"Chansey, hurry and help Latias recover." The battle over, Caleb thoughtfully offered some aftercare.
"Lucky~"
Chansey responded sweetly and began moving its stubby arms.
As it waved its hands, a golden bell suddenly appeared mid-air.
A crisp, melodious chime rang out, sending gentle pink ripples radiating through the air, softly wrapping around the injured Latias.
Wherever the pink ripples touched, the deep violet poison stains on Latias's body began to visibly fade away.
Heal Bell—its melodious chime effectively cured all negative status effects.
With the poison receding, Latias gradually regained consciousness.
But when it opened its eyes, the first thing it saw wasn't its trainer—it was that familiar pink figure.
The sudden sight struck the still-dazed Latias like a bolt from the blue. It trembled violently, its whole body reacting instinctively.
In the blink of an eye, it darted like a frightened rabbit behind its trainer, curling up tightly as if only in that posture could it find a sliver of safety.
"Trainer, this is no angel—it's a demon."
Latias weakly sent a telepathic message to its trainer.
Chansey, standing nearby, puffed out its cheeks in outrage upon hearing that.
Here it was, kindly helping with recovery, and it got called a demon? That was just mean!
Caleb stepped forward and patted Chansey's head. Turning to Ivy, he said, "Miss Ivy, so about the gym..."
He may have won the battle, but she still had the final say. In the thrill of victory, he'd forgotten about her. Damn...
If she held a grudge over this...
Caleb didn't even want to imagine it.
Ivy shot him a look. "Relax. I said I'd judge fairly. Since you won, the gym can keep operating."
The last sentence was spoken through gritted teeth, as if she had to force every word out.
Clearly, she was not happy about it.
But Caleb didn't notice at all. He was completely swept up in the joy of saving the gym—worth five million, no, priceless!
"Miss Ivy, it's getting late. Why don't you stay for dinner?"
"No thanks. I still need to inspect a Gym nearby. There were reports of them handing out badges recklessly. I have to go check."
Ivy looked exasperated—she hadn't had a break since becoming a league inspector.
"Wow, that's tough. Let me walk you out, then." Caleb reached out to accompany her.
As he did, his hand accidentally brushed her arm.
The atmosphere froze.
Ivy instantly pulled out a handkerchief from her pocket and briskly began wiping the spot he touched.
"Cousin... what are you doing?"
"Dirty. I'm cleaning it," she said flatly, not even lifting her head—just stating it like it was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Caleb: "..."
Wait a second, how did a 98.6°F mouth say something so cold?!
Also—what exactly was dirty??
"Oh, one more thing." After finishing, Ivy shook her head like she was considering whether she should just go take a full shower.
"What is it?"
"Make sure to upgrade your gym's security system. I'd like to see you still alive next time."
With that, she turned and left the gym without looking back, clearly wanting to be anywhere else.
What the hell? Was that a curse?!
Caleb looked toward Fiona.
"Oh, right." Ivy suddenly turned back as if she'd remembered something important.
"You're really not Fiona's boyfriend?"
"Nope. Seriously." Caleb answered with complete confidence.
Hearing that, the heavy stone in Ivy's heart finally dropped, and her mood lightened considerably.
"Good. That's good."
"What's she mumbling about?" Caleb muttered in confusion.
"Figure it out yourself." Fiona stuck out her tongue and ran off to catch up with Ivy.
Did I upset her again?
Their whole family's so confusing...
[Ding... First battle victory... System binding in progress... System binding successful!]
[Host: Caleb]
Wait—was this the golden finger?
Took long enough! I thought I didn't have one!
Was it triggered by winning the battle?
[Current Emotional Points: 2179]
[View details to see emotional point sources and uses]
"View details."
Caleb glanced at the translucent blue panel in front of him and quickly understood what the system did.
Basically, after each battle, he could harvest emotional points from the opponent. The more emotional fluctuations during the battle, the higher the emotional point reward.
These points could then be used to buy items or draw prizes from the system store.
I've got 2179 points already. Damn, she had that much resentment?
But the battle just now was really fun though?
Oh well—let's see what useful stuff the shop has.
[Potion Section]
Energy Root: Bitter taste, effectively restores Pokémon's health (500/each) Recommended!!
Revival Herb: Extremely potent recovery herb, use with caution (2000/each)
[Expand...]
[Poké Ball Section]
Master Ball: Manufactured by Silph Co., top-secret tech, guarantees capture of any Pokémon (???/each)
Luxury Ball: Lavishly decorated inside—works great on wild Pokémon who've never seen the world (800/each)
[Expand...]
[Item Section]
Choice Scarf: A scarf with mysterious powers that boosts speed significantly—but restricts the user to one move (5000/each)
Fire Stone: Contains pure fire energy, enhances a Pokémon's affinity with fire and boosts Fire-type moves (1500/each)
Note: Single-use item.
[Expand...]
There were many other sections—like berries, TMs, and more—but he didn't really need any of that!
Everything here could technically be bought with money. And if not, that just meant he hadn't offered enough money.
Flipping through the items list, Caleb was quite disappointed.
No Arceus plates, no Ho-Oh's Sacred Ash, no Groudon's orbs—none of those legendary artifacts.
Let's see if the gacha has any surprises.
[Spend 1600 points for a 10x pull?]
[Yes / No]
"Yes!" Caleb hit confirm. If nothing good came out of a 10-pull, this system was basically useless.
The system lagged for a second.
Boom—
The screen transitioned to a sky-blue background with drifting clouds, and beams of light began shooting down from the heavens.
[White]
Sitrus Berry: Tasty, a little sour.
[White]
Juice: Freshly squeezed from Sitrus Berries, still sour.
[Blue]
Beginner Pokémon Breeding Manual: These WILL be on the test!!!
...
White, white, blue, white, blue, blue, white, blue...
Should I go catch a Togepi with Super Luck to improve my odds?
Seeing his cursed RNG in action, Caleb made a silent vow.
Only two left—please, something decent...
[Purple]
Pokeblock Crafting LV3: Allows the production of high-quality Pokeblocks. Increases knowledge of berries, their traits, and boosts crafting success rate by 50%.
Note: LV1 = amateur level, LV2 = industry standard, LV3 = master level, LV4 = cross-disciplinary, LV5 = human limit.
In an instant, a flood of complex, unfamiliar information nearly overloaded Caleb's brain.
This was an entirely foreign field to him, but after a bit of mental struggle and adaptation, he started to grasp and internalize the knowledge.
He let out a long breath, clearly worn out—but his eyes sparkled with excitement. "Guess my luck isn't that bad after all."
Every gym had professional breeders to care for the resident Pokémon—essential members of the team.
The more skilled the breeder, the more valuable they were. In fact, a top-tier breeder could have more influence than a similarly ranked trainer.
That's why gyms often spent crazy money to hire the best.
And now, even though Caleb had only learned how to make Pokeblocks, with this LV3 mastery alone, he could already squeeze into the ranks of elite breeders.
Before he could celebrate too long, a golden streak of light suddenly zipped across the system screen.