Clip-Clop~
With the sound of hoofbeats, a bone-chilling cold arrived at the entrance of Swamp City's gym.
"Phew~"
Seeing the gym up close, Axel breathed a long sigh of relief.
During the earlier events, he had been tormented to the extreme.
If he hadn't done continuous battles yesterday, Axel might have fallen into a Pokémon-world curse.
Whenever eyes meet, battle intent surges.
Luckily Axel's battle intent had mostly been used up yesterday, so he'd escaped disaster.
Um... strictly speaking it was a half-escape.
"Axel, did you stuff jelly in your pocket when you went out today or what? Why are you Boing Boing?"
The young lady grabbed Glastrier's mane with both hands and turned to look at Axel.
A tuft of white hair brushed Axel's cheek from time to time, making him feel a flutter.
"See, Gardevoir really was foresighted after all."
"What foresight?"
"Oh, Gardevoir had me bring food early for your Prinplup; what you just touched was the food."
"You prepared it this early?", The young lady glanced at the Pokédex's time.
"It's not even lunchtime yet. How about you let me have a bite first?
He just ate breakfast, I haven't."
"No!", Axel refused righteously.
"Big deal, I'll just pay extra!"
Platinum saw Axel's serious expression and got a bit miffed.
She waved her little hand and reached for the jelly behind her.
Axel was quick; he grabbed Platinum's arm.
"Miss, adding money to everything will only ruin you! Money isn't everything!"
"I agreed to be your bodyguard, but you know I'm not short on cash.
After all, I'm a kind of wealthy person, how could I be lacking money?"
"All right~", Platinum saw Axel wouldn't let her eat and was lectured with a bunch of high principles, and she lost some interest.
"Then at least buy me a sandwich?"
"That's doable," Axel breathed out and walked to a breakfast shop near the gym.
———
A few minutes later...
Axel's face was sullen as he led the rich girl out.
"Um... can you advance some wages first?"
Because money came easy before, Axel had long lost the concept of being broke.
He hadn't expected buying resources for Eternatus yesterday to have emptied him out.
When he asked the rich girl, she too had been drained by these recent splurges.
Now Axel was completely penniless.
Seeing the contrast in Axel's attitudes, Platinum couldn't help covering her mouth and giggling, "Bodyguard, didn't you just say you weren't short on money?"
Axel clenched his fist, "Maybe you misremembered."
"Come on, I like your unruly look."
Axel took a deep breath, "No, you mis-saw it!"
"Giggle~", The young lady laughed and tossed on Glastrier.
When Axel fell silent, Platinum finally calmed down and pulled a black card from her new bag.
She pinched the card between two fingers and lightly waved it in front of Axel.
"This card has one hundred million on it. It's more than your wages. Want to tell me what other talents you have that match this price?"
"I already work as your cook," Axel sighed, helpless.
He'd wanted to roar "I don't need your stinking money," but he really couldn't.
His Pokémon are at very high levels now, and just feeding them every day costs a fortune.
Without this money... he'd probably go hungry for days.
Seeing Axel's helpless look, Platinum realized she'd gone a bit far and hurriedly put the card into Axel's pocket.
The next moment, the young lady seemed to remember something.
There was no jelly in Axel's pocket at all.
After staring for over ten seconds, she opened an AI search app on the Pokédex and typed a query quickly.
The Pokédex then announced:
[The behavior you searched for is very inappropriate.]
Axel: "???"
'Damn, my lifetime reputation!'
"Ahem~", The young lady hurriedly closed the Pokédex and looked embarrassedly at Axel.
"Um... I'll keep it a secret for you!"
"Don't be self-conscious. If not, I'll buy you a potion lab to make up for it?"
"If the lab won't do, I..."
"Stop!", Axel hurriedly cut off the young lady's increasingly absurd offers and made a shushing gesture.
"You guessed right, but don't guess anymore."
Thinking of the way the girl looked at him yesterday with eyes almost tearing, Axel decided to let the misunderstanding stand and bear the shame.
'I'm already like this, I don't believe you still won't let me go.'
'Rich woman?'
'Just someone destined not to get me.'
'This time it's truly settled, plant the flag, no fear!'
"All right~", Platinum gave Axel a pitying look, but soon her eyes brightened.
"From now on we'll be best girlfriends!"
Saying that, she didn't wait for Axel's agreement, grabbed his arm, and the two headed toward the gym together.
Inside a Poké Ball, Pheromosa beside Gardevoir was flabbergasted.
["Gardevoir, Master is being misunderstood like this, aren't you angry?"]
Gardevoir stroked the pure bracelet Dusk had just given her and laughed, rolling forward and back.
["Haha~ what's there to be angry about~ Master is just too hardworking. Before, I admit I spoke too loudly and maybe misjudged Master's determination. Ahahaha, should I buy Master a little dress..."]
Pheromosa blinked and leaned on her neat little bed.
Although she didn't have Gardevoir's heart-reading ability, her bond with Axel was deep.
With how things are now, she had a feeling something unpredictable might happen..
———
In the water-filled gym, Crasher sitting on a huge lotus leaf felt the cold from outside and snapped his eyes open.
"Glastrier's trainer, have those two challengers arrived yet?"
Crasher's mouth curved slightly as he turned on all the gym lights.
A few Pokémon immediately stepped into the gym's spotlights, giving off a faint majesty.
Especially in front of Crasher, a ferocious-looking Gyarados floated slowly in midair, its eyes like lanterns.
This was Crasher's tactic for today.
Just wait for Axel and company to come in, then hit them with the strongest psychological pressure.
To make the challengers get stunned the instant they entered the gym, Crasher had had his Pokémon hold poses here for five hours.
Although his body tingled, his stomach growled, and he felt most of his stamina drained.
Crasher didn't care.
He wanted absolute certainty.
Watching the wild aura emanating from his Pokémon, Crasher's mouth curved slightly.
"That bodyguard from the Berlitz family, sorry about this.
But... this is also the price you two pay for despising our gym leader!"
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