Given the ticking clock, Aroma Lady didn't linger in Lavaridge for long.
She pushed north, arriving in Fallarbor Town.
She was deeply familiar with this place; her family's ancestral home and gardens were located nearby.
The town was filled with familiar faces, and the locals greeted her warmly as she passed.
The Fallarbor Gym Leader was also a close acquaintance.
According to the simulator, the female Leader was a friend of Aroma Lady's parents; as a child, Aroma Lady had often played at the Gym, interacting with various Pokémon.
The Leader specialized in Flying-types. In terms of type match-ups, this was an even steeper hill to climb than the Lavaridge Gym.
It took Aroma Lady two attempts before she finally secured a victory.
After the battle, upon seeing that Aroma Lady still only had five Pokémon, the Leader decided to entrust her with a Pokémon from her team that had taken a liking to her:
Tropius.
The Leader noted that Tropius's ability to carry people during flight would surely be a great help in her future travels.
[You obtained Tropius. Your traveling party has grown!]
Aroma Lady accepted the gift, bid farewell to her friends and family in Fallarbor, and set off toward Lilycove City in the east.
On the way, she passed through Fortree Town.
[You arrive in Fortree Town. ]
[Seeing so many houses built atop giant trees fills you with a sense of wonder.]
Since the town hadn't yet grown into a full-scale city, the roads leading there were treacherous and poorly maintained.
It was only thanks to Tropius that she arrived safely.
Fortree was home to many Bird and Bug Pokémon. By collecting scales and powders from the Bug types, Aroma Lady made fresh breakthroughs in her essence research.
Continuing her eastward trek, the scene shifted, and Lilycove City appeared before her eyes.
[You arrive in Lilycove City.]
As the most populous city in eastern Hoenn, it was bustling even decades ago. Aroma Lady watched the crowds with interest but regretted that she had no time to stay.
She rushed immediately to the Lilycove Gym.
The Leader here was a robust elderly man who used Fighting-type Pokémon.
Despite it being her seventh Badge, the match was a grueling struggle that had Kashiwagi breaking a sweat just watching.
However, relying on her two Flying-types—Masquerain and Tropius—she luckily managed to pass on her first try.
She's probably the most 'struggling' Blue-tier talent I've simulated so far when it comes to Gym battles, Kashiwagi thought.
Perhaps because the Pokémon League had only been established a few years prior, the consistency of the Gym Leaders' strength was all over the place.
The jump in difficulty between the fourth and fifth Badges was absurd.
Type advantages aside, the raw power of the Leaders' Pokémon seemed slightly "over-leveled."
If this is how they filter people, isn't every participant going to be an absolute elite?
While Kashiwagi was lost in thought, Aroma Lady took a ship to the location of the final Gym:
Sootopolis City.
[You arrive in Sootopolis City. ]
[The unique structure of the buildings inside a volcanic crater forces you to use Tropius to descend into the city.]
In this era, Sootopolis hadn't yet fully opened up to the outside world for easy access.
To enter, people either had to trek through treacherous caves or find a way to scale the crater walls.
Aroma Lady chose the latter.
The Gym Leader was definitely not Wallace—hell, at this point in time even his mentor Juan might have just been born.
Leveraging her team's Grass-type majority and the Sunny Day tactics she'd picked up at the Lavaridge Gym, she successfully claimed the final victory.
[You defeated the Sootopolis Gym Leader and successfully obtained the Rain Badge.]
Because Aroma Lady had been rushing the entire time, there were still over two months left before the League Championship.
Excited, she immediately threw herself back into her grand essence-making career.
While she didn't neglect training, she spent far more time providing medical care and refining scents.
Kashiwagi saw this and knew the chances of her winning the championship were slim.
Aroma Lady worked hard at battling; to make up for her lack of experience, she frequently battled wandering Trainers to learn techniques and studied the strategies used by Gym Leaders, such as weather-based combat.
