After Flare used a bad matchup to knock out Geodude in one hit, the whole arena instantly exploded into celebration!
"Woooow—now that's power! One hit and it's over!"
"No way! Principal Roxanne's Geodude got wrecked by that Kanto punk!"
"Hnnngh aaahhh—what a scorching move! I'm getting fired up too!"
Feeling the surrounding crowd's insane screams wash over him, Asher grew dizzy!
Could it be...
Was this what it meant to be a Trainer? To possess this kind of presence, this kind of magnetism, enough to drive ordinary people crazy and out of control?!
At that moment, Asher finally discovered the secret of Trainers!
During Pokémon battles, Trainers generated shockwave-like mental fluctuations.
Those mental waves struck ordinary people like rolling surf, delivering wave after wave of irregular stimulation!
That was why battle venues were always packed to the brim. Watching through a screen meant you couldn't feel those all-important mental ripples at all!
The ordinary people living in these great League cities were under enormous pressure.
So they often used Pokémon battles as stress relief, venting the strain of high-pressure work through this maddening excitement.
And as for people who were Trainers themselves, they were just as unable to resist the lure of that mental stimulation!
They kept seeking battle after battle, satisfying their spiritual cravings through Pokémon combat!
At the same time, their mental power also grew stronger, sharper, and more intense through each successive battle!!
Maybe... the humans of this world were just a kind of Psychic-type Pokémon?
Roxanne burst into laughter.
"So you finally realized it? They're going crazy because of our battle! Feel supreme pride in the fact that you are a Trainer! Also... cheating by relying on a level advantage still doesn't count as passing, you know. A fail is still a fail, so go study properly!"
[Rotom! Your cheating has excited Roxanne! Your relationship has changed to [Failing Student Trying to Cheat]!]
What?!
Trying to cheat?
Asher was speechless. Did this really count as cheating?
At that moment, Roxanne's whole aura changed. Fanatical battle intent blazed in her eyes!
She pressed a kiss to her Poké Ball and fiercely summoned her teaching tool!
"Go, Heather Two! Win the cheers back for me!"
Pop—
Another Geodude!
Asher frowned. Had she really learned nothing from what just happened? Did she actually think that just because of a so-called type advantage, she could beat him now?
No!!
This Geodude was stronger, fiercer, and more intense than the last one!
It could throw out gusts and iron-hard punches the previous Geodude never could. It had the confidence to knock Flare off the field!
According to the app, this Geodude possessed the level 15 life force the first one lacked!
With both Pokémon at the same level, Roxanne was absolutely convinced she could hand this ignorant red-hat boy a resounding failing grade!
Boom—
The moment the battle resumed, everything began unfolding exactly like before!
Flare attacked immediately, while Geodude started stacking a Rock Polish buff!
But unlike last time, the instant Flare made its move, Geodude moved too!
Its floating body, wrapped in pale yellow Earth-element energy, frantically polished itself to reduce air resistance, darting forward as it dodged Flare's fire attack!
Under the effects of Rock Polish, Geodude's originally pitiful speed kept climbing higher and higher, like friction generating heat!
But could that really let it dodge the attack without a scratch?
No!!
Flare moved too. With Asher's help, it used its Split Focus trick, moving while breathing fire with all its strength!
The flames scorched Geodude's rocky surface, but under Roxanne's orders, it kept charging forward through the blaze!
"Damn it! This kind of Fire-type attack can't possibly affect you—you're a Rock-type Pokémon!"
That might have been true, but...
This was a Fire-type attack tightly concentrated through the power of Bond!
A searing attack forged from Bond could roast even stone until it melted!
By the time Heather Two was about to reach Flare, it had finally been roasted unconscious!
The winner had been decided!
"Flare, beautifully done!! We're about to win this!"
"Gaaah!!"
The two looked at each other in pure joy. All their shared effort had finally borne fruit in this moment!
Just as Asher and Flare were basking in their victory, Roxanne's face darkened.
Memories surged up like a tide...
[Do you know why you lost? Because your Pokémon's typing was completely countered by my Garchomp! Outstanding graduate of Rustboro Academy? You don't even understand type matchups. You're a total failure!]
Type matchup...
Type matchup...
Type matchup!
A white light suddenly flashed in Roxanne's eyes, and she roared,
"Fail fail fail fail fail fail fail fail!"
[Rotom! Your answer has driven Roxanne mad! Your relationship has changed to [Failing Student in Need of Severe Remedial Instruction]!]
Boom—
At that moment, Roxanne erupted with an astonishing aura!
A beam of white light suddenly shot out from the Poké Ball in her hand!
The Geodude that had already fainted was stimulated by the white light and actually woke up again, floating into the air and launching a sneak attack at Flare!
This was the foundation of the modern Pokémon Trainer—
Command Force!
A violent mental stimulus created by converting a Trainer's mental power through the Poké Ball!
Why could humans tame savage Pokémon? Because of Bond and love?
Hell no! It was all Command Force!
It was basically the same principle as the old primitive method of taming beasts with a whip.
This Command Force was mental stimulation produced by the Poké Ball and the Trainer's own mental power.
More or less, it was a high-tech whip.
If Poké Balls didn't come with that function, what Pokémon would just sit obediently inside one?
Eight hundred years ago, it was precisely through the power of Poké Balls and Command Force that humanity, under the leadership of the twenty great families, was able to rise so quickly!
Of course, Professor Oak hadn't mentioned a single word of this to Asher, so Asher never even knew Poké Balls could do this...
So...
Asher, you really are a failing student when it comes to book learning!
"Not good!! Flare, dodge it now!"
The sacred three-word mantra, go!
The moment the three-word mantra was spoken, Flare immediately received a flood of signals through Aura Power!
In that split second, Flare dodged the punch and instantly launched a fiery counterattack!
—
A long rope of fire immediately lashed across Geodude's body, burning it over and over!
But Geodude had gone mad. It kept punching at Flare through the flames like a maniac!
Asher could feel Flare's pain through their connection, but at the same time he also sensed Geodude's desperate agony and screamed out,
"That's enough, Miss Roxanne! It can't keep going! Don't force it to keep fighting!"
At that moment, Principal Roxanne reacted as if she'd just heard a failing student talk back. Chest heaving, she shouted in fury,
"What nonsense are you saying?! My Geodude is a Rock-type Pokémon! How could it possibly be unable to endure this?! Go study the Pokémon type chart properly!"
Madness!
Driven by the stimulation of Command Force, Heather Two endured its melting outer surface and, in unbearable agony, continued receiving Roxanne's orders in its near-death state, punching again and again!
Just like humans had a self-protective mechanism that sealed away part of their strength, Pokémon also had a sealed power inside them—
Vital Essence.
When a Pokémon suffered a fatal wound, the Vital Essence it normally never used would activate to protect it, forcing it into an immobile near-death state in order to preserve its life.
A Pokémon in a near-death state could sometimes survive even being cut clean in half and still claw its way back from the brink!
But if it kept fighting while in that near-death state, then it was truly fighting for its life!
And right now, Roxanne was using her terrifying Command Force to forcibly make Geodude risk its life!
Asher sensed the pain of both Pokémon through their heart-to-heart connection while they furiously beat each other on the field, and his anger exploded!
"Stop this! Your Pokémon is crying!!"
Roxanne yanked at her twin tails and screamed,
"Shut up! They're the same level, so if it loses to your Charmander, then it was never a Rock-type Pokémon to begin with! I'll say it again. You. Fail!"
Seeing Roxanne in such hysterical madness, Asher couldn't help but wonder!
Could it be...
Was teaching more important than a Pokémon's life?!!