“…I don’t want to leave Spikemuth.”
After a brief silence, Marnie gave her answer.
“Revitalizing Spikemuth doesn’t necessarily mean you have to stay in Galar.
As long as you become a Champion-level trainer and make a name for yourself, your hometown will benefit regardless of which region you’re in, won’t it?”
Noah aimed precisely at Marnie’s weak spot.
In the original series, Marnie collected badges and participated in the Galar Star Tournament with the goal of replacing Leon—
But that wasn’t the end; it was just the means.
Because the Galar region valued Dynamax battles,
And Spikemuth had no Dynamax energy points,
Trainers challenging Piers’s Spikemuth Gym couldn’t Dynamax.
As a result, many Galar trainers and tourists didn’t want to visit Spikemuth.
The city’s economy naturally declined day by day.
Marnie wanted to become the new Champion to elevate her own fame and revive her declining hometown of Spikemuth.
Unfortunately, Marnie failed in the original story.
There’s no helping it—she wasn’t the protagonist after all.
“I…”
Marnie opened her mouth slightly, hesitating.
A fourteen-year-old girl couldn’t possibly out-talk a veteran who’d lived two lives.
“Marnie is better off staying in Galar.
I’ll teach her too.
Mr.
Noah, please leave.”
Piers suddenly interjected, his expression somewhat hostile.
He looked at Noah the way a father looks at a pig that’s trying to eat the cabbage he’s raised for over a decade.
Piers also wondered how did Noah know so much about Marnie.
He couldn’t help but suspect that this guy had been eyeing his sister for a long time.
Noah shrugged and chuckled:
“Piers, honestly—do you think you can bring out Marnie’s potential?”
In the original, Piers himself had said: “My sister’s talent makes me feel ashamed of myself.”
If even a high-level trainer like Piers said that, it showed just how much potential Marnie truly had.
Piers’s face darkened.
Because he genuinely couldn’t argue.
He also wasn’t good at teaching.
The only thing Piers had ever done for Marnie was help her catch a Morpeko when she was little.
Ever since then, he’d taken a hands-off approach to her training.
And yet, Marnie still showed more potential than he did.
“So you think you can?”
After hesitating for a long time, Piers managed to squeeze out those words.
“Want to give it a try brother-in…
Piers?”
Noah said with a faint smile.
Piers’s expression grew even darker.
‘You were about to say ‘brother-in-law’ just now, weren’t you?!’
“Fine!
Let’s go!”
The usually languid Piers was unexpectedly fired up.
At the very least, he couldn’t lose his dignity in front of his sister!
Out of habit, Piers pulled a microphone from behind his back.
Holding the mic in his left hand, he tossed out a Poké Ball with his right.
As an Obstagoon emerged from the ball, Piers shouted at the top of his lungs:
“Let’s rock——!”
The atmosphere instantly ignited.
The surrounding punks from Spikemuth all shouted in unison:
“Encore!
Encore!
Encore!”
“Piers!
Piers!
Piers!”
Noah blinked and said dryly:
“You Galarians really know how to put on a show.”
Because of the Galar Star Tournament, there were already many spectators gathered in Motostoke over the past few days.
Noticing the commotion here, more and more tourists began to converge.
Serena, now more practiced, pulled out her phone and started a live stream.
At the same time, she sidled up to Marnie—who would likely become her travel companion in the future—and said:
“Hello, I’m Serena.
Nice to meet you.”
“Hi…
I’m Marnie.
Nice to meet you.”
Marnie replied quietly.
She was just a bit expressionless—not mute like Red.
Marnie then shifted her gaze back to Noah and asked softly:
“Is he going to use the one that beat Champion Diantha?
That MetalGreymon?”
She’d also watched the video of that battle, and even through a screen, the pressure was incredible.
“Probably.”
After all, Piers was an Elite Four-level trainer.
And as far as Serena knew, Noah only had two Digimon.
If he wasn’t sending Agumon, he couldn’t possibly send…
But just then,
Noah’s arm moved.
Gatomon, who had been perched on his shoulder, used his arm as a springboard,
Leaped up, flipped in midair, and landed gracefully in front of Obstagoon.
“He’s sending Gatomon!?”
Serena was stunned.
‘No way.’
‘Including today, Noah had only had Gatomon for a week, right?’
‘Why send her?’
“…Are you kidding me?”
Piers also wondered if Noah was deliberately humiliating him.
While Noah was trying to seduce Marnie earlier,
He’d taken the chance to look up Noah’s battle with Diantha on his phone.
He’d expected Noah to bring out that terrifying mechanical monster.
That was why he’d sent his ace, Obstagoon.
But this…
this little thing?
“No need to be so serious.
Let’s just keep it light—friendly sparring.”
Noah remained as calm as ever.
“Throat Chop!”
Piers wasted no more words and commanded an attack.
He felt like Noah was insulting him.
‘Even if I die out there, even if I jump off a cliff, I’ll never hand my sister over to you!’