But ultimately, her heart belonged to medicine and fragrances.
Reaching the Top 8 or Top 4 would be a win in my book.
...
...
Two months passed in a flash.
Aroma Lady spent them productively, traveling between the cities of eastern Hoenn, discovering Pokémon she'd never seen before, and crafting scents tailored to different types.
Although she still couldn't mass-produce them, many people sought her out to purchase what she had.
Of course, she didn't forget to prepare her Pokémon for the tournament.
This would be her first time competing, and possibly her last; she hoped for a result she could be proud of.
With those thoughts in mind,
the 6th Ever Grande Conference officially began.
To Kashiwagi's surprise, there were far fewer participants than he expected.
There wasn't even a preliminary round to screen Trainers; the tournament started directly with the Top 64.
Only 64 people passed eight Gyms in a whole year?
He was stunned by the difficulty, but then realized that everything starts small.
Decades ago, the League likely hadn't yet become the "dream destination" for every Trainer.
Because there were only 64 contestants, the very first opponent Aroma Lady faced was significantly stronger than those in previous simulations.
The win was hard-fought.
Fortunately, her "Special Patient Subdual" technique remained undefeated, and she had been "stealing" various tactics throughout her journey.
By the Top 32, the opponent's strength spiked.
The two actually knew each other from their time in Rustboro, but on the tournament stage, even friends fought with everything they had.
Ultimately, Aroma Lady proved more skilled, using powder-based moves to take the win.
The Top 16 followed a similar pattern.
While Grass-types might have been weaker offensively, their status moves and recovery capabilities made them a nightmare to deal with.
[You defeated your opponent and successfully advanced to the Victory Tournament!]
She had secured a spot in the Top 8.
Kashiwagi breathed a sigh of relief.
He was more nervous watching the simulation than most people were actually battling.
In this era, anyone capable of winning eight Badges was a powerhouse.
...
First round of the Victory Tournament:
It was clear Aroma Lady was struggling. Her opponent's battle experience far surpassed hers, and their ability to adapt on the fly was incredible.
Specifically, the opponent seemed to have mastered the legendary
"Trainer's Three Truths."
If they shouted "Dodge it!", the Pokémon actually dodged.
If they shouted "Hang in there!", the Pokémon would tank a Solar Beam from Roserade as if it were nothing.
In a moment of crisis, Aroma Lady suddenly awakened her own "Finishing Move":
"A patient has arrived! Stand up!"
Her Roserade, which had been on the verge of fainting, snapped awake instantly.
It ended the match with a massive Petal Blizzard.
Kashiwagi knew this was the result of excellent nurturing.
High stats include willpower, but Roserade's years of rescue habits were the real reason for the win.
When there's a patient, no matter how tired or sleepy you are, you stand up.
In those moments, it wasn't just Aroma Lady working hard; Roserade and the others were right there with her.
Regrettably, for Aroma Lady, the Top 4 was the end of the road.
She couldn't overcome her opponent in the semi-finals, even with both her and her Pokémon at their absolute peak.
[Your tournament journey ends here. You are very satisfied with reaching the Top 4, and your performance in the Top 8 makes your name resound across Hoenn once more.]
[Through your hard work, you transform your liquid essences into solid incense. ]
[You hand the formula over to a familiar factory for mass production, and it becomes an overnight sensation in Hoenn.]
[You return to your ancestral home and use your tournament prize money and incense royalties to renovate and expand it, officially establishing the Pokémon Aromatherapy Research Institute.]
[You name it: "The Verdant Manor."]
[Simulation Complete.]
"So it really was 'The Verdant Manor'..."
Kashiwagi set down his cup, looking wistfully at the faint trail of blue smoke rising in the distance.
Without a doubt, the incense burning there came from the Verdant Manor.
However, Aroma Lady... the founder of the Verdant Manor had passed away a few years ago.
The current director was her granddaughter.
It was a bittersweet realization.