Time passed, and a week had gone by.
The heat of Paldea's Victory Road assessment remained high. Students who had successfully qualified were all eager to give it their best shot—even consecutive defeats couldn't dampen their enthusiasm for becoming Champion.
After all, having worked so hard to obtain eight Gym badges, if they were still trembling at the final hurdle, wouldn't that make the whole trip pointless?
Unfortunately, so far no one had officially cleared the Victory Road. They couldn't even meet Chairwoman Geeta.
Just Aiden alone, as the "gatekeeper," had blocked who knows how many students over seven days. Those who could pass his challenge were all truly hardcore tough guys.
For example, the true rich girl Nemona who made other students realize how ridiculous she was, the diligent worker Okamoto who received high recognition from Teacher Azure, and the boss of Team Star, Penny, who was an Eevee enthusiast.
The other bosses and elites of Team Star also had commendable performances, but the overall pass rate still wasn't very high.
Currently, the student with the most hope of clearing the Victory Road was naturally Nemona. In her last battle, she had already come very close to breaking through the final Elite Four member—the Dragon-type specialist Hassel.
Unfortunately, she ultimately lost due to insufficient information, suffering a small setback and falling at the last two steps before clearing.
As long as she defeated Hassel and then earned Chairwoman Geeta's recognition, this year's first Champion would be born!
After a full week of challenges, the students had mostly figured out their current skill levels and had a clear idea of whether they could become Champion.
Compared to taking all the Elite Four's dirty tricks themselves to become Champion, copying the first Champion's homework was clearly more cost-effective.
Therefore, many students even began shifting their main focus, analyzing and breaking down Nemona's tactical approaches along the way, trying to make them their own.
The effects were indeed good. It was just that Gholdengo, which they used to deal with Teacher Azure's Sylveon—they really couldn't find a substitute for it for the time being and could only grit their teeth and use their own Pokémon to trade blows.
No matter what, the title of Champion was really cool. If they had the chance, they definitely wanted to get one!
With this thought, the students once again became full of fighting spirit.
And on the eighth day after the Victory Road opened, an unremarkable Trainer from Kanto quietly arrived in Paldea.
Paldea Region, Mesagoza.
"Let's go, let's go, hurry up and line up. I have a feeling today—I can definitely pass Teacher Azure's challenge!"
"I can't believe it at all. Didn't you say the same thing yesterday? And then Teacher Azure swept your whole team?"
"Don't rush, I have my own pace. I'll definitely clear it today and show you!"
"Heh, I believe you."
Walking in the center of Mesagoza, on that "terrifying staircase longer than life" in Nemona's words, several students in school uniforms were walking upward together, occasionally exchanging banter.
For them, who had already become zen, whether they could pass Teacher Azure's challenge wasn't important anymore—being able to mock their good friends who got beaten was what mattered most!
However, the chasing and playing students didn't notice—
A youth wearing red and white Trainer attire, with a red and white baseball cap lowering his presence as much as possible, was closely following behind them, pricking up his ears and silently listening to their conversation.
So that's how it is. Indeed, Teacher Azure has very high evaluations in the eyes of Paldea's students.
Red thought to himself, gaining a deeper understanding of Aiden's image.
These students were even muttering Teacher Azure's name repeatedly while walking, thinking day and night about how to achieve victory from his hands—
Not only did this fully demonstrate Aiden's strong influence in Paldea, it also indirectly showed that he must be very deeply rooted in people's hearts, making every student hold him in such high regard.
Previously, while watching the livestream, he saw comments like "Teacher Azure's Sunshine Gym has the worst reviews in all of Paldea," "Teacher Azure has done all kinds of bad things," and such. Those were all jokes, right?
Having such a Gym Leader willing to battle students every day—wasn't that an extremely fortunate thing?
With Teacher Azure's repeated guidance, these Paldea students should all be terrifyingly strong.
For some reason, Red actually felt a bit envious of them.
Since the Victory Road opened, being able to battle with Teacher Azure to their heart's content every day, and even receiving pointers when they lost—
Wasn't this place basically heaven?
Compared to Paldea, he wasn't clear about Kanto's Victory Road yet, but the Gym battle difficulty definitely wasn't this high. At least he had always passed quite easily.
