"That's none of your concern. Sandslash, Defense Curl, then Rollout!"
"Kingler, Rock Tomb." The moment Reiji saw the Defense Curl into Rollout setup, he knew what the boy was trying to do. He could not let Sandslash build momentum. Once it got rolling, every hit would only get stronger.
"King!" Kingler called down a storm of rocks, sending them crashing toward Sandslash as it curled up and rolled straight in.
Boom, boom, boom!
Rocks slammed down one after another, blocking Sandslash's path and trapping it inside a ring of stone.
"That won't work. Sandslash, jump out!"
"Kingler, Ice Beam."
"King!" Kingler had already finished charging Ice Beam. The moment Sandslash leaped out, a white beam shot across the field and froze it solid in midair.
Bang!
The frozen Sandslash hit the ground, shattered the ice around it, and kept rolling forward.
"Not bad." Reiji saw that the ice hadn't slowed Sandslash down much at all. It was still rolling straight toward Kingler, so he immediately changed tactics. "Kingler, Bubble!"
"King! King!" Kingler opened its mouth and sprayed out a flood of bubbles. In an instant, the bubbles swallowed Sandslash, slowing its movement and cutting off its vision.
"Kingler, Ice Beam again."
"King!" Kingler fired Ice Beam into the bubbles, freezing the entire mass around Sandslash.
"Still useless." The boy had seen this kind of situation too many times and had trained against it long ago. A little ice wasn't going to stop Sandslash once Rollout had started.
"Kingler, use Iron Defense. Keep stacking it." Reiji didn't care whether the freeze held. All he wanted was time—enough time for Kingler to raise its Defense.
After all, he owned a Ground-type Pokémon that wasn't afraid of Water himself. Running into a Sandslash that could handle being frozen wasn't that strange.
By the time Kingler completed three Iron Defenses and maxed its Defense, Sandslash smashed through the ice and charged straight at it.
"Kingler, full-power Crabhammer!"
"King!"
Kingler raised its massive claw, almost as large as its own body. It tracked Sandslash's path, swung the claw strengthened by six Defense boosts, and smashed it across the field.
Boom!
The instant the blow landed, Sandslash turned into a round cannonball and flew back even faster than it had come in. It slammed into the wall beyond the battlefield and left a dent shaped perfectly around its curled-up body.
"Sandslash!" The boy rushed over when he saw Sandslash get launched. He pried it out of the wall and found it had already fainted.
Reiji quietly let out a breath. A Sandslash that didn't fear Water or Ice could only be knocked out with raw force. Luckily, Kingler had Crabhammer, and Sandslash still had an x2 weakness to Water.
Not being afraid of Water-type attacks was one thing. Removing the type weakness was another. This Sandslash had only overcome its fear of water; it hadn't changed the matchup. Hanhan used to be the same.
Hanhan's old resistance to water had only looked real on the surface. The x4 weakness was still there. Water Gun had simply been too weak to hurt it. If Gyarados hit it with Hydro Pump instead, Hanhan would still take damage.
After gaining its rock armor, though, that surface resistance became reality. Once Hanhan wore the armor, it truly stopped fearing water.
Against this Sandslash, Reiji wouldn't have dared use that exchange if Kingler hadn't maxed out its Defense. If Kingler's huge claw had shattered on impact, that would have been a real waste.
"Your Kingler is strong. You win." The boy held Sandslash and looked calmly at Reiji. Then he recalled Sandslash into its Poké Ball and left Cerulean Gym.
Clap, clap, clap.
"You were amazing," Daisy said, applauding him after another win.
Given Reiji's performance, she wasn't exaggerating. If the three sisters had battled in his place, they probably would have lost all ten matches out of ten. Calling him strong was almost an understatement.
Daisy praised him. Violet praised him. Lily praised him too. The Cerulean sisters kept piling it on until Reiji felt awkward enough that he didn't know what to say.
Just then, another person entered the Gym. They wore black sunglasses, a black hat pulled low over red hair, and an all-black outfit. For a second, Reiji thought another troublemaker had come to challenge the Gym.
"I want to challenge Cerulean Gym. Bring out the Gym Leader."
"Cough. I'm the substitute Leader." Since this person had come for a Gym challenge, Reiji stuck to the same process as before and prepared to send them off quickly.
He had no idea why someone needed to dress so mysteriously just to challenge a Gym. That outfit looked suspicious no matter how he saw it.
"You won't do. I want to challenge the real Gym Leader." The masked person refused to back down. They kept insisting on seeing the actual Gym Leader.
