Misty, who had wandered back, saw Nurse Joy leaving and slowly walked over to Kazuki.
"Hey, why did Nurse Joy leave?"
Kazuki pulled Misty into his arms. "That Nurse Joy isn't like the others!"
"She's an inspector from the Pokémon League!"
"She's got a ton of work! No time to travel with us!"
"Oh, I see. Hey, then last night on the rooftop—did you touch those silky white legs, or maybe kiss—?"
Before she could finish, Nurse Joy had already walked far away, and the gossip bug in Misty was already itching.
"Hm?" Kazuki gave her a puzzled look. "You two were talking about that in the room?"
"I thought you were helping me come up with ideas!"
"Hehehe! You're the smart one—of course we leave the scheming to you! Naturally, we were talking about what we're most curious about! Come on, tell me—did anything happen?"
Misty's eyes sparkled with eagerness for gossip.
Kazuki chuckled and tapped her on the forehead. "Didn't even hold hands—nothing happened! Didn't even touch the entry point!"
"Let's go! Help Suzie carry the stuff!"
"We've still got a long way to go to the Cinnabar Gym! Time to move out!"
"Huh? Entry point? What... what does that mean?" Misty scratched her head, unable to make sense of Kazuki's cryptic words.
"Hey! What do you mean, Kazuki? Explain it to me!"
Back at the League, Nurse Joy had submitted her report.
In her account, her tone was filled with excitement and admiration, and she spent a large portion describing Kazuki's actions and his unique philosophy in raising Pokémon.
"Kazuki? A rookie trainer has such ability?" one board member raised an eyebrow, clearly not very interested in the name.
"Kazuki? Why does that name sound familiar?" Another board member, taking advantage of the device beside him, began to look it up.
"Oh? It's him?"
"What, you know him?" The other council members turned to look at the one who had spoken.
"There's a hero of Porta Vista with that name, and also a scholar who co-authored a paper with Bill—also named Kazuki!"
"A scholar, a hero, and a peacemaker? Hah! No way a rookie trainer could be all that! Must be someone with the same name!"
"Yeah, that's probably it!"
None of them could believe that a rookie trainer could juggle so many important roles.
After all, these old traditionalists themselves had only ever excelled in one field.
Nurse Joy wasn't sure if it was a case of shared names either, but she did know that in Dark City, Kazuki had truly excelled.
So she continued to emphasize Kazuki's accomplishments in Dark City.
"I don't know about any other Kazuki."
"But the one in Dark City definitely defeated both Yas and Kaz!"
"And he brought peace to the chaos in Dark City."
As she described Kazuki's battles, her eyes sparkled with a bright light.
"His Pokémon training is exceptional."
"Especially his Pikachu and Pidgeot—their combat strength far exceeds that of ordinary Pokémon."
"Pikachu and Pidgeot?" one council member chuckled. "Those are some of the most common Pokémon in Kanto! How powerful could they really be?"
"Miss Joy, are you sure you're not—?"
This council member suspected that Joy had developed a special relationship with Kazuki and was exaggerating his achievements.
"What do you mean by that? I've always handled evaluations with fairness and integrity!" Joy's previously cheerful demeanor turned suddenly stern.
Backed by the powerful Joy family, even though her rank was lower than that of the council members, she didn't show the slightest hint of fear.
"Uh, Joy is indeed very fair!" another council member, sensing the tension, quickly stepped in to mediate. "We'll commend Kazuki for his deeds, and Yas and Kaz will be punished accordingly!"
"This is just a minor Gym evaluation, let's not overthink it."
Under this mediation, the atmosphere finally relaxed.
At that moment, a guest of the Kanto League Council—Sinnoh Champion Cynthia—lifted her head slightly.
A flicker of interest passed through her eyes. She was clearly intrigued by the Kazuki Joy had described.
"Miss Joy, do you have any battle footage of Mr. Kazuki?" Cynthia asked, her voice cool and elegant.
Joy shook her head apologetically. "Sorry, Miss Cynthia, the situation was too chaotic at the time, there wasn't a chance to record it."
"But I can assure you, everything I said about Kazuki's strength is absolutely true."
Cynthia nodded, silently pondering.
Though she had just claimed the Sinnoh Champion title, she always kept an eye out for powerful trainers from other regions.
Moreover, Cynthia was a archeologist—she was particularly sensitive to cases where common Pokémon exhibited extraordinary abilities.
She smiled lightly at Joy, asked no further questions, but made a mental note.
At this moment, Kazuki had already left Dark City far behind and was back on the road, grinding through wild Pokémon.
