Pokémon: Wings Of Shadow

"With you? Do something big?"

Shiro couldn't imagine what big thing a rookie trainer like him could possibly do.

For now, he just wanted to live a stable life in Hammerlocke.

"Heh, by the way, I still don't know your name." Marvin wasn't surprised by Shiro's doubt. He continued, "You should already know my identity, right?"

Marvin's identity?

Shiro only knew that Marvin was from Circhester. Even with the added label of being wealthy, Shiro couldn't figure out who this guy really was. The current Gym Leader of Circhester was Melony, an Ice-type trainer.

'For Marvin to be so confident about his name, could he be related to Melony?'

"Shiro." While thinking, Shiro briefly introduced his name, not saying anything further.

"Hahaha, Shiro, your name sounds like someone from Kanto." Marvin leaned forward and spoke with a laugh.

Shiro just shook his head without replying.

The name Shiro's deceased father gave him did indeed sound like it came from Kanto. His father had chosen the name based on his mother's name. His mother had escaped from Kanto and married his dead father.

Shiro's parents didn't have any significant status, nor were they strong trainers. His father had only joined Team Yell through hard work, and was eventually killed by someone's betrayal.

"You should know, that event is about to start. We could try to sabotage it..." Marvin said to him, looking quite excited.

"What event?" Shiro truly didn't understand what this person was talking about.

"Ah! Galar Region's most important event! The Gym Challenge!" Marvin would have stood up and shouted if his leg weren't still hurt.

"Oh..." Shiro nodded to show he understood, but he still wasn't moved.

He wasn't interested in any Gym Challenges. It didn't concern him. He planned to leave Galar for another region anyway.

"This year's Gym Challenge is generating a lot of hype. There's Leon, personally recommended by Chairman Rose, Raihan from Hammerlocke, Piers, the son of Spikemuth Gym Leader, and Bea, a Karate genius from Stow-on-Side..." Marvin listed the participants, then snorted dismissively. "And there's also a guy from Circhester—Gordie."

At this point, Shiro froze for a moment and tried to ask.

"That Gordie..."

"He's my older brother." Marvin grinned, showing a look of disgust.

"Then what did you do?" Shiro became interested and asked him.

"Me?" Marvin paused. Now he knew that Shiro didn't know him at all.

But Marvin didn't mind. Anyway, Shiro would eventually learn about all of it, so he explained.

"I stole my dad's Pokémon and some money. But that bitch killed my dad..."

After a while, Shiro nodded, understanding the situation.

Melony, the current Gym Leader of Circhester, was married to the town's Gym Leader. They had two sons and a daughter. However, the Gym Leader had somehow adopted a child from somewhere, and it was unclear whether the child was an illegitimate son or something else. They named him Marvin.

Marvin was a year younger than Gordie, the Gym Leader's biological son. The Gym Leader had already given Gordie the letter of endorsement for the Gym Challenge, promising to give Marvin one the next year. However, Gordie failed to even win two Gym Badges the last time he participated.

This year, for some unknown reason, the Gym Leader fell seriously ill, and Melony gave Marvin's endorsement letter to Gordie again.

Melony's remaining son and daughter were still too young to participate in the Gym Challenge. She planned to let Gordie earn the eight badges and compete in the tournament before considering anyone else.

"Who knows what will happen once that idiot gets eight badges? From eight badges to the top eight, and from the top eight to the championship." Marvin gritted his teeth, then quickly let go of the anger. "Anyway, I'm not her son."

Marvin had initially endured this situation, but recently, Melony had been making his life miserable in various ways. The Gym Leader's condition had worsened as well.

"I couldn't take it anymore, so I stole some things and one of my dad's Pokémon. But after I left, that bitch had him killed. The worst part is..." Marvin clenched his fists, clearly furious.

"She accused you of killing the Gym Leader and stealing things to escape?" Shiro guessed.

"Yeah." Marvin nodded, then added, "My bounty is one million Pokédollars, alive or dead. If someone completes the bounty, they'll get Melony's 'special thanks'... Heh."

He sneered. Who didn't know that the stuff on Marvin was worth far more than just one million Pokédollars? It was all about the Pokémon resources he carried.

Shiro roughly understood the situation and nodded slightly, but he didn't respond to Marvin's suggestion about sabotaging the Gym Challenge.

Shiro was well aware of his own limitations, and he knew just how powerful figures like Leon were. If he were an Elite-level trainer, he might... not even consider it and just leave.

Leon, the undefeated champion, had never lost a battle since debuting. Even with Rose's deliberate marketing and promotion, Leon's strength was undeniably impressive, which was why the marketing held up.

Not to mention the other competitors, he alone could easily wipe the floor with two small fries like them.

Leon was at least at the Gym level now—how could two novices possibly win against him?

Shiro kept silent.

"We're not going to take on Leon and the others directly." Marvin winked and pointed toward the north. "Shiro, the Gym Challenge only has five participants, they are not even competing together. And I know better than anyone how weak Gordie is."

"You want to specifically target Gordie? What's his current strength?" Shiro asked, following up.

"Six Pokémon. His strongest is still only Intermediate level. Maybe in two months, Melony will have him evolve one of his Pokémon into an Advanced-level one." Marvin answered truthfully.

"How are we supposed to fight that?" Shiro shook his head decisively.

In two months, Gordie would have an Advanced-level Pokémon, while Shiro would likely only have a Corvisquire. And it would likely be at the Intermediate level at best.

Unless something miraculous happened, like Rookidee evolving directly into Corviknight, Shiro wouldn't have an Advanced-level Pokémon anytime soon.

Shiro never believed in such things as lucky breaks.

"Haha, of course, we can't beat him now, but in two months, it's a different story." Marvin smiled mysteriously. "I have a way that can bring both of us to at least Intermediate level. That loser Gordie is terrible at commanding Pokémon. We'll easily win."

"What's your method?" Shiro wasn't fully convinced.

"Hehe, Shiro, you just tell me if you're in or not." Marvin looked directly into Shiro's eyes, his gaze flickering with anticipation across the dancing campfire.

"I'm not doing it." Shiro still rejected the offer.

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