"With you? Do something big?"

  Shiro couldn't imagine what big thing a rookie trainer like him could possibly do.

  For now, he just wao live a stable life in Hammerlocke.

  "Heh, by the way, I still don't know your name." Marvin wasn't surprised by Shiro's doubt. He tinued, "You should already know my identity, right?"

  Marvin's identity?

  Shiro only khat Marvin was from Circhester. Even with the added bel of beihy, Shiro couldn't figure out who this guy really was. The current Gym Leader of Circhester was Melony, aype trainer.

  'For Marvin to be so fident about his name, could he be reted to Melony?'

  "Shiro." While thinking, Shiro briefly introduced his name, not saying anything further.

  "Hahaha, Shiro, your name sounds like someone from Kanto." Marvin leaned forward and spoke with a ugh.

  Shiro just shook his head without replying.

  The name Shiro's deceased father gave him did indeed sound like it came from Kanto. His father had chosen the name based on his mother's name. His mother had escaped from Kanto and married his dead father.

  Shiro's parents didn't have any signifit status, nor were they strong trainers. His father had only joieam Yell through hard work, and was eventually killed by someone's betrayal.

  "You should know, that event is about to start. We could try to sabotage it..." Marvin said to him, looking quite excited.

  "What event?" Shiro truly didn't uand what this person was talking about.

  "Ah! Gar Region's most importa! The Gym Challenge!" Marvin would have stood up and shouted if his leg weren't still hurt.

  "Oh..." Shiro o show he uood, but he still wasn't moved.

  He wasn't ied in any Gym Challenges. It didn't him. He po leave Gar for anion anyway.

  "This year's Gym Challenge is geing a lot of hype. There's Leon, personally reended by Chairman Rose, Raihan from Hammerlocke, Piers, the son of Spikemuth Gym Leader, and Bea, a Karate genius from Stow-on-Side..." Marvin listed the partits, then snorted dismissively. "And there's also a guy from Circhester—Gordie."

  At this point, Shiro froze for a moment and tried to ask.

  "That Gordie..."

  "He's my older brother." Marvin grinned, showing a look of disgust.

  "Then what did you do?" Shiro became ied and asked him.

  "Me?" Marvin paused. Now he khat Shiro didn't know him at all.

  But Marvin didn't mind. Anyway, Shiro would eventually learn about all of it, so he expined.

  "I stole my dad's Pokémon and some money. But that bitch killed my dad..."

  After a while, Shiro nodded, uanding the situation.

  Melony, the current Gym Leader of Circhester, was married to the town's Gym Leader. They had two sons and a daughter. However, the Gym Leader had somehoted a child from somewhere, and it was unclear whether the child was an illegitimate son or something else. They named him Marvin.

  Marvin was a year youhan Gordie, the Gym Leader's biological son. The Gym Leader had already given Gordie the letter of endorsement for the Gym Challenge, promising to give Marvihe year. However, Gordie failed to even win two Gym Badges the st time he participated.

  This year, for some unknown reason, the Gym Leader fell seriously ill, and Melony gave Marvin's endorsemeer to Gordie again.

  Melony's remaining son and daughter were still too young to participate in the Gym Challenge. She po let Gordie earn the eight badges and pete iour before sidering anyone else.

  "Who knows what will happen ohat idiot gets eight badges? From eight badges to the top eight, and from the top eight to the championship." Marvin gritted his teeth, then quickly let go of the anger. "Anyway, I'm not her son."

  Marvin had initially ehis situation, but retly, Melony had been making his life miserable in various ways. The Gym Leader's dition had worsened as well.

  "I couldn't take it anymore, so I stole some things and one of my dad's Pokémon. But after I left, that bitch had him killed. The worst part is..." Marvin ched his fists, clearly furious.

  "She accused you of killing the Gym Leader and stealing things to escape?" Shiro guessed.

  "Yeah." Marvin hen added, "My bounty is one million Pokédolrs, alive or dead. If someone pletes the bounty, they'll get Melony's 'special thanks'... Heh."

  He sneered. Who didn't know that the stuff on Marvin was worth far more than just one million Pokédolrs? It was all about the Pokémon resources he carried.

  Shirhly uood the situation and nodded slightly, but he didn't respond to Marvin's suggestion about sabotaging the Gym Challenge.

  Shiro was well aware of his own limitations, and he knew just how powerful figures like Leon were. If he were ae-level trainer, he might... not even sider it and just leave.

  Leon, the ued champion, had never lost a battle since debuting. Even with Rose's deliberate marketing and promotion, Leon's strength was undeniably impressive, which was why the marketing held up.

  Not to mentioher petitors, he alone could easily wipe the floor with two small fries like them.

  Leon was at least at the Gym level now—how could two novices possibly win against him?

  Shiro kept silent.

  "We're not going to take on Leon and the others directly." Marvin winked and poioward the north. "Shiro, the Gym Challenge only has five partits, they are not even peting together. And I know better than anyone how weak Gordie is."

  "You want to specifically target Gordie? What's his current strength?" Shiro asked, following up.

  "Six Pokémon. His stro is still only Intermediate level. Maybe in two months, Melony will have him evolve one of his Pokémon into an Advanced-level one." Marvin answered truthfully.

  "How are we supposed to fight that?" Shiro shook his head decisively.

  In two months, Gordie would have an Advanced-level Pokémon, while Shiro would likely only have a Corvisquire. And it would likely be at the Intermediate level at best.

  Unless something miraculous happened, like Rookidee evolving directly into Corviknight, Shiro wouldn't have an Advanced-level Pokémon anytime soon.

  Shiro never believed in such things as lucky breaks.

  "Haha, of course, we 't beat him now, but in two months, it's a different story." Marvin smiled mysteriously. "I have a way that bring both of us to at least Intermediate level. That lordie is terrible at anding Pokémon. We'll easily win."

  "What's your method?" Shiro wasn't fully vinced.

  "Hehe, Shiro, you just tell me if you're in or not." Marvin looked directly into Shiro's eyes, his gaze flickering with anticipation across the dang campfire.

  "I'm not doing it." Shiro still rejected the offer.

  **

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