Chapter 440: The Newbies’ First Time

Shadownight Gym was located right in the center of Shadownight Town, not far from the Pokémon Center.

Since everyone didn't have many belongings, the move was more symbolic than practical.

Because the Gym hadn't officially opened yet, everyone entered through the back door, so they didn't attract much attention.

According to the design, the Gym's front yard and backyard were separated. The front yard would serve to receive visiting challengers, while the backyard was for Sato and the others to live and train.

The overall area of the Gym was quite large, with many undeveloped sections that were temporarily fenced off and planted with greenery.

If the Gym ran well in the future, it wouldn't be too late to expand further.

But even the completed space was more than enough for everyone to live in, with plenty of rooms left unused.

Since there were so many rooms and no need to set strict rules at this stage, everyone just picked according to their preferences.

All the rooms had already been fully furnished, and the necessary appliances were all there. The only thing left was to arrange their personal stuffs.

Joseph and Sia had already prepared the first lunch in the new kitchen after moving into the Gym.

"Cheers!" x8

Everyone raised their glasses and cheered. Even though the Gym hadn't opened yet, they had officially moved in, and this meal was like a pre-celebration.

So even Sato had a faint smile on his face. Compared to his usual serious expression, he seemed much more approachable.

But after lunch, Sato immediately began training the four new recruits.

The previously renovated training grounds had been turned into an indoor training room. That way, training wouldn't be affected even on rainy days.

Inside the training room, Sina and the others stood in a line, staring at Sato with nervous anticipation, not knowing how the training would begin.

"This afternoon's training is simple: you'll need to earn the recognition of your new Pokémon and make them acknowledge you as their Trainer."

Everyone secretly let out a sigh of relief, thinking it shouldn't be too hard.

…But then Sato continued.

"I've already spoken with all the Pokémon. If they think you're unqualified, I'll help them find new Trainers. So don't take this lightly," Sato shrugged and turned to leave.

The four of them looked at each other. They all had the same thought: from now on, they would wait for the Leader to finish speaking before reacting.

Sato didn't go far. He just sat down on the training room's bench, jotting down names in his notebook.

With the Gym's opening approaching, Sato was also compiling a list of people to invite for the ceremony, aiming to kick off the Gym with some excitement.

At the same time, he could observe the new recruits' performance at any moment. If anyone wasn't suitable, he would eliminate them without hesitation.

The first to take action was Sina. He was the oldest of the newcomers and had a Gligar that could just barely reach Elite level when its power burst forth.

So his method of bonding with the Pokémon was straightforward: battle. And not just any battle, but one versus two.

Sato watched from the side and smirked silently.

There was no way he was going to let Sina find a loophole. As someone who already had a decent level of strength, retraining two Pokémon from scratch would be too slow.

So the ones assigned to him -Sneasel and Houndour- were both at Ordinary level, only slightly below his Gligar.

'…Choosing to increase the difficulty yourself by going 1v2? Don't blame me for that,' Sato thought to himself as he watched Sina's expression grow tense.

On the other side, Sia and Akira were much more well-behaved. Both started by sending out the relatively gentle Eevee.

Sia took a gentle approach, first trying to communicate with Eevee, while the chubby Akira directly sent out his Phanpy to challenge Eevee to a battle.

But sometimes, not all Pokémon accept challenges; especially ones like Eevee, who are timid and cautious by nature. Not only did it refuse the challenge.

…It actually ran away.

"…"

Watching Eevee dart into the corner to hide, Akira froze for a moment, then stood there deep in thought.

At the same time, Sia had already touched Eevee's smooth fur, making great progress. Gaining its trust shouldn't be difficult.

Turning his gaze to Trish, Sato saw that she hadn't released either of her Pokémon. Instead, she was holding their Poké Balls and chattering away.

Even though Poké Balls are compressed spaces, that doesn't mean they're completely cut off from the outside world. So when little Trish spoke, the Pokémon inside could hear her.

Moreover, unlike the other three who already had Pokémon, Trish had no way of using direct battle to win their recognition.

So this seemingly simple test might only be simple for Sia.

Actually, Sato had thought Akira wouldn't have much of a problem either. But his flaw showed up again: he was too hasty.

Boom!

A sudden explosion echoed in the training room. Looking toward the sound, Sato saw that Sina's 1v2 battle had already entered full swing.

Gligar was using its aerial advantage to fiercely circle the two Pokémon. Upon closer inspection, Sina was clearly trying to take down Houndour first, then deal with the trickier Sneasel.

After all, Sneasel's Ice-type moves were 4x effective against Gligar. A single hit could knock it out.

Watching for a while, Sato nodded silently. The gap between Lapras and Gligar in yesterday's battle was too big, so Gligar was crushed.

But when facing opponents of similar level, Gligar's wild nature shone through. Its agile flying ability was being put to great use.

It was clear that Sina often explored the Forest of Shadows and was well-versed in hit-and-run tactics, striking once and retreating without going for a second hit.

That kind of battle style was well suited for fighting against multiple opponents. He should have no problem bonding with Houndour and Houndoom.

Looking again, Sato saw that Sia had already bonded with Eevee. She was now holding Eevee while commanding Marill and Murkrow in battle.

Marill was often thought to be a pure Water-type Pokémon. Even so, with the Huge Power ability, it had earned the title of dragon-slayer.

But actually, the Marill line also had a secondary Fairy type, which made it completely immune to Dragon-type moves… making it even more broken.

Turning to Akira again, Sato saw that he was sticking his butt out, trying to coax Eevee out of hiding.

Shaking his head, Sato then looked toward Trish and saw that Eevee and Houndour were actually battling!

'What was going on?'

Sato was stunned and instinctively leaned forward, watching closely.

What he saw made him truly impressed.

Trish was a clever little thing.

As it turned out, little Trish had convinced her two Pokémon to battle each other. She would then step in during key moments, actively offering suggestions on how they could respond better.

And that, precisely, was what Sato valued most in Trish: her innate command talent.

Whether Trish had discovered this ability in herself and was now using it consciously, or had just stumbled into it by accident, Sato didn't know.

…But if it was the former, then she was truly something special.