The moment Asher stepped into the Gym, the whole place erupted in cheers.
"Oooooohhh—he's here, he's here! Is it finally starting?!"
"Ah! I can't wait anymore! Hurry up and begin already!"
"Bring out today's battle!"
Some of these people were pure spectators, the kind who came here to watch battles the same way people on Earth went to concerts.
Others were dreamers chasing the path of becoming Trainers, hoping that by watching official Trainer battles, they might somehow stumble onto the secret of how to become one themselves.
What they didn't know was that the real secret of being a Trainer was something they would never learn just by watching battles.
Asher looked at the Trainer walking out from the other side. She was a beautiful young woman in a dress, pink tights, and twin tails.
Everything about her gave off a polished, high-class vibe, like some top student straight out of an elite academy.
But judging by her age, just a little over twenty, she obviously wasn't the Gym Leader here.
During the Great Pilgrimage, the person testing challengers wasn't necessarily the Gym Leader.
After all, people who came to take part in the Pilgrimage were as common as traffic at rush hour. If every single one of them had to challenge the Gym Leader personally, then even if the Leader worked around the clock, there'd still be no way to handle every challenge.
So depending on how many badges a Trainer had, the Gym would assign either an outstanding disciple from within the Gym or an examiner sent by the League to serve as the challenger's tester.
And the examiner standing before Asher, Roxanne, was one of Rustboro Academy's most distinguished graduates.
The instant she appeared, the crowd exploded into a fresh wave of fanatical cheers.
"It's... it's Principal Roxanne!"
"Aaaaahhh—Principal Roxanne, I love youuuuu!"
"Huff, huff, huff... no, I can't take it, my heart's about to jump out of my chest!"
"Ghh—this is too much, too much! Hurry up and fight already!"
Seeing the crowd's insane, frenzied, completely brainless reaction, Asher froze. His first instinct was that these people had all gotten high on some kind of herbal extract.
Sure, she was definitely pretty, but was she really so charming that she could drive people this crazy?
"You... seem like a huge star around here. The whole crowd's going wild for you."
Roxanne gave him a mysterious smile, clearly implying more than she said.
"Red-hat boy, it looks like you still haven't gotten used to what it means to be a Trainer. Trainers are the greatest people in this world. A real Trainer naturally has this kind of charisma."
Glancing at the audience around him, Asher couldn't help breaking into a nervous sweat. These people were every bit as intense as hardcore fandoms back on Earth.
Maybe that was the power of trend culture.
Pokémon battles really were the undisputed number one thing in this world.
[Rotom... scanning target.]
[Target: Roxanne]
[Relationship: teacher-student roleplay]
[Social advice: She's about to start educating you.]
WTF?!
Asher had a bad feeling about this.
Apparently, the title "Principal" wasn't literal at all. It seemed more like some sort of stage name.
Was his very first Gym battle really going to pit him against a troublesome character like this?
Pushing all those pointless thoughts aside, Asher snapped his Poké Ball forward and said sternly,
"Let's do this, Flare. Get ready for battle!"
With a flash of white light, the red lizard landed on the battlefield.
Roxanne let out a soft laugh when she saw it.
"Hehe. Red-hat dummy from the Kanto League, don't tell me you don't know that Fire-type Pokémon are completely incapable of threatening our Rock-types? If you don't even understand basic type advantages, then you've already failed this test."
Snap—
As she spoke, a rock with eyes, a nose, and hands but no feet appeared on the field.
Asher pulled out his Pokédex and scanned it.
[Rotom... scanning target.]
[Target: Geodude]
[Level: 12]
[Element Affinity: Earth 21]
[Relationship: opponent]
[Social advice: Fight.]
Asher blinked when he saw the level.
"Level 12? It's that weak?"
Every certified Trainer he'd seen so far had started with Pokémon in the twenties or thirties.
This was the first time he'd run into a Pokémon that looked even more underdeveloped than Flare.
But Principal Roxanne was utterly unconcerned, and scolded him sharply.
"You really are an utterly ignorant bottom-tier student! The only reason I'm using a Pokémon this weak is because your record is so bad and you don't even have a single badge yet, so I'm matching you with an equally weak Pokémon. My real ace is something you'll never lay eyes on in your entire life!"
Because he'd been thrown into all this so suddenly, Asher had spent the past three months focused entirely on brutal training and hadn't really studied the Great Pilgrimage in depth.
So now he could only awkwardly tilt his hat and improvise a distraction tactic on the spot.
"Perfect chance! While she's not paying attention, hit Geodude with your special move!"
"Gaaah—"
In an instant, fire-element energy from all around began gathering above Flare, and the atmosphere in the arena grew hotter and more stifling.
