After what was essentially a staged battle that lasted for about half an hour, seeing that both Pokémon on the field were already breathing heavily, Winona was the first to smile and wave her hand.
"Alright, alright. If we keep going, we still won't have a winner even when it gets dark. Let's just call this a draw."
Theo followed along naturally.
"I have no objections."
The two of them simultaneously recalled their Pokémon, and the light and surging waves on the battlefield gradually subsided.
What remained was only the damp ground, along with a faint trace of moisture and a lingering floral fragrance in the air, the scent that came from Mega Altaria's tail feathers.
"Here, this is for you."
Winona took out a silver-white badge from her pocket. It was engraved with the image of a bird spreading its wings. It was the Feather Badge of the Fortree Gym.
"Congratulations. You've collected the final badge needed to participate in the Ever Grande Conference."
"Thank you, Leader Winona, for your recognition!"
Theo accepted the badge. As his fingertips touched the cool metallic surface, a trace of anticipation welled up in his heart. At last, he had gathered all the entry requirements for the Ever Grande Conference.
"Haha, no need to thank me. I almost lost to you. You absolutely deserve this badge."
Winona blinked playfully as she spoke to Theo.
Theo could only wave his hands repeatedly in response.
As for Winona's words, Theo did not take them as a reason to be arrogant. Gym battles inherently leaned in favor of the challenger.
A Gym Leader could not freely switch Pokémon.
Do not underestimate this one rule. For a trainer, it was an extremely disadvantageous condition.
Switching Pokémon, forming defensive rotations, and utilizing type advantages were all crucial parts of battle strategy.
If both sides had Pokémon of similar strength, and the opponent used a Fairy type Pokémon, there was no way Theo would send Zweilous out to fight it.
That would simply be courting disaster.
Even after being enhanced by the system and having consumed Carbos and Calcium vitamin potions, Theo still would not dare guarantee that his Zweilous could defeat a Fairy type Pokémon.
A double type disadvantage was no joke.
Or take another example, if Metagross faced a Fire type Pokémon, or Volcarona encountered a Rock type Pokémon, there was no way Theo would stubbornly refuse to switch and force a head-on clash.
Even if victory were possible, Metagross might manage, but Volcarona, being four times weak to Rock, would definitely suffer heavy damage.
There was no need to force such unfavorable fights. Simply switching Pokémon was the smarter choice.
Beyond training Pokémon, understanding type matchups and crafting strategies were the true essence of being a trainer.
For Theo, Gym battles were more like a process of collecting badges.
What he truly looked forward to were the intense clashes against top trainers at the Ever Grande Conference, and the future battles against the Elite Four where he could fight without holding anything back.
...
After the match ended, Theo did not leave immediately. Instead, he stayed in the spectator area and watched several more Gym battles hosted by Winona, occasionally cheering loudly for her.
Perhaps because battling Theo had put her in an especially good mood, Winona appeared much more relaxed. Even her standards for awarding the Feather Badge quietly loosened.
For the challengers that followed, as long as they could defeat even one of her Pokémon, they would be able to obtain the badge.
This left the viewers in the livestream utterly envious, with the chat filled with complaints like "If only I had come to challenge today," "What a huge loss," and "Gym Leader Winona is way too generous today."
After all the Gym battles concluded, Theo still stayed behind and, together with Winona, helped host the afternoon Pokémon flight experience event.
The group of moth and butterfly "underlings" brought by Volcarona proved extremely useful. While carrying adults was somewhat strenuous for them, giving children a few laps in the air was completely manageable.
The children had absolutely no resistance to these colorful butterflies and moths.
And Pokémon like Butterfree and Beautifly were more than willing to carry them.
After all, for every trip they completed, the Gym staff would distribute Pokéblocks as rewards. On top of that, the children themselves carried various Pokémon snacks in their pockets. As a result, each of them was full of enthusiasm, competing for the chance to take the kids flying.
The happiest among them was undoubtedly Volcarona.
Of course, it was not happy because of the Pokéblocks or the food.
It was happy because of the praise.
"Volcarona is so amazing!"
"Your wings are even more beautiful than a rainbow!"
"Can you fly a little higher?"
The children's soft and innocent compliments made Volcarona feel like it was floating on air with pride.
It seriously instructed the children who wanted to try to line up properly, then carried them one by one into the sky. From time to time, it even showed off its elegant flying techniques midair.
Low altitude gliding, graceful spins, inverted flight… it performed all sorts of difficult maneuvers with ease, drawing continuous screams of excitement from the children.
Those screams, those praises, and those admiring gazes were more satisfying to Volcarona than any reward.
At the same time, this flight scene made the livestream viewers extremely envious. The chat was flooded with messages saying they also wanted to ride on Volcarona.
Meanwhile, Theo and Winona stayed on the ground, watching as tourists and children soared through the sky on the backs of Volcarona and the Gym's various Flying type Pokémon. At the same time, they casually chatted about their experiences in raising Pokémon.
One of them held little Ice Vulpix in their arms, while the other held Fire Vulpix. The scene looked especially warm and harmonious. Occasionally, fans would come forward to request photos, and the two of them would kindly agree.
It was not until the sun slanted toward the horizon, dyeing the sky in a warm golden hue, that Theo finally said goodbye to Winona with his Pokémon.
Volcarona had flown to its heart's content and received endless praise. As they left, it still looked reluctant, frequently turning back to look at the crowd.
On the way back to the hotel, Theo opened his system panel. While checking the rapidly increasing popularity points, he casually performed a high level ten pull draw.
Volcarona obediently handed the phone back to Theo and proudly reported that it had received a large donation earlier. It also emphasized that it had behaved very well and followed his instructions to politely express thanks.
At first, Theo did not pay much attention.
It was only after he finished reviewing the rewards from the draw and opened his phone that he noticed more than a dozen unread messages in his inbox, all from Cynthia.
His heart skipped a beat.
When he tapped into the messages, his scalp immediately tingled.
"Heh, big streamer, you're really cold, huh? 'Nice to meet you, thanks for the donation'? That's it?"
"So being an ability user is amazing, huh? 'Ordinary trainer,' is that what you said? Lance can't beat Lorelei, but I'd like to see whether you can beat me."
"Still not replying? The stream is already over and you're still not checking your phone. The big streamer sure is busy."
"Theo? Playing dead?"
A barrage of slightly resentful messages flooded in, making Theo feel his scalp go numb.
Only then did he belatedly recall what Volcarona had said about thanking a big donor.
That was not a simple thank you at all.
That was adding fuel to the fire.
Theo felt completely wronged.
(End of Chapter)