Today he had truly been put in an awkward position. Back when he had been staying at Mahogany Gym, this fellow had probably been somewhere else entirely. Yet today he had actually been turned away at the door, and Tetsuya could do nothing about it.
With everyone watching him, Tetsuya could only retreat with an embarrassed expression on his face. At that moment, he wished he could crawl into a hole…
"Tetsuya-kun, you're here!?"
Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice. It was Sheila from next door, who had just walked out into the courtyard and spotted Tetsuya.
"Sheila!"
Tetsuya stepped forward to greet her.
"Mm mm, Why didn't you go inside since you're here?" Sheila asked.
Tetsuya replied helplessly, "I never imagined it would be so difficult to get into Mahogany Gym now. I came all this way only to be turned away by that guy."
Sheila had always been hot-tempered. She immediately pulled Tetsuya over to the entrance where he had just been stopped and said, "This is Elite Four Pryce's student. Even if you were thrown out, he'd still be allowed in. Move aside!"
As soon as Sheila finished speaking, everyone looked at Tetsuya with newfound "respect". So he was Pryce's student. Pryce had once been a member of the Elite Four. No one had ever heard that he had a student before, yet it turned out to be this young man. The disdain they had shown him just moments ago instantly turned into admiration… or envy?
The staff member hurriedly apologized.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry! I had no idea. I was only doing my job… I had no choice. Please forgive me!"
"…Considering how dedicated you are to your work, let's forget about it."
After saying that, Tetsuya followed Sheila into Mahogany Gym.
Pryce was currently battling a Challenger on the Ice field.
Pryce had only sent out one of his weakest Pokémon, yet the Challenger had failed to defeat even his first Pokémon.
"Challenger, your capacities still needs improvement. I can't award you a Badge yet."
After Pryce finished speaking, only the Challenger's dejected figure remained as he walked away.
Pryce recalled his Pokémon into its Poké Ball. It was time for a cup of Moomoo Tea. Shaking his head, he let out a sigh. He truly wished he could lose a battle. As long as one of these Challengers revealed even a single shining quality or an unyielding fighting spirit, he would not hesitate to award them a Badge. Unfortunately, such Challengers were all too rare.
"Pryce, look who's here~!"
Sheila called out to the dejected Pryce.
"Oh…? Tetsuya! Hahaha! You finally found time to come to Mahogany Town. Things have been rather busy lately. From time to time, I've even had to ask Sheila to take over as Acting Gym Leader," Pryce said.
"These Challengers are really unbelievable… They're all trying to take advantage of the end of the year to sneak in a Badge! I'm certainly not going to hand them out so easily. Besides, your investigation into the Shadow Team is far more important," Sheila said.
"How about I handle these Challengers for the next few days? That way you can focus on the Shadow Team," Tetsuya said. Right now, the Shadow Team was the highest priority. It was also one of the greatest concerns weighing on his mind. If they were not eliminated, sooner or later those grunts would come knocking at his door again.
"That would be perfect. I just happened to uncover a lead regarding the Shadow Team's Headquarters in the Johto region. I have to investigate it myself," Pryce said.
"It's just a pity that I only have one Ice-type Pokémon right now, so I can only take one-on-one battles…" Tetsuya said with a shake of his head.
"One is enough. Right now, I'm planning an Ice-type core team for you. I'm getting old, and there are fewer and fewer things I can do. Many matters will have to be left to you younger people. I also want to leave something behind for you. The first one is already showing promise. It should be successfully raised within three years."
Naturally, Tetsuya was more than satisfied with Pryce's words. Having someone of Champion level help plan the core of his team made the path ahead much clearer~
Pryce then handed the Gym's Badges over to Tetsuya and took a seat in the audience stands.
In his previous life, Tetsuya had served as a Gym Leader, so he had plenty of experience dealing with Challengers.
One-on-one battles were simple and straightforward.
In battles like these, Challengers naturally sent out either the Pokémon they trusted the most or Pokémon that countered Ice-types. This was also very beneficial for Mamoswine's practical battle training.
---◓---
By three o'clock in the afternoon, the day's battles had come to an end. Not a single Badge had been awarded. Pryce highly praised Tetsuya's performance in battle. None of the Challengers he had faced had been able to force Mamoswine to use Blizzard. Throughout the day, it had only needed to use Rest once.
That very evening, Pryce and Sheila left together. It seemed Pryce had already found a direction to pursue. After giving a few instructions to the Gym staff, Tetsuya officially became the Acting Gym Leader of Mahogany Gym.
There was only one week left before the Gym closed for the year. That week also happened to be the busiest period. It would be a challenge to Mamoswine's stamina as well. It had always been the strongest member of Tetsuya's team. Its training had never been neglected, but recently it had seen fewer and fewer battles. The basic reason was simply that there were no suitable opponents.
Early the next morning, before dawn, Tetsuya first went to the glacier falls. Mamoswine, Ditto, and the Gengar hidden within his shadow were all extremely familiar with this place.
There, Tetsuya left Ditto. Ditto transformed into Gyarados and dove into the lake, where it began training Waterfall.
Beedrill could also make use of this perfect location. It planted its twin needles into the waterfall's rushing current while flying upward. This proved to be extremely effective strength training for Beedrill. Its needles had to overcome the downward force of the waterfall, while its wings also had to generate enough power to carry its body upward.
It was excellent training for both the strength of its needles and the power of its flight.
Leaving Ditto and Beedrill behind, Tetsuya went to the top of the canyon where Pryce's Piloswine had once been found. Looking down, the bottom was impossible to see. Only mountain mist filled the view. Golurk still could not realize strenuous activity. Otherwise, Tetsuya would definitely have gone down to see whether anything had changed over the years.
When he returned to the glacier falls, Tetsuya left all of his Pokémon there to train except for Skorupi and Mamoswine. He only needed to come back at noon to feed them. As for Skorupi, it only needed to train in Mahogany Gym's training room. He still did not fully trust it. Otherwise, it might simply run away.
At eight o'clock in the morning, work officially began. Challengers entered according to their appointment numbers.
Seeing that it was not Pryce, many people naturally felt hopeful. However, Mamoswine quickly taught them a lesson.
During those days, the opponents were almost all Pokémon that countered Ice-types. Even when they were not, they were the Pokémon the Challengers trusted the most, and they had considerable combat power. Mamoswine's continuous battles happened to be an excellent test of its stamina.
For seven consecutive days, until Mahogany Gym closed for the end of the year, Tetsuya treated every battle seriously. In the end, he did not award a single Badge, and Mamoswine's strength was displayed to its fullest throughout those battles.