Blinded by Obsession

Clair, the Blackthorn Gym Leader, was absurdly powerful as well. The Camper's Pokémon were no match for her.

Her moves were the truly ridiculous part. Dragonair's Dragon Breath triggered Paralysis every time, while Kingdra's Whirlpool always trapped the Camper's Pokémon.

If Pryce relied on strength far beyond the expected level, then Clair possessed extraordinarily good luck.

Four consecutive losses, each separated by at least a week, with special training in between...

With luck like that, why not become an Elite Four member!

Baimu indignantly stood up for the Camper. Seeing the latter training hard again, he could not help cheering him on.

Until an unexpected incident occurred.

[You saw two figures slipping out through the back door of Blackthorn Gym and chased after them.]

On the screen, the Camper pursued two furtive figures dressed in black. He did not stop until they had left Blackthorn City, where he blocked them with Golem and Fearow.

The two sides began to talk.

[You discovered the Phantom Thief Brothers. In exchange for part of their stolen goods, they hoped you would let them go.]

Baimu froze for a moment, then another line of text appeared.

[You saw the Rising Badge among the stolen goods and chose to agree.]

Huh? Huhhh?

He agreed!?

Baimu's eyes widened. He had never imagined that the Camper would stray down the wrong path. Had too many losses thrown him off balance?

What Baimu had not expected was that this was not the end.

[You looked at the Rising Badge. After much consideration, you made a suggestion to the Phantom Thief Brothers—rob Mahogany Gym.]

The three little figures on the screen continued talking. Perhaps it was Baimu's imagination, but the entire simulator seemed to have taken on a darker tone.

[You gained the Phantom Thief Brothers' approval. In order to improve their ranking in the world of thieves, the Phantom Thief Brothers adopted your suggestion.]

A thieves' ranking... was that the one Jessie and James had mentioned?

Baimu vaguely remembered such a thing. In the Latias and Latios movie, those two female villains had been the No. 1 thieves.

After the savior of villains, now there was an idol for thieves too?

Baimu stared weakly at the screen. When he saw the Phantom Thief Brothers steal the Glacier Badge, he could not feel excited in the slightest.

The Camper accepted the badge.

[You obtained the Glacier Badge, but for some reason, you were not happy.]

"Ah..."

He could not help sighing.

Half an hour of pixel animation could not fully convey every twist and turn in the Camper's heart. Much of what Baimu saw from his god's-eye perspective was actually rather one-sided.

Still, he could understand how the Camper felt right then.

Previously, he and Golem had won all the way through, happily challenging Gyms. Even the Ghost Gym had only taken two attempts.

Then he encountered two "monsters" and hit a wall he simply could not overcome, no matter how hard he tried.

During those rapidly passing days, how much bitterness and pain had the Camper endured as he trained endlessly, hoping to become stronger?

Perhaps Psyduck's failure to evolve for so long offered a glimpse of it. Pokémon and Trainers were of one heart despite being different beings, able to feel each other's pain.

The accumulated negative emotions had led him astray, causing him to make mistake after mistake.

Perhaps this was [Ruthless].

Focused solely on achieving his goal, he would eventually stop at nothing. He would steal them if he had to...

Baimu no longer cared about the results. He only wanted to see the ending, to see the Camper's future.

The scene changed.

[You returned to your hometown. There were three months left until the Silver Conference, and you decided to prepare for it. But because the final two badges had been obtained dishonestly, you felt deeply uneasy.]

The Camper returned to Cherrygrove City, but unlike before, he trained his Pokémon far less intensely. In his increased free time, he chose to sit by the window, waiting for something.

Psyduck and Slugma had not evolved either, while the vacant sixth Pokémon slot had been completely forgotten.

Day and night repeated endlessly, while time flew by.

At last, the Silver Conference began.

[You arrived at the Silver Conference you had long dreamed of. You were somewhat nervous as you registered, but everything went smoothly.]

The Camper arrived at a bustling venue, packed with countless pixel figures and all kinds of different Pokémon.

He entered a huge building. When the screen dimmed and brightened again, the surroundings had become a vast arena filled with Trainers battling one another.

[You participated in the preliminary tournament. Though the process was rather difficult, you passed the first round.]

On the screen, the Camper barely defeated his opponent with Golem's Explosion and Pinsir's Endure. But there were three rounds in the preliminaries, and advancement would be determined by an overall assessment of contestants' match results and Gym battle performances.

Gym battle performances? The last two Gym Badges had been stolen. How could there possibly be any record of his performance?

Thus, the more rounds the Camper played, the more uneasy he became.

On the day the third round ended, regardless of his results or whether his performance had been poor, the day he had been waiting for finally arrived.

A group of people dressed as police officers took him away.

[Your involvement with the Phantom Thief Brothers in stealing badges was exposed. You were about to face imprisonment, and your Conference results were consequently voided. Yet for some reason, you smiled as you were taken away.]

[Simulation complete.]

Finally, it was over.

Baimu let out a long breath, deeply realizing the malice hidden within the simulator. He had run three simulations in total. These three people had either been abnormal from the beginning or gradually become abnormal later on.

It was truly baffling.

But perhaps that was why each Conference had so few participants.

Just obtaining eight badges was difficult enough. Baimu remembered that among the rookie Trainers who had set out alongside Ash in the anime, only Gary had successfully obtained all eight. The other two had failed completely.

[Reward Selection One: Raise any Pokémon by one level (below Lv. 50)]

[Reward Selection Two: A clue to an obtainable Pokémon]

[Reward Selection Three: Move—Rock Blast (choose a Pokémon to learn it)]

[Reward Selection Four: Preserve the [Elite System] talent for the next simulation]

The rewards were still a choice of two from four, but the move reward surprised him. It was not Explosion.

He had assumed move rewards were based on the ace's most frequently used move, but now it seemed that they might be randomly selected from the ace's entire move pool.

Rock Blast was a must-pick.

Baimu did not hesitate. He decisively chose the first and third options. The second and fourth were somewhat tempting too, but overall, they were not as useful as the first and third.

However, when he placed his hand on Aron's head, he froze.

[Rock Blast] cannot be learned?

How was that possible! That was absolutely impossible!

Or... could it not learn it before evolving? After thinking it over, Baimu felt that was the only possibility. A Pokémon's move pool expanded as it evolved.

Aggron could even learn Surf and Hydro Pump, but Aron clearly could not.

He could only use the level reward first. Clenching his fists expectantly, he hoped to witness the miraculous light of evolution.

One minute later.

There was still nothing but silence.

Baimu was disappointed beyond words. It seemed the miracle meant for Aron had not arrived yet.

"Or perhaps I'm lacking something too?"

"Guh?"

"It's nothing."

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