Chapter 343 – This Is Totally Insider Stuff, Isn't It?!
Hearing Cynthia's suggestion, Asahi spread his hands. "Unlike you, I'm not one of the Masters Eight. I'm still stuck in the Ultra Ball tier. I still have to focus on climbing the ranks!"
Asahi had already long given up on climbing the academic ladder—writing papers held no appeal for him anymore.
Just the thought of it gave him a headache.
After thinking for a bit, Cynthia said, "Then I'll write it. You'll be listed as the second author."
That, Asahi had no objections to. After all, just by snapping a few pictures, he could get his name on an academic paper. If other researchers—who were pulling all-nighters and losing hair over their own papers—ever found out, they'd probably go insane with jealousy.
But since they were already on the topic of papers, Asahi remembered something.
"If you're gonna publish a paper, then I'd like you to include this."
As he spoke, Asahi handed Cynthia a photo.
She took it, confused—then her eyes widened.
"Is this…?"
…
After sending off the very visibly bewildered Cynthia, Asahi flopped onto the couch and let out a deep sigh of satisfaction.
"So tired. Matches are boring. I don't wanna compete anymore—I just wanna stay like this forever."
"Eevee~!"
Next to him, his Eevee flopped over in perfect imitation—sprawling its tiny legs out, exposing its soft belly.
Off to the side, Sabrina—who had just returned after sending her Pokémon to the recovery center—rolled her eyes. She didn't believe a word he said.
Back on the battlefield, when Asahi had beaten her, the guy looked like he'd just won the lottery.
Sabrina took a sip of her coffee. "So, did your next match get scheduled? The League's efficiency isn't always this high. You might have to wait a few days. Maybe even get sent to another region."
As soon as he heard that, Asahi snapped upright and whipped out his phone, pressing the matchmaking button—
And then…
Instant queue.
Looking at the match confirmation on his screen, Asahi turned to Sabrina. "This what you meant by waiting a few days?"
Sabrina's expression was just as surprised.
How did he get matched that fast?
Was this even the same League that usually took weeks just to approve a funding request?
Curious, she pulled out her phone and tried queuing as well.
Estimated wait time: 72 hours.
Sabrina relaxed. Okay, it's not me. It's him.
"You didn't pull some strings or something, did you…?" Sabrina stared at Asahi suspiciously.
Compared to her, this guy was like some sort of VIP member with express service.
Asahi was speechless. "You know everyone I know. How could I even pull strings?"
Thinking it over, she realized that was kind of true. Still, she asked who Asahi had been matched with.
"Wait, let me check…" Asahi opened the battle interface.
> Ultra Ball Tier Trainer Asahi, based on your current ranking, your opponent has been selected as: Koga, Gym Trainer of Fuchsia City.
Please report to the Battle Dome at the Hoenn Battle Frontier by 1:00 PM tomorrow. Failure to appear will be considered a forfeit.
The air in the room shifted instantly.
Sabrina looked at Asahi with that "and you say you didn't pull strings?" expression.
Asahi: "…"
He really didn't!
This was slander. A planned smear campaign!
Wait… Koga's in the Battle Frontier too?
Asahi looked at the message again. The location was the Battle Dome—not Kanto.
[GardevoirSupremacy]: You came to the Battle Frontier too?
[Koga]: ? I just got off the plane. How'd you know? I'm planning to raise my World Championship rank—makes it easier when I apply to become an Elite Four.
[GardevoirSupremacy]: …You don't know?
[Koga]: Know what?
[GardevoirSupremacy]: [Screenshot]
…
Koga, who had just stepped off the plane with his sister, looked at the image and fell silent.
He'd only come here to build his rank and reputation, paving the way to becoming Johto's next Elite Four.
Now it looked like he was about to become Asahi's stepping stone instead.
A long moment passed…
[Koga]: Asahi, you had to pull strings this time, right?!
Asahi: I swear I didn't! Why does no one believe me?!
