After all my painstaking teaching, is this how you thank your teacher!?
Lucas felt dizzy; Nemona's words had left him so stunned that even as the elevator doors opened, he didn't notice.
It took the Head Administrator's secretary's timely reminder to snap him out of it.
All he could do was give Nemona a meaningful look before stepping out into Geeta's office.
Still, Nemona's words had reminded Lucas of a downside to having a fixed home.
Once Nemona became a Champion-level Trainer, she'd pretty much be half-graduated from Naranja Academy.
And if the player character from the game didn't exist in this world, Lucas realized that once she lost interest in battling him, he'd suffer for it.
He didn't dislike battling—in fact, he really enjoyed it.
But what he liked was the occasional, all-out, exhilarating match—not an endless daily grind that wore down both mind and body.
No, he needed to find something else for Nemona to do—ideally, find suitable rivals to match her battle enthusiasm.
He needed to speed up training the other students—like Kieran and Carmine, who were planning to transfer to Naranja Academy!
Not to mention, the Terarium Dome project needed to speed up, so he could hide inside with the shield up and keep Nemona out!
Even with these wild thoughts, Lucas didn't fall a step behind, following Geeta's secretary into her office together with Nemona.
Inside, Geeta greeted them with a smile she'd obviously been saving for this moment.
Once the door closed, only those within knew what was discussed.
Later, however, a notice appeared on the Academy bulletin board, sparking excitement across the campus.
[Major Announcement!]
On the 12th day of the 1st month, League Calendar 799, student Nemona (ID 803C251), having successfully collected all eight Badges, will officially challenge the Paldea League Champion Exam!
The popular streamer Iono will partner with the League to broadcast and commentate the challenge live online for everyone.
Naranja Academy, League Year 799, January 9 Announcement
Nemona's Champion Exam was set for three days later.
All she had to do was swing by Paldea League HQ to have a one-on-one interview with Rika, the Ground-type Elite Four member, and she'd be ready for the main challenge.
Lucas had no worries about the interview. Just considering how excited Geeta had been in the office—and the way she'd looked at Nemona like some rare treasure—Lucas wouldn't have been surprised if Geeta went so far as to personally change her test result to "pass" if anything went wrong.
When it came to coveting talent, even Galar League Chairman Rose might be out-shone by Geeta.
Paldea was, after all, a newly founded League and badly in need of talent.
A prodigy like Nemona—someone reminiscent of Red or the twin Champions of Hoenn—would have been fast-tracked, if not for official procedures. Geeta probably wished she could sign Nemona immediately, sharpening her knife to cut recruitment red tape.
As Lucas and Nemona walked back to the arena, he noticed the announcement on the board had already gone up—faster even than their return from the office.
Reading it, Lucas couldn't help but twitch his mouth.
This… was practically a premeditated operation, wasn't it?
It reminded him of his own experience challenging the Paldea League a year ago—such enthusiasm, as if he were being recruited into some secret organization.
That's what solidified his retirement plans. The burden of that kind of responsibility was just too much.
Though his life over the past year hadn't gone exactly as planned, it had been rewarding in its own way.
Thinking about his own past, Lucas suddenly turned to Nemona, asking, "By the way, do you know what the full Champion Exam process is like?"
Feeling light and happy, Nemona almost skipped as she replied, "What process?"
She looked at Lucas with honest confusion. Wasn't it just scheduling, interviewing, and battling—what else was there?
So, she really didn't know.
Lucas, seeing through everything in her clear, baffled eyes, sighed.
"You haven't looked up the rules for the Champion Exam battles?"
Nemona shook her head genuinely. Were the battles really any different from usual—would she have to appear in person, or something?
Recalling his own experience with the Champion Exam, Lucas began patiently explaining.
First: The Champion Exam wasn't like the regional League tournaments with lots of participants and plenty of breaks between matches.
It was a literal contest against League's top Trainers.
The Paldea League HQ had four rooms, each guarded by an Elite Four member.
The standard procedure was to defeat each Elite Four in a full six-on-six, then move to the next room.
Importantly, once you started, you could not leave or re-enter—any withdrawal would count as a forfeiture, meaning all progress lost and you'd need to start collecting Badges again.
"You get about ten to twenty minutes' rest between each Elite Four, but essentially, you have to defeat all four with only your six Pokémon, and only after surviving that endurance test do you get to challenge the Champion."
"The load on both Trainers and Pokémon is tremendous—many people falter here."
"Even before the Champion battle, you only get about half an hour to rest and heal, so it's tight."
