At the same time Aiden arrived at the lighthouse research lab.
Inside the Paldea League headquarters, Rika—looking exhausted with clear dark circles under her eyes—rose from her seat, stretching and yawning deeply.
Her gaze turned toward the window where the sun had already risen high. Spring birdsong filled the air, as if singing of life's beauty.
It was perfect picnic weather.
"Unfortunately, under the workaholic President Geeta's leadership, things like holidays seem to have nothing to do with us anymore..."
Rika sighed inwardly, quietly complaining when the office door suddenly opened.
League President and Top Champion—Paldea's guiding sun—Geeta appeared promptly on time, smiling and waving at her. Her wildly growing black hair swayed slightly with her steps, looking incredibly textured.
Her abundant hair volume made Rika somewhat jealous.
"You've worked hard, Rika."
Approaching her, Geeta's expression momentarily blurred upon noticing the obvious dark circles on her face, then spoke in a clearly guilty tone.
"..."
Rika sighed again, waved her hand after seeing the unmistakable fatigue in Geeta's eyes.
"Don't worry—I understand how difficult the League's situation is. As one of the Elite Fours beneath the Champion, sharing more work is our responsibility."
"After all, even you—the Top Champion—are as busy as a spinning top. Compared to your workload, ours is still relatively light."
Rika's words reflected her true thoughts.
Generally speaking, work coordination within the League should be handled by the Elite Fours—the Champion typically served only as combat strength and figurehead, attending necessary occasions while remaining relatively free the rest of the time.
But the Paldea League operated slightly differently.
Top Champion Geeta also served as League President and Naranja Academy Chairwoman, responsible for managing and coordinating almost all internal League affairs.
Burdened with such responsibilities, if she weren't extremely responsible and capable, she probably would have quit long ago.
Thanks to Geeta as the backbone, the aftermath of the Area Zero incident was controlled within the shortest possible time. Despite losing quite a few key members, the League still managed to operate somewhat normally.
Besides overall commander Geeta, the three Elite Fours each took on part of her workload:
Larry—responsible for guarding Area Zero's entrance while doubling as the Medali Gym Leader;
Hassel—staying at Naranja Academy as a teacher, supervising faculty members;
And herself—assisting Geeta and handling internal League affairs.
Combined with coordination from regional Gym Leaders, this small staff somehow formed an extremely efficient team.
The cost was that League staff had almost no holidays, working continuously without rest.
Many envied Brassius—who had temporarily stepped down from his Gym Leader duties to enjoy a full year's vacation.
"...Let's hang in there a bit longer. Once this year's first half of the Victory Road concludes, and a batch of excellent newcomers inject fresh blood into the League, everything will improve."
Geeta nodded slightly while looking at Rika, arms crossed as she thought.
"How are the students progressing on the Victory Road?"
"Very well—much better than expected."
When discussing work content, Rika quickly smiled.
"Really—the kid you and Larry both highly regarded has quite the talent as a Gym Leader. He's trained these children very well."
"Though Sunshine Gym's pass rate isn't high as the starting point, once they overcome this hurdle, most newcomers quickly pass several more gyms. The fastest have already earned six badges."
With the Victory Road open for just over a month, earning 6 badges definitely made them top students.
Actually, this year's newcomers included another exceptional case—Nemona, who had previously served as Sunshine Gym's apprentice. When she came to evaluate Aiden, this energetic newcomer had left a good impression on Rika.
After starting her journey, she hadn't followed conventional paths but began from the west, sweeping from north to south. She had already earned 7 Gym Badges.
Only Sunshine Gym remained unchallenged—apparently planning to challenge Aiden before embarking on the final Champion trial.
Once 8 Gym Badges were collected, rookie trainers could challenge the Elite Fours or even the Champion. Winning all would crown a new Champion.
This clearly owed much to Gym Leader Aiden's efforts.
Rika had heard basically everything he'd done. Not just apprentice Nemona—today's students' overall level had significantly improved, all related to Aiden's guidance.
Though she didn't understand why Sunshine Gym's reputation among students was actually good despite consistently ranking last in positive reviews this year. Evaluations were all confusing phrases like "unorthodox gym—dogs wouldn't challenge it" or "Sunshine Gym is only sunny in name."
But clearly this wasn't important anymore—probably just playful banter between students and Aiden.
After all, reviews were reviews—data was the most truthful and couldn't be faked.