But with the whole team already at fairly high levels, and without the Champion Aura, leveling had slowed significantly.
Other than two Pokémon that gained levels from using Special Grade Experience Boost Potions, only Charizard had seen any progress.
[Pokémon: Pikachu, Level Lv40 → Lv41]
[Pokémon: Charizard, Level Lv36 → Lv37]
"Kazuki, looks like the weather's turning bad—feels like a storm's coming!" Misty waved a stick up at the massive dark clouds overhead.
Kazuki had just blinked and closed his system interface, and as he looked up, heavy raindrops immediately began splashing onto his face.
"Misty, when did you learn the move Rain Dance?"
"That's a high-level Water-type skill!"
"What are you talking about! I didn't summon this!" Misty squawked, shielding her head with her hands.
"You two! It's pouring and you're still bickering! Find shelter, now!!" Suzie grabbed them both by the arms and took off running.
The rain fell harder and harder, soaking all three in no time.
As their vision blurred, a strange-looking house suddenly appeared ahead.
"There's a house! Let's get in out of the rain!" Kazuki shouted, pointing ahead.
"What a weird-looking house! Kinda looks like a dressed-up doll!" Misty, true to her heritage as the Water-type Gym leader's daughter, still found time to critique even as she was drenched like a wet rat.
"Ugh! Who cares what kind of doll it looks like—just get inside already!"
Suzie didn't waste time thinking, dragged Misty, and rushed into the building.
Kazuki paused for a moment, but his Aura Power didn't detect anything out of place, so he didn't stop them and followed inside.
However, the moment he stepped in—
The interior was filled with dense, hanging fabric strips—some kind of bizarre decoration.
There were so many strips that visibility was completely obscured. Suzie and Misty, who'd run in first, were already out of sight.
"Whoa, did I just enter the Spider's Lair?"
"Misty! Suzie!"
Kazuki called out, but—
"Pika~ Pika~"
Pikachu landed beside him, helping to call out too!
"Even indoors I have to actively use Aura Power? Interesting."
"Pikachu, come back—don't get separated from me too!"
Pikachu quickly climbed back onto Kazuki's shoulder. Then—
A moment later, Kazuki sensed four lifeforms nearby, split between two directions.
Did Misty and Suzie split up? Or did they release their Pokémon to help search?
Kazuki picked one direction and, with Pikachu, began weaving through the fabric strips.
There were just too many of them. Kazuki twisted left and right—if not for his Aura constantly pinpointing his position, he'd have gotten tangled for sure.
After a good while, he finally emerged and arrived at a slightly ajar wooden door.
Just as he pushed it open, Pikachu suddenly leapt down from his shoulder.
Kazuki stared at a stool in the room, feeling something was off. Then, a wave of steam rolled out from behind the door.
Drawn by the heat, Kazuki cautiously stepped into the room.
Step by step, he advanced and saw a wooden plank.
On it lay a set of women's casual clothes. Hanging beside it were two pairs of over-the-knee white socks.
He stepped closer—
Is someone... taking a bath?
No way, right?
This doesn't look like a bathroom...
Could it be a laundry room?
There's someone ahead!
Kazuki stepped forward two more paces and heard a clear female voice.
"Ditto, why can't you ever get the eyes right? I told you to practice turning into a stool—how's that going?"
The girl's voice carried a note of exasperation.
Just then, the steam shifted, and Kazuki's vision cleared—
He saw a blue-haired girl stepping out of the water.
Her figure was sleek and elegant, with a slender waist and soft curves that flowed like water.
Her legs were long, her whole body the textbook definition of a model's frame, delicate as a porcelain doll.
The girl turned around.
Her face, washed by the water, appeared fresh and radiant. Her skin was tight and glowing.
A soft blush tinted her cheeks like blooming roses.
Her eyes were bright and clear, long lashes still holding tiny droplets that shimmered, adding a touch of liveliness.
But none of that mattered.
Kazuki's gaze locked directly on the key detail: "What a pair of perfect white boobs!"
The girl trembled in shock at the sight of Kazuki. In an instant, she used one hand to cover her chest and the other to shield her lower half.
Then came a piercing scream.
"AHHH!!!"
"Who... who are you!? How did you get in here?!"
Panicked, the girl glanced around, spotted her clothes, and bolted out of the bath in large strides toward the wooden plank.
Her sudden movement gave Kazuki an eyeful of everything.
At that moment, a system notification chimed in his ear.
[Ding!!]
What the hell, system!
You're triggering a mission now?
What do you want me to do?
Wait...
Don't tell me—?
[?]
----
Join my Patreon for early access to chapters and to support my work: Patreon.com/rivyura