Chapter 39

Gym battles are stressful, doubly so when you win by a thread.

It does not help that I was worried about Flannery the entire time she battled.

With her specializing in fire types, a water gym is her complete counter. 

Then again, she also beat Brock which was another complete counter for her.

Flannery was able to win but it was a hard battle for her that came down to stalling tactics and a mutual take down. 

Seeing her walk into the waiting room, the look on her face says everything she is feeling.

She looks frustrated at how she won but happy she won as well.

"Great job babe!" I give her a tight hug which she returns.

"Awesome fight Flannery! A win is a win, no matter how you pull it off." Bea says as she joins our hug upon noticing her mood.

"Thanks." She replies with a bit of a sigh, "I really wish that I was able to pull off a cleaner win than eeking out with a mutual takedown." 

"This just means that you need to train harder!"

"I feel you on that babe, I won on luck but next time I might not be so lucky. When we reach our next gym, let's take time to train as we still have a lot of time."

"I have heard that the third gym is a jump in power from the first two. It wouldn't hurt to take some precautions first. Plus we each got a new partner that needs to be trained up." Bea adds as we walk out of the gym. 

"Even though we used our new partners, Flannery and I nearly lost. I hope we can quickly get them up to snuff. I don't want to get too far behind my brother and Ash."

During our travels, I had talked to the two of them about growing up in Pallet Town.

I told them about my brother, Ash, Grandpa and my training I took while growing up.

As both of them are from outside the region, they were interested in what I knew.

"Don't worry! The next few gyms for us should be a breeze. It won't be until Saffron Gym that we would run into any issues." Flannery replies as we walk into the pokecenter. 

We quickly drop off our partners so they can get healed.

"I don't know about you two, but I'm exhausted from my battle." I speak up as we move away from the desk. "Concentrating on our matches drained me."

I see the two of them nod though Bea doesn't look nearly as tired.

"How about we celebrate in the morning at the waffle place we came across yesterday?" Flannery asks while doing an overhead stretch that draws my eyes to get curves and abs.

"Sounds like a plan to me.""Works for me."

Bea and I smile at each other as we answer at the same time.

We head up the stairs to our rooms where we split off separately, much to my relief and disappointment.

I kind of wanted to snuggle with Flannery again, but I also want to check my system.

As the door to my room closes, I toss my bag on the bed and I start to struggle out of my outfit.

Even though the battle dress I am wearing is beautiful and comfortable, it is too much to wear all the time.

The boots slide off without much issue, but the dress itself is nearly glued to my skin as the material is similar to latex but much more comfortable to wear.

It takes me a few minutes, but I am eventually standing in the room, letting the lukewarm air caress my bare skin.

I sigh as I look at the dress with my cheek twitching slightly.

"I really need another outfit. Having to fight my way out of it, or have someone undress me each time doesn't really cut it."

I grab my discarded outfit and toss it in the wash before hopping into the shower.

~One Eternity Later~

I lay down on my bed in my room and close my eyes and let a moment of emptiness wash over me.

No thoughts, no plans, just the quiet noise of the air conditioner working its heart out to try and cool the room.

As a sense of calm washes over me I mentally call out to my system to view my status.

[Status:

Name: Frost Oak

Age: 16

Bloodline: Heavenly Glacial Ice Phoenix (active)

Aura: Active

Cultivation: Condensation

Harem: 1

Gacha Spins available: 17

Pokemon: 3]

I notice the number of spins available to me and realize I could get quite a haul if I am lucky.

I also decide to check on my notifications that have been flashing at me since earlier.

[Congratulations host, you have defeated a strong trainer. You have earned one free gacha spin.]

[Congratulations host, you have won a gym battle and earned a badge. You have received four free gacha spins.]

[Congratulations host, information for Foundation level cultivation has been unlocked.]

The first two messages I expected to see as I received similar when I won against Brock. 

It looks like I will always get at least four spins for winning a gym battle.

What catches me off guard is the message about the cultivation information.

I dismiss the messages and I suddenly feel a pressure in my head as new information is unlocked.

After some time, the pressure dissipates and I start to go over the new information. 

I comb through the information multiple times before I am sure that I understand everything before sitting up into a lotus position.

From what I understand, the blue pulse that circulates around the snowflake shape that I have been seeing while I meditate is actually my aura.

What I need to do is guide the pulse into the center of the snowflake and build a crystal seed.

Next I need to constantly feed the seed until I create a solid snowflake.

I adjust my breathing before sinking my focus into my inner self to try the new technique.

