Chapter 618: Gigi's Choice
~Third POV~
[Unova Region, Sunset, Striaton City – Fennel's Lab]
The golden-orange embers of the Unova sunset bled through the reinforced glass windows of Fennel's laboratory in Striaton City, casting long, bruised shadows across the tiled floor. Up above, the murmurs of Fennel and her assistant, Amanita, faded into the ceiling as they retreated to the upper levels, leaving the sterile, scientific quiet of the ground floor undisturbed save for the rhythmic, troubled breathing of the unconscious boy on the couch.
Black lay flat on his back, brow furrowed even in slumber, the mental exhaustion of his relentless, burning ambition weighing heavily on his features. Not far from him stood Azure. Resting comfortably on Azure's right shoulder, its tail flicking with casual curiosity, was a sharp-eyed Pikachu.
Perched squarely on top of Azure's messy hair was an Eevee, its fluffy tail swishing sleepily. Tucked safely inside the inner pocket of his jacket, a Mew disguised as a tiny Pichu let out a soft, melodic squeak.
Floating out from the shadows near a rack of test tubes, a spectral, grinning face materialized—Gengar, her ruby-red eyes glinting with amusement. Gengar whispered, her voice echoing directly to everyone in the room, "Kekeke… Boy's got a thick skull, doesn't he? Took a hit straight to the noggin and didn't even drop his dreams. Just flatlined from pure, concentrated stubbornness."
Rotom popped out of the screen in a flash of blue light, its orange-gloved hands adjusting invisible glasses, and added in a sharp, electric chirp from the Arc Phone clutched in Azure's hand, "She's not wrong, you know. BZZT! Mental fatigue levels off the charts! Analyzing brainwave patterns… warning: subject is operating at 200% capacity solely on pure hot-blooded delusion!"
Azure offered a wry, knowing smile, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked down at the fallen trainer. Behind him, standing rigidly near the edge of the room, was White. The president and manager of the BW Agency was gripping her Tepig, Gigi, so tightly against her chest that the little fire-type let out a small, questioning squeak.
Azure turned his amber-glinting eyes toward the showbiz prodigy. Azure began, his tone low and steady, cutting through the ambient hum of lab equipment, "So… Let's recap. Black gets jumped by a bizarre, masked Pokémon because his Musha wandered off and left him defenseless. Fair enough. But White… I must ask. Why didn't you use Gigi?"
White froze. Her body stiffened at the question.
The warmth drained from her face, leaving her pale in the dying sunset light.
She looked down at the tiled floor, her knuckles whitening against Gigi's soft pink skin. Azure pressed, stepping forward, "You know Odor Sleuth, right? Or at the very least, you have a Pokémon in your arms. What would happen if Black stayed down, if his team was wiped out, and you were forced into a corner? Are you just going to stand there and let whatever that thing was swallow you whole?"
White whispered, her voice trembling, "I… I can't…"
Azure let out a sharp, incredulous sigh. He rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache building behind his eyes as he asked, "Look, White. I know you're running a talent agency. I know your Sandile, your Lillipup, and your Woobat are actors. But we are standing in the middle of Unova. Out there are wild Pokémon, ruthless trainers, and things that won't care if you have a contract or a script."
White snapped back, her voice cracking with defensive panic as she clutched Gigi tighter. She shrieked, "You don't understand! They're actors! The BW Agency represents them! I raise them to be stars, to bring joy to people, to perform on stages and in commercials! I have never considered myself a Trainer!"
Azure stared at her, his expression a mix of sheer disbelief and profound pity. Porygon-Z's avatar blinked lazily on the Arc Phone screen and commented: [BZZT! Error 404: Common sense not found in human subject.]
Azure muttered, shaking his head, "A beginner… I knew you were green, White, but I honestly didn't expect you to be this breathtakingly naive."
Internally, Azure's mind raced. He had dealt with stubborn gym leaders, arrogant champions, and cosmic threats, but this girl had managed to put blinders on a creature designed by nature to fight, evolve, and survive. He needed to shatter that fragile, manufactured bubble she lived in before the harsh reality of the Unova region chewed her and her partners up alive.
Azure asked quietly, deciding a change of angle was necessary to change her perspective, "Why are you even in showbiz?"
White blinked, taken aback by the sudden shift in tone. She swallowed hard, looking down at Gigi before letting out a shaky breath and answering, "I… I went to a human-only musical once…"
She began, her eyes glazing over with a fond, distant memory, continuing, "The lights were bright, the music was playing, the actors were hitting every mark. And then… a wild Cubchoo just climbed right up onto the stage."
Azure listened in silence, while Pikachu tilted its head and Eevee yawned. White continued, a small, genuine smile finally breaking through her panic, "It didn't ruin the show… It just started singing and dancing right along with the cast. Its eagerness… its pure, unadulterated joy… it captured the whole audience. The actors didn't shoo it away; they included it. And when the curtain fell, I saw the happiest expression I've ever witnessed on a Pokémon's face. It was satisfied. Fulfilled."
