Such a simple tactic, and they call it dirty…
If I really used something disgusting like a stall Skarmory with the moves
Toxic + Protect + Spikes + Roost,
wouldn't you try to beat up the Trainer in real life?
"I lost. The Cascade Badge is yours."
Misty willingly handed the badge to Ash.
She had never really expected to defeat him in the first place. Her real goal had been to use the battle to motivate her three sisters.
But who would've thought her sisters would act like Liu Shan—retreating at the first sign of trouble.
"Kid, you're really fierce."
The three sisters gave Ash their highest praise.
Luckily they hadn't battled him themselves. Somehow he seemed even harder to deal with than the previous Trainers from Pallet Town.
Those earlier Trainers had mostly relied on raw strength.
Very little strategy.
But Ash was different.
He had a harmless, innocent-looking face—
Yet used "sunshine-bright tactics" in battle.
"Thanks for the compliment."
Ash felt his face grow warm.
It was the first time a beautiful girl had called him fierce.
[ Mission complete.]
Reward:
100,000 PokéDollars
Mystic Water
Junior Rare Candy ×5
All items had been stored in the System Backpack.
It seemed that successfully challenging a Gym always rewarded 100,000 PokéDollars.
The system notification echoed in Ash's mind.
"Misty, keep working hard as a Trainer," her sisters said.
"You might lack a bit in beauty—"
"But you make up for it with talent."
"Be careful out there."
Although the sisters sounded like they were teasing her, they actually cared deeply about Misty and acknowledged her strength.
They had already decided that they would properly run the Cerulean Gym for now—
And hand it back to Misty once she returned.
To be honest, the Cerulean Gym's four sisters were all extremely attractive.
It was just that the youngest, Misty, hadn't really started dressing herself up yet.
If she put some effort into it—
She definitely wouldn't lose to her sisters.
"See you later," Misty said, waving.
"Ash, Brock—please take good care of Misty."
"Who needs them to take care of me?!"
Misty crossed her arms and raised her chin proudly.
A tsundere super-strong girl.
Ash smiled and agreed.
"Pika pika!"
Pikachu raised both hands in agreement.
Brock nodded seriously.
"Misty… so you were actually a Trainer from the Cerulean Gym?" Brock said, still finding it hard to believe.
"I didn't expect it either," Ash added.
"When I left the Gym, I said I wouldn't return until I became an outstanding Water-type Pokémon Trainer," Misty explained.
"But right now I haven't reached that goal at all."
"I was afraid my sisters would laugh at me… so I kept trying to stop you from coming to Cerulean City."
As she spoke, Misty shot Ash a resentful look.
She had just been laughed at by her sisters again.
Pokémon version of "Don't bully the poor girl!"
"You could tell your sisters were just joking," Brock comforted her.
Misty knew that too, so she didn't take it too seriously.
But when she looked back at Ash—
Her anger suddenly flared again.
"Ash! What was that battle earlier?!"
"Huh?" Ash asked, confused.
Why was she suddenly angry?
"What do you think?!"
Ash frowned and carefully recalled the time he'd spent traveling with Misty.
He hadn't offended her during daily life.
Her strange mood only appeared after arriving in Cerulean City, but that was related to her personal matters.
If he had done anything wrong…
It must have been the battle.
Ash's brain worked quickly.
Finally, he realized the key point—
He had used layered tactical traps, leaving Misty completely unable to fight back.
And she had lost face in front of her sisters.
Looking at Misty's delicate face, Ash couldn't help but laugh silently.
As expected of a tsundere girl…
A tsundere super-strength girl who can carry a bicycle with one hand.
"Well… about that…" Ash hesitated.
He knew the problem now, but he didn't know how to answer.
If he said the wrong thing and angered the super-strength tsundere girl—
His life might actually be in danger.
Help! How do you comfort a tsundere girl?
Urgent. Waiting online.
[ Hidden Mission Triggered]
Mission: Comfort your traveling companion
Reward:
"Central Heating" Reputation +1
(When reputation reaches certain levels, relationship favorability will not decrease.)
…Central Heating???
Ash stared at the strange mission issued by the System.
Maintaining favorability wasn't really necessary.
The Central Heating reputation didn't matter.
What mattered was fixing things with his travel partner.
Otherwise, traveling alone would be way too lonely.
Just to be clear—
I'm not doing this for the reputation!
Absolutely not!
Ash quickly caught up to Misty.
After carefully organizing his words and giving a bit of smooth-talking explanation, he successfully convinced her that:
He had battled seriously to show her sisters how strong she had become, while also protecting the reputation of the Cerulean Gym.
At the same time, it helped reignite the fighting spirit of the three sisters, so they wouldn't treat battles so casually anymore.
It actually worked.
"I want a strawberry sundae."
Misty lifted her chin proudly, though her eyes were smiling.
"You earned so many PokéDollars. Your treat."
Ash agreed immediately.
A strawberry sundae cost almost nothing.
After all, he had just earned 30,000 PokéDollars from the Gym challenge.
Brock widened his eyes and watched Ash and Misty joking around ahead of him.
Suddenly he felt like he was completely unnecessary.
Like a street lamp glowing alone by the roadside.
[ Mission Complete]
Reward:
Central Heating Reputation +1
Ash looked at the status panel.
There was only 1 point of Central Heating Reputation.
He had no idea what effect it currently had.
If he could trigger more hidden missions like this and raise the reputation—
Maybe favorability would skyrocket.
If girls' favorability increased, that would be fine.
The more the better.
But if guys' favorability increased too…
Yeah, maybe not.
Ash quickly shook his head.
I'm a serious Pokémon Trainer.
As the cool wind blew, Misty suddenly felt much more relaxed.
For the moment, she had put down the burden of the Cerulean Gym.
Thinking back to the battle against Gyarados, she realized something.
Even though she had mentally prepared herself—
Facing a Shiny Gyarados from an opponent's perspective for the first time still made her legs tremble slightly.
Of course, she didn't dare show that in front of her sisters.
Otherwise they would laugh at her for years.
Still—
Thanks to Ash.
Although she lost to Gyarados, she had shown her best effort.
And now she wasn't quite as afraid of Gyarados anymore.
The three of them returned to the Pokémon Center.
They planned to rest for half a day and check if there were any supplies they still needed to buy before leaving the next day.
"Brock, my backpack is already full," Ash said.
"Let's use your backpack to carry the rest of the supplies."
"Sure," Brock replied.
He took out their shopping list.
There were indeed a few items left to buy.
So he decided to go purchase them himself.
After all, Ash and Misty had just finished battling.
He could handle the errands alone.
◇ BONUS & SUPPORT ◇
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 10 reviews — drop a comment!
◇ 1 bonus chapter for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 70 chapters ahead on P@treon → patreon.com/Chakraflow789