"Rooki-dee!"

  Uo suppress its urges, Rookidee's beak glowed with a white light, the precursor to its Peck move. Shiro didn’t stop the bird from its reckless behavior.

  g!

  Rookidee's beak struck the blue Dragon Scale, produg a sharp metallig. The force of the impact sent the tiny bird tumbling across the bed, rolling several times before nearly slipping off—until Shiro caught it just in time.

  "Rooki..."

  Rookidee hopped bato the bed, visibly fearful of the Dragon Scale in front of it, retreating into Shiro’s embrace.

  Being an ordinary Pokémon, Rookidee instinctively wao flee after feeling the Elite-level Samence's presence from the Dragon Scale.

  Attempting to attack with its move was a brave but ultimately futile effort.

  As a Pokémon at the Beginner-level, it stood no ce against a Dragon Scale of this caliber. It couldn’t even make a dent in it.

  Making an impa a scale of this caliber would require at least a Gym-level Pokémon.

  "Gaassstly..."

  Gastly also cautiously floated around the Dragon Scale, then quickly darted behind Shiro, peeking out with a trembling eye as if it were fag a vicious predator.

  Gastly had a timid personality, so naturally, it was scared of something that even Rookidee feared.

  When both of his Pokémon lost their curiosity about the Dragon Scale, Shiro lifted it and stuffed it into his backpack.

  "Alright, I’ll put the Dragon Scale away now."

  The spaside the bag Shiro bought from the bck market was surprisingly rge. He didn’t know what kind of advaeology was used, but it could hold about a third of the spa a Hammerlocke intermediate training room.

  Shiro would always keep this treasure close to him, or rather, all his belongings were always kept close.

  However, the Dragon Scale was uo be used in the short term and would gather dust in a small er of his backpack.

  After anizing his things, Shiro washed up and fell into a deep sleep.

  ……

  For the wo days, Shiro maintained a routine of staying at home, the Stadium, and the restaurant, training intensively with Rookidee and Gastly.

  Especially Rookidee, who was the main Pokémon for participating in the uping Hammerlocke Stadium sparring partner assessment. Shiro wa to reach around level 17 withihree days.

  After ing the Fly Berry and the remaining Exp. dies, Rookidee didn’t disappoint. Its strength quickly reached the brink of evolution.

  This was rgely due to its retively low level. With ample resources, its strength greidly, leaving Gastly far behind.

  Meanwhile, rumors spread withiadium about someone winning Dragon Scale in the basic level training area. However, with so many private arenas in there, such events weren’t unon and didn’t attract much attention.

  Not many people set their sights on the Dragon Scale, mainly because they couldn't gauge Shiro’s true strength. As an unfamiliar face, it was unclear whether his naturally gifted Gastly was a sed-tier or third-tier Pokémon.

  Gar rarely saw trainers with both personal and Pokémon talent suddenly rise to prominence. Most people thought Shiro was a member of some promi family.

  At the same time, based on Shiro’s battle and ability, many of the onlookers believed his strength was likely at the Advanced-level. parable the region's ace trainers participating in the Gym Challenge such as, Bea, Piers and Gordie.

  Leon and Raihan were far beyond the rest in strength, making them an unfair point of parison.

  The ck of attention Shiro received artly due him keeping a low profile, but that didn't mean no one had their eyes on the Dragon Scale.

  The evening before Shiro was set to participate in the Hammerlocke Stadium sparring partner assessment, he finished his training and reparing to head home.

  Just as he stepped into the corridor outside the training rooms, he ran into a familiar face.

  "Hey, Shiro!"

  A curly haired man leaned against the window frame, raising a hand iing as soon as he spotted Shiro.

  Shiro had met him on his first day at the stadium. His name was Hugo, and Shiro had even asked him several questions about the usage of special berries.

  “Leaving so soon?" Hugo said with a familiar totempting to throw an arm around Shiro's shoulder, but Shiro swiftly stepped back to avoid him.

  Over the past two days, Shiro had seen Hugo frequently outside the training room. He was well aware that the man was likely his strength, trying to decide if he should target the Dragon Scale.

  "Need something?" Shiro asked ftly.

  Hugo hesitated for a brief moment, clearly not expeg such a cold rea. However, he didn’t dwell on it and instead got straight to the point.

  "Shiro, why don’t you e inside my training room? How about a battle?"

  Such a proposal was nothing unusual in Hammerlocke or anywhere in Gar, really. The people here loved battles, and even the region’s culture revolved around promoting them.

  But to Shiro, the invitatio like a btant attempt to ambush him.

  Hugo didn’t seem to notiything wrong and tio smile.

  "How about it? Just a friendly matot mu the line, only 2,000 Pokédolrs."

  "Sorry, but my Pokémon are exhausted. They don’t have the energy for another battle." Shiro turned away as he spoke, already walking off.

  "Ah? It’s just a quick mato big deal—" Hugo reached out to stop him, only for Shiro to dodge him smoothly once again.

  Shiro’s pace didn’t slow. Before Hugo could do anything else, he stepped into the elevator and disappeared from sight.

  "...What?"

  Hugo stood there, dumbfounded, unsure how to react.

  He couldn’t uand why anyone would be so opposed to battling, especially when that same person had actively challehers to win the Dragon Scale.

  The door of a nearby training room suddenly slid open.

  A bald man stepped out, draped in a ragged brown cloak.

  "What's going on? Where is he?" The bald man asked, his voice hoarse.

  He had no eyebrows, his skin was a sickly yellow, and a rge scar marked his forehead, where his eyebrows once were.

  Hugo remained silent, not sure how to expiuation. His task had been simple—invite Shiro into the training room for a battle, and if that failed, force him inside.

  Yet somehow, before he even realized what was happening, Shiro had already slipped away.

  A moment ter, he sighed and answered truthfully.

  "That guy didn’t want to battle at all. Said his Pokémoired and just ran off."

  The bald man scoffed, l his head.

  "Hmph. No prarian would ever refuse a challenge like that."

  "What I do if he doesn't want to battle?" Hugo spread his hands in frustration.

  **

  **

  **

  Thank you for reading! If you'd like access to extra chapters and want to support my work, you visit my P@treon:

  P@treon/SilverShark769

  Your support means a lot, thank you!