…
As Asahi was getting ready for his Ultra Ball tier ranking match, over at the Kanto Division, the rest of the squad wasn't slacking off either.
Now that everyone had made it into the Hyper Ball tier, the matches weren't as one-sided as before—but the group still held a solid strength advantage overall.
In just one day, Silver and Ethan had already shot up to ranks #473 and #511 respectively.
Gary was lagging behind—he'd been watching battles all afternoon and didn't get to play many rounds. His rank sat at #732, only slightly better than Green, who had just entered the Hyper Ball tier.
The biggest surprise wasn't Ethan or Silver though—it was Zinnia.
With her Elite Four-level Salamence, she blasted through the ranks and landed at #300 in a single day.
An astonishing feat.
So much so that, when she returned to the villa, she wouldn't shut up about her win record.
Three sentences in, and one of them would always be about her performance.
According to Gary, who had seen this sort of thing too many times: She got one good result and now she's drunk on success.
Of course, Gary's tone carried more than a hint of salt.
Asahi, for one, thought he was spot on.
So when Zinnia brought up her ranking again...
Asahi, thoroughly fed up: "Say one more word and you're banned from touching Rayquaza for the rest of the month."
Zinnia, mid-sentence, froze like a noisy bird getting choked mid-squawk.
Unable to talk back, she could only glare at Asahi and mutter under her breath: "Only knows how to threaten people with Lord Rayquaza…"
"One day I'm gonna overthrow Asahi's tyranny…"
Asahi smiled serenely.
He took a cup of tea from Gardevoir, sipping calmly as he pondered what team he'd use against Koga tomorrow.
Should he lead with his Snorlax, who hadn't had a battle in ages?
Or maybe his Gyarados, who'd gotten noticeably plumper lately from inactivity?
Slowbro didn't sound like a bad option either.
…
Next Morning
Asahi woke up, picked up the sleeping Mew sprawled across his chest, and tossed it off to the side before stepping out of his room.
To his surprise, Iono was already waiting in the living room.
"Morning, afternoon, eveni—I mean, good morning!" Iono blurted out, slipping into her usual livestream intro before catching herself.
Asahi looked at her, bemused. "Morning. What's up?"
Iono perked up. "It's for a post-match interview! We were supposed to do it yesterday, but when I heard you had another match today, I didn't want to disturb your prep—so we combined both interviews into one!"
"Hope I'm not bothering you."
"Nope, go ahead."
Asahi sat down on the sofa and accepted a green onion pancake wrapped around a fried egg from Sirfetch'd, who was wearing his chef's hat.
The savory aroma of scallions wafted over, making Iono's little nose twitch involuntarily.
"You haven't eaten yet, right? Sirfetch'd, make one for Iono too! Let's eat while we talk," Asahi said with a smile.
Sirfetch'd gave a proud nod.
"Um, Thanks." She replied feeling embarrassed.
"It's fine... Sirfetch'd always prepares plenty for breakfast," Asahi said calmly.
Iono blinked in confusion but still reached out to take the scallion pancake from the returning Sirfetch'd.
She took a small bite.
The chewy, elastic wrapper and the slightly charred fried egg filled her mouth with flavor. The aroma of fresh scallions blended perfectly with the savory egg, making her eyes light up.
"Delicious!"
"Of course. Sirfetch'd and the Farfetch'd crew are basically culinary professionals," Asahi replied with a proud smile.
Even while eating, Iono didn't forget her job.
"So... Asahi, any thoughts on yesterday's battle?"
Asahi didn't even blink. "Sabrina is an incredibly powerful Trainer. The battle format restricted her full potential. If she were in the wild, she'd be even more formidable with her psychic powers."
"And about today's opponent, Koga—there are rumors he's about to be promoted to Elite Four. Is that true?"
"Koga... he's strong. I believe he definitely has what it takes to become an Elite Four member." Asahi was all about that professional tone in this interview.
Not a single word left behind as a weakness.