"How you choose your team, manage your resources, and preserve energy for the next battle is critical."
"If you have Pokémon with good healing moves, it helps a ton."
"For example, your Ribombee's Pollen Puff is great for restoring your team's stamina."
Engrossed, Nemona's eyes sparkled ever brighter—this kind of high-stress battling, pushing herself to the limit, was exactly her dream!
But then a chilling comment from Penny, who was looking up something on her laptop, ended the excitement.
"Teacher Lucas—your rules are completely wrong, aren't they?"
She adjusted her glasses, the glow from her screen reflecting on her face.
"Huh?"
Like a startled groundhog, Lucas turned toward her, frowning.
What do you mean my rules are wrong?
Paul and the others, including Nemona, looked at Penny curiously.
Normally, Penny would have frozen up under such attention, but she was calm as she turned her laptop to show them the League's website with the challenge rules.
What Lucas had described was the process for challenging to become the absolute regional Champion, not just a Champion-level Trainer.
Her father was a former Champion in Galar, her uncle was Galar's League Chairman; Penny knew the League system well.
What Lucas had just recited was for those wagering their Title—when you challenge to become the League's Champion proper.
Even in Paldea, where they'd instituted the "Champion-level Trainer" status, the situation was no different.
Only someone who could defeat all four Elite Four members in sequence, then beat the previous Champion, was considered a regional Champion—someone worthy to wear the crown.
That's how Steven and Wallace in Hoenn, Cynthia in Sinnoh, Alder in Unova, Diantha in Kalos, and Leon in Galar stood at the top.
"Conference Champions" weren't the same at all; above them was the Champions League, and only then did the gauntlet of the Elite Four and true Champion battle occur.
Paldea's Champion-level Trainers were more like people strong enough to beat the Elite Four but not quite at the true Champion's level.
Penny had even found a few Trainers in the Paldea League's database who were granted Champion-level status without going through the process Lucas described.
If Lucas's rules were consistently used, why was the League still so desperate for new talent?
The real reason—
The "Champion Exam" had different rules from the regional Champion gauntlet.
On the site, Penny highlighted the League's current policy—mostly the same as Lucas's recounting, but with one massive, fatal difference:
After each Elite Four battle, the challenger could rest as long as needed and use League-provided healing resources, even the services of a Nurse Joy.
After beating the four, they could rest for a full day before facing the head Champion refreshed.
Meaning, the Exam was still tough, but nothing like the relentless endurance marathon Lucas described.
Penny noted that in Kanto, after the previous Champion went missing, nobody had taken the throne for ages.
Even Lance, who was both the Johto and Kanto Champion, couldn't sweep his Elite colleagues and become Kanto's Champion.
After reading all this, Lucas fell silent.
He even checked the date on the rules update—League Year 794, meaning five years ago!
Wait—so all this time—
Arven hesitated. "Did you… take your Exam under the old rules, Teacher Lucas?"
Shizuka asked, "Did you forgo healing from my sisters during your Exam?"
At that, even the unflappable Eri and others gasped, and Lucas's face turned deathly pale.
Yes—that's exactly what happened.
A year ago, he completed his Champion Exam in a single day.
He battled Rika, Larry, Hassel, and the rest in sequence, resting about ten minutes between matches—just enough to patch up his Pokémon with medicine before launching into the next fight.
Then, after about half an hour, he took on Geeta as the final Champion.
The anime didn't show this, and the games almost always used the "consecutive battles" rule—so Lucas thought it was standard.
After all, Geeta herself had briefed him on the rules when he scheduled his Exam at League HQ.
Since he learned the rules from Geeta herself, Lucas hadn't bothered checking the website.
Which meant, from the very start... he'd been tricked by Geeta into playing on the maximum difficulty setting?
The thought of how much he'd struggled to make it through those endless battles, preserving his lineup, only to learn now it was all for nothing, made his head spin.
He'd always wondered why so few Trainers achieved Champion-level in Paldea; he thought it must've been the rules. But in truth, Geeta had just set him up for the most grueling test.
If he'd only had a bit more time to heal and resources, he wouldn't have faced Geeta with just a Luxray left standing.
Lucas was truly at a loss for words.
Even Arven and the others didn't dare risk provoking his mood by further comment.
The only ones with shining eyes were the two battle maniacs, Nemona and Paul.
To them, beating the Elite Four one after another and even defeating Geeta as the reigning Champion was just the coolest!
Nemona almost couldn't restrain herself from running back to ask Geeta if she could attempt the true, consecutive-challenge version of the Champion Exam.
She wanted to push her limits, too!
...
…
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