I watch the pulse for a few circulations before I try to mentally guide the aura into the center of the faint snowflake.

An hour later, I pull myself out of my meditation while furrowing my brows.

'I guess I need to keep trying later. I was hoping I could breeze through it like I did for the gathering realm.'

I uncross my legs and lay back down on the bed just as I hear my phone ring.

I grab my bag and pull out my phone to see that Grandpa is calling me so I quickly answer in phone mode to avoid any accidents.

"Hey Grandpa! How are you?"

"Hello Frost, I have been good. Congratulations on your win for your second badge."

"Thank you! It was a hard battle and I only won due to some last minute luck."

"Don't beat yourself up about it, a win is a win. You will do better next time, I just know you will."

"Oh I know I will. My friends and I are planning to take a week to train up before we challenge the Vermilion Gym."

"That is a good plan. Surge is an extremely tough opponent that stops a lot of trainers each season."

"I heard that as well, but I'm sure I will win!"

"I hope you will, my dear. Now, the reason I am calling is actually about your newly evolved pokemon. Unfortunately, the Jenny clan has provided myself and a few other professors with a rather intriguing pokeball. As such, I will not be able to check over Zephyr for you."

"Oh! I remember telling the Jenny member when I handed over some Team Rocket members I caught in Mount Moon that you would be able to figure out what is the issue with those pokeballs."

Grandpa chuckles when he hears why the Jenny members delivered him those odd pokeballs. "So that is the reason. I am happy for your support of my skills. Now since I won't be able to check over Zephyr, I can refer you to a good friend of mine that is a pokemon researcher that loves to see new pokemon."

"Who is this person? Have I met them before?"

"His name is Bill Masaki and you have never met him. He lives near the lighthouse on the cape north of the city. He is aware that you will be coming and will get you squared away with the League in no time."

"Alright, we will go see him tomorrow. I want to make sure that Zephyr is alright as she evolved way too quickly for the Fletchling line and I hope she is okay."

"She will be fine. Evolution is a good thing for a pokemon and is rarely detrimental. The few known cases of an evolution going wrong has always involved a Ghost type pokemon."

"I will have to keep that in mind if I end up catching a Ghost type. Luckily there is only one known Ice and Ghost type pokemon."

"We are always finding new pokemon, you never know what you might find out there. Anyways, that is what I was calling you about, I need to get back into researching these pokeballs. Have a good night Frost and safe travels."

"Thanks Grandpa. Have a good night and good luck!"

With those words, we hang up on each other and I just lay there on the bed absentmindedly.

Zephyr's rapid evolution is a cause for concern for me. 

It was only a few days ago that she was a Fletchinder, but now she is a new pokemon all together. 

If there is time during the circuit and Zephyr doesn't mind, I will see about breeding her.

A new pokemon, even if it is a divergent species will draw a lot of attention.

There is always a surge of interest when a new region is opened up as there are new pokemon to be found.

The first wave of trainers to a newly opened region are those at the league trainer level.

This prevents a number of deaths from potentially hostile regions.

In recent years, the Paldea region was opened to all trainers, only a short two years after the initial wave as they found the region to be mostly docile. 

I shake my head slightly to get rid of my idle thoughts as I am nowhere near ready to explore a new region.

Even if I did go to a new region, I would likely go to Sinnoh as it is much colder than Kanto.

I lay there for a few more minutes before I sit up and decide to roll my gacha spins, you never know I might get something interesting.

When I open the gacha, I see that I can now roll in batches of five instead of individually.

I raise my eyebrow at the small change but I just wave it off as I did not notice it previously and mentally click on the button.

[Congratulations host, you have received an Oil of Sharpness.]

[Congratulations host, you have received a Potion of Flying.]

[Congratulations host, you have received a Queen's Apple Tart.]

[Congratulations host, you have received Mapo Tofu.]

[Congratulations host, you have received a cat tail butt plug.]

I read down through the list of items that I got until I saw the one and froze.

If I recall correctly, I also have a cat-eared hoodie.

A roguish smile creeps onto my lips as I start to make plans to make use of this new addition.

I go ahead and accept all the non-food items from notifications and soon I am left with two vials of liquid and a silver butt plug that has a fire red tail attached to it.

One of the vials has a clear, gelatinous oil that sparkles with tiny, ultrathin silver shards, while the other vial has a clear liquid that floats at the top of its container and has cloudy white impurities drifting in it.

I'm not sure what I might use the oil for, but the potion of flying sounds like it could be a blast.

I set the items to the side and then mentally click on the gacha spin once more.