"But according to official records, Koga was once imprisoned for alleged involvement with Team Rocket. Asahi, how do you view that?" Iono leaned in with a glint in her eye.
She knew, of course—Koga was arrested by Asahi himself. That's why she'd gotten stuck with the nickname "Grim Reaper of Gym Trainers."
She asked the question because the fact that a former Rocket like Koga had been released and was now about to join the Elite Four stirred up public controversy.
"Koga may have joined Team Rocket in the past, but he didn't commit any unforgivable crimes," Asahi replied, face solemn.
"As long as someone hasn't committed serious offenses, the League is willing to give any Trainer who chooses the light another chance. Even Giovanni—if he were to turn over a new leaf, the League might consider leniency."
...
Alola Region
"Hmph..."
Giovanni sneered at the screen showing Asahi's interview.
Surrender to the League? Leniency? Did they really think he'd bend so easily?
Though he was far away in Alola, Giovanni had been following the World Championships closely because of Asahi.
He had to admit—Asahi's Rayquaza was terrifyingly strong.
Just looking at it gave off an aura of invincibility.
Add in Mewtwo and Mew... even with his own two Deoxys, Giovanni figured a draw was the best he could hope for.
But all of that would soon be history.
Knock knock.
Athena stepped into the office.
"Boss, Faba's side has been dealt with. The first group will infiltrate Aether Paradise tonight to begin the infiltration."
"Also..." Athena handed over a flash drive. "As a show of loyalty, Faba handed over all of Aether Foundation's research on Ultra Beasts."
Giovanni plugged it in, scanned the contents, then unplugged it and tossed it back to Athena.
"Have Dr. Zampa analyze everything immediately. Once we take control of the Aether Foundation, I want the Ultra Beast Project to begin without delay."
With Asahi busy in the World Championships, this was his chance to claim the power of the Ultra Beasts.
"Understood!"
...
Battle Dome
In the waiting area, Koga glared at Asahi with such intensity that it made his skin crawl.
"Dude, can you stop looking at me like that...?" Asahi squirmed under the stare. "Didn't I literally defend you in the interview this morning? That's how you thank me?"
Koga finally looked away with a sigh.
"I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself... for being this unlucky."
If he hadn't impulsively come to the Battle Frontier, none of this would've happened.
If he'd just shown up one day later, this whole mess might've been avoided.
"What about the format? What do you want to go with? 3v3?" Asahi asked.
Koga replied without hesitation. "1v1. Losing one round is bad enough. If I lose three in a row, I'll never be able to show my face as an Elite Four candidate again."
"Ouch. That makes it sound like losing to me is some kind of disgrace," Asahi quipped. "But what's so embarrassing about losing to the future World Champion?"
Koga raised an eyebrow. "Confident, aren't we? Don't forget—Leon's no pushover. Beating him won't be easy."
Asahi didn't argue. In fact, he nodded.
"Leon is indeed strong."
"Then how are you—"
"But strength aside, what's he going to do if I bring out Mewtwo, Rayquaza, Dialga, Palkia, Mew, and Celebi as my team?" Asahi smiled faintly.
Koga's jaw dropped.
If Asahi actually fielded that lineup... even Leon wouldn't stand a chance.
After all, even the strongest mortal can't handle an entire team of Legendary Pokémon.
But still...
As Koga was lost in thought, Asahi added, "Of course, I'm not that shameless."
Koga stared at him, stunned. Asahi has a line he won't cross!?
Just then, the arena announcer called both their names—it was time to enter the field.
The two locked eyes, nodded, and stepped onto the stage.
The massive stadium was packed. The crowd had grown since the last match—partly because Asahi's previous win made waves, and partly because Koga, once a Rocket and now a Gym Leader aiming for the Elite Four, had stirred massive interest.
At the side of the field, the League had arranged for official commentary. Iono and Battle Dome's owner Charles took guest commentator seats, forming a trio with the main announcer.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome today's competitors—Koga and Asahi!"