The Whitewind Town Gym meets the standards of a Core Gym. It is fully equipped with a resting lounge for challengers and gym staff, a spectator area, and a private office for the Gym Leader.
According to the official Pokémon League website, Hakuya's frugal savings and donations raised by Whitewind Town residents funded the renovation of this Gym.
Hakuya's side jobs don't earn him much. Aside from being a Gym Leader, he works at a welfare home and teaches at the Whitewind Town Pokémon School; both jobs pay modest salaries.
The Whitewind Town Gym is located near the town's most upscale commercial district. Perhaps because the holiday season was approaching, the road in front of the gym was rather quiet. Luther hadn't seen a single challenger along the way.
In contrast, the streets were already bustling with shoulder-to-shoulder crowds of people, busy shoppers making their pre-holiday purchases.
Luther walked into the gym's lobby and finally saw a black-haired girl, about seventeen or eighteen years old, mopping the floor.
Hearing his footsteps, the girl looked up at Luther and asked. "Are you here to challenge the Gym Leader?"
Luther nodded.
"I see. Unfortunately, Whitewind Gym isn't accepting challenges today. We're doing a full cleanup."
She gestured apologetically toward a sign on the wall.
Sure enough, the sign stated that because the new year was approaching, the gym would be closed for two days for cleaning and maintenance.
'What bad timing!' Luther silently thought to himself.
The notice had been posted two days ago, so he would have to wait until tomorrow to issue his challenge.
A large Sentret let out a displeased squeak at Luther. Holding a rag, the Sentret waddled over to a bucket of water by the girl's feet, soaked the rag, and slid across the floor, leaving a wet streak behind as it cleaned.
Luther suddenly realized something. Looking down, he saw that he had dirtied the freshly cleaned floor with his footprints.
"Sorry about that. I made more work for you." Luther said.
The girl waved her hand dismissively. "It's fine. Just come back tomorrow."
Luther carefully stepped on the dry patches of the floor as he exited Whitewind Gym with a sigh.
He had purposely spent two days at the hotel resting and preparing his Pokémon for peak condition so he could easily win at Whitewind Gym. Now, he'd have to wait.
Suddenly, a flash of yellow darted past his feet. Thinking he was seeing things, Luther stopped and turned around.
"This is..." Luther pulled out his Pokédex.
"Dunsparce, the Land Snake Pokémon." It uses its tail to burrow into the ground and create maze-like nests. It can also fly short distances using its small wings."
The Dunsparce turned its head toward Luther. Although its eyes were shut tight, Luther could feel the creature staring right at him.
It was huge, at least one meter seventy! 'Was it a wild one?'
But the Pokédex entry said that Dunsparce typically stayed curled up in dark caves, avoiding light.
No wonder Ash was so fond of this Pokémon and had tried multiple times to catch one. Upon meeting one in person, Luther found that Dunsparce had a silly yet serene aura.
Put it next to a Slowpoke and a Psyduck, and you'd have the perfect trio. Add one more, and you could easily form an F4-level team.
Footsteps sounded behind Luther. Just as he was about to reach out and touch Dunsparce, he quickly turned around.
The boy, carrying a large bag of fruit in his left hand and some groceries in his right, smiled at Luther. A strand of silver bangs slipped out from beneath his wool hat and rested on his eyebrows.
Behind him, a Kangaskhan and a Tauros hauled plenty of New Year's supplies and scanned Luther curiously from head to toe.
It took Luther a moment to realize that the boy before him was actually Hakuya, perhaps because of the hat and light red scarf.
Luther was about to speak when Hakuya turned away, placing the items he was carrying into a basket strapped to Tauros's back.
He pulled a small notebook and a pen out of his coat pocket. He quickly scribbled something down, turned the notebook toward Luther, and said,
"Challenger?"
Hakuya's handwriting was exceptionally neat. Just looking at the words gave Luther a sense of Hakuya's calm demeanor, as if he could hear him speaking.
Only then did Luther remember that Hakuya was mute.
"Yes, I was planning to challenge Whitewind Gym today, but since you're doing a deep clean, I'll come back tomorrow," Luther said awkwardly.
Hakuya smiled and wrote again: "Is it urgent? If so, I can set up the battlefield right now."
"Not really."
"That's good. I thought you were like the other challengers, trying to finish your Gym battles before the holidays so you could leave Whitewind Town and head home right away."
As expected, no matter where you were from, spending the New Year with family was a universal custom, even in this world.
Anyone who could make it home had already started their journey back. The bustling crowds in Whitewind Town would gradually thin out as the holiday drew closer.
Hakuya continued writing: "Want to pet Dunsparce?"
Luther rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I thought it was wild, so I was curious."
"No problem, go ahead. Not many people like Dunsparce. They think it's too timid and not worth catching. But mine's different. He's very affectionate and brave."
As if to prove Hakuya's point, his well-fed Dunsparce leaned forward eagerly. The moment Luther's fingers touched its textured scales, the Pokémon pushed its head into his hand.
It was surprisingly plump. Luther gently pinched the Pokémon and felt its squishy flesh. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of feeding regimen Hakuya used to raise it like this.
Hakuya's pen was already scratching on paper again.
"Now that I see you, could you be...Luther?"
"Rorak said in our group chat that he was completely outplayed by a rookie and warned us to watch out."
Luther broke out in a cold sweat. 'Oh, right, that.'
His very first Gym battle in this world had been against Rorak. He'd demolished Rorak's rookie-tier Pokémon with Mismagius's strength.
He'd thought becoming "famous" among Gym Leaders was a joke, but he was surprised to find out that even Hakuya knew about it.
'Wait, wasn't Rorak one of the Core Gym Leaders? So that group chat included Hakuya?'
"They all thought I'd easily make it into the Core Gym Leader ranks, so they added me early...and I ended up disappointing them."
Hakuya smiled helplessly, picked up two large bags of holiday supplies from Tauros's back, and lifted his notebook to show Luther another line of writing:
"Sorry, can't chat any longer. That girl Junna came from the welfare home just to help me, and the gym staff are busy cleaning. I can't slack off."
With a small bow, Hakuya lifted the supplies and led Tauros and Kangaskhan through a side door by the main entrance.
Dunsparce, Kangaskhan, and Tauros were the three Pokémon that Luther had read about on the website as Hakuya's usual team for Gym battles.
(End of chapter.)
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