After the brief joke, Lin Shou realized something awkward — at that moment, the only Pokémon type he could reliably field was Flying.
Thankfully, Latina had captured four new "employees" the night before. Without them, he would have been in trouble.
Xiao Lu pulled out her phone. "We need a final photo for the record — just you and me on the battle stage. Okay?"
"No problem." Lin Shou gestured toward Moltres, who hopped over to take the phone.
As Xiao Lu stepped forward, she pulled from her backpack a neatly folded League flag she had clearly prepared in advance. She passed one end to Lin Shou and raised the other, smiling for the camera.
Moltres took a rapid series of shots, talons clicking against the phone screen with surprising dexterity. When she was done, Lin Shou returned the phone to Xiao Lu and slipped the Fire/Flying-type a small energy block as a reward.
"Well, that's it for today," Xiao Lu said, tucking her flag away. "We won't disturb your normal business any longer."
She packed up her belongings and called a taxi at the door.
"It's finally over…" Lin Shou let out a long sigh once she was gone.
[Bite—]
The familiar system prompt chimed in his head:
[The training hall is about to be upgraded. Please select a new renovation plan.]
A. Water-Type Battle Zone Renovation (Swimming Pool Update)B. Expansion of the Underground Research Institute (Additional Scientific Equipment)C. Training Hall Expansion (Adding New Training Areas)
It was the same kind of upgrade option he'd seen when first taking over the gym. Lin Shou knew these were free benefits from the system, so he had to choose carefully.
On paper, adding more scientific research equipment didn't seem cost-effective — but what worried him wasn't the budget. It was Latina.
The woman already had a habit of catching Pokémon and assigning them "work." If she got more tools, who knew what she'd build next? The image of her in a lab coat and goggles, dripping some ominous purple liquid into a beaker while muttering about "Project Mewtwo," sent a shiver down his spine.
No, better not risk it.
After some hesitation, he selected Training Hall Expansion.
Still… he couldn't quite picture how it would work. The hall had a fixed physical footprint. Even with the system's quirks, expanding the usable space seemed impossible.
A red countdown timer appeared in the lower-right corner of his system interface:
[Maintenance in progress. Countdown: 6D:23:59:32]
Lin Shou looked around the hall. Nothing had changed — no loud construction noises, no materialized walls like the last time the system "fixed" the showers and littered the floor with debris.
"Honestly, maybe no change is for the best," he muttered. The last thing he wanted was for the system to glitch and eject everyone — people, Pokémon, and equipment alike — out onto the street during renovations.
Especially since tomorrow was fan interaction day. If the hall ended up locked and unusable, he'd be a laughingstock.
——
Meanwhile, in the Cosmo Building, Xiao Lu had finished sorting the stack of paper documents she needed to submit for final approval. Her mind still wandered back to the virtual battle simulator she'd seen in Lin Shou's hall. She was so distracted she didn't notice the faint scent of cherry blossoms drifting from around the corner.
A sudden rush of air stirred her hair and rustled her papers — a subtle fluctuation of psychic power.
"Ah!"
The documents flew from her hands like startled pigeons.
Xiao Lu stumbled, catching herself against the wall. Her glasses slipped down her nose, and as she pushed them back into place, she noticed a pair of elegant feet in glossy black Mary Janes. Her gaze followed the line of lace stockings upward to where a cobalt-blue dress shimmered with pearl accents.
The figure standing before her was no ordinary woman — it was a shiny Gardevoir, its skirt-like armor glowing with a cold, moonlit sheen. A ruby earring swayed gently from one side of its head, rippling with waves of psychic energy.
"Blue…" Xiao Lu's eyes widened. A different-colored Gardevoir was rare, and in the entire Cosmos Corporation, she knew of only one person who owned such a Pokémon.
Sure enough, behind the Gardevoir stood the chairman's daughter — Miss Ruby — strolling forward, eyes glued to her phone.
If Gardevoir hadn't stopped her, she would have walked straight into Xiao Lu.
"I'm sorry!" Xiao Lu bowed quickly, her tone respectful.
Everyone in the building knew Miss Ruby's reputation: charming yet unpredictable.
Last month, when an intern spilled her bottle of tree sap, the poor soul was sent to Meteor Falls the next day to "research the Gyarados ecosystem." Last week, when board members questioned her business plan, her office was mysteriously filled with metal filing cabinets twisted into modern art by psychic force.
—Dong
Ruby bumped lightly into her Gardevoir before realizing someone was apologizing to her. Looking down, she spotted the scattered documents.
"Watch where you're going, silly girl with glasses~" she teased, tucking her phone away and motioning for Gardevoir to move along.
Xiao Lu exhaled in relief. At least Ruby's mood seemed good today — far easier to handle than her own department director's unpredictable temper.
But just as Xiao Lu thought she was in the clear, Ruby's voice drifted down: "Wait… let Ruby see that paper~"
"Huh—?" Before Xiao Lu could react, Gardevoir's psychic power gathered the documents from the floor, reordering them in the air.
Ruby plucked one sheet from mid-flight, eyes narrowing at the color photo it bore.
"Team Rocket…" she murmured.
Caught under Ruby's questioning gaze, Xiao Lu had no choice but to explain. "Yes… it's said they're an evil organization, and the owner of this training hall has been targeted by them."
"I see… hmm!" Ruby didn't say more, but her fingers traced dangerously close to Lin Shou's face in the photo, as if itching to scratch it out.
Xiao Lu stood there awkwardly, wondering if she should speak. All she wanted was to upload the training hall's promotional information to the official site before the day ended.
Ruby waved the now slightly crumpled page in her hand. "Ruby is requisitioning this. Go make yourself another copy, girl with glasses."
"No problem! I'll print one right away." Xiao Lu bobbed her head and quickly excused herself, pretending to be in a rush.
"Hmph! Clumsy." Ruby turned away, the heels of her Mary Janes tapping against the polished floor as Gardevoir glided silently behind her.