As Granny Shae left, the internal team battle finally came to an end.

  Shiro and Marvin exchanged gnces while heading back toward the building, both puzzled by Allister’s sudden departure.

  "Just because you predicted his commands, you made him shut down completely?" Marvin rested his hands behind his head, leaned back slightly, and asked as he walked.

  Shiro pondered for a moment, tapping his forehead, but still couldn’t figure it out.

  In the original storyline, Allister was a highly talented yet extremely withdrawn person. And he wasn’t very old. If he really got upset over losing a battle, it wouldn’t be surprising.

  Unfortunately, the price of throwing a tantrum was a significant loss of resources.

  "By the way, Shiro, how did you know he was going to make Mimikyu copy your previous move?" Marvin tilted his head and asked.

  Nessa, who had been following behind quietly, quickened her pace to listen in.

  Shiro gnced at him and replied, "Instinct.”

  "Instinct?" Marvin chuckled in confusion, then nodded as if he understood.

  'Must've been luck,' he thought.

  Behind them, Nessa frowned. She felt like Shiro was hiding something, not telling the full story.

  Shiro sighed. He didn’t know how to expin it either.

  He had simply reacted on instinct, sensing that his opponent was about to use an offensive move. So he had Drakloak evade first before counterattacking. It was just common sense to him.

  The power of the opponent’s move hadn’t even been a concern.

  If it could cause damage, he had to avoid it. If there was an opportunity to strike, he had to take it.

  That was his battle philosophy. It was also his survival philosophy.

  Who knew if the next attack would be ced with poison? What if a single scratch was enough to spread toxins throughout the body?

  It sounded extreme, maybe even paranoid, but he wasn’t willing to take that risk.

  As for reckless charges? That was something to consider only in a desperate situation.

  ……

  The three of them quickly returned to the building and took the elevator to their respective rooms.

  As soon as Shiro stepped inside his room, his eyes were immediately drawn to a rge bck sack behind the door.

  It was bulging, about half the size of a Growlithe.

  "Wait… is this… all Exp. Candies?"

  Up until now, he had only ever received a handful of Exp. Candies from Marnie. But even those few had been enough to boost his Rookie's strength significantly, pushing it straight from Novice to Beginner-level.

  If this entire bag was filled with them...

  Shiro could hardly believe it. Had that old woman raided some ancient treasure vault?

  With slightly trembling hands, he grabbed the bag and yanked it open. Inside, a pile of blue Exp. Candies of various sizes shimmered under the light.

  "Hah..." He let out a breath, relieved.

  With this many Exp. Candies, his three Pokémon would reach Advanced-level and catch up to Allister in no time.

  However, as this thought crossed his mind, Shiro steeled himself.

  At the end of the day, Exp. Candies were nothing more than refined energy, making them easier for Pokémon to absorb. And when it came to absorption, training was a must.

  If he wanted to become stronger faster, he had to push himself harder.

  Looking at the pile of Exp. Candies before him, Shiro let out a tired yet excited smile. Grabbing the rge bck sack with one hand, he headed straight for the training room on the ninth floor without wasting a second.

  There was still plenty of time left in the afternoon. He had to make sure his Corvisquire and Gastly made full use of the avaible resources. And as for Growlithe, no more fooling around; it was time for serious training.

  After swiping his card to enter the training room, Shiro immediately released his three Pokémon and pced the rge bck sack in front of them.

  Under their shocked and curious gazes, he retrieved several sets of weights from nearby, securing them onto Corvisquire, Growlithe, and himself.

  It was Growlithe’s first time wearing weighted gear, and it struggled to adjust. The extra dozen kilograms left it miserable, its ears drooping as it sprawled pitifully on the floor, hoping its sad expression would earn some sympathy.

  “Growlithe…” Shiro ruffled its head a few times, then patted the heavier weights strapped to himself. With a sigh, he said, “Being weak means getting pushed around. Strength is the only way to earn respect, and the only way to get stronger is through training."

  As Growlithe blinked in confusion, Shiro gnced around the spacious training room before issuing his orders.

  “Growlithe, your task is to run a hundred ps around the room! If you get tired, eat some Exp. Candies and Pokéblocks, then keep going until you’re done!”

  “Groowl?”

  Watching Corvisquire take off into the air with its weights, practicing its moves, Shiro started his own routine of push-ups and squat jumps.

  Even Gastly, usually the zy one, seemed to be fired up, releasing Ghost-type moves with the intensity of a student cramming for finals.

  “Roowl?”

  Caught up in the intense training atmosphere, Growlithe found its legs moving on their own.

  As the airflow shifted around it, its fxen fur rippled, the reddish-orange streaks making it look like a living fme.

  Thanks to its natural talent, Growlithe completed the first p with ease.

  The training room was quite spacious, with a single p measuring over a hundred meters. Without weights, running it would’ve been effortless. But with the added burden…

  By the time it reached thirty ps, it was panting heavily. At fifty, its legs ached, paws barely lifting off the ground.

  At seventy ps, its limbs felt numb. It wasn’t even running anymore; just moving forward on autopilot, each step slower than the st.

  It finally colpsed on the ninetieth p, tongue lolling out as it y ft on the ground.

  Lifting its head, it gnced around. Corvisquire, despite struggling, still fpped its wings determinedly in midair. Gastly, too, looked like it was reaching its limit, its round body trembling.

  But most striking of all was Shiro. Sweat from his weighted exercises had pooled beneath him, yet he kept pushing forward.

  “Grrrowwlithe…”

  Taking a deep breath, Growlithe forced itself up, staggering toward its food bowl. It swallowed two deep red, perfect-quality Pokéblocks, then turned to the bag of Exp. Candies and gulped one down.

  The moment it did, a rush of energy coursed through its body. The exhaustion from before was nothing compared to this surge of pure, electrifying power.

  Its body ignited with a faint fme, paws moving instinctively as it resumed running—faster, stronger.

  By the time it reached its hundredth p, it had forgotten about reporting back to Shiro.

  The sensation was simply too exhirating. It just wanted to keep running, to keep pushing forward, straight to the ends of the earth.

  **

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