Originally Rika thought this year's students wouldn't amount to much after various incidents, but with Aiden as gatekeeper personally guiding them, this year's student quality had already far exceeded any previous year. Their strength was steadily improving too.
"It seems this year's Victory Road won't end up completely empty-handed like last year."
Receiving good news, Geeta quickly showed a gratified smile.
From the beginning, she had always believed in this somewhat special young man—and this trust had brought rich rewards.
Traveling to Kitakami—he had completely resolved the region's reputation issues that the League had no time to handle, revitalizing their tourism industry.
She heard they even erected a statue for Aiden there like the previous Loyal Three, with many of his fans specifically traveling to Kitakami for check-ins while also humiliating the Loyal Three and Pecharunt.
Serving as a Victory Road examiner—not only did he perfectly complete his duties, filtering genuinely capable newcomers and preparing for Champion birth, he also significantly raised newcomers' overall strength—a win-win situation.
Truly a lucky star...
Just as Geeta was reflecting inwardly, Rika beside her suddenly blinked, then showed an interesting expression.
Soon, she proactively spoke:
"By the way, one of the League's four Elite Four positions is still vacant. If we consider League development, we should select an excellent trainer to fill this gap soon, right?"
"Last year was understandable—strength was generally low, and even with us three going easy, they still couldn't pass. But with this year's situation, there should be more than one person capable of challenging the Champion title. Someone needs to fill this position..."
With their previous conversation, her implication was already quite clear.
"How about... letting Aiden try?"
The capable should shoulder more responsibility—and since Aiden was doing well as Gym Leader, temporarily serving as Elite Four shouldn't be a problem.
If he performed well, simultaneously serving as Elite Four and Gym Leader like Larry might work too.
Having one more wagie...I mean Elite Four would significantly reduce work pressure for all League members.
As League President, Geeta naturally understood her meaning.
"As for Aiden... he's certainly famous enough among newcomers. If serving temporarily as an Elite Four examiner, students should recognize him too, right?"
After pondering briefly, Geeta nodded slightly.
After all, Aiden's strength was obvious to all. With his terrifying growth ability, he might reach Elite Four-level strength before long.
However, procedures still needed to be followed. This year's Victory Road could only temporarily use him as a substitute Elite Four—to invite him for giving final lessons to the most excellent newcomers...
She believed this would be beneficial for both students and Aiden himself.
Geeta essentially approved Rika's idea, quickly proposing another thought.
"By the way, this year's international competition schedule has been released. If Aiden formally participates as Paldea's representative and earns points, he could essentially lock in an Elite Four position early."
"However..."
Mentioning this, Geeta actually felt a bit troubled.
"With Aiden's personality, whether he'll even choose to participate in competitions is unknown. Let's take it step by step—for now, ask his thoughts about serving as a temporary trainer for Champion trials."
"If Aiden isn't willing, we should respect his wishes. After all, Area Zero remains the highest priority."
Geeta quickly sighed.
"As long as we handle Area Zero's problems, we'll have more sufficient personnel. Other difficult issues will then be easily resolved."
"As for opening Area Zero... let's wait until this year's Champion is determined. It shouldn't be too long now."
...
After returning from the lighthouse research lab, Aiden sat alone on the sofa, silently contemplating for a long time before reaching a conclusion—
Since the future was uncertain, he might as well take things step by step, focusing on present matters first.
Opening Area Zero was inevitable—and since it concerned Miraidon's physical and mental health, he definitely needed to join the team.
Currently, Miraidon seemed like a laid-back slacker, but considering its past experiences and occasional odd behaviors he noticed, it probably felt quite unwilling inside.
Its original life was destroyed by a Pokémon that suppressed it, severely injured and losing all abilities, now just idling at Sunshine Gym...
Compared to physical wounds, its gradually numbing soul was what truly needed healing.
Though somehow this gave off a tragic martial arts protagonist vibe? Could it become some kind of "Miracle Hero"?
Thinking this, Aiden subconsciously glanced outside.
In sunlight, Miraidon's metallic body shone brilliantly as it lay shapelessly on the lawn, eyes squinted, enjoying comfortable sunbathing.
Impossible—absolutely impossible!
Aiden immediately discarded his earlier speculation.
He always felt the Miraidon at his gym was completely different from the creature described in research logs...
The leisurely morning quickly passed. After lunch, Aiden quickly entered work mode.
Currently, his main job was still as Gym Leader—accepting student challenges was his primary duty.