Her voice dropped to a soft, passionate whisper, muttering to herself in self-belief, "At that moment, I realized… Pokémon want to express themselves. They become happy when they're given the chance to show the world who they are. My dream isn't to exploit them, Azure. It's to give that kind of satisfaction to every Pokémon I can and show them off to as many people as possible."
Azure didn't scoff. Instead, a soft, understanding smile touched his lips, and he replied, "I agree with you, White."
White blinked, stunned, and muttered, "You… you do?"
Azure nodded, agreeing with her point of view in a calming tone with an understanding expression, "Yeah… Like humans, Pokémon have countless talents. They can act, they can sing, they can dance, they can paint. But…"
Azure's expression hardened just a fraction, his eyes locking onto hers with absolute conviction, adding firmly, "You're only focusing on one side of the coin. By stripping away battles, you're suppressing the very thing that allows them to survive in the wild. You're taking away the rawest, most majestic part of what makes a Pokémon a Pokémon: growth, struggle, and evolution."
Azure shifted his gaze down to the little Tepig in White's arms. Gigi's snout twitched, her dark eyes shining with a sudden, sharp intensity as she met the veteran's gaze. Azure said firmly in a resolute tone, his voice ringing clearly across the lab, "Take Gigi, for instance… She isn't just an actress, White. She's a strong, fierce Pokémon. She wants to battle. She wants to feel the heat of combat, the adrenaline rush, and the sweet taste of victory. I've seen that look in my own team's eyes, and I've seen it in Black's partners. You're starving her of it."
White cried out in denial, stepping back in fear, "No! That's not true! Gigi is an artist! She doesn't fight!"
Azure replied calmly with his arms crossed, "You firmly believe she can't… So, let me prove you wrong."
*POP*
With a flick of his wrist, he threw a Poké Ball. Golett—a shiny, metallic automaton ghost glowing with ethereal light. Azure said firmly, "Telekinesis."
A sharp blue glow illuminated Golett's eyes. It channeled its psychic energy, lifting Gigi, hovering effortlessly in the air, held aloft by Golett's mind.
*Whoosh*
White shrieked, backing away until her spine hit the cool glass of a laboratory counter, "Azure, stop! Gigi can't battle! She'll get hurt!"
Azure corrected, his eyes firmly eyeing Gigi held mid-air by Telekinesis, "It's not that she cannot battle, White. It's that you won't let her."
*Sniff*
Right on cue, Gigi's nose twitched violently. A ring of faint, glowing energy swept outward from the little Tepig—Odor Sleuth locking onto the spectral Golett, cutting right through its defensive Ghost-type properties.
Azure whispered, his voice echoing in White's mind, "Look at her. Do you really think she doesn't want this?"
Before White could utter another syllable of denial, Gigi's throat blazed with searing, orange-hot fire cried out, "TE! PIG!!"
*Swooosh*
The little Tepig let out a fierce, battle-hardened squeal that sounded nothing like a stage performer and everything like a warrior. With a burst of explosive acceleration, Gigi shattered Golett's Telekinesis net into a million shimmering shards of psychic glass.
*BOOM*
Before Golett could react, Gigi slammed straight into the robotic ghost with a bone-rattling Take Down! The laboratory shook, dust raining down from the ceiling as Golett skidded backward across the polished floor. Before the automaton could recover, Gigi's tiny trotters ignited in a blistering coat of orange flames—Flame Charge!
*CRASH*
A wave of intense heat washed over the room. Golett staggered, its glowing eye-slits flickering out as it slumped heavily to the floor, completely defeated. Azure flicked his wrist, recalling the shiny Golett back into its Pokéball with a crimson beam of light.
The battle was over.
In less than a few seconds, the BW Agency's star actress had cleanly dismantled a battle-hardened veteran's Pokémon. Gigi stood victorious in the center of the room, her chest heaving, a proud plume of gray smoke puffing out from her snout as she tossed her head back in unadulterated, primal triumph.
White stood frozen. The color had completely vanished from her face as realization hit her, 'I… I've been suppressing her…'
The horrifying realization crashed over her like a tidal wave, cold and suffocating as she thought in a frightened tone, 'All this time… while I was dressing her up, putting her on stages, teaching her lines… I was locking her true nature in a cage. I've been committing the ultimate sin against my own partner.'
Cold sweat beaded down the back of White's neck. Her hands trembled so violently she could barely hold herself up.
Azure said firmly, his voice cutting through the ringing in her ears, impossibly calm and steady, "You needed to learn this lesson, White… Better now than out there in the wild later when your life is on the line. You need to learn to listen to what your Pokémon actually want."
Azure turned toward the sliding glass doors leading out to the evening air. He said calmly, eyeing the startled White in a soothing tone, "I'll give you some space. Take a few minutes to cool your head."