"Challenger, the Gym Leader of Cerulean Gym is not here. She is currently traveling. If you want to challenge the Leader herself, please wait until she returns," Daisy said, finally stepping forward to explain.
"If the Gym Leader is away traveling and this Gym needs to bring in outside help to run its battles, then it has no reason to remain open. Cerulean Gym will suspend operations immediately and may reopen once its Leader returns." The masked person pressed harder, demanding that the Gym close if the Leader couldn't appear.
"Who are you to tell us to close? We still have our water ballet performances. We're not shutting down," Lily demanded when she saw the masked person pushing them around.
"I am a Pokémon Inspection Agent. I supervise and evaluate Gyms across the region. Any Gym that fails inspection will be closed."
"You're… Nurse Joy?" Daisy stared as the masked person removed the hat and sunglasses, then presented her inspection credentials. For a moment, Daisy couldn't speak.
"How can this be? Misty isn't even at the Gym!" Violet looked ready to collapse. Cerulean Gym had been running peacefully all this time. She had never expected a Pokémon Inspection Agent to show up for an inspection.
"Cerulean Gym is finished," Lily murmured, sinking to the floor. If a Pokémon Inspection Agent had set her sights on them, there was no way they were passing.
"Nurse Joy? A Pokémon Inspection Agent?" Reiji finally remembered. This Nurse Joy should have a Latias with her, one of the legendary Eon Pokémon. A Dragon-type Legendary. Players liked to call it the little red jet, or the little sister of the duo.
He hadn't expected to run into this Nurse Joy here. Now he wondered whether he would get a chance to see Latias for himself.
"As for you, where is your Pokédex?" Nurse Joy temporarily ordered the Cerulean sisters to close the Gym and stop issuing Badges, then turned her attention to Reiji. She wanted to verify his identity.
"Here." Reiji quickly took out his Pokédex and had Pelipper carry it over for Nurse Joy to check.
"Reiji. Trainer from Mikan Gym in the Orange Archipelago. Currently collecting Badges for the Indigo League Conference. Six Badges obtained. No misconduct record."
After checking Reiji's Pokédex, Nurse Joy returned it to Pelipper and let Pelipper bring it back.
Reiji's identity was clean. He was simply a Trainer from an Orange Archipelago Gym. The fact that Cerulean Gym had brought him in as a substitute was another matter entirely. Nurse Joy didn't even know where to begin with that. Cerulean Gym really was worse than average if it would drag in anyone available to fight its battles.
"From today onward, Cerulean Gym will suspend operations. All Badge-related battles must stop. Have the Gym Leader report in person to the Pokémon Inspection Agency for evaluation. If the Leader fails, the Gym will close permanently. This is the official inspection order."
Nurse Joy placed a paper document on a chair and left Cerulean Gym. She had no intention of staying for a battle. The Gym Leader wasn't even here.
As for Reiji, the temporary substitute Leader?
His identity was clean, so what else could she say? If the Gym battle process was improper, that was because the Cerulean sisters had found a stand-in. She wasn't going to drag an outside Trainer into it.
Once Nurse Joy left, Reiji and the Cerulean sisters looked at one another. Then Reiji turned to Daisy and asked, "Um… about my Cascade Badge?"
"Here. Thank you for today." Daisy took out a Cascade Badge and handed it to him. Nurse Joy had ordered the Gym to close, but one or two final Badges wouldn't matter.
Even if the Gym couldn't operate, their aquarium and water ballet performances could continue. For the three sisters, running the Gym had always come second. The Gym only truly mattered to their youngest sister, Misty.
"I got the Cascade Badge." Reiji smiled as he held the Badge and placed it in his Badge case.
There were now seven Badges inside.
The Volcano Badge from Cinnabar Gym.
The Occult Badge from Lavender Gym.
The Soul Badge from Fuchsia Gym.
The Knight Badge from Knight Gym.
The Rainbow Badge from Celadon Gym.
The Fighting Badge from the Fighting Dojo.
The Cascade Badge from Cerulean Gym.
Only one remained.
The Boulder Badge from Pewter Gym.
Once he got the Boulder Badge, he would have all eight Badges needed to meet the minimum entry requirement for the Indigo League Conference.
Reiji ignored Daisy's invitation to stay, with no intention of eating dinner there. In a very good mood, he said goodbye to the Cerulean sisters and left Cerulean Gym with his Badge.
It wasn't that Reiji wasn't interested. Any one of the sisters was beautiful enough on her own. But all three together? That was not a situation he wanted to walk into.
