LRAB Chapter 304 How to Defeat the Champion
Chapter 304 How to Defeat the Champion
For Black Lian, the news of the championship changing hands was like a proctor announcing a change in the exam scope before handing out the papers.
Moreover, if we accept the statement in the newspaper that Mary just bought at the airport, then the current champion of Unova is not just ordinary in strength.
Adding to the fact that his opponent's identity was mysterious, making it impossible to prepare in advance, the black-haired youth's practical assessment was practically a hellish challenge, like drawing the worst possible outcome.
"Even if a new champion takes over, they might not immediately take over the Elite Four's job of evaluating Gym Leaders, right?"
Mary comforted her, saying—
“Look, when the champion first took office, didn’t he usually have to deal with a lot of trivial administrative procedures? That person might not be able to find the time.”
"I inquired with the relevant personnel at the league headquarters, but they didn't know the specifics of the new champion either. However, it's certain that none of the four Heavenly Kings have any plans to conduct practical tests recently," Blackie said, shaking his head.
“That’s really bad news,” Mary admitted. “Combined with the news in the newspaper that ‘the four Usain Bolts have unanimously acknowledged the new champion’s strength,’ this matter is most likely not a misunderstanding caused by poor communication. So…”
"It's almost a certainty that the newly appointed champion will serve as an examiner."
The photographer voiced his partner's conclusion, looking sympathetically at the young trainer who dreamed of becoming a gym leader.
However...
Mary used her companion's digression to change the tone of her speech and liven up the atmosphere of the conversation.
"If it's just a practical test, shouldn't it be enough to just demonstrate strength commensurate with the dojo leader? There's no need to actually defeat the champion who's acting as the examiner, otherwise the test would just turn into a championship challenge."
“Even so, the pressure of facing a king is different from the pressure of facing a real champion,” Hei Lian said seriously.
"It sounds like you've had something like this before?"
"I once went through a low period in my life after losing to my childhood friend in a tournament. It was then that I met Mr. Alder, who was then the reigning champion and traveling all over the Unova region."
"I see, so this former champion's name is among your recommenders... Wait, your childhood friend?"
Mary turned her head to the other side in surprise.
"Is this Miss Shiratsuyu such a powerful trainer? She defeated the top four trainers of the Higanbana Tournament, so she must be in the top two."
"No, no, no, you misunderstand. I'm just a research assistant who helps Professor Julius collect Pokémon data. This time, I'm accompanying Blackbeard to assist him with his assessment in order to complete a project related to the breeding of battle Pokémon."
The girl, who looked careless and had just missed her flight because she was late, quickly waved her hand.
"The childhood friend that Blackie mentioned refers to another one of our childhood playmates. She also qualified for the Hinoki Tournament by challenging the gym, and in that tournament, she defeated Blackie and Miss Alice from Odd Dragon City, and finally won the championship trophy."
"He's a really skilled trainer," Dai exclaimed.
"However, she also got a taste of success from that competition, and after that, her life went completely off track, and she started speeding down a strange path... It's really hard to explain."
Hei Lian shook his head repeatedly in regret, showing his unwillingness to continue discussing that topic.
“I understand. Let’s get back to the topic of Black Lian meeting the champion, Alderman. So, have you ever fought a former champion?” Mary was very professional and decisively steered the conversation back to the previous topic.
The black-haired boy waved his hand and explained, "That's not the case. If I had really been fortunate enough to fight, I wouldn't be so confused now. In fact, Mr. Adek that day was just having me train with him."
"Special training?"
"Yes, according to that former champion, it was special training to cultivate so-called 'resolve.' It sounds very strange, doesn't it? It wasn't before the competition, but after I was eliminated. I found it very inexplicable at the time. Now it seems like just ordinary activities like exercising with Pokémon, weight training, and honing moves... But back then, after sweating it out with Mr. Alder and his Pokémon, I don't know why, but I suddenly felt a lot of the knot in my heart disappear."
“I see.” Mary casually turned to a new page in her full notebook. “Exercise can indeed relieve stress sometimes.”
"It's not just that. More importantly, I saw my ideal self in Mr. Ardeck back then—not in the aspect of holding a title, but in the spiritual strength he showed by proactively helping and teaching others when they were in trouble. I want to be that kind of person too."
"I think this is a remarkable ideal. Being a Gym Leader is indeed a very suitable job for realizing your dream. From your description, Blackie, I can also feel the kind of strength that Alder is like, unlike Steven, the Champion of Hoenn."
If Mr. Daigo saw a talented trainer feeling down on the street, he would probably offer a few words of comfort and then give them a few oddly shaped stones that could come in handy in battle as a consolation gift. It's hard to say which approach is better or worse…
"But, although Blackie trained with Mr. Alder's Pokémon, he knew nothing about their strength."
Bai Lu interjected.
"If Black League is swept out of the competition by the new champion 0-6 before they can even demonstrate their strength and qualifications after the actual combat assessment begins, then all our previous efforts will have been in vain."
"Well, although the opponent is the champion, since he is serving as the examiner, he should slow down the pace a bit... just like how a gym leader sends out a less powerful Pokémon when facing a beginner."
Mary speculated hesitantly.
“Mary, don’t forget, the current champion of Unova is a newcomer. His personality and character are still unknown. Black Len and the others certainly wouldn’t want to entrust their chance to realize their dreams to an unknown fate.”
Photographer Dai stood on the side of the newly acquainted teenagers and spoke up to refute his companion's naive idea.
"Hmm, about the champion's strength..." Miss Mary pondered deeply.
"We're not professional Pokémon trainers, so we can't offer any particularly specific opinions. But speaking of which, wasn't there a Gym Leader before? That Gym Leader once talked about his experience taking the Gym Leader Ability Test when he first moved to the Hoenn region in an interview on our TV station, and it's very similar to your situation, Blackie. The interview seemed to include his description of his battle against Champion Steven, and he almost won, but I don't know how much of that was exaggerated."
"Which trainer was it? What type did they specialize in? Do you have any battle videos or original interview transcripts from that time?"
Before Heilian could answer, Bailu excitedly grabbed the reporter's hand holding the pencil and bombarded her with questions, even more excited than Heilian who was about to take the assessment.
“There are definitely no battle recordings, just like the combat assessments you participated in. This kind of information usually doesn’t circulate outside the Alliance headquarters,” Mary replied. “However, the unedited interview transcript should be available in the TV station’s work hard drive… Dai, we should have access to it, right?”
"Actually, I've already found it. This is inside information, please don't spread it."
Dai placed the lemonade, which had appeared out of nowhere, back on the table and held up her phone to the three of them. A read-only document was already open on the screen.
Then, as if recalling a funny story, the photographer couldn't help but smile and asked the two young people a question—
"Let's solve an interesting riddle: Who is the Gym Leader with the longest name in the Hoenn region?"