Chapter 217: The Gym Abandoned

Baimu had once assumed Toshiki and Hideki were orphans too.

Through conversation he learned that their parents were travelling the world, and basically only came back a few times a year.

Isn't that a little too carefree?

Leaving an eight-year-old to his own devices like that — it's practically irresponsible.

Having to run the Gym and raise a little terror like Hideki on top of it, Toshiki is quite the capable one.

And there are three paths to becoming a Gym Leader: one, inherit your father's Gym; two, be recommended by numerous people of standing; three, start from an unofficial Gym, and once your reputation is big enough, apply to the Pokémon League, and a Pokémon Inspector will come to assess and investigate you.

Toshiki became a Gym Leader through the second path.

"Excuse me, may I venture to ask one thing?"

Seeing the other nod, he said: "Hideki says your Gym is about to close down?"

Toshiki's face stiffened, then he gave a wry smile. "Yes. Though I hate to admit it, because the number of Badges I've handed out this past year hasn't been ideal, the next time a Pokémon Inspector comes, my Gym will probably be shut down."

"Not ideal meaning…"

"Three."

"Good grief." Baimu couldn't help sucking in a cold breath. "Are that few people coming to challenge you?"

Toshiki said awkwardly: "Few challengers is one part of it — maybe my requirements are a bit too high."

"How so?"

"I generally set the difficulty according to Mr. Qianli's standard, and to some Trainers it seems a little too arrogant of me."

The young Gym Leader sighed.

As a die-hard fan of Mr. Qianli, Toshiki had not only modelled his Gym's appearance on Asagi Gym, but even the rules and requirements were similar — every aspect was made to match very closely.

Baimu: "…"

Hearing Toshiki out, he seemed to understand a little why this Gym had no customers.

"Hiss—" He drew in a deep breath. "There's one question I want to ask."

"Please go ahead."

"What makes your Gym stand out? Or rather, what feature could attract people?"

"Stand out…"

Toshiki was stunned. "Is that important?"

"Isn't it?"

Baimu could barely keep eating, his head full of question marks. "Forgive my bluntness, but if you copy Mr. Qianli in everything, how are you going to attract challengers? Compared to a knock-off like you, why would anyone not go challenge the real deal with more substance?"

"Calling it a knock-off is a bit much…"

"Sorry, maybe I'm being too direct, but you should understand that since you've already set up a Gym in North Asagi City, you and Qianli are competitors now, got it?"

"Competitors? No, no, I don't deserve the title, I really don't!"

Toshiki waved his hands repeatedly, his face full of embarrassed smiles.

Baimu, however, couldn't laugh at all — he almost wanted to pry the man's skull open and see what was inside. Stanning taken this far…

He drew in a deep breath, and keeping in mind the debt of a meal, he gradually laid the bare reality out in front of Toshiki.

Competing in two neighbouring cities against someone with a bigger name was already hard enough, and the latter had actively cranked the difficulty from Hard mode straight into the Abyss — who else but you would die?

But, well, if you're going to die anyway, then die with your eyes open.

Toshiki's expression went very stiff after hearing it all.

Strictly speaking, he was actually very smart — otherwise he could never have been recommended by people of standing and become a new Gym Leader.

Some of the things Baimu said were easy to understand with a little thought, but Toshiki found it hard to accept the facts.

"You've been a Gym Leader for a long time now, you should know there's fierce competition between Gym Leaders. If you copy Asagi Gym in everything, who's going to know your North Asagi?"

He didn't care if the latter blew up — he'd said what needed saying.

Fortunately.

Toshiki wasn't the type to get angry and humiliated just because the truth was laid bare. After a long sigh, he said: "So I'm really not cut out to be a Gym Leader, am I?"

"It's not about being cut out or not — I just think your mindset has a problem."

Baimu said: "There's nothing wrong with admiration; the mistake is that this admiration has clouded your judgement when doing things. There are plenty of things you could understand without me telling you, but your awe of Qianli has blinded you — have you ever actually talked to Qianli?"

"Eh?"

"Looks like you haven't. Why not go chat with him? I think Mr. Qianli, as a senior, certainly wouldn't be stingy about sharing his experience as a Gym Leader."

"But we're not competitors…"

"Are you really that naive or just pretending? Competition isn't the same as hostility — did every Pokémon battle you fought before turn the other person into your enemy? Do you know what healthy competition means? There are countless Trainers in the world; Qianli won't blame you for taking some of his challengers."

Saying this much, Baimu couldn't help mutter inwardly that Qianli might actually be very grateful to Toshiki.

After all, once you're famous, challengers inevitably pile up to an absurd degree, gobbling up your free time. Qianli was barely in his thirties at most — not only in the prime of his life, but also very much in love with his wife — so he must be desperate for more private space.