[Your friend request has been declined.]
Cynthia stared at the message on her screen, stunned.
This was probably the first time someone had ever turned her down.
Three seconds later, another message popped up.
[SunshineBoy: Trying to scam me? You've got a lot to learn.]
...Was there something wrong with her profile picture?
Puzzled, Cynthia tapped on it—it was a candid shot of an Eevee happily eating ice cream. Even Diantha had praised her photography skills when she took it.
She'd agonized for days just to come up with that username, too.
There was absolutely nothing wrong with her profile picture or name!
...Maybe the guy was just extra cautious?
Cynthia comforted herself with that thought.
Since she'd been rejected, she'd just have to find another way.
...
Not even a few minutes had passed after rejecting the friend request when Caleb's phone buzzed with another one.
Seriously? Again?
He immediately hit decline.
Getting clever now, huh? Even changed the profile pic.
And look at that—changed the name too.
Let's see what we've got...
"Deputy Director of the Pokémon Inspection Bureau, Lyn Jenny."
Even had a shiny blue badge. Verified.
[Lyn Jenny: ?]
...Crap. He'd messed up big time.
Didn't he just deal with an inspector a while ago? Why was there another one now?
Without hesitation, Caleb slammed the accept button and straightened up like a model student.
[SunshineBoy: Slipped! My bad, total misclick.][Sunny Boy: (Sorry bow emoji)]
After sending the message, Caleb anxiously stared at his screen, waiting for a response.
Several seconds of silence later, just when he thought his Gym career was about to end, a voice message came through.
"Gym Leader Caleb, this is Deputy Director Lyn Jenny from the Pokémon Inspection Bureau. I'll be adding you to a work group shortly. Thanks for your cooperation."
The tone was precise and formal—definitely a senior official.
Wait... work group?
What work?
After a brief chat with the deputy director, Caleb finally got the gist.
The League had been drowning in tasks lately. On top of that, issues kept cropping up across various Gyms.
So the Inspection Bureau decided to create a group chat to help manage everything more efficiently and promote cooperation among the Gym Leaders.
Once he understood the situation, Caleb tapped into the group chat—named "Sinnoh Gym Leaders' Group Chat."
Straight to the point.
[SunshineBoy has joined the group.]
[Pastoria City - Crasher Wake: Wow, a newbie! Welcome, welcome!]
[Veilstone City - Maylene: Finally, I'm not last on the list anymore. T_T]
[Inspector - Citie Joy: That name... I've got a bad feeling about this.]
Caleb hadn't expected to run into someone he knew.
[Group Admin - Lyn Jenny: @Sunny Boy, please update your name in the group.]
[Sunny Boy: On it.]
After a quick edit, the system showed:[Sunny Boy has changed their name to "Solaceon Town - Caleb."]
[Inspector - Citie Joy: !!!]
[Inspector - Citie Joy: Sis, why'd you let him in here?!]
Now she finally realized where that sense of familiarity had come from.
[Group Admin - Lyn Jenny: Ahem, please use titles during work hours. As the Gym Leader of Solaceon and recent Ho-Oh Cup champion, Caleb qualifies to be in this group.]
[Veilstone City - Maylene: Wait—you're that Caleb?! (shocked emoji)]
Maylene was the first to be floored. After all, the name Caleb had become legendary in the Fighting-type circle lately.
[Monkey God of the Universe: What? What happened? What'd I miss?]
?
Caleb knew all eight Sinnoh Gym Leaders, but that username... who was that supposed to be?
[Group Admin - Lyn Jenny: Ugh, Elite Four Flint, change your name back, please.]
System prompt:[Monkey God of the Universe has changed their name to "Invincible Flint."]
...Yep. That was definitely Flint.
Caleb nodded to himself.
System prompt:[Sunyshore City - Volkner has changed the group name to "Sinnoh Gym Leaders' Group Chat."]
[Invincible Flint: Volkner! What the heck, man?!]
As expected, Volkner ignored him completely.
Lyn Jenny then laid out a few improvement plans and gave Volkner a stern warning before logging off.
Only after she left did people finally dare to start chatting.
[Solaceon Town - Caleb: Hi everyone, newbie reporting in. Looking forward to learning from you all. (smiley emoji)]
[Inspector - Citie Joy: ...]
[Pastoria City - Crasher Wake: Hahaha~ Feel free to ask me anything about fossils!]
[Hearthome City - Fantina: Caleb, you've been making waves lately. I really liked your SubToxic strategy—let's chat sometime!]
[Solaceon Town - Caleb: (Much appreciated emoji)]
[Invincible Flint: What strategy? Is it that good? (curious emoji)]
[Snowpoint City - Candice: You're a "mood-based" Trainer—you wouldn't get it. (Chansey KOing Scizor meme)]
[Hearthome City - Fantina: You wouldn't get it~ (Chansey KOing Gyarados meme)]
[Inspector - Citie Joy: ...]
[Invincible Flint: What even is this?! Anyway, guess what—Cynthia accepted my battle request! Got any advice?]
[Veilstone City - Maylene: !]
[Oreburgh City - Roark: !][…]
A flood of exclamation marks filled the chat—not because Flint dared to challenge Cynthia again, but because Cynthia actually agreed.
Just two days ago, Flint had been completely swept by her.
Three days ago—same thing. Four days ago? You guessed it.
In just one month, he'd challenged her no fewer than eight times, and she hadn't straight-up banned him yet. That was... impressive.
[Invincible Flint: Hehe, I don't know why she agreed so quickly this time. Usually I have to beg her forever. Maybe I finally touched her heart with my determination. So—no advice?]
The rest of the Gym Leaders remained dead silent.
If we had advice that worked, we wouldn't still be stuck in this group.
Also—taking Infernape against Garchomp?
You're just asking to be wiped.
Meanwhile, outside the Solaceon Gym...
A round, balloon-like Chansey floated in the air, cheeks puffed with air.
Its pink body swayed gently in the breeze like a balloon.
The Chansey moved with incredible care, always finding the blind spots between surveillance cameras.
And if you looked closely underneath it, you'd see a black-clad figure clutching onto it—
It was Green.