"Huh?"
Only then did Candice remember that Sneasel had taken a Small Explosion head-on and lay off to the side, its fate unknown. She hurried to her feet, took out a Heal Spray, and went over to treat its injuries.
Qingliu watched silently, then sighed helplessly and shook his head. "I really am a gentle soul."
Earlier, Agumon had offered to shake hands with Sneasel as a gesture of goodwill, but Sneasel had tried to attack Agumon instead. Standing nearby, Qingliu had seen the whole thing.
As always, anyone who struck first had to be ready to face the consequences, so Qingliu had made it Small Explosion's first target.
Still, it was Candice's Pokémon, after all.
Candice had given him Poké Balls, shared useful information, and helped him test Agumon's strength twice in a row. In particular, when he could no longer find any Pokémon to serve as Agumon's training opponents, she had come to challenge him of her own accord. All of that had been very helpful, so Qingliu had once again told Agumon to hold back.
Even so, Qingliu was thoroughly satisfied with the power Small Explosion had displayed. It could easily serve as a finishing move.
"All the effort we put into training these past few days paid off. And..."
Qingliu looked at Agumon and opened the panel, his gaze settling on the [Level] field. The number there had changed from 14 to 15.
That meant the outcome of the battle had allowed Agumon to break through after several days of stagnation, reaching level 15.
With that, Agumon's basic abilities and physical condition would improve along with its level, so using Small Explosion would no longer drain most of its stamina.
"Now, onto the next goal."
Qingliu raised his head and looked into the distance.
It was as though his gaze had passed through the darkening night sky and the obstructing forest, returning to the stone tower south of Solaceon Town.
"How is Sneasel?"
"Not too bad. The injuries are serious, but thankfully, they aren't as bad as Snover's were before. I've treated Sneasel and returned it to its Poké Ball. It should be fine."
Qingliu nodded and handed her a grilled fish, then had Agumon give another two to Snover and Snorunt.
The spices, salt, and other seasonings he had bought in Solaceon Town filled the one gap in the grilled fish, which already smelled wonderful but had lacked flavor. Now it was simply delicious.
Snover and Snorunt ate with such abandon that they accidentally gulped down their fish too quickly and got bones stuck in their throats. In the end, they had to use Ice-type energy to freeze them into little ice cubes and spit them out.
Whenever he saw that, Qingliu could not help marveling at how powerful Agumon's throat and stomach were. He had never seen Agumon choke on anything.
Or does Agumon get bones stuck too, just like Snover and Snorunt, then secretly breathe fire down its throat to burn them away?
For a moment, Qingliu suddenly wanted to pry Agumon's mouth open and take a look, but then he heard Candice's somewhat wistful voice.
"I never imagined you and Agumon would get this strong in just a few days. Even all my Pokémon together were no match for you two."
Qingliu swallowed his mouthful of grilled fish and said, "Agumon has too much of a type advantage over your Pokémon, and it just happened to learn a new move."
"You don't have to comfort me. I know I was completely outclassed."
After a brief pause, Candice continued, "But that battle also helped me figure out a lot of things-the flaws in my commands, my goals in life, and so on. I won't give up. I'll keep moving forward with everything I've got, then come challenge you again."
"Good."
Qingliu smiled and nodded. "That determination to keep going no matter how often you fall-that's the spirit a future Gym Leader should have."
Candice did not dwell on Qingliu's rare praise. Instead, she moved past the subject and asked, "What are you planning to do next? Keep training?"
"I've achieved what I wanted from this training, and I'm running low on food. I'm planning to head back to Solaceon Town tomorrow."
"Back to Solaceon Town? You're not moving on?"
Candice thought for a moment, then asked, "Agumon's pretty strong now, and it's learned a powerful new move. If you're still going back to Solaceon Town, does that mean you're still thinking about challenging Cynthia?"
At that, Qingliu slowly turned to look at Candice.
For some reason, he felt as though she really enjoyed watching drama unfold. Or did she want to see Cynthia beat him senseless so she could feel better about herself?
With that thought, Qingliu could not resist giving her a knock on the head.
"Stop obsessing over that for me all day long. I know exactly how big the gap in our strength is. I'm not going to do something completely pointless like an idiot."
Wincing in pain, Candice tried to retaliate, but Qingliu stopped her. After staring silently at the grilled fish in her hand for a while, she decided to let him off. Only then did Qingliu withdraw the hand holding her back.
"If you're not challenging Cynthia, then what are you going to do?"
"The Pokémon around here run as soon as they see Agumon and me. There's no one left to spar with Agumon and help it get stronger. And I'm out of money... so I'm going back to Solaceon Town to find something that solves both problems."
Hearing the first part, Candice suddenly understood. No wonder she had not seen a single wild Pokémon when she entered this forest today. Agumon had beaten them all up.
The thought that she was far from the only one who had taken a beating instantly lifted Candice's spirits.
But when she heard the latter half of Qingliu's explanation, her slender brows slowly drew together.
Somewhere with Pokémon that could serve as Agumon's opponents, where he could also earn money... After turning it over in her mind, Candice finally thought of one place.
"You mean you're going to challenge the Lost Tower?"
"Yes."
The Ghost-type Pokémon living inside the Lost Tower would make excellent training opponents for Agumon, and clearing each floor would earn him a corresponding cash reward.
For someone short on both money and opponents, it was the perfect target.
Of course, that did not mean Solaceon Town's mayor was foolish enough to give away money for nothing. Qingliu knew the Pokémon inside grew stronger with each floor. Even on the weakest first floor, their average strength was definitely greater than Candice's Pokémon. Most of them could also pass through walls or lurk in their dark recesses to launch surprise attacks, and ganging up on challengers was surely commonplace.
Before, Qingliu would not have had the confidence to take on the challenge and clear even one floor.
But after these past few days of intensive training, things were completely different.
First, Agumon had risen from level 13 to level 15, significantly improving its abilities across the board.
Second, it had learned Small Explosion, a powerful move that consumed a great deal of stamina.
Finally, those two improvements worked together-the move's stamina cost was now lower, so Agumon would no longer be left nearly exhausted after using Small Explosion once.
It might even be able to unleash Small Explosion... twice!
Before you continue