Elma was sent out the door with a baffled look on his face.
Although the decision to award a badge is indeed up to the Gym Leader, it was his first time getting a badge after losing a Gym Battle while studying abroad.
Is this allowed?
He instinctively wanted to refuse, but by the time he realized it, he was already standing by the canal outside the Gym, and the old butler Sebastian had even called a boat.
"Sir."
"Once a badge is issued by the Gym Leader, it's not generally allowed for you to take it back; it'll be entered into the system."
The old butler smiled kindly.
Elma: "..."
These days badges can be forced upon you?
He silently stepped into the cabin, and just as he sat down, he suddenly remembered something and asked outside:
"Did the Gym Leader say he looks forward to meeting me again? Will he attend the Ever Grande Conference as a guest?"
"No, as a contestant."
"I see—wait!?"
Elma's eyes widened, almost thinking he heard wrong, and he asked repeatedly: "Did you say contestant?"
The old butler nodded: "Yes, you heard correctly."
"Contestant…"
The old butler's response seemed like a spell, echoing in his ear.
Not until the boat reached the vicinity of the Pokémon Center and the boatman reminded Elma to disembark did this handsome youth from Alola finally come back to his senses.
He gazed toward the Glazed Gym, whose outline was long out of sight, and murmured softly:
"A contestant acting as a temporary Gym Leader... such a thing exists!"
The world outside the Alola Region sure is colorful and diverse.
Anything can happen!
After entrusting the injured Pokémon to Miss Joy for care, Elma started searching for Baimu online, thinking such a person must be well-known.
And then…
"Hmm?"
Elma first brought the phone screen closer, then squinted and moved it further away, adopting the look of an old man on the subway staring at a phone.
What's going on?
The person in the picture was indeed the one he had just seen, and the Pokémon was also the one he had just seen.
But why does it say Coordinator Trainer?
And even calls him the rising star in the Gorgeous Competition!?
Something doesn't add up!
Elma's expression was quite peculiar, and a hearty laugh suddenly sounded beside him.
"Hahaha, you must have just returned from the Glazed Gym, right? How did it go, did you get the badge?"
He turned his head at the sound and saw a man dressed as a sailor.
"Hello, I did just finish challenging the Glazed Gym…"
Elma greeted politely.
The man thumped his chest and said: "My name is Yangping! I'm also a Trainer! The Glazed Gym is pretty tough to challenge, huh? I can tell you, over the past few days, there have been at least twenty or fifteen people who challenged it, and none of them got the badge!"
"Fifteen people and none got the badge?"
He incredulously pulled out his badge box, as if to confirm whether the thing inside was a fake, and glanced at the Glazed Badge inside.
"You have a badge!"
Yangping also saw the iconic three drops of water and exclaimed: "You actually defeated Baimu!"
"What?"
"Someone defeated Baimu, really?"
"That guy actually has a day where he lost to a challenger, finally started using Gym Pokémon?"
"Amazing! Young lady… uh, young guy!"
The people nearby heard Yangping's words and suddenly gathered around like Sharpedo whose territory had been invaded, looking at the Glazed Badge inside Elma's badge box with either disbelief or full of admiration.
He couldn't help but wave his hands frantically, quickly explaining: "I didn't actually defeat the Gym Leader, he said he recognized my strength to possess the eighth badge and that's why he gave it to me!"
Acknowledged the strength?
The onlookers glanced at one another.
They didn't expect the first badge Baimu handed out would be under such circumstances.
"This isn't right, what kind of Gym Leader only uses one set of Pokémon for battles?"
"Exactly! A proper Gym Leader should adjust Pokémon based on the challenger's strength, even temporary Gym Leaders shouldn't slack off."
"The future of the Glazed Gym looks bleak... what's Master Adam thinking?"
The crowd gathered quickly and dispersed quickly too.
But their discussion still revolved around that temporary Gym Leader named Baimu.
Yangping laughed and patted Elma's shoulder, saying: "Don't mind it, people are just bored for too long, they inevitably get excited hearing the Glazed Gym changed Gym Leaders."
"It's okay..."
He shook his head, becoming increasingly curious about Baimu.
A person involved in both the Gorgeous Competition and the league conference, with achievements strong enough to become a hot topic.
Such a person surely couldn't stay silent.
Meeting again at the Ever Grande Conference.
Elma touched the glass bead on his bracelet, inexplicably filled with anticipation for the reunion at the league conference.
Next time.
He must win it back!
——
At the same time.
Baimu, flourishing in both beauty and battles, was communicating with N, who was far away in the Ore Region.
Though they hadn't met for nearly half a year, this Savior of Pokémon still looked out of place with the Pyrite Town environment, the scorching sun couldn't leave a mark on his pale skin.
It's just that the Pokémon around him increased, even during video calls, he was surrounded by so many Pokémon, it was hard to see him.
"Awwooo!"
The Pokémon surrounding N were all driven away by a sharp cry.
The little black fox jumped onto the communication platform, proudly swishing its fluffy tail, the tip a splash of red like a flickering flame.
"Zorua! Long time no see!"
Baimu smiled and greeted it.
The two Dreepy playing stacking games atop his head also flew down, looking curiously at Zorua.
"Heeya?"