Pouring rain, a ruined church in the middle of nowhere, and a strange traveling craftsman with a motley crew of Pokémon in every shape and posture.
And he claimed to be a Psychic, on top of that?
No one in Paldea had ever seen a human with supernatural powers. The warm sunlight he summoned poured over them, not only driving away the pre-dawn darkness, but also slowly dispelling the damp chill clinging to the air.
Larvesta spat out a jet of flame, lighting a fresh campfire, and the rising warmth gradually dried everyone's clothes.
From any angle, this looked exactly like the sort of encounter that only happens in fantasy tales.
Dendra felt that getting up this early today had been unbelievably lucky.
This was way too fun.
But when she heard Hikaru's destination, Dendra paused to think.
"You're heading to the Art Festival in Artazon? That's pretty great. I heard the Gym Leader there, Mr. Brassius, invited a bunch of artists from all over Paldea to participate. I don't really understand that kind of art, though."
"Personally, the Harvest Olive Festival in Cortondo is a lot more interesting to me."
"You know about the Bullfighting Tournament, right? It kicks off right after the Harvest Olive Festival, in an arena near Cortondo. It's a huge event and it's just about to start."
"In order to place well and train myself, I've been in intense training too."
Dendra clenched her fists. "Everything is for reaching a higher level, constantly tempering my body, and then…"
At the end of the year, she would head to the faraway Kantetsu Region to participate in the first ever grand gathering every Fighting-type trainer dreamed of.
A tournament sponsored by some place she'd never even heard of…
Dendra's eyes went a little unfocused at the thought, then she hurriedly laughed in embarrassment.
"Sorry, I started rambling to myself there. Right, where are you from?"
Hikaru: "Unova."
Dendra: "Knew it, you're not from Paldea. Unova, huh… that's a long, long way from here!"
But Hikaru was hung up on something else she'd said.
"The Bullfighting Tournament you mentioned — what exactly is that? How come I've never heard of it?"
Bullfighting really was one of the classic cultural traditions of Paldea's real-world model, Spain. Even the regional Tauros beside Dendra — the Paldean Tauros — was clearly inspired by Spain's black fighting bulls.
And yet, strangely, in the games' Paldea region, there was no such sport as bullfighting. No events, no tournaments.
Sure, you could see herds of deranged black bulls by the roadside all the time, charging straight at the protagonist and occasionally random-critting some unlucky passerby to death.
But that was just one face of "warlike Paldea."
Honestly, when was this place ever calm?
They had bulls, they had people, and they even had Cortondo, modeled on Seville, one of the big bullfighting cities — yet the town's main attraction was the Harvest Olive Festival.
Which amounted to playing football with a giant olive.
As for Madrid, the even more famous city of bullfighting…
In Paldea, that spot on the map had been turned into the Great Crater's zero point and smashed clean off the earth.
"So this is an IF timeline of Spain where bullfighting culture was lost?!"
Maybe the blood and violence associated with bullfighting meant it couldn't be depicted directly in the game world.
But if you considered that in this world pretty much everything could be resolved via "Pokémon battles," the more brutal elements of bullfighting could be completely watered down.
"Come to think of it, before she became a teacher, all we knew about Dendra was that she was a Fighting-type trainer — more like an athlete than anything else. But what did she actually do back then…?"
"Don't tell me she was a matador?"
"After all, among all the named characters in Paldea's games, Dendra is the only one who uses two different forms of Paldean Tauros. That's probably hinting at her special identity."
In battle, Dendra bounded lightly on the balls of her feet like a Jeet Kune Do stylist — more than enough to mark her as a bona fide martial artist.
And in Paldea, you couldn't tell most people's backgrounds just from their occupations or clothes.
Take Hassel, the art teacher. Who would guess he was the scion of Paldea's dragon-tamer clan?
Because the timeline was still too early, Hikaru hadn't met many familiar in-game faces yet — not even recognizable student NPCs.
At this point, they either hadn't "spawned" yet or were buried in Great Crater research.
Or, like Arven, were probably living apart from their parents and holed up with Mabosstiff at the Cabo Poco research station.
The same went for Brassius, who had invited Hikaru.
Right now he was fairly well-known inside Paldea, but not yet any kind of world-class master.
And the Paldea Pokémon League itself was a "new-blood League" with very shallow roots. That much was clearly spelled out in the official novel "After the Rain, I'll Be With You."
Selecting Champion-tier trainers was simply a fast way to recruit talent.
So rules like "you must be ten years old to become a licensed Trainer," which other regions stuck to, didn't really apply here. In order to grow the League, Geeta wasn't about to let even kindergarteners slip through her net.
The Gym Leaders of Paldea also weren't as tightly connected as those in other regions; only a few knew each other.
