Chapter 20: Chapter Twenty: Possessed by Demons

The leader of the Smoke Ink Gym, Kozue, was equally absurdly powerful; the camper's Pokémon stood no chance against her.

Mostly because her moves were absurd—Haxorus's Dragon Breath always triggered paralysis as a side effect, and Kingdra's Water Spout always trapped the camper's Pokémon.

If Yuu was powered by transcendent strength, then Kozue relied on extraordinary luck.

Four consecutive losses, each separated by at least a week, with specialized training in between…

With luck like that, why not become a Pokémon League Champion?

Baimu angrily defended the camper, and seeing him train harder again, couldn't help but cheer him on.

Until an unexpected event occurred.

【You saw two figures sneaking out the back door of the Smoke Ink Gym—you chased after them.】

In the scene, the camper chased two shadowy black-clad men all the way outside Smoke Ink City, where he finally blocked them with Rhyhorn and Pidgeotto.

The two sides began to speak.

【You discovered the Thief Brothers—they offered part of their stolen goods in exchange for your silence.】

Baimu froze, then another line of text appeared.

【You spotted the Dragon Scale Badge among the stolen goods—you chose to agree.】

Huh? Huh huh?

I agreed!?

Baimu's eyes widened—he never expected the camper had gone down the wrong path; was it because he'd lost too many times and his mind had become unbalanced?

What he didn't expect was that this wasn't over.

【You stared at the Dragon Scale Badge, thought carefully, then made a suggestion to the Thief Brothers—steal the Ice Gym's badge.】

On screen, the three little figures continued talking; whether it was Baimu's imagination or not, the simulator's color tone seemed to darken.

【You gained the Thief Brothers' approval—they adopted your suggestion to raise their ranking in the thief underworld.】

Thief ranking… is that the one Wobbuffet and Jessie mentioned?

Baimu vaguely remembered such a thing—the two female villains in the Water Pokémon movie were the No. 1 thieves.

After the Savior of Villains, now a hero of thieves?

Baimu stared blankly at the screen, watching the Thief Brothers steal the Ice Badge—yet felt no excitement.

The camper took the badge.

【You obtained the Ice Badge, but for some reason, you were not happy.】

"Sigh…"

He couldn't help but sigh.

Thirty minutes of pixel animation couldn't fully convey the camper's entire emotional journey; what Baimu saw from his godlike perspective was deeply one-sided.

Yet he could feel the camper's mood at this moment.

Previously, he'd won step by step with Rhyhorn and the others, joyfully challenging Gyms—even the Ghost Gym only took two tries.

Then he hit two "monsters" and got completely stuck, no matter how hard he fought.

In those rapid-flowing days, how much sorrow and pain had the camper endured, training relentlessly to grow stronger?

Perhaps this could be glimpsed from Kadabra's delayed evolution—Pokémon and trainers share one soul, feeling each other's pain.

Accumulated negative emotions drove him down the wrong path, one mistake after another.

Perhaps this was what 【Heartless Ruthlessness】 meant.

Obsessed with achieving his goal at any cost—even if it meant stealing…

Right now, Baimu no longer cared about the score—he only wanted to see the outcome, to see the camper's future.

The screen shifted.

【You returned home, three months before the Silver Conference—you decided to prepare. But because your last two badges were stolen, your heart was filled with dread.】

The camper returned to Kihara City, but unlike before, he trained his Pokémon far less intensely; in his spare time, he sat by the window, waiting for something.

Kadabra and Torkoal hadn't evolved, and the vacant sixth Pokémon was completely forgotten.

Day and night repeated endlessly; time slipped by like a white horse passing a crevice.

Finally, the Silver Conference began.

【You arrived at the Silver Conference you had long dreamed of—you registered with trepidation, but passed smoothly.】

The camper stepped into a bustling arena, where countless pixel figures crowded together, surrounded by various Pokémon.

He entered a massive building; when the screen darkened and brightened again, the surroundings had transformed into a vast battlefield where trainers battled.

【You entered the qualifying round—though the process was grueling, you passed the first round.】

On screen, the camper barely won against his opponent using Rhyhorn's Explosion and Croconaw's Hold Firm, but the qualifying round had three rounds—and advancement depended on a combined evaluation of battle results and Gym performance.

Gym performance? His last two badges were stolen—how could there be any record of his performance?

So with every round, the camper grew more anxious.

On the final day of the third round, regardless of his battle results or how poorly he performed, he finally faced the day he had been waiting for.

A group of officers in police uniforms took him away.

【Your collusion with the Thief Brothers to steal badges was exposed—you are about to face imprisonment, and your Conference results are voided. But as they led you away, you found yourself smiling for no reason.】

【Simulation ended】

Finally over.

Baimu exhaled a long, heavy breath, deeply realizing the simulator's hidden malice. He'd run three simulations—each of these three people either started off abnormal or gradually became so.

It was truly baffling.

But perhaps that's why so few contestants entered each Conference.

Just obtaining eight badges was already difficult; in the anime, among the new trainers who set out with Ash, only Gary successfully earned all eight—the other two all failed.

【Choice Reward One: Any Pokémon raised by one level (below Lv. 50)】

【Choice Reward Two: A clue to an obtainable Pokémon】

【Choice Reward Three: Move — Rock Blast (a chosen Pokémon can learn it)】

【Choice Reward Four: Carry over the 【Elite System】 talent to the next simulation round】

The rewards were still pick-two-of-four, but what surprised him was that the move reward wasn't 【Explosion】.

He'd assumed the move reward would follow the Ace's most frequently used move, but now it seemed the Ace's move pool might be entirely randomized.

Rock Blast was a must-pick.

All Baimu didn't hesitate, decisively choosing One and Three. Two and Four were a bit tempting too, but all things considered they weren't as strong as One and Three.

However, the moment he placed his hand on Aron head, he froze.

【Rock Blast】 can't be learned?

Impossible! That absolutely can't be!

Or rather… it can't be learned before evolution? All Baimu thought it over and felt this was the only possibility — a Pokémon's move pool expands as it evolves.

In its Aggron stage it could even learn Surf and Hydro Pump, but Aron clearly couldn't.

He had no choice but to use the level reward first, and he clenched his fist in anticipation, hoping to see the miracle light of evolution.

One minute later.

Still dead silent.

All Baimu was disappointed to the extreme — it seemed the miracle belonging to Aron hadn't arrived yet.

"Or perhaps I'm lacking in some area too?"

"Goo?"

"Nothing."