Paldea Television was already broadcasting, but Lucas still opened his own laptop and clicked into the high-profile livestream featured on the site's homepage.
In a dedicated studio, Iono was still wearing her uniquely styled outfit, energetically bouncing around as she interacted with her viewers.
After a year of hard work, she had transformed from a small, mostly unknown streamer into the leading host on this platform.
—This could be seen at a glance from the barrage of comments and the eye-catching number of live viewers.
Iono's path as a streamer over the past year had actually been quite simple.
At first, when she hadn't revealed her identity as the newly appointed Gym Leader of Levincia City, her stream's popularity was very average, supported mostly by fans who liked her cute style.
When Iono was worrying about her low viewership numbers, she, aspiring to be a mega internet star, suddenly had an idea. She happened to hear that Lucas was about to challenge the Champion Test, and, after much effort, managed to obtain from Geeta the broadcast rights to the Champion Test, which were not supposed to be open to the public.
But it was only Lucas's match against Geeta.
Because her stream wasn't very popular, that broadcast did not make any waves online.
Later, she gradually accumulated more fans through her own efforts.
But if you ask when she truly became famous, it would be thanks to one particular occasion.
Nemona suggested she could clip together battle footage of well-known trainers and commentate on them from her viewpoint as a gym leader.
Since then, Iono's streaming career seemed to start a whole new chapter.
Relying on the popularity of famous trainers, every video Iono produced achieved high view counts, and this fame directly boosted her live viewership as well.
Her streams became even more varied afterward, from broadcasting her own gym challenges to hitting the streets to find lucky trainers, and even obtaining the broadcast rights to several popular matches.
Her popularity continued to steadily rise.
It was unfortunate that there were not many recorded streams from before. Lucas and Geeta's Champion Test match survived only in scattered clips.
Strictly speaking, today should be her first time streaming such a unique Pokémon battle event—a true Pokémon feast that can't be found in any other league.
Watching the surging number of viewers in the stream, Lucas muttered, "With these numbers, I shouldn't be disappointed, right?"
…
At the northwest edge of Mesagoza, built under the Great Crater of Paldea, stood the Paldea Pokémon League headquarters.
Today, staff here tightened up everything, treating the day with the utmost seriousness for these crucial League events.
Their opponent was the first trainer this year to challenge the Champion Test—and also the President's most highly regarded candidate.
While many trainers had gathered the eight Gym Badges and entered the Paldea League's Champion Test, few could break through the first Elite Four member's defenses.
—Those who barely scraped by gym leader exams, held back for the sake of fairness, had little hope of facing an Elite Four going all out.
To put it bluntly, as the pinnacle of trainers, an Elite Four could sweep a whole team by sending out just their main ace Pokémon.
At the Paldea League headquarters, this sort of thing was not uncommon.
Many had suggested, as other leagues did, introducing a buffer event—something like a conference held every six months or yearly—bridging the gulf between the held-back gym leader exams and the full-force Elite Four.
It would not only liven things up, attracting challengers from other regions, but also create economic value and boost city development and tourism in the conference's final stages.
However, management seemed to have other considerations, so this plan never reached the draft stage.
But today's challenger was different from past ones, having consecutively bested several gym leaders giving their all, and even seriously defeated Elite Four member Larry.
Speaking of Larry, many staff really respected him.
As a battler, he was among the pinnacle for most trainers, commanding an almost all-purpose team and enjoying Geeta's close attention. Many even regarded him as a role model.
Yet he was beaten by this challenger.
Even if he hadn't used his Flying-type mainstay, opting instead for his Normal-type core that he was training for gym challenges, the simple fact that he lost so decisively was shocking enough.
Let alone that today's challenger even wanted to attempt the highest difficulty: the consecutive battle format!
They all sensed that today, they might witness history—just like last year!
"The four Elite Four battle rooms have been fully maintained. Background music will play on a loop inside!"
"The four Paldea Elite Four have taken their positions, each guarding their assigned battle room in strength order."
"First room: Ground-type Elite Four Rika. Second: Flying-type Larry. Third: Dragon-type Hassel. Fourth…"
"Live-streaming equipment is functioning well, network lines stable, connection with Levincia established, pro camera crew in position—the stream is live—"
The smooth unfolding of this much-anticipated showdown was thanks to the unseen work of all these staff.
In the lounge, Nemona sat upright, listening to the buzz outside as she took a deep breath, once more adjusting the tie of her school uniform.
That's right—for such an important occasion, Nemona had turned down her father and sister's suggestion from faraway Kalos. She did not wear the battle uniform they had custom-made for her, sized all the way from childhood to adulthood.
—She really thought her father and sister were a little bit crazy, already acting like they were picking out her wedding dress.
She didn't even don the dress Sebas prepared that morning. Instead, she chose this Naranja Academy school uniform, meaningful to her.
It was the one she wore when she first entered Naranja Academy, and under this very uniform, she became Lucas's student.
Nemona wanted to wear this memorable school uniform on this memorable day, pass the Champion Test, and make her teacher proud.
Listening to the busy sounds of League staff outside the lounge, Nemona silently wished them well.
As the scheduled battle drew closer, Nemona could not help but peek outside repeatedly.
But the figure she hoped to see never appeared at the Paldea Pokémon League headquarters.
Nemona knew full well that with the League HQ under top lockdown, all potential distractions to the Champion Test were barred from entry.