Following the students all the way to the end, arriving at Paldea's Victory Road location, Red ended his "auto-track" journey and casually found a place to sit down.
Having flown from Kanto to Mesagoza, he wasn't familiar with the environment, so he could only resort to this strategy to ensure he wouldn't get lost.
However—
Looking up at the large screen in front, Red suddenly had a feeling of "as if separated by a generation."
Not that Kanto didn't have such modern equipment—actually, in his impression, Kanto's technological level shouldn't be bad.
It was just that in life, he rarely saw these technology-related devices. It always felt like they weren't in the same era—
Why was that?
Red didn't dwell too much on the question in his heart, quickly focusing on the student battling Aiden on the screen.
A very energetic athletic-type girl was commanding a Pokémon composed entirely of coins—a Pokémon he couldn't even name—pushing Teacher Azure back repeatedly?
Red's eyes widened instantly.
What an amazing Pokémon. Using waves of coins to indiscriminately attack the field—even Teacher Azure's Pokémon had difficulty withstanding it?
No, Teacher Azure should have gone slightly easy.
But even so, being able to temporarily suppress Teacher Azure was already very impressive.
Before coming to Paldea, although Red had thought he might see a student who could defeat Teacher Azure, he absolutely hadn't expected it to happen so quickly.
Could it be—was this the average level of Paldea's students?
"..."
A very terrifying hypothesis appeared in his mind.
"Is Nemona even more skilled today? It seems she can already predict Teacher Azure's every move."
"As expected of the top student taught by Teacher Azure. In terms of the student surpassing the master, this year's Champion feels like it's definitely hers."
"So amazing. I need to take good notes today. Maybe we can learn from Nemona's playstyle too?"
Looking at the ordinary students sitting nearby with happy expressions, Red suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of terror.
Paldea was indeed very different from Kanto where he was.
Was it because of Naranja Academy? The newcomers here seemed to frequently communicate with each other, and would even learn tactics from other students, constantly strengthening themselves—
In Kanto, he had almost never heard of such things.
Even with good friends like Blue, they almost never mentioned battle-related content when chatting.
Not that they were guarding against others—simply, there was no similar habit.
Everyone operated independently, and this concept had long been deeply rooted in people's hearts—
But was this really right?
Compared to figuring things out alone, clearly Paldea's approach was better. Tactics discussed together by everyone would definitely have higher feasibility.
So—
Was Paldea's difficulty a bit too high?
With this curiosity, Red also joined the army analyzing Nemona's tactics.
And quickly noticed—did this Trainer named Nemona have a tactical style somewhat similar to Teacher Azure's?
Whether it was the Will-O-Wisp used by that somewhat strange fire crocodile, or the tactics developed around other Pokémon, they all had a very imaginative feel.
Wasn't this exactly what Teacher Azure taught? (Confused)
No wonder the other students said so. She really did seem like a student taught by Teacher Azure, and her use of various status moves also had her own understanding.
She was indeed a very excellent Trainer. Just as the other students said, she absolutely had the potential to become Champion.
He should observe a bit more. Perhaps he could learn something from her.
Seeing that all the surrounding students had notebooks in hand, Red also simply followed local customs, taking out that training guide Aiden had once given him from his backpack, sitting on the ground and beginning to observe the battles on the large screen.
For a battle maniac like Red, being able to see such high-quality matches every day made the trip worthwhile.
Since he wasn't a Paldea student, his challenge priority came after theirs, which he could understand very well.
Rather, it was strange that Teacher Azure agreed to his outrageous request. Before sending the message, Red had been prepared to be rejected.
But in the end, Teacher Azure agreed, only proposing the requirement that he couldn't challenge Paldea's Top Champion, Chairwoman Geeta.
"It's finally over. In the end, no one became Champion today either!"
"Nemona finally met Chairwoman Geeta, but the Kingambit Chairwoman Geeta led with was too strong. It almost one-shot Nemona's Gholdengo—"
"It seems this is the hardest challenge. Can anyone really defeat the Chief Champion who doesn't hold back? How did previous Champions do it?"
Amid the students' wails, another day quickly passed.
