Pokémon: Wings Of Shadow

"Whew..."

Shiro dropped heavily onto a seat by the edge of the counter, not caring about the strange looks the other trainers were giving him.

His job was basically done. Whether Gareth lived or died now would depend on luck.

"Hey!" came two sharp, unfriendly voices from outside. "You're not allowed to release Pokémon freely inside Hammerlocke! Where are you from, wild trainer? Don't you know the rules?"

Shiro looked lazily in their direction but said nothing.

Corviknight stood quietly near the entrance. Its intimidating presence made a few trainers who were about to enter hesitate, hovering near the door with wary eyes. Some bolder ones had already reported him to the Hammerlocke Gym, ready to stir trouble and earn a reward.

"Hey! That guy! Is he a wanted criminal? Why's he covering his face? Scared of getting caught?"

"Heh, what kind of normal trainer dresses like that? Obviously, he's from the wilds."

"Just wait till the police get here. We'll see..."

They yelled on purpose, loud enough for the whole place to hear. But Shiro ignored them completely. To him, they were just bugs buzzing around. Even the trolls on the researcher forums were better than this. Not worth his time.

When they got no reaction, the group outside switched tactics.

"That guy still won't put his Pokémon away! How's anyone supposed to get inside?"

"Yeah! That's public property he's hogging!"

Then someone suggested, "Just go in and tell him to recall it."

"Yeah, go on! Say it to his face. Go!"

"Let's all go. You said it too, didn't you?"

After a few rounds of back-and-forth, the arguing suddenly stopped. The outside went quiet once more.

Shiro knew there were three Pokémon Centers along this main street. Even if he was blocking this one, they had other places to go. Whatever that group outside was doing, they clearly couldn't even agree among themselves.

"Excuse me, sir." A voice called from beside him.

Shiro turned to see the female medic with the deep brown braid walking toward him with a serious expression. She held a card scanner in her hand.

"...Ah. Sorry." He understood what she meant and quickly pulled out his ID card, swiping it.

The woman walked briefly back to the counter to check the system, then she returned, her expression even more serious.

Shiro was puzzled. "What is it?"

"Mr. Shiro," she said, shaking her head. "Your identity and clearance level aren't enough to use the Pokémon Center."

"...Huh?"

Shiro froze. Then it hit him, his company-issued ID was just that. A company ID. It didn't make him a registered League trainer, so of course he didn't have access to League facilities.

"But..." He couldn't find the words. He hadn't expected that this Pokémon Center would only accept registered trainers.

Still... he worked for Rose, the chairman of the League!

And the chairman's people couldn't use public League facilities?

Ridiculous.

Silently, he took out his comms device.

The woman remained polite, raising her hand and saying, "The injured man is fine. But I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"I..." Shiro glanced at the trainers in the center, all of them watching with smug expressions and said in a low voice, "I just need to make a call."

"A call?" The woman frowned in confusion. The trainers gathered near the counter started snickering. Some even began whispering loudly.

"What kind of call turns someone into a League-registered trainer on the spot?"

"This is hilarious. First he breaks the rules, barges in with a half-dead guy, then gets told to leave, and now he wants to make a call?"

"Who does he think he is? The League Chairman's son? Thinks the Pokémon Center is his private property?"

Outside, the trainers who had been waiting for a chance to cause trouble started shouting too.

"Yeah, let him make the call!"

"I wanna see how a phone call magically turns someone into a registered League trainer! Come on, Miss Lexi, let him do it!"

"Right! Let's find out who this wild trainer really is!"

Hearing the noise, Lexi sighed softly. She put her hands on her hips and turned to Shiro with a helpless look.

"Mr. Shiro, having a couple of Gym-level Pokémon doesn't give anyone the right to storm into a Pokémon Center. If it's really that embarrassing to walk out, I can help clear the people outside for you—"

Before she finished, Shiro had raised his communicator and began dialing the official line for Macro Cosmos.

The instant the call started ringing, the rowdy voices around them died down. Everyone held their breath, trying to hear the conversation.

Bzzzt!

The call connected.

"May I ask—" the receptionist on the line barely got a few words out before Shiro cut in.

"I need to be registered as a League trainer. Can it be done now?"

After a moment of silence, the voice replied calmly, "I'll need to report this to Chairman Rose. Please hold on."

That was all. Shiro waited quietly with the communicator in his hand, not the least bit worried Rose would refuse. In fact, at a time like this, there was no way he would turn down a reasonable request.

Only a few seconds passed before the surrounding trainers started murmuring among themselves.

"Chairman Rose? Really? Someone who can contact the League chairman... would be here of all places?"

"Sounds fake to me. Probably just got someone to pretend."

"It's too quick to be real. Still, we'll see soon enough. If his ID updates, then it's real... let's just wait."

Their murmurs had just started when Shiro's communicator buzzed again.

"Chairman Rose has approved your request. Your status will be updated to League-registered trainer within the next minute."

"Got it."

Bzzzt!

Shiro ended the call.

Lexi, standing beside him, kept her eyes on him without saying a word. Along with her, every trainer had gone completely silent.

Before the minute passed, most of them already knew the answer.

One minute?

That would pass with just a few blinks. If something this official came back that fast, there was no way it was fake.

Which meant the man in front of them had enough weight to directly reach Chairman Rose and get instant approval. That wasn't something any of them could imagine doing.

Even if most of them were second-generation trainers, that didn't mean their parents were powerful. Many just happened to have stable jobs with the League.

Moments later, Lexi returned to the front desk, tapped on Shiro's identity profile, and hit the refresh button.

The screen blinked.

The plain text that had read "No Special Status - Standard Trainer" vanished.

In its place appeared three bold words:

League Registered Trainer.

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