Even as Director of Battle Studies at Naranja Academy, Lucas would not be allowed near.
From the moment he retired, the League stripped all his honors as a trainer—even if none would ever forget or deny them.
Respecting his wishes, even President Geeta probably wouldn't offer him any special favor without being asked.
It was extremely unlikely for Lucas to be at Paldea HQ—at best, he could only watch via Ms. Iono's stream.
Nemona felt a bit down, but had to accept it.
At least Lucas, her parents and sister, Penny, Arven, Eri, Shizuka, Paul, her classmates at the academy, Butler Sebas, and the friends she met during her journeys in Galar and Hoenn were all watching via the internet.
Just that much was enough to motivate her, to give it her all.
As the scheduled time neared, Nemona reluctantly withdrew her gaze and turned to look at her Pokémon, quietly getting psyched up in their own ways in the lounge.
Pawmot, Aqua Breed Tauros, Ursaluna, Goodra, Decidueye, Ribombee.
This was her full-strength lineup—the best partners forged by a year of close bonds.
Today, these were the ones she would take to challenge the peak of trainers!
As past memories flashed in her mind, Nemona smiled slightly, just as she was about to speak. Pawmot jumped onto a chair first, head held high, thrust her fist up, and crackled with electricity between her fur.
"Tink!"
Pawmot's energetic voice echoed through the lounge, unexpectedly starting the rally first.
Nemona smiled, raising her sun-kissed hand from all her outdoor journeys.
"Let's all do our best!"
"Tink!" "Moo!" "Roar!" "Goom!" "Kyu-Pa!" "Meme!"
Six Pokémon responded vigorously to Nemona's cheer, stacking hand, hoof, or wing all atop Nemona's palm.
Even the Duskull that could only serve as cheerleader flitted down, joining in to boost morale as well.
Just then, a knock sounded on the lounge door.
"Miss Nemona, it's almost time to head to the first battle room."
Considering Nemona's gender, the staff who notified her was also a woman.
Nemona responded, then recalled her Pokémon and left the lounge.
…
At the same time—
On Iono's stream, the viewership was climbing at a staggering pace.
According to real-time monitoring by Paldea League staff, many IPs from regions unable to receive Paldea TV were also flooding into the stream online.
Galar Region, Wyndon
Standing inside the Macro Cosmos Headquarters—better known as Rose Tower, that city's most iconic building.
As group president, Rose had rarely put down his work to goof off like this.
Usually prone to reprimand his secretary, Oleana; at this moment, however, she was silent.
Because now, Rose was not only Macro Cosmos's president—he was also the Chairman overseeing all of Galar: President of the Galar Pokémon League.
Right now, he was viewing a livestream not as a businessman, but as league president—with total seriousness.
"How odd, Paldea's always been conservative, yet here they are pulling something like this."
Rose's mouth curled with a knowing smile, but his eyes were anything but distracted.
He felt Paldea was probably imitating Galar's battle style, using livestreaming to expand their influence in competitive battles.
It was basically the same as Galar's current trend of Battle Stadiums—showing off League strength, boosting the reputation of competitive trainers, and drawing more attention.
"Isn't today's challenger for the Champion's Assessment… my darling niece's classmate?"
"Remarkable. Her growth rate is almost on par with those two battle legends from Kanto!"
"And in the real consecutive battle format, not just playing house."
Rose actually felt a twinge of regret. If he'd tried harder half a year ago, maybe he could have recruited Nemona to Galar.
What a gifted seedling… wasted to that detail-oriented, formidable Geeta.
Reminiscing over dinner, Rose recalled what Nemona said about her teacher—the phrase "I can't imagine my teacher losing" left a deep impression.
Yet after the incident with the legendary birds, that teacher vanished, and his most notable activity recently was somehow connected to a restaurant in Kalos. All very mysterious.
For the Pokémon World Championships in his future plans, this individual would be the perfect opponent to help Leon and the Galar region gain even more global fame.
But first, let's see how the student he trained handles the Champion's consecutive battles.
…
Paldea League HQ, within the Four Rooms
On her phone, watching Iono's already-live broadcast, Rika—dressed neutrally, exuding androgynous charm—shut off her phone, jammed her hands in her pockets, and flashed a slightly rebellious grin.
"It's almost time. That little Nemona should be on her way here—aren't you all leaving?"
Faced with her three companions still hanging around her room, Rika looked a little impatient.
The ever-composed Larry, the laid-back yet undeniably competent Hassel, and the venerable, soon-to-retire senior.
Even if Rika was the weakest of the four, it didn't stop her from kicking the others out.
The senior smiled kindly, waved, and headed to the innermost room.
Larry, recovered his deadpan look, straightened his tie, his face full of resistance to the looming work.
Hassel still felt like joking.
"Rika, you may be the weakest, but don't lose so quickly and embarrass yourself during the stream!"
"I'll pray for you."
"Stop your nonsense—just go already."
Rika rolled her eyes, showing no mercy with her words.
"As for you, you always say the same thing every year! If it wasn't for your Dragalge, you'd have been swept last year by Lucas's Mimikyu. This year, try not to lose to his student in a worse way!"
Hassel seemed unfazed by Rika poking at old wounds.
Waving dismissively, he walked toward a room deeper than even Larry's, smiling as he shot back:
"Nah, I'd win, this year I'm full of confidence~"
…