Chapter 151 ⇾ Inexplicable

"Haha..." Cole laughed nervously, "I didn't ignore you on purpose. I've been really busy lately and just didn't have time."

[Really?] On the other end of the phone, Piers asked skeptically.

"Really, really." Cole quickly replied. To avoid further questioning, he hastily changed the subject, "By the way, you still haven't told me what you wanted me to contact you about!"

[I want to become the exclusive composer for the Brionne Band,] Piers stated.

"???" Cole was completely confused, "Is Gym Leader Piers a fan of the Brionne Band?"

Otherwise, how would he know that Cole was Brionne's trainer?

At the same time, Cole remembered something: this Spikemuth Gym Leader was indeed a famous composer (in the original story). He never expected such a composer would voluntarily offer to write music for the Brionne Band!

[I suppose so.] Piers said.

He had been following Brionne's account on the streaming platform for a long time and had always admired its vocal qualities. However, he never had the chance to meet Brionne or learn who its trainer was.

That day, when he saw Brionne singing during battle at the Pokémon Arena, he recognized its identity almost instantly.

Hearing its voice up close and in person, Piers liked it even more. He felt he had found his muse and was determined to become Brionne's exclusive composer.

Brionne didn't need lyrics when singing; it only needed the melody, which it could present with its marvelous voice. Piers felt this way of singing better aligned with his definition of music — it was truly the voice of nature.

To meet its trainer, he had approached the person in charge of the arena, offering to participate in matches with the condition that they reveal Cole's real identity to him. This was certainly against regulations, but to win the match, the arena management agreed.

Piers would never tell Cole about this, as he had promised the arena management to keep it secret.

He just hadn't expected that after giving his contact information to Cole, this kid wouldn't reach out to him at all, making him so anxious he was fuming.

[What? You don't want to?] Seeing Cole silent for so long, Piers thought he was refusing, and his voice filled with resentment.

In truth, Cole had misunderstood. In the original story, Piers was indeed a famous composer, but right now he was still an unknown newcomer in the composition world, which is why he thought Cole was reluctant.

Hearing this, Cole quickly explained, "No, no, no... Gym Leader Piers willing to compose for us is our honor! How could we possibly refuse?"

[That's good.] Hearing his words, Piers felt slightly relieved. He had really been afraid Cole would refuse. [Then that's settled. I'll send you the sheet music and demo later. Check them out, and if there's anything you're not satisfied with, contact me anytime. I can modify any parts that Brionne doesn't like.]

With that, he hung up the phone.

Looking at the darkened screen, Cole let out a long breath, "Phew~ What a character. Truly an artistic type."

After thinking for a moment, he took out his phone and began searching for information about Piers online.

To his surprise, the internet only recorded Piers's identity as a Gym Leader and a talented Galar trainer, along with his brilliant performances in various competitions, but there was absolutely nothing about him being a composer.

It took Cole a while to understand — of course, Piers was still young and hadn't become famous yet! No wonder he sounded a bit unsure when questioning him earlier.

Once he figured out the key point, Cole smiled. He had struck gold early! When Piers became famous later, others would be the ones begging him.

With this in mind, he released Brionne and shared the good news.

"Brionne, someone has volunteered to compose music for your band. Are you happy?"

"Bri? Bri?" — Really? Really?

Upon hearing this, Brionne excitedly flopped onto him. It had long wanted its own original songs — the band had been covering other people's songs until now.

Without original songs, they could never become a real star band; they'd just remain a low-tier internet celebrity band.

Just then, Cole's phone made a "ding" sound. He checked it and found that Piers had sent the sheet music and demo. That was quick.

"Brionne, come look, he's sent the sheet music and demo. See if you like it." Cole plugged earphones into his phone, letting Brionne look at the sheet music while listening to the demo.

It hadn't wasted the two years since forming the band. Reading sheet music was easy for it now, as it had been studying diligently.

Kricketune and Chatot were both working hard; how could Brionne, as the band leader, not keep improving?

