Even Nathan couldn't see what was happening inside the thick fog.
In this kind of environment, he had to rely on the Pokémon themselves.
Still, Nathan could vaguely make out a few shadows darting through the fog, and the voice of Pangoro echoed through the room.
About an hour later, Nathan walked out of the training chamber—with a bruised and battered Pangoro trailing behind. The big guy let out a disgruntled growl at Nathan, as if saying, "I'll be back tomorrow. I only lost today because I wasn't taking it seriously."
Nathan smiled and nodded lightly.
"Yes, yes, I get it. You were just careless. You weren't going all out."
As he spoke, Nathan made his way to the gravity room.
The gravity chamber, like the mist chamber, could multiply the gravity within the area, allowing Pokémon to train under intense physical strain. While under these conditions, the Pokémon would also have to dodge attacks from move-simulating machines.
These machines were simple automated devices that could fire off basic moves like Ember or Water Gun.
Nathan came here to train Trapinch, aiming to boost its speed.
It was still early in the day—perfect timing for some training.
And just like that, the day passed by without notice.
..
The Next Day
After waking up, Nathan felt refreshed and clear-headed.
He washed up, had breakfast, and fed his Pokémon.
Then, backpack slung over his shoulders, he checked out of the hotel and caught a taxi toward the local gym.
As a proper Pokémon Gym, the Oldcastle Gym took up a sizable amount of space and was located right in the center of the city.
As soon as Nathan's taxi arrived nearby, he spotted the building—it was incredibly easy to recognize.
The grey-white walls were marked with subtle brick-like patterns, almost as if part of a deliberate design style. The whole building resembled a glass tower, with grey and white as the primary colors.
Most striking of all were the graffiti murals on each of the gym's four exterior walls—beautiful, lifelike artwork of various Normal-type Pokémon. Because of these unique murals, the gym had even become a local hotspot where many people came just to take pictures.
Above the main entrance, the gym's name—Oldcastle Gym—was carved into the signboard.
Just beside those words was a carved Tauros head, which served as a larger version of the gym's badge symbol.
Taking in the view of the gym, Nathan stepped forward, anticipation shining in his eyes.
Inside the gym, quite a few apprentices were training and battling with Normal-type Pokémon.
As Nathan entered, a boy in a training gi walked up to him and asked,
"Hey there! Are you here to challenge the gym?"
"Yeah," Nathan nodded.
"Alright, follow me. There was another trainer just before you who also came to challenge the gym. Our master is battling him now. By the way… you look kinda familiar. I feel like I've seen you somewhere recently." The boy squinted, puzzled.
Nathan smiled and asked, "Been online lately?"
"Not much. Master gave me a bunch of tasks. If I don't finish them, I'll get punished," the boy replied with a shake of his head.
Nathan gave a helpless chuckle. That explained it.
"Something wrong?" the boy asked, noticing the expression on Nathan's face.
"No, nothing. Just curious," Nathan replied with a light laugh. He didn't elaborate further and followed the boy to an elevator.
As they stepped inside, the boy pressed the button for the top floor and explained,
"The battle arena's on the top level."
The elevator ascended quickly.
Before they could even finish a casual chat, the doors opened again.
What appeared before them was a massive battle arena.
On the field, two Pokémon were currently locked in combat.
But the difference between them was obvious.
One was a Persian—a Normal-type and likely the gym leader's Pokémon.
The other was a Hitmonlee—Fighting-type and, by typing, supposedly an advantage against Persian.
Their power levels weren't too far apart—Persian was probably advanced-level, while Hitmonlee was at the peak of the growth stage, close to elite.
And yet, the Hitmonlee couldn't even land a hit.
This Persian was absurdly agile. On top of that, it had clearly learned Icy Wind through a TM, slowing down Hitmonlee and keeping it on the back foot the entire time.
Within minutes, Hitmonlee was down and unable to battle.
The trainer, a boy around Nathan's age, retrieved his Pokémon with a defeated look and walked toward the elevator.
At that moment, the gym leader turned to face Nathan—and his eyes widened in surprise.
"You're... Nathan Vesper?"
"That's me. Does the Gym Leader know me?" Nathan asked, clearly surprised.
It made sense to be surprised.
Even though he'd won the Trial Tournament, gym leaders were busy people.
They had high social standing and tons of responsibilities. It wasn't likely they paid attention to the tournament.
"Of course I know you! Champion of the Trial Tournament—and the only rookie in the tournament's history to have a Pokémon at the Elite tier! If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe a newcomer this strong existed," the gym leader said with a smile, full of praise.
"My name is Victor Wilde, Gym Leader of Oldcastle Gym." The gym leader introduced.
"Champion… of the Trial Tournament?" the boy beside them gasped in shock.
He looked at Nathan, scratched his head, and said, "No wonder you looked familiar. I watched one of your matches during the tournament... but I got busy and didn't finish it."
Nathan smiled. "Nice to meet you. I'm Nathan."
