate detection level: around 70.]
["Detected opponent levels are high. Gym Leader, please take this seriously."]
Hearing the system's reminder, Volkner's eyes blazed with battle intent.
As expected, the opponent was showing him great respect.
Even a Champion-level Archaludon had been sent out.
And they'd even brought a Level 70 Legendary Glastrier.
It seemed Volkner's name still carried some weight.
"So for this round, are you going with Archaludon, Nihilego, and Dragonair, or Glastrier?"
As one of the strongest Electric-type Gym Leaders, Volkner automatically ignored what the world called a vicious beast.
Four times weak to Electric? Who cares about that trash?
Even a thirty-meter Gyarados wouldn't scare him at all.
His target was that Legendary Pokémon.
The General blinked and touched the old Poké Ball in his claw.
'Lord Rayquaza, your hopeless silly disciple is being mocked again.'
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