After discussing the necklace, Juan stood up: "Let's go, I'll take you somewhere."
Lionel followed Juan through the back door of the Gym, and the scene before them suddenly opened up.
It was a natural bay gently embraced by the ocean, the water crystal clear, revealing colorful corals and darting small fish on the seabed.
Many Feebas clung to the pebble beach at the bottom.
Some were sunbathing, others were chasing each other, looking exceptionally relaxed.
In the distance, on the sea, a pink Milotic swam gracefully, its scales shimmering mesmerizingly in the sunlight—Juan's partner.
"This is the secret realm of Sootopolis City, specially designed for breeding Feebas,"
Juan said with a smile.
"Since the Feebas breeding manual was released, many people have come to Sootopolis City to undergo the trials and adopt them. In the past six months, two trainers have successfully evolved Milotic."
Lionel looked at the Feebas and thought of his own Milotic.
"By the way, you challenged Liza and Tate's Gym using Metagross's Mega Evolution, right?" Juan looked at Lionel.
"Why not take advantage of the moment? We're both in Sootopolis City now, why not warm up a bit? I happen to have a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve, let's have them spar?
If I'm satisfied, I'll offer you the Water Badge, how about it?"
Lionel's heart skipped a beat upon hearing Juan's suggestion, followed by a surge of curiosity.
Just now at the Water Festival, he had clearly glanced at Juan's main Pokémon: Milotic and Kingdra.
The Mega Evolution forms of these Pokémon are still under research and haven't been successfully developed by the League. Which Pokémon did Juan mention as capable of Mega Evolution?
Despite being filled with questions, Lionel didn't hesitate, a smile of excitement spreading across his face:
"Of course! It's an honor to spar with Gym Leader Juan. They're still playing in the gym right now; I'll go get them."
"Go ahead, they should be playing in the Ice Surface Chamber. Wallace and I will go prepare the battle arena and also call your Tyrantrum back. It's been eating for so long, it should be full."
"Okay, thank you, Gym Leader. I'll go get them now."
Juan waved his hand: "Go quickly!"
Meanwhile, inside the Ice Surface Chamber of the Sootopolis Gym, a lively "adventure" was unfolding.
This is the iconic feature of the Sootopolis Gym. The floor is paved with transparent ice tiles, some of which appear solid but are actually fragile and easily breakable.
A spiral tunnel connects beneath, leading to rooms on lower levels. Only by carefully observing the patterns on the ice tiles and avoiding the fragile ones can one successfully reach the end. This was originally part of the gym's challenge, testing the trainer's observation and judgment.
But at this moment, the four little guys—Larvesta, Vulpix, Ice Vulpix, and Deino—clearly treated this place as a playground.
"Squeak!"
Larvesta stood on a perfectly intact ice tile, patting its little paws and giving instructions.
It first pointed to an ice tile with tiny cracks on its left, then pointed to Vulpix, as if saying, "Go step on that one."
The little Flame Vulpix tilted its head, looked at the ice block, then at Larvesta, and then wagged its tail and ran over, gently stepping on it.
"Crack!"
The ice block shattered instantly, and the little Flame Vulpix shrieked as it slid down the passage, its voice full of excitement.
"Vul!" Ice Vulpix was also eager to try. It chose a slightly lighter-colored ice block on the right, jumped up, and the ice block shattered as well. The little guy happily slid down.
Deino's eyes darted around, fixing on the spot where the little Flame Vulpix had broken the ice. Just as it was about to run over, Larvesta spun silk and entangled its body.
"Squeak squeak!"
Larvesta "scolded" Deino a few times, as if to say, "No slacking off, find a new spot."
Deino whimpered twice in frustration, then reluctantly moved away, searching for a new target.
Metagross hovered in mid-air, scanning the ice with its telekinesis, knowing which piece of ice could break. This game was truly not fun for it.
It should have gone to eat with the Tyrantrum.
Milotic didn't participate in the game; instead, it kept count, seeing who was the smartest and found the most broken ice pieces, while also cleaning up and repairing the ice. The live stream camera was fixed on the scene of Larvesta training Deino, and the chat was full of laughter:
[Poor thing!]
[Hahaha, Deino got scolded again! Seriously!]
[Larvesta's double standards! That ice block he's standing on, wasn't that the place where Larvesta shattered last time?]
["Only the magistrate is allowed to set fires, but the common people are forbidden to light lamps"—that's you, Larvesta!]
[Milotic is having a tough time, acting as both referee and repairman, hahaha!]
[Metagross: I'll just quietly watch you all.]
Just then, Lionel walked in.
"You guys, have you had enough fun? It's time for a battle, come with me."
Hearing Lionel's voice, Larvesta and Ice Vulpix poked their heads out from the lower passage, excitedly squealing as they climbed upwards.
Metagross used its psychic powers to help the two creatures quickly climb up, and simultaneously used psychic powers to pull the Larvesta and Deino back.
Milotic exhaled icy breath, fine ice crystals falling onto the cracked ice bricks, instantly restoring the floor of the mechanism room to its original state, without even a trace of a crack.
It flicked its tail fin, swam to Lionel's side, and affectionately rubbed against his arm, as if asking for credit.
"Thanks for your hard work."
Lionel smiled and patted Milotic's head, then led the group of Pokémon towards the battle arena.
Just as they stepped out of the passage, they saw Tyrantrum squatting at the edge of the battle arena, a half-full bamboo skewer beside it, filled with plump sea fish.
It was eating when it saw Lionel approaching.
It quickly swallowed the fish, flicked its tail, and pulled the largest silver carp from the bamboo basket, tossing it towards Larvesta.
"Roar!" (Here you go!)
Larvesta glanced at the large silver carp, somewhat disgusted, and turned its head away. Grilling it was too much trouble; it didn't want to eat it.
Deino was overjoyed at the sight, lunging forward to catch the fish, opening its huge mouth and crunching away, its mouth full of oil, its little tail wagging proudly.
Larvesta wouldn't eat, but it did.
After eating one, Deino wasn't satisfied and ran over to the Strange-Tyrantrum to ask for another one to try.
Lionel was helpless. These two dragon cubs, one big and one small, had never known the meaning of "unpalatable." In their eyes, everything was delicious. On the battlefield, Juan was ready, waiting for Lionel to enter the fray, with Wallace acting as the referee.
"Ready?"
"Ready anytime."
Lionel nodded, gesturing for Metagross to step forward.
Juan smiled slightly, took out a Poké Ball, and gently tossed it into the air:
"Come out, Swampert!"
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Thoughts on where the plot is heading? Let me know in the comments! If you're enjoying the ride, please leave a quick review and toss a few Power Stones my way. Every bit of support means the world! 🙌