One week later.
The several Trainers gradually passed the test of the Beginner Area and successfully advanced to the High-level Area.
To ease his workload, Hogan delayed things for a day or two this time, waiting until all the six Trainers had qualified for the High-level Area before he began teaching.
These Trainers were the second group to achieve the second requirement, following Terrance and Shiro.
The teaching method was the same as it had been with Terrance and Shiro. First, they would undergo two days of intensive knowledge intake. Then, they would need to summarize what they had learned on their own, after which Hogan would assess their results.
The time given to these Trainers for summarizing was more than a day, which will also allow the other Trainers who had not yet advanced to the High-level Area to catch up.
Half a month later, of the Trainers invited by Scott, six made mistakes in the Beginner Area and failed to secure consecutive wins.
Soon after, two more Trainers advanced to the High-level Area. With Terrance and Shiro having already advanced, eight Trainers caught up. In total, ten Trainers were now waiting for the start of the third assessment.
Scott also began contacting the Trainers hired from Unova, preparing for the next round of special training for Terrance and the others in half a month.
As for the six Trainers who had failed, this half-month period would be their final deadline. If they still couldn’t break through to the High-level Area, they would be dropped by the Frontier Club.
Failing to cross the first requirement, despite being invited by Scott, they had been given a month’s worth of resources. If they still couldn’t show their value, Scott believed he had done all he could.
In a certain lounge, Hogan flipped through the files of several Trainers from the Castelia Club and heaved a sigh.
The next moment, his communicator rang. Hogan picked it up and saw that it was Scott.
“Hello.”
This was the second time Hogan had received a call from Scott, the first being on the day Terrance and Shiro had passed.
“Hogan, how is the current batch doing? What are their chances of winning against the Castelia Club?” Scott got straight to the point.
Hogan fell silent: “Troy, Yami, Ethan, and Shiro are of similar strength and are quite outstanding.”
“As for the remaining five, I’m not very confident about their chances against the Castelia Club members.”
“So, with Terrance, that makes five, right?” Scott asked.
“That’s true, but my assessment might be too rough. We don’t even know if the Pokémon they have now are their strongest ones. The lack of information on them is a disadvantage for both the Castelia Club and us.”
“We can only find records of the official competitions they’ve participated in,” Scott replied.
That’s far from enough…
Hogan thought to himself. Just relying on data wasn’t enough to choose the right people to face the Castelia Club.
After all, they only had the data on the Castelia Club. Considering the unpredictability and changes in battles, relying on a few records was too one-sided.
Only by seeing these Trainers’ Pokémon in person, and understanding the bond and coordination between them and their Trainers can one truly be considered to “know oneself” and maximize their existing potential.
“Terrance has been quite famous in the High-level Area recently… I’ve even received reports about it,” Scott said.
“Yes,” Hogan replied, surprised. “Since they entered the High-level Area, none of them have been able to secure consecutive wins.”
“Haha, I know. It seems we’ll have to modify the Battle Tower’s rules soon, or we’ll have fewer and fewer Trainers coming here.”
“By the way, about what you mentioned last time, don’t bother with it anymore. There’s no way Terrance will join the Frontier Club.”
“What? Why?” Hogan was taken aback.
Scott explained, “I dug deeper into it. Although Terrance comes from humble beginnings, he has close ties with that genetics master from the Breeder Association and is also affiliated with an ‘Academy.’ According to the unwritten rules between clubs and academies, both sides can’t interfere with each other. The level of contact we’ve had is already the limit.”
Hogan realized, “An academy? Silver or Crown?”
“Crown,” Scott replied. At this point, only Crown and Silver Academy were prestigious enough to be worth mentioning. As for Kanto’s Champion Academy, it had completely declined in recent years, fragmented into numerous small Trainer’s Schools.
“I see. That’s a shame, though. If we could have gotten Terrance, in five years, our Frontier Club would have gained a powerful Trainer,” Hogan sighed.
“But even now, I can’t believe you actually suffered a setback at Terrance’s hands,” Scott laughed on the other end, clearly puzzled.
“Even though I hate to admit it, I might have underestimated him,” Hogan said with a wry smile. He had been quite serious, but knowing so little about Terrance and being overly confident in his Swampert, he allowed Altaria to use Dragon Dance twice.
After two Dragon Dance, Altaria engaged in a fierce battle with Swampert. In the end, both were caught in a massive shockwave from Altaria’s Dragon Rush and Swampert’s full-power attack, rendering both unable to continue battling. This outcome left Hogan speechless for a long time.
As a result, when facing other Trainers afterward, Hogan resorted to sending out two Pokémon simultaneously to avoid another upset.
“Even though I gave Terrance two opportunities to power up, Swampert is still my ace—” Hogan sighed inwardly. Tying with Terrance in a one-on-two situation shouldn’t have been something to be ashamed of, but he was, after all, a signed Trainer for the Frontier Club, and have competed in the Champion League for years; he was confident that his strength ranked in the top hundred in all of Hoenn….
But to have a battle result like this against Terrance left Hogan feeling frustrated and annoyed. The fact remained that after two Dragon Dance, Altaria could match Swampert. Even though Swampert had more stamina, Terrance seized the perfect moment, using the last effective moments of Dragon Dance to unleash a finishing Dragon Rush, resulting in a draw with Swampert. This keen timing was the key to Terrance holding his own against Hogan.
“Terrance’s Altaria has a talent on par with the Salamence and Metagross we’ve poured resources into at our club. If we could acquire Terrance, and with Altaria and Mismagius as the core, forming a dual-core team, our Frontier Club could have a Trainer with Elite Four potential,” This was why he had urged Scott to recruit Terrance, but it seemed the outcome wasn’t as he had hoped.
Although in a standard battle, Hogan would never give Terrance the chance to let Altaria power up, let alone twice, and considering Dragon Dance’s time limitation, Altaria’s advantage in a real 3v3 or even 6v6 battle would be minimized. But the fact that after just two Dragon Dance, it could match his Swampert… Hogan didn’t expect that.
“He’s truly a freak,” he muttered, shaking his head helplessly.
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