In The Indigo Disk, there were even scenes where League-invited guest teachers were chatting, and it came out that many Paldea Gym Leaders barely knew each other.
Like how Cortondo's Katy and Artazon's Brassius only met for the first time during The Indigo Disk.
Of course, there was one exception: Larry.
Supposedly, he'd already been working at the League for twenty-five years.
Even on this earlier timeline, it should be at least nineteen or twenty-one years by now.
It was entirely possible that in terms of seniority, Larry out-ranked Geeta by several orders of magnitude.
A "new-blood League" with a twenty-five-year veteran employee…
You couldn't help wondering if that seniority was earned entirely through unpaid overtime.
"In truth, this place still retains a lot of its original ecology."
Hikaru mulled it over inwardly.
Strictly speaking, the founding of the Paldea Pokémon League was like suddenly forming a new League in side-story regions such as Fiore — which had never had one before.
Because there hadn't been a League in the past, the environment remained very "wild."
The local Pokémon were correspondingly much more aggressive.
At this point Dendra enthusiastically launched into an explanation.
"The Bullfighting Tournament is a Paldea-only cultural and sporting event."
"You know the Pokéathlon in Johto, right? It's very similar to that — a kind of all-round competition. The difference is that in the Pokéathlon, aside from a few events, Pokémon generally don't fight each other with moves."
"But in the Bullfighting Tournament, it's not just the matadors facing off against Tauros. The participating Pokémon also battle each other to hype the crowd."
"The contestants include professional matadors, amateurs like me, and even local ranch owners."
"And because it's bullfighting, one side is always fixed — the Pokémon fielded by the tournament organizers will always be Tauros."
"Ka-donk!"
Charcadet had woken up at some point and was now listening intently to all this bullfighting talk, flames in its eyes burning bright.
There was even a legend among Pokémon that a fabled knight once felled a mighty enraged bull!
"The mighty enraged bull? Really. Maybe that was an ancient Titan that grew huge after eating Herba Mystica."
"After all, the cultivation of Herba Mystica goes back two hundred years. Even the newest strains have an eighty-plus-year history…"
One of the roots of bullfighting was the ancient Iberians, who would ride horses to clash with bulls and eventually slay them.
So yes — matadors really were a type of knight.
"You want to take part? But we don't have time right now."
"Once we get back from Artazon, if the festival's still going…"
Hikaru waved a hand. Charcadet was disappointed, but it still nodded.
Very well. First they would challenge the demon kings.
Dendra watched Hikaru and Charcadet "talking" for a long moment. Then, all at once, her face went sheet white in shock.
"W-wait… You were just now… talking to that Pokémon?"
Hikaru: "That's right. I can understand what your Tauros is saying too. Right now it seems pretty lacking in confidence about the upcoming tournament, and it's feeling frustrated and anxious."
"Eh?!" Dendra turned to her Tauros.
The Aqua Breed Paldean Tauros stared blankly at Hikaru for a while, then suddenly started mooing nonstop.
It was like it had finally found a "big brother who understood its heart" after holding everything in for so long.
From Tauros's explanation, Hikaru quickly got a clearer picture of this newly emerged Bullfighting Tournament.
So originally, this type of bullfighting competition had been an internal leadership trial within Tauros herds.
Later, it merged with human sporting events, and many wild Tauros came to see it as a formal "chieftain's honor contest."
Pokémon who spent a long time living with humans came to value human sporting honors as their own — or their herd's — honors as well.
Recently, Tauros had been trying to master a decisive finishing move, but training wasn't going smoothly.
It had convinced itself there was no hope of reaching the finals and was consumed with anxiety.
"Tauros are full of energy and hot-blooded by nature. They're rough and rowdy Pokémon, and they're constantly fighting within their herds to check each other's strength."
"The Tauros who protect the herd take pride in their scarred horns. In the group, the one whose horns are the thickest, longest, and most covered in scars is the boss."
"Wild herds absolutely do have customs like that."
"The move you're working on is Close Combat, huh? I can help you with that."
Hikaru registered the Aqua Breed Paldean Tauros in his Unova Pokédex.
"What… is that machine?"
Dendra stared in awe as Hikaru worked, and only then did Hikaru remember something important.
Right, in this era, the professors of Paldea had zero interest in local ecology and were all obsessed with the Great Crater and Terastallization. The Rotom Phone and Pokédex app didn't yet exist.
Pokédex devices were always cobbled together by each region's professor based on local conditions and tech level.
They were mass-issued to new Trainers — nothing like the manga, where they were legendary artifacts given only to a few chosen kids.
Paldea, though, was just built different.
Its tech was focused mostly on Terastallization-related applications, which made sense — Galar's tech revolved around Dynamax as well. Regional flavor.
"This is a Pokédex. It records Pokémon ecology and moves. Newly discovered, previously unknown, and already documented Pokémon data all get logged and stored inside."