Better not. Women only slowed down his command speed. He still didn't have Elite Four-level strength. Once he became an Elite Four-tier Trainer, what kind of woman couldn't he meet? After all, He didn't want to end up like Naoki.
Cough. If Naoki ever heard that private thought, Reiji hoped he would forgive him for dragging his name through the mud.
After leaving Cerulean Gym, Reiji went to the Pokémon Center to heal the Pokémon that had battled earlier. He planned to rest there for the night and set out for Pewter City the next day.
To reach Pewter City from Cerulean, he would have to pass through one important place: Mt. Moon.
Mt. Moon was home to a Clefairy colony. Reiji had been eyeing that giant Moon Stone for a long time.
After Team Rocket and Ash's group made a mess of things, though, it had probably already broken into Moon Stone fragments by now.
This time, he wasn't going to fly over. He planned to stop by Mt. Moon and see if he could get his hands on one or two high-grade Moon Stones. Just one would be enough. He wasn't greedy, and he wouldn't take all of them.
After all, the place was where the Clefairy colony worshiped the moon. There might even be Rangers protecting it. He would just quietly take a few Evolution stones and leave.
While he was there, he could also check whether there were any Diglett in the caves, then catch a Diglett and a Clefairy.
He could give Clefairy to Amber. Like that electric rat, it was the sort of fluffy, cute Pokémon children usually liked. Just like—
"Eevee."
"Vee?" Eevee had no idea why Reiji suddenly called her. She hopped onto his shoulder and rubbed against his cheek. Life with Reiji was good, and the battles that morning had been exciting enough that she wanted to try one herself.
After all, her previous Trainer had raised her as a main battler. Now that she didn't need to fight, she still wasn't used to simply eating and sleeping for free.
"Hm? She came here too." Reiji was sitting in a corner of the Pokémon Center lounge, playing with Eevee, when he looked up and saw the Pokémon Inspection Agent from earlier. The Nurse Joy with Latias had come to the Pokémon Center and was chatting with the local Nurse Joy.
From a distance, Reiji couldn't tell the two Nurse Joys apart at all. He couldn't see any difference between their faces.
Brock's ability to identify women by aura just went up another level in Reiji's mind.
Brock was still Brock. He was probably the only one who could tell Nurse Joys apart.
Nurse Joy seemed to notice him watching and turned in his direction. Reiji quickly looked away. Getting caught staring at someone was rude, especially when the person staring was a strange man.
"Darkrai, can you sense anything?" Reiji didn't know whether she actually had Latias with her. Even if she did, it wasn't something he could covet.
This was the kind of foundation the Joy family had. They could casually send out someone with Latias. Were they really not afraid someone would try to steal it?
"I sense it. A strong presence, attached to that woman," Darkrai said. After Reiji's reminder, and seeing how much attention Reiji was paying to this Nurse Joy, Darkrai extended its perception toward her. It immediately sensed a powerful aura.
"Hm? Just strong? Then maybe that Latias isn't fully grown yet." Reiji had spent enough time with Darkrai to understand its wording.
When something was stronger than Darkrai, it called it terrifying. When something was roughly on its level, it called it strong.
If Darkrai only called it strong, then Nurse Joy's Latias was probably still young and already had quasi–Elite Four-tier strength.
Once Latias matured, it would definitely reach Elite Four tier. A Legendary rarer than a pseudo-legendary. Who wouldn't want one?
Reiji got jealous again. He had transmigrated all this way and still hadn't even gotten a pseudo-legendary. As transmigrators went, he really was a failure.
Then again, he did have two Legendaries: Darkrai and Zapdos. Weren't those better than pseudo-legendaries?
He already had Legendaries. What more could he ask for?
...
When the treatment finished, Reiji collected his Pokémon and booked a private room at the Pokémon Center.
He returned to his room to rest. As for that Nurse Joy, he probably had no chance of getting close to her. She was a Nurse Joy who had caught Latias, after all.
If the Joy family were open to marriage alliances, they would probably choose from Elite Four-tier Trainers. Most likely, they would pick someone among the Elite Four themselves, and even then, the man would probably marry into the Joy family.
In the end, he was still too weak. If he had Elite Four-tier strength, he might barely qualify to marry in. Sadly, he didn't. What a shame. No rich-wife route for him.
Lying in his private room at the Pokémon Center, Reiji held Eevee and let his thoughts wander. Slowly, both he and Eevee drifted off to sleep. He planned to eat dinner after waking up, then look for something to do around the area at night. If he ran into any Bug Catchers or Youngsters looking for a roadside battle, playing around with them wouldn't be a bad way to pass the time.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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