"You barely passed this time." Had it been another Pokémon, Paul might have scolded it a little, but since Elekid had won, he said nothing more. He offered no praise, either.
"Come back, Cranidos."
"We lost."
"Paul, you did very well, and you stayed calm while giving commands. Here, this is the Coal Badge for your Gym challenge. I hope you do well at the Lily of the Valley Conference."
Roark scratched his helmeted head, smiled warmly at Paul, and handed him the Coal Badge. As a Gym Leader, he couldn't help praising promising younger Trainers when he saw them.
"Thank you."
After receiving the badge, Paul had no intention of chatting with Roark. He thanked him and prepared to leave.
"Paul, stop pretending! I know you saw me!"
When Xiaoyun saw that Paul actually intended to leave the Gym outright, he hurriedly called out to stop him. Think you can just leave like that? Not happening!
"What do you want?"
Paul frowned. He didn't want much to do with the black-haired boy who had defeated him. Besides, he always felt there was something strange about the way the boy looked at him.
"Can't I just have a chat with you? You did pretty well in that battle!"
Seeing Paul's cold attitude, Xiaoyun decided to have a chat with him.
"Is that all you wanted to say?"
Those words meant something entirely different to Paul. He thought Xiaoyun was mocking him. His last battle could hardly be called good; even his eventual victory had been a narrow one.
"All right, how's Chimchar's training been going lately? Any thoughts about giving it a different Trainer?"
Seeing Paul's reaction, Xiaoyun knew this conversation wasn't going anywhere, so he directly reminded him not to forget their agreement.
"I knew it wasn't that simple with you. That one? It's been doing all right lately. For now, it qualifies to stay on my team."
Paul was also reminding him that their agreement was to give Chimchar to him only when he no longer wanted to train it. He still wanted to give Chimchar some time to try to master that power of Blaze.
"Paul, watch my Gym battle next! I'll show you how strong I've gotten!"
Ash suddenly stepped forward and spoke to Paul. He had wanted another battle with Paul, but under the circumstances, this was the only way he could prove his strength.
"You? I'm not interested in how strong you are. Maybe next time."
Paul glanced at Ash and spoke disdainfully. Although Ash wasn't particularly weak, Paul simply couldn't stand his attitude toward Pokémon. It often reminded him of his older brother, Reggie.
Turning to Xiaoyun, he said, "You, though. Are you here to challenge the Gym too?"
"Well, of course I'm challenging the Gym. What, are you going to just give me your badge?"
Xiaoyun asked, somewhat puzzled. How am I supposed to enter the Lily of the Valley Conference without challenging Gyms? Does he really think I'm Cynthia's boyfriend?
"Stop saying such childish things. With your strength, do Gym battles even matter to you anymore?"
Paul thought Xiaoyun was playing dumb. In his eyes, that Sceptile was strong enough to take on the Elite Four challenge.
"Huh? You can't go around saying that! Gym Leaders are really strong, okay? Talking like that can easily get you beaten up. ⊙﹏⊙"
Xiaoyun jumped in alarm. That really wasn't something to go around saying.
What region didn't have a few hidden big shots these days?
Here in the Sinnoh Region alone, there was the "Fourth Hokage Namikaze Volkner," who could rival Flint.
There was also old Mura, the retired Fire-type Elite Four member at the Hoenn Region's Lavaridge Gym.
And Mr. Drayden at the Unova Region's Opelucid Gym.
And Gurkinn, the old Gym Leader of the Kalos Region's Shalour Gym. There was also Meyer, Clemont's father and the former Leader of the Lumiose Gym.
Kanto in particular was something else. If they got serious, aside from the current Pewter, Cerulean, and Celadon Gyms, where he could put up a fight, he wouldn't dare say he could definitely beat the rest.
Sabrina of the Saffron Gym, Koga of the Fuchsia Gym, Agatha, the current Leader of the Viridian Gym, and Pryce in the neighboring Johto Region could all string him up and thrash him over and over.
After all, Sceptile was the only one he had who could really fight right now, and even Sceptile might not be able to beat them.
Besides, even among ordinary Gyms, apart from the occasional newly appointed Leader whose strength needed improvement, most Gym Leaders were strong enough to protect an entire city.
At the very least, Xiaoyun really didn't dare be that bold right now.
Paul only dared say that because he didn't know them well and hadn't seen their true strength. Mr. Brandon of the Battle Pyramid was probably the one he knew best.
And even Brandon wouldn't dare say something like that. After all, as for Agatha's and Pryce's strength-those who knew, knew.
Xiaoyun reckoned even the three Legendary Titans together wouldn't help. A beating would still be a beating.
Still, thinking about how Paul later chose to become a Gym Leader in Pokémon Journeys was a little hard to believe. No matter how Xiaoyun looked at it, Paul at that point was a little stronger than Aaron, the current Bug-type Elite Four member, wasn't he?
Or he would have been strong enough to take over Bertha's position as the Ground-type Elite Four member.
Yet in the end, he actually chose to become a Gym Leader.
Sure enough, Gym Leaders weren't to be trifled with.
"Hmph! Say whatever you like. Still, I can watch your battle. It'll only waste a little time."
Paul no longer intended to listen to Xiaoyun. He sounded utterly unconcerned, but in truth, he cared a great deal about Xiaoyun's current strength. As for Ash, he would just watch him while he was at it. In the end, he chose to stay and watch the battles.
In Paul's mind, most Gym Leaders weren't particularly strong. With some time spent planning, he could always beat them. With Xiaoyun's strength, it would certainly be no problem.
Xiaoyun: He's slandering me!
"Okay, okay, but we'll have to let Ash go first. He can't wait anymore."
Xiaoyun didn't call out this tsundere. He wasn't in a hurry anyway, and it made no difference who went first. Mr. Roark was right here; it wasn't as though he could run away. Xiaoyun spoke to Ash, who was already rubbing his hands eagerly.
"Come on, Ash. You go first. I'll take the next match."
"Okay, Xiaoyun.
Paul, I'll show you how strong I am."
Ash answered Xiaoyun, then turned to speak to Paul again.
"..." Paul didn't answer. He simply looked at him coldly, though there was clearly a slight flicker in his eyes.
"Mr. Roark, I'm Ash from Pallet Town. Please have a Gym battle with me."
"Hello, Mr. Roark. I'm Xiaoyun from Twinleaf Town. Sorry for the trouble, but I'd also like a Gym battle with you afterward."
Xiaoyun and Ash bowed to Roark together in greeting.
"Haha, I didn't expect so many challengers today. Looks like I won't be going mining, then. But we'll have to take it one at a time. Which of you two is going first?"
Roark smiled warmly. Although it was a bit of a headache that he couldn't enjoy mining today, he still fulfilled his duty as a Gym Leader and agreed to their requests.
"Mr. Roark, we've already discussed it. Ash will challenge you first," Xiaoyun told Roark.
"All right, in that case, please wait a little while. Once my Pokémon have recovered, we can battle."
Roark said little else. He merely explained that his Pokémon still needed some time to recover and asked the two to wait quietly.