"Uh, hi! I'm Tyson Ward. Just call me Tyson," the boy responded, extending his hand.
The gym leader recalled Persian and turned to Nathan.
"You've come to challenge the gym, right? Honestly, I didn't expect you to come all the way here—this place is pretty far from Poplar City."
"I just happened to have some things to handle in the area, so I decided to make Oldcastle Gym my first badge challenge," Nathan explained, stepping onto the battlefield opposite the gym leader.
Victor nodded. "You may be a rookie, but there's no way I'll treat you like one. I'll use an appropriate Pokémon to battle you. Tyson, you be the referee for this one."
"Yes, Master!"
Tyson nodded quickly and rushed to the edge of the arena, pulling out two flags from his jacket.
Loudly, he announced:
"This is a 1v1 official gym battle! If the challenger wins, they will earn the Oldcastle Gym Badge! The battle begins now!"
The moment his words fell, Nathan pulled a Poké Ball from around his neck and declared without hesitation,
"Let's go, Volcarona!"
Since it was a 1v1 battle, he would go all out.
Besides, this was a perfect opportunity to test how much Volcarona's strength had grown since its evolution.
With a flash of light and a surge of rising heat, the battlefield seemed to be graced by the sun itself.
Volcarona appeared, its golden flames dancing across its body.
"As expected, it's Volcarona," the gym leader muttered, not at all surprised by the choice—but visibly intrigued.
"It seems... different from the one in the tournament."
"Let's just say we had a bit of a lucky break," Nathan said calmly.
Victor nodded without prying, then pulled a Poké Ball from his belt and released his own partner.
With a roar, a burly Pokémon appeared in the arena.
Ursaring.
The gym leader's ace.
Also his starter Pokémon.
Elite-tier!
…
The moment the two Elite-tier Pokémon released their full pressure, the atmosphere became tense.
"This Volcarona... is very strong," the gym leader said in a low voice.
"Ursaring, let's take the initiative! Bulk Up, then Double Team into Brick Break! Go!"
"Raaaargh!"
Ursaring let out a mighty roar, then dashed toward Volcarona.
Despite Ursaring's normally slow speed, being a Elite-tier Pokémon meant its movement was nothing to scoff at.
As it moved, it created a swarm of afterimages—dozens of Ursarings rushed at Volcarona, making it impossible to tell which one was real.
"Max power—Heat Wave!" Nathan commanded.
Despite facing a Elite-tier opponent, Nathan wasn't afraid in the slightest.
Volcarona had too many field-controlling abilities.
With a hum, Volcarona flapped its wings.
Golden flames burst forth as a scorching wave of heat swept across the battlefield like a tidal wave.
All the afterimages vanished in an instant, revealing the true Ursaring, now scorched and showing signs of a burn.
But it didn't stop.
Ursaring powered through the pain and charged forward, striking down with a fierce Brick Break.
"Kami-e!" Nathan barked.
If that hit landed, even Volcarona would take serious damage—Ursaring's physical attack was nothing to underestimate.
But Volcarona was known for its agility.
The moment it heard the command, it zipped sideways like an illusion, narrowly avoiding the blow.
"Don't let up! Return!" Victor shouted.
"Oh, you're not landing that," Nathan said with a smile.
Return was a move whose power scaled with the bond between trainer and Pokémon.
Given Ursaring was his first Pokémon, its bond was surely maxed out.
"Dodge again and widen the distance!" Nathan ordered.
"Vuuu!"
Volcarona cried out and instantly pulled back, easily dodging Return.
Its speed was so fast it was hard to follow with the naked eye.
Then Nathan gave another order. "Fire Spin!"
"Vuuu!"
Volcarona flapped its wings again, sending out a swirl of golden flames.
Though normally a mid-tier move, in Volcarona's hands it roared with terrifying power—like a firestorm threatening to consume everything.
"It's too wide! We can't dodge... and it's too strong to take head-on," Victor muttered.
"Ursaring, Protect!"
"Raaagh!"
A translucent shield appeared in front of Ursaring, blocking the raging fire just in time.
'This Volcarona is too agile. If this keeps up, Ursaring will be at a disadvantage. I need to end this quickly,' Victor thought, already calculating his next move.
Ursaring's slow speed was a major flaw against flying opponents.
"Ursaring, use Rock Tomb after Smack Down! Let's ground it!" he commanded.
"Raaagh!"
Ursaring summoned a glowing rock and hurled it at Volcarona with terrifying force.
"Dodge it—and counter with Will-O-Wisp!" Nathan shouted.
Volcarona swiftly dodged the rock, then launched eerie golden-purple flames at Ursaring.
The moment Ursaring raised its arms—Rock Tomb was already primed.
Massive boulders rained down from above, forming a trap around Volcarona.
Trapped.
But at the same time, Ursaring was once again burned by Will-O-Wisp, reigniting the status it had only just shaken off.
The burn worsened its condition.
Taking a deep breath, Victor grinned.
"Ursaring, give it the final blow—Hyper Beam!"