With a soft rustle of his jacket, Azure walked out of the laboratory, leaving White alone with her thoughts, her Pokémon, and the heavy, echoing silence of the room.
/////
~White H. POV~
[Unova Region, Sunset, Striaton City – Fennel's Lab]
My chest felt hollow, like someone had scooped out my heart and replaced it with lead. The lab was entirely silent now, save for the hum of the cooling machines and the soft, crackling embers still clinging to Gigi's hooves.
My legs felt like jelly. I slid down the glass counter until I hit the cold floor, pulling my knees up to my chest…
Is it true?
I looked up, my vision blurring with hot, sudden tears. Gigi trotted over to me, her tail wagging gently, but her dark eyes were serious—sober in a way I had never seen them before. My voice cracked, a pathetic, ragged whisper, "Gigi… Is that… is that how you really felt? When Azure said you wanted to fight… was he right?"
Gigi hesitated. She looked down at her own feet, shifting uncomfortably…
Then, slowly, painfully, she nodded.
A low, agreeing grunt escaped her throat, "Tep…"
The words hit me like a physical blow.
My breath hitched, and a sob tore its way out of my throat.
Confused.
I was so deeply, utterly confused, wrapped in a cold, paralyzing wave of fear.
I choked out fearfully, the words tasting like ash on my tongue, "Have I… have I been a bad Trainer?"
Gigi immediately shook her head, stepping closer and pressing her warm snout against my trembling knee. But then, she let out a soft, affirming squeak that carried a brutal honesty: "Tep… Oink… (You don't listen to me.)"
I flinched as if I'd been struck with a whip.
I sobbed, burying my face in my hands, hot tears spilling through my fingers, "I'm sorry… I'm so, so sorry, Gigi! I'm not a good trainer! I-I genuinely don't know how to be one! I built the agency, I learned how to manage scripts, and contracts, and stages, but… but I don't know the first thing about battling! I don't know how to do this for your sake!"
I expected her to walk away.
I expected her to turn her back on me, to realize just how utterly incompetent her manager—her trainer—really was.
Instead, Gigi let out a sharp, decisive grunt, "Tep!"
She grabbed the hem of my boots with her teeth, giving a sharp tug, forcing me to look up. Then, with her snout, she pointed first toward Black—still sleeping soundly on the couch, wrapped up in his own relentless dreams—and then toward the glass doors where Azure had stepped outside into the cooling Unova night.
I stared at her, my tear-stained vision slowly clearing as her message sank in.
She's right.
Just because I didn't know how to be the Trainer Gigi wanted right now… didn't mean I couldn't learn.
Black and Azure were both experienced. But more than that, they were starting fresh here in Unova, building their teams from the ground up, learning alongside their partners. If they could do it, if they could take those first terrifying steps into the unknown… then so could I. I was starting from absolute scratch, but I wasn't alone. I reached out, my fingers trembling as I stroked the warm, bristly fur on Gigi's head.
I whispered firmly, my voice thick with emotion, though a fierce, desperate resolve began to anchor my soul in a desperate tone, "I'll try… I'll try for your sake, Gigi. I… I can't promise I'll be good at it right away. I might mess up, I might be scared, and I might not know all the rules… but I will try."
Gigi let out a bright, joyous squeal, her eyes sparkling with absolute delight. Before I could blink, she leaped off the floor, launching herself straight into my arms, nuzzling her warm cheek against my neck.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tightly, the crushing weight in my chest finally beginning to lift.
A dark, terrifying thought flicked across the back of my mind: If I had ignored this side of her for much longer… would she have left me? Would she have abandoned the BW Agency entirely for the wild?
I violently shook my head, banishing the thought to the darkest corners of my mind. It didn't matter what might have happened. What mattered was right now. What mattered was that I had nearly broken the most important bond in my life because I was too blind, too stubborn, and too comfortable in my own little showbiz bubble to listen to what my partner's heart was truly crying out for.
Never again, I swore to myself, pressing a soft kiss to the top of Gigi's head. I'll listen. I'll listen to every single one of my Pokémon from now on.
I just needed to cool my head. I needed to stand up, walk through those glass doors, and swallow my pride. I had two very capable, very exasperating people waiting outside who could teach me how to be the Trainer Gigi deserved.
After all, Gigi was my very first Pokémon. I couldn't afford to disappoint her a second longer by pretending I knew everything. It was time to learn… even if one of those Trainers was a total jerk putting me through this emotional distress…
Note to self: cut Azure's paycheck.
/////
A/N: Hope you like the chapter!
And one more thing: Why the MC is doing this to White is because he needed to show her that she wasn't listening to her Gigi's wants. So he decided to pull an N, which he did to her further down the manga, except the MC won't liberate her Pokémon taking Gigi, as he has his own Tepig. It showed her what she failed to see and made her talk to her Pokémon. This is me just wanting to say why the MC did this to her: because he can't see any other way to break her worldview about what her Pokémon wants unless by force.
And what Pokémon should White get on her team?