That feeling—
The moment Roxanne sensed the rising heat, she immediately understood that a Fire-type move was coming.
So...
No rush. Buff first.
There were more than ten meters between them. Based on the information Roxanne had collected, that Charmander had no way of attacking across that kind of distance.
As an honors student, she knew the data behind every move at every level like the back of her hand.
So she decided to stay calm, hold her ground, and stack a buff first.
The moment Geodude received Roxanne's command, thick earth-element energy coated its body and began grinding rapidly across its rocky surface.
This was the Rock-type talent move Rock Polish.
By using earth-element energy to create intense friction across its outer surface, it reduced air resistance and boosted its speed.
While Geodude was busy buffing itself, Flare had already finished gathering its fire-element energy and unleashed its move.
Secret Art: Ember Jet!
A surging blast of sparks shot forward like a wave, crossing the gap of more than ten meters and smashing straight into Geodude's face.
Roxanne was startled at first, then burst into laughter.
"Hahahaha, red-hat boy, you've got some nice firepower there. I'm impressed you managed to grasp a Secret Art beyond your level, but with just this much force? This Charmander of yours is seriously underdeveloped. You fail raising class."
Element Affinity was a Pokémon's ability to draw on the natural elements of heaven and earth.
For Pokémon of the same level, the higher this value was, the stronger moves of that type became.
Normally, a level 15 Charmander ought to have a Fire-element Affinity around 25.
But Flare's Fire-element Affinity of only 18 meant its moves were weaker than those of other Charmander at the same level.
And Rock-types already resisted fire to begin with, so this really was just scratching the surface.
Once she judged the situation, Roxanne greedily decided to go for another buff.
Still no rush.
Buff again!
Geodude flexed its body, pulling its rocky frame inward and temporarily increasing its density, boosting its physical defense.
Talent move: Defense Curl!
Yet just as Geodude stood there loaded up with two buffs, ready to advance or retreat at will, Asher suddenly shouted,
"Now! Flare, grab hold of that feeling!"
Bzz—
Flare's body shuddered as it focused with all its might on a state of extreme constriction.
The sparks it spat out began to draw inward, tightening and compressing until they became unbelievably dense.
What had originally been a pillar of fire as thick as an arm condensed into a rope no thicker than two fingers.
Secret Art: Binding Fire Rope!
Scorching. Searing.
The fire-element packed inside that rope of flame was unbelievably concentrated. Its attack range had become tiny, but because the density of the fire-element had risen so sharply, the power of the flames had gone up by an entire tier.
The flames began melting Geodude's outer surface, searing blazing marks directly into its body.
Geodude crashed to the ground and rolled around wildly.
Who the hell could endure something this scorching?!
Burned by that blazing rope of fire, Geodude couldn't withstand the agonizing pain at all. It fainted on the spot and lost the ability to battle.
This was the bad-matchup tactic that Asher and Flare had mastered.
How could Flare beat Rock-types that were naturally resistant to high temperatures?
That question had tormented Asher for days.
He thought and thought, but couldn't solve it.
Until one day, Flare showed up wearing that weird grin that bared all four of its teeth and handed him a coil of rope...
And in that instant, enlightenment struck Asher like lightning.
So that was it! So that was it!
If fire-element energy could be gathered together like strands of rope, twisted tighter and tighter, then it could be concentrated enough to melt rock.
Which raised the next question: how were you supposed to make a Pokémon truly grasp that feeling of gathering and tightening?
Just as Asher sank back into deep thought, a powerful wave of telepathy suddenly surged into him!!!
Huh?! This feeling...
Staring at the rope in front of him and Flare's eerie grin, Asher felt like he had finally found the answer...
Tighter, tighter, tighter—bind the rope on!
Flare's understanding of concentrated firepower exploded upward, surging harder, fiercer, and more violently than ever before—fifty times stronger than before!
After his revolutionary training method of friction creates heat, Asher had now grasped an entirely new approach:
binding to condense energy!
After a full week of hellish special training, the ropes around Flare had been tied tighter and tighter, until it had completely mastered that sense of compression and restraint.
Its Secret Art...
had reached perfection.
This was the power of Bond.
Unbeatable.
Inside the Gym, Asher laughed boldly.
"Beautifully done, Flare! Our tactic worked!"
"Gaaah!"
Flare happily rubbed its belly. In that moment, it and Asher were of one heart and mind, sharing the joy of victory together.
Behind every master of bad matchups lies a whole new world you've never seen before...
————
[Item: Rope]
[Effect: When held by a Pokémon, strengthens insight into a specific Secret Art based on intimacy.]