"Could my Beedrill try that too?" Ann Chovy pointed toward the dodge-and-strike chamber where Weavile was training, her face brimming with eagerness.
Beedrill was Ann's starter Pokémon. It was a bit stronger than her Ponyta, and in lower-tier early competitions, Beedrill was considered one of the better Pokémon when it came to evasion and flight speed.
Was this girl misunderstanding something, or was she simply too bold for her own good? Kael admired her courage. Weavile already possessed significant racial advantages in speed and physical agility, and on top of that, it had undergone extensive foundational training before daring to enter this specially customized dodge-and-strike chamber.
Even so, Kael had still seen Weavile's arms and back get struck several times by the high-speed discs. They wouldn't cause any real injury, but the impact against flesh was far from pleasant.
"Sure."
Kael pressed the switch again, ending Weavile's training session early. Weavile stopped its repeated squatting motions, breathing in short, heavy gasps. On the surface of its dark fur, faint beads of sweat had already formed.
Just fifteen short minutes of dodge training had drained her stamina severely. It wasn't merely physical fatigue—the more critical factor was the constant, razor-sharp concentration required. Tracking so many high-speed discs placed a considerable burden on Weavile's dynamic vision as well.
Kael didn't mock her. There was no need. Having the courage to try was a good thing.
After all, his primary profession was still that of a bounty hunter. Sooner or later, he would have to travel far to carry out missions, and a single job might take one or even two months to complete.
What if trainers came to challenge the Gym during that time?
Once or twice wouldn't be a problem. But if trainers kept showing up only to find the Gym doors closed every time, they would definitely file complaints on the League's official website.
And then the hard-earned status of an official Gym would be revoked immediately. All his previous efforts would go to waste. Kael had already begun considering training a proxy Gym Leader—someone who could handle visiting challengers while he was away on assignments.
This acting Gym Leader didn't need to be particularly strong, but couldn't be too weak either. Issuing about eight badges within a month would be sufficient.
After all, Dark City was remote and economically underdeveloped. Not many trainers would go out of their way to challenge a Gym in such a place.
Kael had asked the elderly mayor: Dark City's annual tax revenue was roughly 10 million Pokédollars. The official Gym could draw five percent of that—five hundred thousand.
For an ordinary household, that was a considerable sum. An annual income of five hundred thousand easily placed one in the middle class. Combined with the League's yearly subsidies, the Gym could bring Kael roughly one million in revenue per year.
One million sounded like a lot.
But in Kael's plans, that amount was merely a bonus—and not one that could be liquidated immediately. Whether it was the Prism Scale needed for Feebas to evolve into Milotic, or the Protector required later for Rhydon to evolve into Rhyperior—
Just those two evolutionary items alone, if acquired purely with money, would conservatively cost at least 1.5 million. Especially the Prism Scale—there was also competition from the Sootopolis Gym to consider.
...
Ann called Beedrill to her side and whispered into its ear, "You have to perform well and make me look good in front of Mr. Kael. He is rich. If you do well, you'll get to eat good food every day from now on…"
"Buzz~ buzz~"
Beedrill nodded, then very human-like, knocked its twin lance-like forearms together, as if to say, No problem. I'll complete the mission.
Its wings vibrated as Beedrill shot straight into the dodge-and-strike chamber.
"Ready?" Kael asked calmly.
Ann clenched her fist and waved it hard. "Ready! Mr. Kael, you can start!"
Kael pressed the switch.
But instead of selecting the third gear like he had for Weavile, he chose the lowest power setting.
The large training device immediately began to hum and tremble. Discs shot out from the surrounding walls once more—but compared to Weavile's session, they were noticeably slower. At the very least, they no longer sliced through the air with that sharp whistling sound.
At first, relying on the innate sensitivity of Bug-type Pokémon, Beedrill perfectly dodged several discs flying in from the front.
But that smooth start didn't last long.
When discs began flying in continuously from the left, right, and rear simultaneously, Beedrill started to lose its composure.
It swatted away one disc with its right lance-arm, only to have another immediately strike its wings. The pain threw off its balance, and before it could steady itself, yet another disc slammed into its slender, segmented leg.
Once a gap was breached, the flood followed.
Beedrill lasted less than a minute in the dodge-and-strike chamber before collapsing onto the cushioned mat below, its body mottled with bruises.
"How could this happen…" Ann muttered to herself.
All along, she had believed her Beedrill was quite strong. At least back at the Yas Gym, every scoundrel who had tried to harass her had been beaten back by Beedrill without exception.
...
Knock! Knock!
The Gym doors, which had remained shut all day, were finally knocked upon.
"Mr. Rhydon, could you help open the door? Someone's knocking," Ann said while wiping down Rhydon's body, pointing toward the entrance.
Ever since taking in this bargain disciple, the daily chores of cleaning and grooming the Pokémon had been entirely handed over to Ann. That freed up more of Kael's time to focus on more important matters.
Full-body care for Rhydon was the most exhausting task. Ann had to climb up and down a four-meter-high scaffold repeatedly.
An entire routine—rinsing, disinfecting, drying, applying skincare oil—by the time she finished, her arms were too tired to lift.
Still, she ate well at the Gym every day and could learn so much. In truth, Ann was already very satisfied.
In her eyes, her little boss was practically omnipotent.
Whether it was his strength as a trainer, cultivating berries, making pokeblocks, compounding medicines, or handling all sorts of high-tech devices she couldn't even understand—her little master was proficient at every one of them.