As the music played from the phone, Brionne's eyes grew brighter. It loved this song so much — it seemed tailor-made for their band. In fact, Piers did tailor it for them.

After the demo finished playing, Brionne remained entranced, feeling that its band was going to make it big!

"How is it? Do you like the song? He said if there's anything you're not satisfied with, he can modify it," Cole asked, patting the dazed sea lioness.

"Bri~ Bri~" — No need to change, no need to change!

Brionne quickly responded. It loved the song so much that it could hardly wait to fly back to Mt. Ascendant and rehearse with its bandmates.

Seeing this, Cole said, "That's great. He said he'll be your exclusive composer in the future. If you perform well, there will be more new songs."

Hearing this, Brionne's eyes grew even brighter.

Cole had booked an airship ticket for tonight, but there was still some time before boarding. He decided to rest at the Pokémon Center, which was right next to the airport.

Arriving at the rest area, he and Daisy each found a chair to lie down on. This area was specially prepared for trainers to rest temporarily.

Suddenly, Cole thought of something. He took out two Poké Balls and released two Pancham.

The two Pancham glared fiercely at him as soon as they emerged, but upon seeing Daisy, they couldn't help but shrink their necks. This old witch was truly terrifying!

"Come, come, you two come over and massage our shoulders and legs. We've been traveling all day, and I'm feeling quite sore!"

The Pancham were currently in a labor reformation period, and Cole showed no mercy in ordering them around.

Panchams: ╬д╬

Hearing his words, the two were instantly filled with rage.

"Hmm?" Cole and Daisy simultaneously glared at them.

The two Pancham immediately cowered and dejectedly walked over to mother and son, massaging their shoulders and legs.

"Mmm~~~ so comfortable~" Cole groaned in pleasure, "Yes, yes, right there, put a bit more strength into it."

He kept giving the Pancham detailed instructions.

Pancham: (╬◣д◢)

The little pandas were nearly exploding with anger, wishing they could bash his head in.

But...

They glanced at each other, then at Daisy.

o(╥﹏╥)o Forget it, better behave.

They had been beaten plenty by her these past few days. Not only had the four Pancham siblings been beaten, but their Pangoro parents too.

The usual situation was: if they misbehaved, the Pangoro couple would get beaten; if the Pangoro misbehaved, the four Pancham siblings would get beaten.

After several days, the Pangoro and Pancham had been thoroughly subdued by Daisy. No matter how much resentment they felt, they only dared to swallow it silently. In their eyes, that Pokémon was a genuine old witch.

Despicable! So despicable! That old witch!

Though the Pancham were cursing Cole and Daisy to high heaven in their hearts, they didn't dare slack in their movements, serving them with utmost comfort!

Perhaps because it was too comfortable, Cole became drowsy and was about to fall asleep.

However, just at that moment, a young female's shout suddenly rang in his ear, startling him and instantly dispersing his sleepiness.

"You!!! Wake up, wake up!"

Cole opened his eyes to see a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl standing next to his recliner, glaring at him with an angry expression.

The girl had a tall, slender figure with vibrant purple hair tied up in a high ponytail with a ribbon, looking lively and spirited. Paired with a light purple knee-length dress, she looked absolutely stunning.

The sleepiness hadn't completely left the corners of Cole's eyes. He rubbed them and looked at the girl with confusion, "Miss, can I help you?"

Could it be that my handsome appearance has finally attracted a beautiful girl to approach me?

"Little boy, how could you do this? Pancham are so cute, how can you treat them this way? Can't you see they're unwilling?"

Cole had been secretly delighted, but what he received instead was a barrage of accusations. His expression instantly turned cold.

"Pancham, are you unwilling to give me a massage?" He turned to look at the two Pancham with a smile on his face.

'The devil is smiling! The devil is smiling!' The two Pancham were terrified and hurriedly shook their heads, 'We're willing, very willing.'

