BOOM!
It sounded as if something huge had fallen, crashing onto the ice, shaking the entire ice field. And with a series of cracking sounds from the ice, Pryce's heart also tightened.
After waiting for the white mist to slowly dissipate, Pryce subconsciously took a step forward, wanting to see the situation inside clearly. But at a glance, he saw Abomasnow lying motionless on the ground. And beside it, Gardevoir was looking down on it, panting slightly.
What happened? It lost?
Pryce frowned.
Logically, in the white mist, Abomasnow should have had the advantage and been able to track Gardevoir by scent. How did it end up being the one knocked out?
And unlike Pryce's confusion, Natsui, through telepathy, had been in real-time control of the battle situation inside the white mist.
Just now, in the white mist, Gardevoir had relied on Natsui's commands. Trainer and Pokémon cooperated, attacking several times in a row with continuous Confusion attacks, and finally managed to take down Abomasnow.
Abomasnow, on the other hand, without Pryce's help, could only fight on instinct and was naturally no match for Gardevoir.
It could only be said that in this round, telepathy had played a huge role, creating a two-on-one situation in an environment of extremely low visibility.
After a long wait, seeing that Abomasnow was still motionless, Natsui finally said, "It seems I've won."
Pryce gave Natsui a deep look, then smiled faintly.
"Young man, your future is truly limitless. Not only did you win the championship, but your Pokémon's strength is also so outstanding. Not to mention at your age, even now, I am far from being your match."
"You're too kind." When others praised him, Natsui naturally had to return the compliment; that's what's called courtesy. "You are the one who is old but vigorous. I think if I were your age, I probably wouldn't have the ability to command Pokémon in battle anymore."
Hearing him say this, Pryce's smile widened, but he also knew it was just a polite remark and didn't take it to heart.
But in any case, his impression of Natsui was very good.
As the two spoke, Pryce had already recalled Abomasnow. He walked slowly to Natsui and took a badge from a small box, handing it to him.
"This is the Mahogany Gym's Glacier Badge. It is proof that you have defeated me. Take it."
Natsui said his thanks and took the badge.
He didn't know if it was because of the cold air here or the material itself, but the badge felt slightly cool to the touch, like solid ice.
Looking at it in his palm, its shape was like a hexagonal snowflake. The light-blue badge reflected a crystalline light under the lights.
Seeing Natsui put the badge in his badge case, Pryce said in the tone of an experienced elder, "I'm very pleased to see a trainer like you emerge, and I'm very optimistic about your future path. But I still have to give you a word of advice. Remember, don't get too close to Pokémon. They are, after all, just animals, and one day they will eventually leave you."
Knowing that he was stuck in his own narrow-mindedness, Natsui just smiled and didn't comment.
He only saw the betrayal of one Pokémon, but completely ignored the fact that every day, many more Pokémon are fighting and struggling for humans, either selflessly or bravely.
He didn't know what Pryce would think when he one day discovered the truth, resolved his inner conflict, and looked back on the words he had said to him today.
Would he feel ashamed of this biased 'warning'?
Well, that's a matter for the future anyway, and it won't affect me. And now that I have the badge, it's time to leave.
…
Leaving Mahogany Town, because it was the most direct route, Natsui and Sabrina planned to return to Violet City first, rest well, and then set out from there to challenge other gyms.
However, since they had to pass through the same forest they had come through, and it would be very boring to retrace their steps, Natsui summoned Charizard, and he and Sabrina rode it, traveling by air.
Whoosh~
The cool breeze blew against Natsui's face.
The endless forest rushed by beneath their feet.
On the way, with nothing to do and feeling a bit bored, Natsui began to summarize his recent gains in his mind.
Although only a few short days had passed, first, he had destroyed a Team Rocket base and a research institute with the International Police, greatly weakening their strength. Second, he had newly caught a Larvitar, Dratini had evolved into Dragonair, and Gyarados's strength had been greatly enhanced by that radio wave.
Everything seemed to be developing in a good direction.
Of course, the most important thing was that he had obtained the Glacier Badge and the Rising Badge, bringing him one step closer to challenging the Silver Conference.
Charizard soared through the sky.
This flight lasted from morning until afternoon. A journey that would have taken over a day on foot was completed in just a few hours.
Feeling that they should be close to Violet City, Natsui looked down, but he couldn't even see a shadow of the city.
Hmm? Not there yet?
He was puzzled and strangely took out his phone to check. And when he opened the map, he finally realized that he hadn't been correcting Charizard's flight path, only giving it a general direction, and as a result, they had deviated from their route.
Fortunately, the deviation was not very far. They just had to turn northeast and fly for another half hour to reach Violet City.
And just as Natsui was about to have Charizard turn around, Sabrina, who was in his arms, suddenly pointed down.
"Look there."
Following her finger, Natsui saw that in the distance, the originally dense forest suddenly became very open. And in a large cluster of rocks, a valley appeared before his eyes.
Although it was far away, Natsui could see at a glance that there were many ancient buildings in the valley, and at the same time, there were small groups of people wearing hard hats, busy working there.
"Should we go take a look?"
Sabrina naturally had no objections.
Natsui gently patted Charizard's neck, and the Charizard beneath him understood, flying towards the valley.
By the time they were overhead, they discovered that these people were an archaeological team composed of scholars, researchers, and excavators.
And at the end of the valley, there was also a large, round facility. People were coming and going, looking extremely busy.
Is there some kind of ruin here…
Curious, Natsui had Charizard land on the side.
The flapping of Charizard's wings kicked up layers of dust, instantly shrouding the surroundings in a dusty haze.
But these people seemed to be used to intruders. They merely glanced at them a few times before looking away, and no one came to talk to them or drive them away.
Jumping off Charizard, Natsui had a feeling and looked up at a sign nearby. On it were written a few large words: Ruins of Alph.
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