After finishing the discussion about the necklace, Juan stood up and said, "Come on, I will take you somewhere."
Theo followed Juan through the back door of the Sootopolis Gym, and the scene before him suddenly opened up.
It was a natural bay gently embraced by the ocean. The seawater was so clear that one could see straight to the bottom, where colorful coral reefs spread out and small fish darted back and forth.
Among the gravel along the seabed, many Feebas lay scattered about. Some of them were basking lazily in the sunlight, while others chased each other playfully, giving off an especially relaxed and carefree atmosphere.
Far out on the sea, a pink Milotic swam gracefully, its scales shimmering under the sunlight with a mesmerizing glow. It was none other than Juan's partner.
"This is the secret breeding area of Sootopolis City, specially used to cultivate Feebas," Juan said with a smile.
"Ever since the Feebas training guide was released, many people have come to Sootopolis to undergo trials and adopt them. In the past half year or so, two trainers have successfully evolved their Feebas into Milotic."
Looking at those Feebas, Theo could not help but think of his own Milotic.
"By the way, when you challenged the twin gym leaders, you used Mega Evolution with Metagross, right?" Juan turned his gaze toward Theo.
"Since we are already here in Sootopolis, why not warm up a bit? I just happen to have a Pokémon that can Mega Evolve as well. How about letting the two of them spar?"
"If you can satisfy me, I will hand over the Rain Badge directly. What do you think?"
Hearing Juan's proposal, Theo's heart stirred slightly, and then curiosity quickly filled his mind.
Earlier during the Water Festival, he had clearly taken note of Juan's main Pokémon, Milotic, Walrein, and Kingdra. The Mega Evolutions of these Pokémon were still under research by the League and had not yet been successfully achieved. So which Pokémon did Juan have that could Mega Evolve?
Although his mind was full of questions, Theo did not hesitate at all. A look of excitement appeared on his face.
"Of course I am willing! Being able to spar with the Gym Leader is my honor. They are still playing inside the gym right now. I will go and bring them over."
"Go ahead. They should be in the ice puzzle room. Wallace and I will prepare the battle field, and we will also call back your Tyrantrum. It has been eating for quite a while, so it should be full by now."
"Alright, thank you, Gym Leader. I will go bring them here."
Juan waved his hand. "Hurry along."
At that moment, inside the ice puzzle room of the Sootopolis Gym, a lively "adventure" was taking place.
This was one of the gym's signature facilities. The floor was paved with transparent ice tiles. Some of these tiles appeared solid but would shatter upon contact, revealing spiral pathways underneath that would send anyone sliding down to the lower level.
Only by carefully observing the patterns on the ice tiles and avoiding the fragile ones could a person reach the end safely.
Originally, this was part of the gym challenge, testing a trainer's observation and judgment.
But right now, for Larvesta, Fire Vulpix, Ice Vulpix, and Deino, this place had clearly turned into a playground.
"Lar!"
Larvesta stood on a sturdy ice tile, clapping its tiny claws as it gave instructions.
It first pointed toward a tile on the left that had faint cracks, then pointed at Fire Vulpix, as if saying, "Go step on that one."
Fire Vulpix tilted its head, looked at the tile, then back at Larvesta, and finally wagged its tail as it trotted over and lightly stepped on it.
Crack!
The ice tile shattered instantly, and Fire Vulpix let out a cry as it slid down the passage, its voice filled not with fear but excitement.
"Vuul!"
Ice Vulpix was also eager to try. It chose a slightly lighter-colored tile on the right and jumped onto it. The tile shattered as well, and the little one slid down happily.
Deino rolled its eyes and fixed its gaze on the spot where Fire Vulpix had just broken through. Just as it was about to run over, it was suddenly wrapped up by silk from Larvesta.
"Lar!"
Larvesta scolded Deino a few times, as if saying, "No cheating, go find a new spot."
Deino whimpered pitifully and had no choice but to move away and look for another target.
Metagross hovered in midair. With a simple sweep of its psychic power, it already knew which tiles would break, so this game held no interest for it at all.
It might as well have gone with Tyrantrum to eat earlier.
Milotic did not participate in the game. Instead, it helped keep score, observing which one was the smartest and had found the most breakable tiles, while also taking care of repairing the ice floor afterward.
The livestream camera remained fixed on the moment Larvesta scolded Deino, and the comment section was filled with laughter.
"HAHAHA Deino got scolded again! Poor thing!"
"Larvesta double standards! The tile it is standing on was broken by Fire Vulpix last time, right?"
'Only officials can set fires, but commoners cannot light lamps' that is totally you, Larvesta!"
"Milotic is working so hard, being both referee and repair worker!"
"Metagross: I will just quietly watch you all go crazy…"
At that moment, Theo walked in.
"You guys, have you played enough? It is time for a battle. Hurry up and come with me."
Hearing Theo's voice, Fire Vulpix and Ice Vulpix poked their heads out from the lower passage, calling excitedly as they climbed back up.
Metagross used its psychic power to help them return more quickly, and at the same time directly pulled Larvesta and Deino back as well.
Milotic exhaled a stream of cold air, and fine ice crystals fell onto the shattered tiles. In an instant, the floor of the puzzle room was restored to its original state, without even a single crack remaining.
It flicked its tail fin and swam over to Theo's side, affectionately rubbing against his arm as if asking for praise.
"Good work."
Theo smiled and patted Milotic's head before leading all of his Pokémon toward the battle field.
As soon as they stepped out of the passage, they saw Tyrantrum squatting at the edge of the arena. Beside it sat a half-filled seaweed basket, packed with plump sea fish.
It was currently chewing on one. When it saw Theo approach, it quickly swallowed the fish, wagged its tail, then picked out the largest silver carp from the basket and tossed it toward Larvesta.
"Tyrant!" (Eat this!)
Larvesta glanced at the big fish, turned its head away with slight disdain. It still had to be roasted first. Too troublesome. It did not want to eat it.
Seeing this, Deino became overjoyed. It lunged forward to catch the fish and immediately began chomping down on it with loud crunching sounds, grease smearing around its mouth while its little tail wagged proudly.
If Larvesta did not want it, then it would eat it.
Even after finishing one fish, Deino was still not satisfied. It ran over to Tyrantrum to ask for another.
Theo could only sigh helplessly at the sight. These two dragon youngsters, big and small, had never understood the concept of something tasting bad. In their eyes, everything was delicious.
On the battle field, Juan had already finished preparing and was waiting for Theo to step forward, while Wallace acted as the referee.
"Are you ready?"
"At any time."
Theo nodded and signaled for Metagross to step forward.
Juan smiled slightly, took out a Poké Ball, and gently tossed it into the air.
"Come out, Swampert!"
(End of Chapter)