Cole then turned to face the girl and said coldly, "See? They're perfectly willing."

The girl was stunned, "They're clearly unwilling! You're threatening them!"

Cole looked at the girl with amusement, "Miss, I have a question. Is your middle name 'Meddling'?"

The girl frowned, "What are you talking about?"

Cole yawned and closed his eyes again, "Because you're butting into business that isn't yours."

"You, you, you!!!" The girl pointed at him, unable to form words for a moment, and finally shouted, "I challenge you to a duel!"

This disturbance quickly drew attention. Trainers with nothing better to do gathered around, pointing and commenting about the two of them.

Cole ignored it all, "Sorry, I refuse!"

"Are you even a trainer? Someone challenges you to a battle and you refuse!" The girl's face turned bright red.

"If you say I'm not, then I'm not." Cole replied nonchalantly. Then he glanced at the two Pancham again, "Put more effort into it, you two. Haven't I been feeding you?"

"Pan-cham~ Pan-cham~"

Hearing this, the two Pancham immediately began massaging more vigorously.

This scene nearly made the girl spit blood with anger.

"The League doesn't have any law stating that trainers must accept battle requests. What nonsense!" Cole muttered, though everyone around heard him, including the girl.

The girl was so angry that her cheeks began to tremble involuntarily, nearly causing her to lose her composure.

Seeing how upset the girl was, a trainer who enjoyed stirring up trouble called out, "Young man, you should accept the challenge. Otherwise, it's quite ungentlemanly."

Cole didn't see who spoke, but looked in that direction and said, "Then why don't you battle her? I don't have time!"

Suddenly, no one dared to speak up.

Many of them recognized the girl before them. She was a famous trainer from Wyndon, and they didn't have the ability to defeat her.

Moreover, this woman had many devoted followers. If they found out someone had bullied their "goddess," wouldn't those people tear them apart alive?

There was once a trainer who defeated this girl in a competition, but because he used somewhat underhanded tactics, he was cyberbullied by her followers to the point of developing psychological issues, and ultimately had to give up being a trainer.

They couldn't afford to provoke her! Absolutely couldn't!

The girl was furious and grabbed Cole's arm, "You must battle me today. If I win, you'll hand over the Pancham to me. Someone like you doesn't deserve to have Pancham!"

Cole was dumbfounded. He forcefully shook off the girl's hand.

"Miss, is there something wrong with you up here?" He pointed to his head, "If you're sick, go get treatment!"

Cole was thoroughly annoyed with this person, so he called out to Daisy, planning to head straight to the airport to wait for their flight.

But the girl stubbornly blocked him, refusing to let him leave.

At that moment, a bright purple light flashed in Cole's eyes. The girl suddenly felt as if something was gripping her throat, and death seemed so near.

The girl clutched her throat, her face turning red as she stared at him in terror. But she quickly returned to normal, collapsing onto the ground and gasping for breath.

Cole's use of Psychic Power was only momentary, so except for a very few people directly facing him, the other trainers didn't see what happened, and they all looked at the girl on the ground with confusion.

At this point, he suddenly bent down close to the girl and whispered in her ear, "Miss, although I'm young, I'm not someone to be trifled with! If you want to trick me out of my Pancham, try a different approach next time."

The girl was so frightened that she immediately scrambled backward, her face turning pale white. Everyone was very curious about what he had whispered to her.

Cole straightened up and stepped back, his face suddenly breaking into a bright smile, "Since you're so eager to battle me, fine. But you want me to give you my Pancham if I lose, so what will you give me if I win?"

He was handsome and still had a touch of childlike innocence. His innocent expression immediately attracted the female trainers, who began speaking up for him.

"Exactly! Even in gambling, the stakes should be equal. You can't get something for nothing!"

"Ahem, ahem..." The girl suddenly glared, "Nonsense! How could I possibly lose?!"

Cole acted as if he was startled, staggering back two steps with a shocked expression, "Miss, you're not really trying to get something for nothing, are you?"

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