"I lost..."
Iono gazed reluctantly at Bellibolt, which had exhausted its strength and collapsed with spirals in its eyes, then quickly admitted defeat.
Then, the instant she recalled Bellibolt into its Poké Ball, she put on a delighted expression and bounded over to Qingyu.
"What an amazing battle! You're every bit as strong as everyone says, junior! No wonder you're the genius who even beat that cold-blooded interviewer, Rika!"
"Thank you for the battle, Iono."
Qingyu nodded slightly with a pleased smile, then leaned down and whispered in her ear:
"And thank you for going easy on me. If you'd Terastallized Bellibolt, you might have turned the tables."
To Qingyu, this was simply a polite courtesy.
After all, they were all fellow workers in Paldea who were bound to run into one another, planets endlessly orbiting the star that was Geeta. Building good relationships could only help.
But to Iono, those words carried a rather different implication.
"Ha, haha..."
Iono gave an uncertain laugh, and the corners of her mouth twitched.
Did he think I didn't want to Terastallize?
The entire battle moved so fast that I never even had time to use my Tera Orb!
As an Electric-type Gym Leader, she always had a Tera Orb on hand.
But unless she Terastallized right at the start, using it later would have been pointless.
She couldn't hit Riolu at all. Qingyu had led her around by the nose from beginning to end...
Every all-out attack Bellibolt launched met a powerful counterattack without exception. When it tried to recover with Rest, Riolu instantly finished it off with a long-planned Low Kick.
Was this junior really a rookie?
Like everyone else, Iono couldn't help wondering.
Although she was something of a newcomer herself, having only recently inherited the Gym Leader position, she