"Gym leader, sir, please state the rules."
Axel stood on the giant lotus leaf in front and didn't bother wondering why Crasher, this Water-type gym leader, had just performed a dive.
Right now he just wanted to clear the gym quickly and put an end to the days of being licked awake every morning by a huge horse.
"Alright!", Crasher nodded and began to explain the rules.
"This battle's number of Pokémon to be sent out will be decided by you, and then I will reveal all my Pokémon. You may send yours out later or switch mid-battle."
"When all Pokémon on one side run out of HP, the match will be decided."
"Now challenger Axel, choose. How many Pokémon will you use in this battle!"
Axel thought for a moment, and instead of immediately choosing, he asked back, "How many Pokémon do you have, gym leader?"
"Me?", Crasher smiled, folding his hands behind his back in the water, trying to act casual.
But as soon as he put his hands behind him, his body lost balance.
"Gurgle~ Gurgle~"
'Damn, forgot my legs are numb now!'
Popping up again from the water, Crasher finally admitted it.
"I have twenty-two Pokémon, but you knowing that probably doesn't matter, right?"
"After all, I'm the gym leader, so I raise a few more. Otherwise when the challenged Pokémon level up later I'd have to raise new ones… damn!"
Crasher's words were only half out when suddenly a strong chill came from one side of the gym.
When he looked toward the chill's center. Right behind Axel, he saw a sight he would never forget.
Behind Axel appeared twenty-one huge dragons wrapped in frost.
Those dragons looked ferocious; their bodies were dark, their skulls and wings ice-crystal colored.
Even more absurd, each dragon had an ice-blue ring hovering above its head.
'What the hell kind of Pokémon is this?'
"These are your Pokémon?", Crasher stared at Axel in disbelief, hoping for denial.
Before the match, Maylene clearly said: between the two challengers only that young lady was strong; this bodyguard Axel's strength wasn't outstanding.
But now, how does this bodyguard look even more terrifying than the Pokédex owner?
Could this be a case of a secret expert coming down from the mountain, or the young lady's personal bodyguard drama?
"Don't worry," Axel grinned, "They're just for show; they probably won't fight."
"I choose the number of Pokémon for the battle to be twenty-two."
"Gym leader Crasher, please release your Pokémon!"
Hearing Axel, Crasher was stunned. Those Pokémon were really Axel's.
Crasher instinctively pulled out his waterproof phone and called Maylene.
["Beep beep beep~ The number you dialed is currently in a call, please try again later."]
Crasher froze hard; the remaining water on his hair trickled down his forehead like two clear tears.
'Understood, all understood.'
'From the first gym onward, this whole thing was a scam.'
'First pit for the second, second pit for the third, and so on…'
'So that means I was the victim this whole time?'
Crasher felt he really needed to concede.
Just then his phone rang again.
He picked up instinctively and put the phone to his mouth, ready to unload.
"You damn… I'm telling you… damn it…"
On the line came a voice like an iceberg.
["Whose grandma?"]
["My grandma died twenty-something years ago fighting that group that wanted to blow up Mountain, what are you calling her for?"]
Hearing that voice, Crasher shuddered.
'Wait, that voice doesn't sound like Maylene?'
He glanced at the caller ID and was completely dumbfounded.
"Ms. Jenny, please listen to my explanation!"
A cold voice from the phone, ["No explanations, you can't clear this up by phone."]
Crasher's face drained white.
'Not another assessment, right?'
'Or three- or thirty-thousand-word confession essays that must be finished by dawn?'
'I finally became a gym leader, and you want me to learn that daily-novel-writing grind?'
But quickly Jenny's next sentence dispelled Crasher's worries.
["Maylene reported to me: this time Axel and Flint seem to have fallen into some unknown situation. But based on what they said, a disaster may be looming over the Sinnoh region. I want you to cooperate with them and satisfy all their requests…"]
After the call ended, Crasher's brain was still fuzzy as he replayed every detail of Axel and the young lady arriving at the gym.
"Satisfy their requests?"
'They're here but they didn't assign me some world-saving mission, did they?'
At that moment Axel's urging came from behind.
"Gym leader Crasher, release your Pokémon quickly, let's fight."
Crasher thought: 'Could that be what they asked for?'
'Dude, you're a little abnormal.'
'When people pull strings for me they usually ask me to go easy. You went straight to my boss and now want me to hurry up and fight?'
'If you have that kind of pull, you could have had Jenny give you eight badges already.'
Crasher looked at the huge pile of ice dragons behind Axel and sighed helplessly.
This thrashing looks unavoidable.
Crasher nodded, put his right hand to his mouth, and blew a whistle.
The next moment, a bunch of Pokémon appeared behind Crasher.
Counting Gyarados and the others, it was exactly twenty-two.
At the same time Crasher began simulating tactics in his mind.
If Jenny called, then he probably can't win this match.
But he also can't lose disgracefully.
In that case…
"Gyarados, for the first match you're the one who's going to take the beating."
"No, I mean, you'll go out first!"
Gyarados: "???"
'Don't think I didn't hear your first sentence!'
Seeing the opponent finally release Pokémon, Axel breathed a sigh of relief and nodded.
A semi-transparent Poké Ball appeared in his hand.
In the center of the ball, Pheromosa opened her big eyes and stared at Axel.
"Pheromosa, do you want to come out and try the Z power you just got yesterday?"
Pheromosa tilted her head lightly and gave a delighted chirp.
"Yo!"
As an Ultra Beast, she was dying to test the new power the Master had given her yesterday.
For her, it was the greatest honor.
Axel nodded and gently rubbed the outside of the Poké Ball.
"Since you're willing to try, then today it's decided, it's you!"
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