Though his streaming side job had gotten somewhat out of hand—even trainers from other regions had come to know this "niche treasure streamer" through Pokémon TV.
As he thought this, Aiden quickly took out his phone and Pokédex. After transferring the electronic ghost Rotom from the Pokédex to his phone, he swiftly switched to live stream mode.
Though much of the Gym's workload had been distributed to Mewtwo and other rental Pokémon, he still needed to personally handle weekly new tactic updates—to give newcomers perfect experiences and let them feel Teacher Azure's "sincerity."
As for whether they could pass the test...
With Team Star handling logistics, these rookie trainers were progressing extremely quickly.
Aiden actually knew quite well what Penny was doing these days.
After discovering Naranja Academy actually had a student forum, Aiden had quietly registered an account, occasionally checking if they were speaking ill of him behind his back.
Result...
Besides the usual bad reviews for Sunshine Gym, their evaluations of him were actually quite high. Discussions mostly centered on how to break through his new tactics—with collective brainstorming producing some answers that even impressed him.
After all, everyone gained some insights after challenging Sunshine Gym, and Aiden would give corresponding suggestions to help them further improve.
What if everyone shared their results with other trainers?
If each took a piece of Teacher Azure's knowledge and pieced them together—wouldn't that make a complete Teacher Azure?
Yes—this idea called the "Artificial Teacher Azure Plan" was currently the hottest topic on the student forum.
For their thinking, Aiden could only feel both amused and exasperated.
He hoped they could truly integrate all these fragmented contents—and if they could publish a book, he'd definitely be willing to put his name on it.
The blurb could be "Teacher Azure's Thousand-Layer Tactics"—symbolically collecting some copyright fees. Maybe it would become required reading for Naranja Academy freshmen and the bible of Pokémon battling?
...
The past two weeks' streams covered rain team singles and doubles, so this update naturally revolved around rain teams too.
The Pokémon Aiden used was also the previously hinted-at Palafin.
With exam questions announced early, challengers naturally came prepared.
"Battle rules are 2v2, challenger attacks first. Since it's weather tactics, this week the Gym Leader side can also actively switch Pokémon."
"Gentle reminder: When facing weather tactics, stealing weather control is also an important path to victory~"
Facing what appeared to be an eleven-year-old rookie trainer, Aiden appropriately gave reminders before proactively throwing his Poké Ball.
Meanwhile, his opponent was silently thinking.
As expected—Big Sister Penny's group was right. To break Teacher Azure's tactics, focusing on weather was the simplest and most effective method.
Against sun teams, use rain to greatly weaken Fire-type Pokémon—and vice versa.
Therefore, the best choice against rain teams was clearly—
"I choose you, Torkoal!"
The youngster decisively threw his Poké Ball simultaneously.
After Aiden's previous lessons, students gradually understood some weather mechanics.
For example—triggering weather through abilities like Drizzle or Drought was actually tied to Pokémon entry timing and speed. Slower Pokémon triggered weather later, so when entering simultaneously, they could actually take over the weather.
That's why Aiden had strongly recommended Torkoal as the Sun team's weather setter—its weather-stealing ability was simply too authoritative.
Of course, this assumed the strength gap between both sides wasn't too large.
Aiden's chosen Pokémon generally weren't extremely strong—more often relying on special mechanics to cleverly defeat opponents.
Therefore, I'll take this battle's weather!
With terrain weather advantage, he believed he could definitely pass Sunshine Gym's test and keep up with others!
Soon, both sides' Pokémon appeared.
Aiden's side wasn't the expected weather setter—but had anticipated his anticipation.
A seemingly ordinary little dolphin appeared—the ocean hero Palafin—facing the seemingly honest and harmless Torkoal.
[Palafin lead? To trigger Zero to Hero by switching out immediately?]
[Teacher Azure must have predicted the opponent's move—even if can't steal weather, why bother? You can have it!]
[But how does a Water-type win in Sunny weather? Would wasting a turn switching to Politoed to reclaim weather be too costly...]
[I don't understand—but Teacher Azure must have his reasons!]
Though students didn't quite understand Aiden's puzzling move, they'd grown accustomed to it.
Would Teacher Azure still be Teacher Azure if he followed rules?
He needed to occasionally pull out tricks—and win easily—that's the real Teacher Azure!
But Aiden seemed about to disappoint everyone this time.
His command was extremely conventional—almost immediately speaking the moment battle began:
"Palafin, U-turn."
Recalling his Pokémon right at the start made the answer very clear.
