Chapter 561: Serving as Gym Leader

Liuli City.

A tranquil island beneath a clear sky.

Although he had said before leaving that he would return once the necessary matters were settled, when Baimu once again came near the Liuli Gym, he felt an inexplicable hesitation.

Why?

He thought it over and concluded it must be because his life at the Liuli Gym had been limited to one-sided "taking," with no "contribution" or "giving back" to the Gym itself.

Faced with the generosity and goodwill of Adam and Wallace, his sense of shame was working overtime.

But before he could agonize for long, the ever-elusive old butler Sebastian once again appeared as if by magic, silently materializing behind him, and bowed as he said:

"Welcome back, Mr. Baimu. Shall I prepare some hot water for you to wash off the dust of your journey?"

"Grandpa Butler!"

Baimu jumped, then smiled, pulled a small box from his backpack, and offered it with both hands. "It's been a while, and I'll be troubling you again. This is something I brought back from Kalos—a small token of my regard."

"A gift?"

The old butler slightly raised his eyelids, took the box, and said with a chuckle, "Hehehe… I didn't expect you to still remember this old bag of bones. I'm deeply flattered."

"I've been in your care all this time—I'm truly grateful."

Baimu said softly, "I've also prepared some things for Teacher Adam and the others. Are they all in the Gym?"

The old butler nodded. "Of course… I cannot refuse your kind intentions. Thank you very much."

"Not at all."

With that, the fellow no longer had any reason to hesitate and was half-pushed, half-led back into the Gym.

Same as always.

In the garden, Adam had created a massive floating water sphere to train the Water-type Pokémon, in preparation for the monthly Liuli Celebration performance commissioned by the mayor.

Wallace was in the battle field receiving new challengers; meeting the annual badge quota didn't mean he could completely stop accepting Gym challenges.

Miss Liuqi, as usual, had curled up with her Altaria in a specially made recording booth. She always placed great importance on the performance segment of the Pokémon Showcase, and she also had the idea of singing while battling in a Glamorous Match.

Baimu's return did not cause much of a stir—

On the surface.

Miss Liuqi need not be mentioned—during his time in Kalos, the two of them had never lost contact, chatting often whenever they were free.

When Baimu went on a pilgrimage to the flagship store of 【Golduck's Smile】 in Lumiose City, he had even live-streamed it for her.

Even the gifts he brought for Adam and the others had been discussed between the two of them.

Miss Liuqi seemed to be growing increasingly fond of the teasing nickname "Teacher Liu," and when she received the surprise gift of a sky-blue feather hair ornament, her delighted expression didn't look feigned at all.

On the other hand.

Although Adam and Wallace had appeared extremely composed when accepting their gifts, the old butler, worried that Baimu might be discouraged by this, privately and ruthlessly exposed the two for treating the gifts like priceless treasures.

The expensive red wine bought for Adam was placed in the only safe in the wine cellar.

The portrait of a Milotic—a masterpiece by a famous artist—bought for Wallace was hung that very night in the most prominent spot in his room.

This made Baimu very happy.

Nothing is more touching than having a gift you carefully chosen being treasured.

The next morning.

At the dining table.

Wallace gave him an unexpected commission.

"I have some business that requires me to travel for the next week. Could you stand in for me as the temporary Gym Leader and receive challengers?"

"Huh?"

Baimu instinctively glanced at Adam in the seat of honor; the latter said nothing, merely eating his breakfast with elegant composure.

"Are you willing to accept? Your status isn't an issue—I'll send an email to the League, and they'll send back the temporary Gym Leader certification. Just leave it to Sebastian to handle."

Wallace said with a smile, "I know you want to focus on preparing for the Grand Showcase, but there won't be too many challengers…

"You can think of it as a battle to change your mood after all that hard training. You often go out to find trainers in Liuli City anyway, don't you?"

"Sure."

After a brief moment of thought, he glanced at Adam again. Seeing that the man still had no objections, he nodded and agreed.

Just as Wallace had said, in order to speed up the cooldown of his simulator, he often went out to find people to battle. Moving the battle field into the Gym would actually save him the trouble of going out to find opponents.

However…

"Do I need to use the Gym's Pokémon? This is a Water-type Gym, isn't it?" Baimu only had a shiny Milotic that was Water-type—surely he couldn't use it from start to finish?

Wallace smiled and said, "Using your own Pokémon is fine too. You can simply defeat your opponents directly without worrying about handing out any badges."

Because the quota was already met, then…

Baimu muttered a complaint inwardly, then turned his head to see Miss Liuqi yawning as she walked in with her drowsy Altaria.

"Good morning~"

The little girl draped in long cyan-blue hair waved in greeting.

