The night breeze blew gently.
Fully dressed once more, Candice sat on the grass with her arms wrapped around her knees.
She gazed at Sinshi and the mysterious Pokémon lying by the campfire not far away, then looked down at the grilled fish in her hands with a bewildered expression.
Snover sat beside her.
Having eaten two Oran Berries, it had recovered quite a bit of physical and mental stamina, aside from being completely blackened by the fire.
It was happily gnawing on a grilled fish, a thoroughly satisfied expression on its face.
“Sno-ver?”
Sensing Candice’s gaze, Snover held up its grilled fish, gesturing for her to take a bite of her own.
Influenced by its enthusiasm, Candice raised the grilled fish in her hands and took a small bite.
Although there was no seasoning, perhaps the natural texture of the wild fish was just that pleasant.
Combined with the slight char from the roasting, it tasted exceptionally delicious.
“It tastes pretty good.
Really nice.”
Hearing her response, Snover nodded in strong agreement and continued taking large bites.
After swallowing a few mouthfuls of fish and feeling a faint warmth spread through her stomach, Candice looked up toward the other side of the camp again.
During the battle earlier, she had been entirely focused on how to use moves to secure a victory.
That focus later shifted to worrying about Snover’s safety, and by the end, nothing was left but despair.
Despite being at the same level, the disparity in strength was truly staggering.
Coupled with that terrifying type advantage and Sinshi’s demeanor—acting as if he wouldn’t stop until Snover was dead.
It was safe to say that in that moment, she genuinely felt Snover was doomed.
Her heart had practically stopped beating.
Yet, at the very last second, Sinshi and that mysterious Pokémon suddenly held back, instantly reverting to the way they were when they first met.
It was as if their murderous intent had been entirely fake.
‘Yeah, maybe it really was fake.’
Recalling the massive difference in size and power between the two fire attacks, it was obvious the other party had held back.
‘Was it to show weakness and lure the enemy in?’
‘With that kind of strength, there was absolutely no need to do that.
So what was his goal?’
Coming from a family that owned a Gym, with a father who was a Gym Leader, Candice had received the most orthodox education.
She was smart enough to quickly figure a few things out.
Looking at the soot-covered Snover sitting beside her, Candice realized that not too long ago, they had been caught in a bitter argument.
Yet now, they were sitting together in perfect harmony.
If she traced everything back to that point, it all seemed to make sense.
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
By the campfire, Agumon tossed the last grilled fish into his mouth with his claws, chewed briefly, and swallowed it whole.
“Burp~”
Letting out a long burp, Agumon patted his stomach in satisfaction.
“Sinshi.”
“Hmm?”
“I have a question.”
“Go ahead.”
“Why didn’t you let me use my full strength from the start?”
Lying on the ground and gazing at the bright moon overhead, Sinshi couldn’t help but chuckle at the question.
“Snover brought our grilled fish back.
Big or small, it still did us a favor.
Do you really want to bite the hand that feeds us and kill it?”
Agumon quickly shook his head.
“I didn’t mean that.
I’m saying that since we were going to cancel the attack before it hit anyway, why didn’t we just do that from the beginning?
Why did you make me actually burn it the first time?”
“If we didn’t do that, how could we make Snover and its Trainer feel like we were genuinely trying to kill them?” Sinshi asked in return.
“…”
Hearing the question suddenly turned back on him, Agumon was momentarily at a loss for words.
Seeing this, Sinshi gently patted Agumon’s head and patiently explained, “Whether it’s Snover or Candice, both of them care deeply about each other.
“Candice trekked through the forest alone at night.
Her clothes and socks were torn, and she was covered in scratches, but she still came looking for Snover despite all that.
“And even though Snover acted like it was afraid of being found, its first reaction when Candice appeared was just to hide, not run away.
When it saw the injuries Candice sustained while searching for it, it pretended not to care, but still couldn’t help stealing secret glances.
“Only by posing a massive threat in battle and making them feel like they were about to be torn apart by death could we force out their truest inner feelings.”
After hearing Sinshi’s words, Agumon fell into a long silence.
His large green eyes stared up at the sky, as if pondering something profound.
Sinshi massaged his forehead and let out a helpless sigh.
“They only realize how important they are to each other when they’re on the brink of death.”
“So that’s how it is!
You’re really amazing, Sinshi!”
Agumon suddenly realized the truth and gave Sinshi a thumbs-up with his claw.
Sinshi chose to completely ignore him.
He lay back down on the ground, his eyes gazing at the sky.
Compared to the Slowpoke-like Agumon, Sinshi had a lot on his mind.
Snover had helped him retrieve the grilled fish and eliminated potential safety hazards.
It wasn’t a massive favor, but it wasn’t a trivial one either.
Therefore, he was perfectly willing to forcibly mend the relationship between Snover and Candice through a battle.
After all, it was a simple matter.
Things hadn’t escalated to an irreconcilable point between them.
All he needed to do was introduce an external factor—namely, severely threatening them himself—and they would inevitably cast aside their differences to face the common enemy.
Furthermore, he could use the battle to see if the commanding skills he had mentally rehearsed hundreds or thousands of times were actually effective.
At the same time, he could test how Agumon’s combat prowess would perform against an opponent of the same level.
Although Baby Flame was far too super-effective against the Grass and Ice dual-type Snover, making the test less than perfect, he could still extrapolate the bigger picture.
The results could be found in the minor details.
And that result was that Agumon’s combat strength at the same level was far superior to a Pokémon professionally raised by a Gym and entrusted to its successor.
Even if the type matchup had been neutral, Agumon would likely still hold the absolute upper hand.
As for a type disadvantage, that remained to be seen.
Aside from returning the favor and conducting his own tests, Sinshi harbored other thoughts in his heart.
That was…
Candice.
Of course, it wasn’t driven by lust, but rather because of Candice’s identity.
The only daughter of Snowpoint City’s current Gym Leader, and the future Gym Leader of Snowpoint City.
These two titles might not be considered top-tier in the Pokémon world, but when combined with the city of “Snowpoint,” their significance to Sinshi became entirely different.
Because to the north of Snowpoint City, at the northernmost tip of the entire Sinnoh Region, stood an incredibly ancient temple—the Snowpoint Temple.
Much like the Solaceon Ruins, this temple was an ancient structure with thousands of years of history, existing since the Hisui era.
The Solaceon Ruins had summoned Agumon.
So, what would be summoned if he went to the Snowpoint Temple?
Sinshi had no way of knowing.
‘Besides, if I remember correctly, in the deepest depths beneath the Snowpoint Temple slumbers a…
big guy.’
…