His purpose really was just to steal weather...
Even his opponent quickly realized this, decisively commanding:
"Torkoal, start charging Solar Beam!"
In sunny weather, Solar Beam's charging time became extremely rapid—skilled trainers could almost eliminate its wind-up.
Among Fire-type Pokémon, surprisingly many could learn this move to cover weaknesses—dealing terrifying damage to their Water-type counters.
It was precisely with this move that Aiden had previously tricked many people using Sun teams.
Now, this opening move was rapidly thrown back at him.
Palafin sped forward, swinging its tail near Torkoal before sharply rebounding backward, quickly transforming into red light as Aiden steadily recalled it into its Poké Ball.
Torkoal also finished charging—waiting only for Aiden to summon his next Pokémon before attacking immediately.
After all, practical battling and game mechanics weren't completely identical—Drizzle ability took time to trigger and form.
So even if his backfield was almost certainly a Drizzle Pokémon, it couldn't immediately interfere with Torkoal using Solar Beam.
To this, Aiden merely raised an eyebrow, then calmly took out his second Poké Ball as if unsurprised.
"Go, Pelipper."
Soon, a Pelipper appeared on Aiden's half-field again.
"As expected—Torkoal, release all your stored energy!"
His opponent immediately commanded.
Pelipper with Water/Flying typing wasn't afraid of Solar Beam, but this move's power was enough to significantly reduce its HP.
If Aiden had Politoed, the effect would be better—but he couldn't switch.
As Pelipper quietly triggered Drizzle ability, clouds began gathering in the sky. Torkoal quickly gathered green energy in its mouth, immediately unleashing it toward its target.
"Tsk—you're too young."
Aiden clicked his tongue inwardly while raising his right hand in advance.
Some watching students immediately noticed his action but couldn't understand what Teacher Azure was about to do.
Two consecutive switches—just to ensure Palafin could transform?
Sounded quite...abstract.
But soon, they wouldn't think that anymore.
After Solar Beam hit Pelipper, the pained Pelipper's body suddenly flashed an unnatural red, followed by strange alarm sounds echoing through the field.
Pelipper immediately transformed into red light as Aiden easily recalled it into its Poké Ball.
Where Pelipper had been flying, an unassuming small item fell to the ground with a crisp sound after its disappearance.
Simultaneously, Aiden's face quickly revealed a smile.
"It's the Eject Button—I gave Pelipper an Eject Button. As long as the opponent cooperates, I can completely switch weather in one turn while also letting Palafin transform into its most powerful form."
[??? Eject Button—another obscure weird item...?]
[I looked it up—there actually seems to be merit to this. If not immediately knocked out after being hit, Eject Button instantly triggers to help Pokémon switch out. Surprisingly compatible with Teacher Azure's strategy!]
[This accident teaches us—you'll never know what random weird thing the Teacher Azure facing you will pull out...]
Using the item's effect, Aiden completed two switches within the opponent's single action.
Not only did he easily bring in Zero to Hero-activated Palafin, he also let Pelipper trigger Drizzle ability to cover the field's weather.
Which meant... as long as the opponent anticipated Aiden's switch and used an attack move in advance, this strategy could definitely be broken.
Facing this tactic for the first time—no one could possibly imagine real battles could rotate like this!
At this moment, the little challenger facing Aiden was already flushed with embarrassment, looking more energetic than before.
After all...
If he hadn't been so clever earlier—pre-emptively charging Solar Beam to severely damage Teacher Azure's weather setter—this tactic wouldn't have been so easily executed.
In a way, he had blocked his own path...
The current situation was virtually a dead end for him.
Weather setter Torkoal was on the field—even switching couldn't quickly change weather;
And Palafin's combat power after transformation could be intuitively felt from watching Teacher Azure's streams.
One Wave Crash created immense pressure against Fire-types—even switching to backfield main Charizard wouldn't guarantee surviving its attack.
Even if miraculously surviving, it still had Aqua Jet—perfect priority and decent power—for finishing moves.
As for forcing Torkoal to endure damage while using Sunny Day—that was even more impossible.
Torkoal's speed gave it huge advantages in weather contests, but in normal battles it was incredibly slow—only possibly gaining first strike in Trick Room...
No matter how you looked at it, this was already a definite dead end.
For his cleverness backfiring, the opposing trainer was on the verge of tears.
As he had anticipated, Aiden's Palafin soon became a war god, cutting down opponents effortlessly to easily end the match.
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