Caleb smacked the chocolate out of Riolu's hands, grabbed its legs, flipped it upside down, and shook it violently. "Spit it out! That stuff's poisonous—you can't eat it!"
Dangling in the air, Riolu was first overwhelmed by embarrassment, but when it heard Caleb's words, its expression immediately shifted from bashful to shocked.
Poisonous?!
It turned its head in disbelief to look at Haunter.
You're trying to poison me too?!
...Wait, why did I say 'too'?
Haunter averted its gaze guiltily, avoiding eye contact with Riolu.
No one told him dogs couldn't eat chocolate!
Seeing that the shaking wasn't working, Caleb pried open Riolu's mouth and started jabbing at its throat.
Riolu gagged in discomfort and dry-heaved.
A bit of brown goo came out.
But Caleb wasn't sure if it was all out—he even had the urge to stick his head inside Riolu's mouth to check.
Just-born Riolu, not only "poisoned" by its own teammate, now found itself publicly manhandled by a human.
The shame hit it like a volcano erupting, its face flushing deep red.
Maybe... maybe I really should've stayed in the egg and trained a bit longer...
"What are you doing?"
A gentle female voice came from behind.
Caleb quickly pulled his head out of Riolu's mouth.
There stood Cynthia, Candice, and Gardenia, all three of them looking at him with deeply complicated expressions.
"What... exactly are you doing?" Cynthia hesitated, struggling to find human language that could adequately describe what she'd just seen.
"Riolu ate chocolate!" Caleb blurted out anxiously.
"Um... so what happens if a Riolu eats chocolate?" Cynthia looked confused.
"It'll die!"
Caleb responded in a panic.
Off to the side, Lucario had just finished half a chocolate ice cream cone.
"..."
Cynthia looked even more puzzled. Was this some new discovery by Pokémon breeders—that Riolu would die if it ate chocolate?
She glanced toward Candice and Gardenia.
Both of them looked equally lost.
Honestly, too many wild things had happened today; the two of them were still in a daze.
Finally, Caleb explained to everyone why dogs can't eat chocolate.
After listening, Cynthia said awkwardly, "Well... I've never heard of a case where a canine Pokémon died from eating chocolate. Besides... Riolu's not really a dog, is it?"
It just kind of looks like one.
"It's not?" Caleb asked, now calmer, scratching his head with an embarrassed laugh.
Come to think of it... yeah, maybe not.
And even if it was poisonous, he had the power of Force—he could definitely heal it. Guess he just panicked too much.
"Rio~"
Realizing it was going to be okay, Riolu let out a sigh of relief.
Thought I was gonna die right after being born...
Still, that was careless of me!
Suddenly, its aura flared slightly.
Riolu jerked its head up, staring past Cynthia at the Lucario and Garchomp standing behind her.
So strong!
In front of them, it was completely outmatched!
So this is the outside world?
Even random passersby are this powerful! I've got to train even harder!
Next goal: Perfect Evolution!
...
"Oh, so this little guy took down a mega-evolved Gyarados right after being born, huh?"
Cynthia smiled, gently patting the meditating Riolu. "What a hardworking kid."
Candice and Gardenia: "???"
Miss Cynthia, did you have to accept that fact so easily?
Were all these years of being Gym Leaders just to be able to understand this sentence?
The two of them turned toward Maylene.
Maylene had been on-site the whole time—she had to know what really happened. Maybe it was actually Blissey who wore down Gyarados and Riolu just finished it off? Come on, say it! Just say it!
But Maylene looked a bit hesitant. She nervously fidgeted with her sleeve before finally summoning her courage and walking up to Caleb.
"Gym Leader Caleb, please teach me how to battle!"
Maylene bowed deeply, posture perfect.
Among all the Sinnoh Gyms, the Veilstone Gym ranked near the bottom.
Not because she wasn't hardworking, but because her battle style was overly conservative.
Her father, a man with deep insights into and a fierce devotion to Fighting-type Pokémon, always believed that this cautious style was the true essence of Fighting-types—and insisted Maylene train that way too.
So after years of training under that mindset, she naturally adopted a rigid, overly defensive battle style.
She was only seventeen or eighteen, a girl in the bloom of youth, yet the moment she stepped onto the battlefield, she fought like a cranky old man.
She had considered changing.
But the last time she tried, she got swept 3-0 by a challenger.
That match nearly shattered her confidence. Fortunately, a boy with a Pikachu encouraged her and helped her bounce back.
She wanted to improve little by little. But the Fighting-type Specialist Tournament was coming up fast—all the big names in the Fighting-type world would be there. She didn't have time to slowly evolve.
So Maylene pinned all her hopes on Caleb.
After all, Caleb's own Solaceon Gym had once been the absolute bottom in Sinnoh. But later, he'd managed an amazing comeback with his unique battle style.
And now, even a newborn Pokémon of his could rip through a mega-evolved Gyarados barehanded.
"Maylene..." Candice murmured, looking at her close friend.
Caleb raised his hand and helped Maylene up. "What's with all the formality? We're all friends here—of course I'll help you."
"I already prepared what you'd need."
As he spoke, Caleb pulled out a wooden box from his bag. On top was a purple disc.
Toxic TM!
"And this."
He then took out a handkerchief, unfolded it to reveal several shards of purple crystal.
Toxic Orb fragments!
"Use this along with the TM—you'll get some surprising results."
Caleb smiled.
I knew it!
Candice raised an eyebrow.
A Poison-type Gym Leader giving advice to a Fighting-type Gym Leader... what else could it be besides "Toxic"?
Watching Maylene inch closer step by step, Candice couldn't shake the feeling that a demon was seducing an innocent girl.
"W-wait a sec!" Candice couldn't help but cut in. "Isn't there any other way?"
"There is, there is—I've got ten more tricks..."
Caleb perked up but was immediately interrupted by Candice: "Not if it means Maylene gets ganged up on by everyone!"
"...Okay, don't worry, I've got five."
"No poison."
"Still got two."
"No damaging Maylene's reputation."
"Then I got nothing."