"Jangmo-o!"

  With unwaveriermination, Jangmo-o leaped upward at full speed. Fueled by frustration, it was even faster than before.

  All it needed was to reach Gastly’s height, then strike with Dragon Tail to finish the battle.

  In mere moments, it reached the same altitude as Gastly. Its body twisted midair, and its tail, enveloped in a swirling aura of purple Dragon-type energy, shed toward the seemingly frail oppo.

  "Gaasss~"

  But Gastly remained uhe gaseous mist surrounding it trembled slightly, and a faint pink ripple surged toward Jangmo-o’s face.

  Drowsiness washed over it instantly. It struggled to keep its eyes open, but its momentum faltered, and its Dragon Tail lost its strength.

  "Jangmo...o…"

  Jangmo-o muttered weakly before its body gave out, crashing straight to the ground and kig up a cloud of dust.

  ‘Damn it…’

  He lost the bet.

  Ryn opened his mouth, but no words came out. Across from him, Shiro remained as focused as ever, his expression calm, unfazed by the battle’s result.

  "Gastly! Use Shadow Ball to end it!" Shiro's and was immediate and decisive.

  Ryhis time the Shadow Ball was real. There was no way to turide now.

  "I give up!" His deep voied as he raised his hand.

  He swiftly pulled out an Ultra Ball and recalled Jangmo-o. Therieving his trainer ID from a nearby pilr, he sighe battle’s clusion.

  The psychic barrier surrounding the battlefield vanished.

  Shiro stopped Gastly just in time, recalling it into its Poké Ball before retrieving his own ID.

  "Follow me." Ryn said nothing more after his defeat. He simply gestured for Shiro to e with him.

  From the crowd of trainers who had gathered to watch, several pairs of envious and jealous eyes followed them.

  A Dragon Scale from ae-level Samence—why did that nameless kid get such a treasure?

  But most of the trainers accepted the result.

  The battle had been intense. Gastly's strength was at the top among Novice-level Pokémon, and Shiro’s and over it had been something they could learn from.

  ……

  Shiro followed Ryn out of the battlefield, through the broes of the Stadium. The spectators who had been tailing them hesitated before dispersing.

  Outside the Stadium, Ryn headed straight for the western side of Hammerlocke.

  Shiro knew he was leading him to cim the Dragon Scale, but the dire still made him hesitate.

  "Ryn, where are we going?"

  "Oh!" Ryn paused for a moment, as if just realizing something. He scratched the back of his head before expining, "We're heading to the treasure vault iern Hammerlocke. That's where the Dragon Scale is.”

  Shiro frowned slightly.

  He knew about the treasure vault. But could they really just walk in and take something from there? Wasn’t it uhe jurisdi of the Gar League?

  Unaware of Shiro’s thoughts, Ryn chuckled and said with a smile.

  "Haha, sometimes I get lost in thought when I'm thinking too hard. Just now, I was trying to figure out how to use Jangmo-o to defeat yastly."

  He then turo face Shiro and asked, "Shiro, are you traveling here from Kanto? This is the first time I've seen a battle style like yours."

  Almost every Garian who heard Shiro’s name assumed he was from Kanto. Names like his weren’t on in Gar, and Gastly okémon more only found in Kanto as well.

  Shiro simply shook his head at Ryn's question. He was more ed about the safety of that Elite-level Dragon Scale.

  Even though the crowd from earlier had dispersed, walking openly through the streets like this would undoubtedly attrae shady individuals looking for an opportunity.

  "Hahaha, so you're from Gar? That's rare… This is the first time my Jangmo-o has ever lost a battle si hatched."

  Leaving through the western gate of Hammerlocke, Ryaln tinued, "I don’t have any Pokémon at the novice level right now, and there aren’t many Pokémon to battle in the Hammerlocke Stadium. The one in the wild are too weak…"

  Shiro nodded. He knew Ryn came from the family that trolled both Hammerlocke City and its gym. He was likely from the same geion as Raihan.

  In this family, the most well-knoublic-fag figure was Raihan. A rival aowledged by Leon, and a strong tender for the Gar League Championship after this round of Gym Challenges.

  "You know Raihan?" Shiro suddenly asked.

  "Oh, Raihan? Yeah he's my cousin," Ryn spoke as if he was used to hearing this question.

  He then walked toward a nearby dark bronze-colored building aured for Shiro to follow.

  This was the Vault. It looked like an imperable fortress, sealed tight from every angle. Above its arched bronze doors was an emblem of a dragon’s head.

  Ryn took out a brass key as rge as his palm, unlocked the massive door, and instructed Shiro to wait outside.

  Moments ter, he returned, carrying a cloth bundle about the size of a basketball, which he shoved into Shiro’s arms.

  “The Dragon Scale from Samence is inside," Ryn said before turning back the way they came. "Anyone who knows me knows I keep my word, but for the while, you might have some people watg you. Be careful.”

  Shiro quickly stuffed the cloth buo his backpaodding in agreement.

  They walked back together to the entrance of the Hammerlocke Stadium, their departure followed by a few lingering gazes.

  Before parting ways, Ryn gave Shiro his taformation, telling him to reach out if there were any issues with the scale. He also mentiohat once Gastly reached the Beginner-level, he wanted a rematch with his Jangmo-o.

  By now, the sky had darkened.

  Shiro quickly returned home.

  He still hadn’t decided what to do with the Dragon Scale.

  Ae-level Dragon Scale was bound to attract the greed of other trainers. Inside Hammerlocke, it might not be a problem, but the moment Shiro stepped out into the wild, someone would surely e for it.

  Fortunately, he had no pns to leave anytime soon.

  He had money on hand, and once he got hired as a sparring partner in the few days, he could focus on training his Pokémon—battling while strengthening them at the same time.

  At the very least, he wao reatermediate level before traveling. That would give him some measure of safety.

  Night time.

  In his bedroom, Shiro uned the brownish-yellow cloth bundle, revealing the Dragon Scale inside.

  It was a rge, blue scale that had shed from Samence’s back. The intricate patterns on its surface were incredibly distinct, and uhe fluorest light, it seemed to shimmer faintly with a blue glow.

  Rookidee and Gastly sat on the bed, one on each side, staring at the scale.

  Rookidee’s red eyes were wide open. The aura ing from the scale made its instincts scream to flee, but at the same time, it khis was just a scale.

  Torween fear and curiosity, it found itself wanting to peck at it.

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