Lately, with no schedules to rush to, Miss Liuqi's daily routine was gradually returning to normal.

He told her about his taking on the role of temporary Gym Leader.

Miss Liuqi's eyes immediately lit up with little stars, and she said excitedly:

"Eh? Really? Really? Baimu, you're going to be the next Gym Leader of the Liuli Gym?"

"…Temporary Gym Leader. Wallace-san has some business to attend to."

Baimu said helplessly.

"I see."

Miss Liuqi instantly regained her composure, then smiled and said, "But being a Gym Leader should be a very interesting experience. Good luck~!"

Across the way, Mi Ke Li's forehead was sweating and the corner of his mouth twitching, while Adam's hand holding his black tea cup trembled slightly.

Theoretically, Miss Liuqi is the third generation of the Liuli Gym, meaning the future rightful heir—so what's with getting so excited hearing someone take on the position of Liuli Gym Leader?

And even cheering him on...

Could you have any sense of crisis at all!

Unfortunately, for a Coordinator Trainer completely devoted to gorgeous contests and idol work, the position of Gym Leader holds absolutely no appeal.

In any case.

Under Mi Ke Li's commission, Adam's tacit approval, and Miss Liuqi's encouragement.

A new generation Liuli Gym Leader was born.

Once the news was released, it immediately caused an enormous uproar throughout Liuli City.

One must understand that the position of Liuli Gym Leader has always been an important inheritance passed down from master to apprentice among the People of Liuli—and now suddenly a Mi Ke Li Cup winner pops up as temporary Gym Leader?

What is this supposed to mean?

After years of relocation and migration, most citizens of Liuli City no longer have any connection to the People of Liuli, but a portion of the population still consists of pure-blooded People of Liuli.

They were also the ones who reacted the strongest.

All Baimu was quite worried about Mi Ke Li and Adam's stance on this matter.

The latter two naturally wouldn't cancel their decision because of outside discussion, and didn't even react much to it—but as People of Liuli, if they stubbornly went their own way, would it affect their standing among the People of Liuli?

He truly didn't want the two of them to be implicated because of him.

What he didn't expect was that just as All Baimu was thinking about what he could do, all the public opinion and controversy that had arisen because of him vanished.

It wasn't the League stepping in to silence things.

Rather, all the People of Liuli accepted the fact that he was serving as temporary Gym Leader.

The reason was that an elder he had met once before—Old Man Gangzang, who currently held the highest seniority among the People of Liuli—stepped forward and declared All Baimu's important identity as the inheritor of the People of the Meteor.

As well as the ancient pact that the People of the Meteor and the People of Liuli must always remain as close as one family.

Who would have thought.

The connection between these two ancient lineages was closer than All Baimu had believed—close enough that as long as he was the inheritor of the People of the Meteor, he could become the Liuli Gym Leader.

No wonder the moment he arrived, he was brought by Gangzang to the deepest part of the Awakening Shrine to personally witness this planet's great artery.

The negative storm subsided.

Replacing it was a rebound-like curiosity from the People of Liuli—they kept learning about All Baimu through various channels, and many Trainers submitted challenge applications to the Liuli Gym.

Most were rejected by the old butler Sebastian.

A Liuli Gym that has fulfilled its badge quota can limit the number of challengers—this is a privilege the League grants to diligent Gym Leaders.

But three people still became new challengers, each scheduled for one in the afternoon on three separate days.

All Baimu also soon faced the first day's People of Liuli Trainer.

"Go for it! All Baimu! Go for it!"

"Churu! Churu!"

In the stands, Miss Liuqi, dressed as a cheerleader, was overjoyed.

When the wave of public opinion had surged, she, who stood firmly by her beloved disciple, had planned to go offline and cause trouble for some people—but was stopped by All Baimu at all costs.

She is, after all, a gorgeous contest idol—what would it look like if she got personally involved? What about her fans?

Having no choice but to give up, she could only use her voice in support to show her stance.

At the Gym Leader's seat.

All Baimu gave Miss Liuqi a thumbs-up, then looked at the challenger across from him who called himself Yohei and said: "Welcome to the Liuli Gym—are you ready?"

A Gym Leader has the right to pull up a challenger's records from their previous gym challenges. After looking them over, he discovered this person had participated in the Hoenn League Conference five years ago—and even made the top eight?

Someone with conference results can still challenge gyms again—the League's rules really are strange.

"I've been ready for a long time! But you—it's your first time as Gym Leader—can you properly encourage challengers and evaluate their mistakes?"

Yohei of the People of Liuli, a slightly dark-skinned young man of the sea, looked at him smugly.

"Please watch and see."

