As she spoke, heavy rain began to pour down over the lake.
Meowth stared at Penny in shock. It opened its mouth a few times but ultimately swallowed its words. It turned its head and asked, "Should we go get Willy?"
Sailor, who had violently cast his fishing line into the lake, paused its actions. It looked at Meowth with its crimson eyes and cried out after a long while, "Ratta."
"Alright, I'll go get him then," Meowth said, walking toward the beach.
The kids weren't really interested in fishing. So, after confirming Clefable wouldn't use any more moves, they pulled Penny back to the playground.
"I wonder what day a few days from now will be," Penny said, resting her chin on her hands. She watched Jas and Vincent playing in the playground, then turned to look at Clefable.
"Clefable?"
"I wonder if we'll make it in time for the Flower Dance," Penny thought to herself.
She wasn't entirely sure about Ron's feelings. She could only wait for that day and let Ron make a choice according to the festival's rules.
If it was her, everything would be perfect. If it wasn't, Penny was willing to silently bless him and whoever he chose from a corner.
With this in mind, Penny stretched and tried her best not to let her thoughts drift in a negative direction.
"Clef~"
Meanwhile, Ron.
After refusing all the items Ron offered—including but not limited to rings, Basilisk Paws, and Gold Spurs, which could provide it an advantage—Froakie stood before Valerie.
Because it had also refused Ron's commands to direct the battle, Ron could only stand there with empty hands, pretending to be unfathomable behind Froakie.
"It looks quite strong. You've raised this little one very well," Valerie said, wearing her butterfly-like dress as she stood before Ron. She then asked, "So, how many badges do you have right now?"
"One," Ron replied.
This caught Valerie off guard a little. However, since the Gym didn't set a minimum badge requirement, she just covered her mouth, smiled, and said, "Then your second badge probably won't be so easy to get. Even though it's only the second Gym, I won't go easy on you."
Saying this, Valerie nodded to her assistant.
"The challenge between Challenger Ron and Gym Leader Valerie for the Laverre Gym badge will now begin! Each side will use two Pokémon. The battle ends when all Pokémon on one side lose their ability to battle!"
With that, the whistle blew, and the battle began.
"I'll go with you, Mawile," she said. She threw her Poké Ball and murmured a few instructions to the Mawile.
"Ah, Valerie, I remember!" Bonnie quickly said. "Valerie can speak Pokémon language, you know."
"Maw." The Mawile responded, looking full of energy as it faced off against Froakie.
Thanks to Pelican Town's great reputation, even though Ron only had a base-stage Froakie, Valerie didn't let her guard down. She kept an eye on Froakie's movements while waiting for Ron's commands.
Under Valerie's gaze, Ron felt a bit awkward. He closed his eyes, forcing himself to look like he had everything under control.
"What's going on?" Bonnie asked softly. "Did Ron fall asleep?"
"Yeah, maybe it's that legendary telepathic bond?"
"What's that?" Abigail couldn't help but ask.
"I hear that only a select few Trainers can do it. Because they are close enough to their Pokémon and have that potential, they can communicate via telepathy without speaking," Serena explained.
Ron kept his eyes closed. Because they were standing nearby, Serena's words naturally reached his ears.
He stood there awkwardly. If it weren't for the fact that a Trainer had to be present for a Gym battle, and Froakie insisted on showing off the results of its mine training, Ron would have just stepped aside to watch.
Valerie heard Serena's words as well. She looked at Ron in mild surprise, then solemnly shifted her full attention to Froakie.
Just then, Froakie suddenly made its move.
"Froakie used Water Pulse!"
"It's a direct hit on Mawile!"
"Mawile, use Crunch!" Valerie immediately commanded.
The Mawile instantly leaped into the air, charging straight at Froakie.
However, thanks to the reflexes it had developed in the Skull Cavern and Mines from dodging Serpents and Bats shooting out from the gaps in the walls, Froakie easily dodged the Mawile's attack with a light hop.
Immediately after, it fired another Water Pulse at the Mawile from mid-air.
Bellossom, holding its sword off to the side, was currently inspecting the results of Froakie's training. Seeing it battle the Mawile as effortlessly as it did in the mines, it nodded in satisfaction.
Valerie commanded Mawile to attack while occasionally glancing at Ron, who was still standing there with empty hands, looking completely calm and unfazed.
Because his eyes were closed, Ron had absolutely no idea what was happening outside. Since he was standing in the Challenger's box but not participating in the battle at all, he couldn't think of a single posture that wouldn't make him look awkward standing there.
"So strong," Valerie murmured. She immediately changed her battle strategy and started communicating with Mawile in its own language.
"I heard Valerie can speak the language of all the Pokémon in the Laverre Gym," Bonnie said.
"That's amazing." Haley glanced at Valerie and couldn't help but hug the Sunkern in her arms.
"Sunkern?" Haley mimicked the Sunkern's tone.
"Sun?"
"What did it say?" Abigail asked.
"I guess—" Serena drawled out her voice, teasingly adding, "I guess it's saying you made about ten grammatical errors just now."
"There's no way I made that many!" Haley immediately retorted. "Sunkern!"
"Aren't you guys going to watch the battle?" Bonnie couldn't help but ask. "This is Ron's second Gym battle, after all."
"He probably won't lose," Abigail said.
"Why?"
"I don't know. Just a gut feeling." Abigail shrugged. Haley chimed in from the side.
"I think so too. If it's Ron, he should be fine."
As for the reason, Haley couldn't really put it into words. Maybe it was because of the Sunkern in her arms, or the Frog in Abigail's hands, or something else entirely. But the two of them simply never considered the possibility of Ron failing the challenge.
"I see." Bonnie turned her attention back to the battlefield.
Seeing the battle grow more intense, yet Ron still remained completely unfazed, she couldn't help but sigh in amazement.
"That's amazing. I've never seen a Pokémon battle like this before."
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