—
Paldea's students didn't discover that a "top student" from Kanto had infiltrated their ranks. Red also grew robustly on unfamiliar soil, immersed in studying all day, unable to extricate himself.
His notes unconsciously filled several pages. It was only when the students were all preparing to leave together that he suddenly remembered—oh right, after they finish, it's my turn!
So Red packed up his things, waited with a very sneaky demeanor for the students to leave and the large screen recording to close, then quickly slipped into the Victory Road assessment room.
As a "transfer student," he understood very well not to cause trouble for Teacher Azure.
"You've finally come, Red."
As soon as he entered, Red saw possibly his only acquaintance in Paldea.
"Long time no see, but let's skip the pleasantries for now."
Aiden was sitting at his workstation, smiling at him with a slightly tired expression, while making a "please" gesture.
"Let's get straight to the main topic."
Seeing him, Red suddenly lowered his head somewhat embarrassedly.
Yes, unlike himself who had been studying all day with ample time to prepare for the battle, Teacher Azure had experienced multiple high-intensity battles. He should be very tired by now, right?
However—to repay Teacher Azure, the best way was still to demonstrate his full strength and impress him, right!
"I understand."
Red reached out, forcefully pressing his red and white baseball cap down, while nodding and speaking, slowly stepping forward.
The look in his eyes beneath the brim grew increasingly intense. When he looked up at Aiden, he was no longer wavering.
He could feel that Teacher Azure and himself were perhaps the same type of people.
For them, battles were the best way to rest by devoting themselves wholeheartedly!
"Teacher Azure, I will do my utmost."
"I look forward to it."
The two's conversation was only a few words, then they each came to one side of the battlefield.
"Since this is Paldea's Victory Road, we won't use the Wild Battle rules this time. No problem?"
"Although Kanto's Wild Battle rules have a long history, after all, the current international tournaments basically use the Master Rules, which can better demonstrate a Trainer's commanding level. Even people from Kanto and Johto should keep up with the times."
"I have no objections."
Aiden smiled and spoke, giving his suggestion, and quickly received Red's nod in response.
For Aiden, battling with Red was of course fine. Even if he held back and lost to him, it wouldn't be embarrassing—after all, he was a battle genius destined to grow into a battle legend.
But Wild Battle—he'd respectfully decline. After all, he still wasn't clear whether his physique could withstand an elbow from Red—
What if Red and his Pokémon shouted something about bonds and friendship and charged at him!
And for Red, the suggestion Aiden proposed was naturally reasonable.
If his goal was to challenge more powerful Trainers, his career was destined to not stay only in the Kanto region.
So, starting from the battle with Teacher Azure, he would re-hone his skills under the Master Rules!
The two quickly took their positions, and after Aiden silently counted to three, they simultaneously threw out a Poké Ball.
"I choose you, Salamence!"
"Go, Pikachu!"
"Roar!"
Two red lights flashed in succession. On Aiden's side, he sent out the pressure-filled Salamence, which flew into the air upon entering, spreading its blood-red wings attempting to Intimidate the opponent.
And on Red's side—
His choice was a very ordinary-looking Pikachu.
"Pika pika~"
Aiden's internal alarm bells immediately went off.
As everyone knows, Pikachu in Kanto are as common as roadside wild dogs—especially on the route from Pallet Town to Viridian Forest, which happens to be Pikachu's largest habitat.
And Pikachu itself indeed isn't very powerful. Even evolving into Raichu can only be said to have obvious advantages, showing decent value only during specific circumstances.
But there's an exception to this—
That is, the Pikachu in the protagonist's hands are without exception all brokenly overpowered.
For example, there's Ash's "Pikagod" that can fight Legendary Pokémon to a standstill in movies, stable output every installment, contributing many famous scenes.
Even Arceus would have to offer it a cigarette—are you telling me this is a Pikachu???
And as Red's vanguard, even if they haven't fully grown yet, when they start cheating it must be terrifying.
So, Aiden felt he should be slightly more serious, lest he overturn right at the start against Red.
"Salamence, Flamethrower!"
"Pikachu, counter with Thunderbolt!"
Both sides gave commands almost simultaneously, and both Pokémon began gathering power.
The battle was about to begin!
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