Hikaru gave a quick, simple rundown. "Paldea doesn't have anything like this yet, but it will one day."
Later, Paldea would use Rotom Phones as Pokédex devices, with the Pokédex app developed by Jacq — who, right now, was still studying Terastallization full time.
The Rotom Phone's predecessor had been the Rotom Pokédex, invented by Kalos's Electric-type Gym Leader, none other than everyone's familiar friend Clemont.
So, chances were, Nemona's family had moved over from Kalos.
As a pure "sports student" and Fighting-type enthusiast, Dendra listened to all this with a blank face.
In the end, for someone like her, brains and deep thinking weren't really core job requirements.
"Anyway, it's super impressive! If I had one of those, I feel like it'd be really convenient."
"Oh, right! You said you want to enter the Bullfighting Tournament? Is this Charcadet your entrant? Wow, I just noticed — why does your Charcadet look so different from the others? Armor and a cloak… it's so cool!"
Cool?
Charcadet looked down at its battered armor and cloak, then scratched its head shyly.
Its gear might be ragged, but the spirit of a knight had been recognized.
"If you want to enter, you need to sign up now~ If you don't have time to go in person, I can register you. It's no trouble at all."
"The festival battles run for about three days, around the end of September."
"I'm entering mainly to build up my strength — to prepare for the Iron Fist Tournament in another region at the end of the year."
Hikaru's brows twitched. "Iron Fist Tournament? You're entering too?"
Dendra blinked. "Too…? Wait, you mean… Ah, what a coincidence!"
He hadn't expected Dendra to be heading to the Iron Fist Tournament as well.
Of course, a fighting festival bankrolled by the Kantetsu Region was bound to attract martial artists from across the world.
That said, at Dendra's current level, she might not even be able to beat Bea, never mind anyone more senior.
Judging by her current mentality, it was probably more about participating than actually aiming for the top.
Hikaru: "This tournament will be drawing fighters from all over the world. The power gap is going to be enormous. With all due respect, at your and Tauros's current strength, you'll have a very hard time reaching the top ranks."
"It sounds like all the regional Fighting-type Elite Four members will be there, and there are even rumors about the Kantetsu League Champion showing up."
Dendra, however, didn't flinch in the slightest.
"So there'll be that many strong trainers? Nice. Now I'm fired up!"
"Even if I lose, it's fine. I just want to see what the true world of martial arts looks like."
She gazed out toward the churchyard.
"Besides, I'm a Fighting-type trainer too. I'm not going to lose that easily. And I definitely won't lose to you either!"
"Since you're entering as well, why don't we battle?"
"Whether it's the Iron Fist Tournament or the Bullfighting Tournament, I should get a feel for both. Warming up's important!"
"Think of it as a little seasoning for the journey?" Hikaru looked at Charcadet.
The little knight was bouncing with excitement, nodding rapidly.
Bullfighting! It might not be the gigantic monstrous bulls from legend, but this bull looked pretty good too.
Charcadet pointed its hammer at the black bull.
It would carve another glory into its record.
Master, please let me fight it!
"I'm a martial artist as well. Might as well get some practice in."
"But before that, we should eat. You can't battle on an empty stomach."
Hikaru made the suggestion. After a night's sleep, you always needed to refill the tank.
Twenty minutes later…
The rain had stopped and sunlight spilled over the ancient land. Dendra was shaking slightly, silently demolishing food side-by-side with her Tauros.
As Marshal of the Elite Four had once said, dishes made with Luminous Vegetables were perfect for Fighting-types and martial artists — and today, Hikaru had added a Herba Mystica leaf on top of that.
Just a single leaf, but the stew had taken a leap in quality.
Bowl in hand, Hikaru dug in as well. All around him, his companions were chewing just as ferociously, the crunching and munching filling the old church with life.
"If that's not enough, there's more."
Dendra: "It's so good… it's so good I can't even talk… This is the first time in my life I've eaten something this delicious…"
"Thank you so much for the meal. I… I'm totally full."
Hikaru eyed the bowl she'd scraped so clean it shone brighter than her face and fell into thought.
Right.
In the story, Dendra's cooking skills fell squarely into the "horror" tier — people basically agreed that eating her food meant a guaranteed stomachache.
"…"
Dendra suddenly became overwhelmed with emotion, to the point that she actually teared up, leaving Hikaru bewildered.
Hey now, your cooking might be awful, but this is a bit much…
Dendra: "Food at this level… food at this level!"
She fell silent for a long while, her cheeks slowly turning red.
As if she'd finally made up her mind, she suddenly shouted:
"P-please!"
"How… how do I have to train to raise my cooking skills to your level? No — even just one-tenth of your level would be enough!"
(End of Chapter)
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