All Baimu didn't waste any more words, and raised his hand toward the old butler at the referee's seat: "I'm counting on you!"

The old butler nodded and said loudly:

"The Liuli Gym battle now begins... each side may use three Pokémon... only the challenger may switch Pokémon! Let the battle begin!"

"Go! My beloved warrior!"

Yohei threw forward his Poké Ball.

Poof!

Bai Guang flickered.

A pitch-black figure plunged into the water, then slowly rose to the surface.

"Shaa!"

An exceptionally ferocious-looking but tailless shark fixed its cold gaze on All Baimu.

Sharpedo, the Brutal Pokémon, known as the tyrant of the sea—teeth capable of biting through steel plates are the nightmare of many ships.

Yohei said loudly: "Looks like you even changed the gym's rules? Shouldn't it be doubles first, then singles, with five Pokémon sent out in total?"

"Hehehe, I personally prefer the singles format."

All Baimu returned a smile—a Gym Leader is absolutely not part of the service industry that must smile and serve, but if a challenger files a complaint, it's not something that can be resolved so easily.

He certainly didn't want to add a few penalty slips to the Liuli Gym during his tenure as Leader.

As for changing the rules...

To put it arrogantly, after looking over Yohei's profile, he was mainly afraid this guy would get crushed into a depression during doubles.

Though in one-on-one fights he'd still clam up.

Bang!

The Poké Ball opens.

"Milo~"

The shiny Milotic falls into the pool water, and upon seeing the fiercely intimidating Sharpedo opposite, not only is it unafraid, it actually looks excited.

You're so fierce — you must be an Intimidate-ability Pokémon, right? You must be, right?

To its regret, once it locked eyes with Sharpedo for more than three seconds, that originally fiercely intimidating tailless shark bashfully looked away with a red face.

Shiny Milotic: "???"

Why's it blushing?! Are you even an Intimidate user or not?!

"Sharpedo! Don't be fooled by its looks! Pull yourself together!"

Yohei, equally stunned by the shiny Milotic's looks, quickly came to his senses and shouted at his Pokémon.

"Sharwa!"

Sharpedo replied with an affirmative cry, and when it looked at the shiny Milotic again, its gaze was full of resolve.

A beautiful snake is beautiful, but bros come first!

"Good!"

Yohei could hardly wait to give the order: "Show it our strength! Water Pulse!"

"Sharwa!"

A jet of seawater blasted violently from Sharpedo's severed tail!

Boom!

A muffled sound rang out.

The pale-blue light wave instantly enveloped it whole, turning it into a water missile that tore through the surface and charged straight at the shiny Milotic!

Its speed was exceptionally swift — the dynamic vision of an ordinary person could barely keep up.

This also made Yohei rather proud.

But just as Sharpedo was about to slam into the shiny Milotic—

"Bounce."

"Milo~~"

The shiny Milotic was like a spring compressed to its limit, suddenly leaving the water and leaping skyward; its long serpentine body twisted slightly to adjust its orientation, letting it look down at Sharpedo from above.

Yohei sucked in a cold breath and shouted: "Turn around! Turn around!"

Too late.

"Attract."

"Milo~"

The shiny Milotic lightly blinked its right eye, and several hearts flew into the body of the Sharpedo attempting a sharp turn, completely ignoring the outermost pale-blue energy layer.

Fwoosh!

The pale-blue light wave dimmed.

Boom!

The shiny Milotic dropped back into the water, and not far away Sharpedo's eyes were replaced by little pink hearts.

"Sharpedo! Snap out of it!"

Yohei shouted at the top of his lungs — he had never expected that less than a minute into the match, his Sharpedo was already facing the worst possible situation!

"Speed's not bad, but you need to give it more room to move — why not let it fly up in the air? Limiting yourself to the water surface isn't a good idea."

All Baimu's voice grated on his eardrums. "And your Sharpedo really needs some resistance-to-temptation training — it fell for it way too easily."

The move Attract, in reality, isn't as omnipotent as people imagine.

According to Adam, if a Pokémon has undergone targeted training against gender-based allure, even if the user's charm is extremely strong, the hearts can still fail to take effect.

Speaking from his experience as a Gym Leader, such Pokémon were not rare.

Unfortunately, his Milotic couldn't undergo that kind of training, because a Coordinator's Pokémon must possess aesthetic sense and a stronger awareness of beauty — strengthening its resistance to charm would only make it indifferent to beauty.

"I don't need you to tell me! Sharpedo! Wake up!"

Yohei kept shouting.

But no matter how much he shouted, his Sharpedo wouldn't wake up.

"Amazing! Amazing!"

In the stands, Miss Liuqi excitedly waved her cheerleading pom-poms.