Chapter 141: The Stone-Faced Gym Leader
Twenty-four hours later, the screen lit up once again.
[Parallel-World Celebrity Series, Episode Three—The Sovereign of Ideals: Miori—Stage Two begins!]
Several heavy drumbeats sounded as a striking line of text appeared across the screen.
[Nimbasa Gym has welcomed its new master—Miori. Under the "reign" of this young Gym Leader, an endless stream of challengers will discover the beginning of what has become known as "the Unova rookie Trainer’s nightmare."]
[VIP Chat Group]
[Iris]: Pfft! That introduction is deliberately stirring up trouble, isn’t it? "The Unova rookie Trainer’s nightmare"?
[Dawn]: A nightmare? Why? Miori is clearly adorable~ (.＞︿＜)_θ
[Lana]: The atmosphere at Nimbasa Gym seems to have become much more serious too.
[Cilan]: This style may offer an entirely unique flavor when it comes to evaluating Gym Battles!
The video began playing.
The scene shifted to the entrance of Nimbasa Gym.
The line of Trainers waiting to challenge the Gym stretched from the front doors all the way to the café on the street corner.
However, none of them appeared to be in particularly good condition.
Some were muttering to themselves, some were still rearranging their teams, and others were even trembling unconsciously.
"Is all this really necessary?"
A newly arrived challenger stared at the enormous line, the corner of his mouth twitching.
"It’s only a Gym Battle, isn’t it?"
The Trainer in front of him slowly turned around. Two prominent dark circles hung beneath his eyes.
"Is this your first time here?"
"...Yes."
"I was just as confident as you yesterday."
The exhausted Trainer turned back around.
"Then my Pignite was defeated instantly. From the beginning of the battle to the end, it lasted less than sixty seconds."
"Less than sixty seconds?!"
The exhausted Trainer turned around again and pointed toward the crowd of people ahead whose mental states appeared equally concerning.
"All of those people are here for their second or third attempts."
"They’ve all already been defeated?"
"That’s right. So far, not a single person has lasted three minutes against the new Gym Leader."
The exhausted Trainer began counting on his fingers.
[VIP Chat Group]
[Roxie]: Honestly, after seeing the expression on that exhausted Trainer’s face, I suddenly feel sorry for Unova’s rookie Trainers.
[Mallow]: Baby Miori is clearly so adorable! Why is she so frightening inside the Gym?
[Lana]: That contrast is what makes her even cuter!
[Lt. Surge]: The important part is the data. No challenger has lasted three minutes against her. That isn’t an ordinary defeat—it’s complete domination.
[Volkner]: Electric-type Trainers have finally risen to the top! It wasn’t easy!
The video continued playing.
The first challenger stood at one end of the battlefield with a Poké Ball clenched in his hand. Sweat had already begun forming across his forehead.
Miori emerged from the passageway at the back of the Gym.
To make herself appear as imposing as possible, she had tied her long hair into a high ponytail. She wore a short black jacket over a pale-blue inner layer.
Standing at the center of the battlefield, Miori possessed an aura several levels more intimidating than usual.
The referee raised a flag and announced the beginning of the battle.
The challenger sent out a powerfully built Watchog.
"Another one of these..."
Miori shook her head helplessly before throwing her own Poké Ball.
Red light flashed.
Emolga appeared on the battlefield with its wings spread wide, electricity crackling from the pouches at the ends of its cheeks.
"Watchog, use Super Fang!" the challenger commanded first.
Watchog kicked off the ground and lunged toward Emolga, its incisors shining white beneath the spotlights.
"Dodge."
Emolga flapped its wings and gracefully flipped aside.
Watchog passed directly beneath it and missed completely, its teeth snapping shut on empty air with a sharp clack.
"Thunderbolt."
Golden electricity erupted from Emolga’s cheeks.
A precise bolt of lightning descended from above and struck Watchog directly in the back.
Watchog’s fur stood on end. Its limbs twitched twice before it collapsed to the floor with a dull thud and stopped moving.
The referee had long since become accustomed to scenes like this.
"Watchog is unable to battle! Emolga wins!"
[VIP Chat Group]
[Misty]: Although the battle ended extremely quickly, I don’t think Miori did anything wrong.
[Brock]: Judging by the way that Watchog moved, its Trainer is clearly a beginner.
[Lt. Surge]: When I was a Gym Leader, I encountered reckless rookies like that every day. They sent out a Pokémon with a type advantage against Electric types and assumed victory was guaranteed, only to lose before defeating even my first Pokémon.
[Janine]: Honestly, which Gym Leader hasn’t experienced this? There are too many challengers, most of them are too weak, and you spend the entire day facing the same strategies repeatedly. Eventually, you can’t even be bothered to manage your facial expressions.
The video continued playing.
The challengers who followed surged in like an incoming tide, only to retreat just as rapidly after crashing against a reef.
Miori’s commands were concise, efficient, and precise.
Her ability to read the flow of battle far surpassed that of others her age. She could often predict an attack’s trajectory before her opponent even made a move.
Her grasp of timing was accurate down to the second, and she never wasted even the briefest opening to attack.
However, what made the challengers feel truly hopeless was her attitude.
She displayed almost no emotional fluctuations.
Every challenger who left the battlefield received a brief assessment from her.
For example:
"Your Ponyta is very fast, but its running path is too direct. You should train it to change direction while moving."
Or:
"Pignite’s Flamethrower is reasonably powerful, but it takes too long to charge. Once an opponent closes the distance, it has no method of counterattacking."
Everything she said was correct.
And precisely because she was so correct, her words created an even greater invisible pressure.
Because the objective truth was simple:
They genuinely weren’t strong enough yet.
[Regular-Seat Chat Group]
"This feels like being called stupid by the top student in class. She even tells you exactly how to become smarter, but you still can’t do it."
"I’ve already begun mourning for Unova’s rookie Trainers."
[VIP Chat Group]
[Brock]: From a Gym Leader’s perspective, Miori is actually being extremely responsible. After every battle, she gives the challenger a clear direction for improvement.
[Gary]: But the more she explains, the more hopeless they become. Lies don’t hurt people—the truth is the sharpest blade.
[Lana]: But all these people returned for second and third attempts. That means that even though Miori completely overwhelms them, they’re still willing to come back because they learn something every time.
[Korrina]: That’s proof that she’s an excellent Gym Leader.