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Violet and Evan directly described Claire as a bad woman.
This made the children in the orphanage burst into laughter.
However, it was clear no one took it seriously.
In truth, they found Claire quite funny. She was a young lady who was easy to get along with.
Even when bullied by Evan and Violet, Claire wasn't angry. Instead, she playfully argued with them, refusing to back down.
After a bit of laughter, Violet announced, "I'll leave first—I have something else to do."
Turning to Claire, Violet added, "What about you? Want to stay here, or come along?"
Hearing Violet's question, Claire quickly stood up and said, "I'm leaving too. Come back the day after tomorrow to pick up the energy cubes. Evan, don't forget to hurry up—my Pokémon are still waiting for dinner."
"Oh, by the way," Claire added, pulling out her phone. "Add me as a friend and let me know when you're ready."
Evan nodded and added her to his contacts, then included her in the group chat. Curious, he glanced at her profile. It was full of two-dimensional art.
Once that was done, Claire and Violet left together.
Not long after, Luna approached Evan and asked, "Brother Evan, why don't you go after Claire? She's so beautiful! She'd make a perfect wife. You're not young anymore—it's time to find a girlfriend."
Luna looked very serious, as though she were an adult worried about Evan's future.
Evan sighed, shaking his head. "Go play," he said, gently nudging her away. "Take your Growlithe and head to the park for training. It's not your turn to worry about my life."
Luna pouted but quickly rallied, gathering the other kids. Laughing, they all dispersed.
Some, like Luna, took their Growlithes out for "training" on the playground. Others, like Tiger and Leo, went back to help Aunt Jenn make energy cubes, earning a small amount of money in the process.
Evan returned to the breeding house and started preparing the promised energy cubes for Claire.
When Evan got busy, his Pokémon started discussing plans for their next gym challenge.
So far, they had earned the Badges from the Water Gym, Rock Gym, and Electric Gym, but there were still five more to go. Time was of the essence. The fourth gym promised to be a tough hurdle. During the match against Rosa, the opponent had already used a quasi-Elite Pokémon, and by the time they reached the fourth gym, it was likely that the opponents would all have Elite-level Pokémon.
Currently, Evan's team included Pidgeot and Shiny Lurantis, both at the quasi-Elite level. If they waited for Pikachu or Charizard to break through to the next level, it would take too long. This meant that Gardevoir or Gallade might need to take the lead in the upcoming battles.
To earn all eight Badges, the team would need at least four Pokémon at quasi-Elite strength, possibly even Elite-level Pokémon. This was no easy feat. The team understood they needed to take the initiative for the next Badge themselves.
"Let's set the Badge discussion aside for now," said Gardevoir. "Right now, my brother, Dragonite, and I are the only champions in the group."
"But there are still three slots left. What should we do?" asked Gallade. "That cowardly one might be convinced to join if we stretch the truth a bit. But what about the other two?"
"Maybe we could find that cat Pokémon Dragonite knows?" Gardevoir mused.
After analyzing their current situation, they agreed on one point: Evan needed a championship-level team of six Pokémon to compete seriously. It made no sense for their trainer to have anything less.
Gallade, however, found itself deep in thought. It considered the powerful wild Pokémon it had encountered in the past. Dragonite was one such Pokémon, but others it knew either had bad tempers or were unlikely to trust humans, let alone join them. The ones who might join were unfortunately too weak for their goals.
Finally, Gallade frowned and said, "Let Master handle it. We should have him challenge the next gym in person. With Mega Evolution, we'll still stand a chance."
Gallade added confidently, "We don't need to worry about the Badge if Master is involved. Besides, staying home all the time isn't good for him."
The team quickly decided on a plan. Evan would challenge the next gym personally, using Mega Evolution if necessary. Flying directly to the gym would save time, and with this strategy, they felt optimistic about earning the Badge.
"Nothing to worry about," Gallade declared confidently.
Gardevoir blinked after hearing this. "But is Master willing?"
Gallade nodded firmly. "We'll convince him."
Gallade's confidence was unshakable. However, when the other Pokémon heard this, they exchanged uncertain glances.
"Is this really going to work?" they thought. There was lingering doubt among them, primarily about whether Evan would even agree to step out.
Despite these worries, Gardevoir sighed and resolved to back Gallade's plan. "Alright, let's settle on that. Pikachu, hurry up and train! Get stronger fast!"
Turning to Pikachu, Gardevoir added pointedly, "It's all because you're not strong enough that this is so troublesome. If you were stronger, we'd breeze through these gyms and earn all the Badges by now."
The Pokémon could challenge gyms on their own and win, but Gardevoir felt it wouldn't be nearly as fun or meaningful without Evan leading them. If Evan wouldn't go, Gardevoir and Gallade could easily crush every gym, but where was the excitement in that?
Hearing Gardevoir's words, Pikachu and the other Pokémon drooped in dismay but couldn't argue. They all turned and scurried off to train harder.
With Gardevoir keeping a sharp eye on them, the training became even stricter. If they wanted a chance to battle alongside Evan in the gym challenges, they would have to prove themselves. The Pokémon knew this well. They all wanted to stand on the battlefield with Evan at their side, especially for this year's national competition.
Meanwhile, Evan was busy making energy cubes in the breeding house. He noticed something odd. "What's with these guys?" he muttered to himself.
They had been in and out of the treatment room several times in the last few hours—on average, about every twenty minutes.
"Why does it feel like that machine is running on empty?" Evan shook his head, puzzled, as he continued his work.