As Lirica recounted the battle, Terrance gradually came to understand the details. Lirica’s opponent had used a Bug-type Pokémon—Vespiquen. At the time, Lirica had naturally been quite pleased—
Castform possessed Snowy Form, and if Snowy Weather was utilized properly, it could deal significant damage to the opponent.
“At first, I was really confident…”
“But I never expected that the snow would have no effect on Vespiquen. Before I could even figure out what was happening, I had already lost.”
At this point, Lirica seemed rather upset. Terrance’s Castform had the achievement of clearing several levels of Tower of Despair, so its strength was unquestionable. Yet, despite this, under Lirica’s commands, it had still lost the battle. Lirica took full responsibility, blaming it entirely on her own commands.
Seeing the puzzled look on Terrance’s face, Lirica cautiously asked, “Senior Terrance, what should we do next?”
“It’s fine…” Terrance waved his hand dismissively.
Just then, Kota returned. Seeing the atmosphere among the group, he was visibly taken aback.
“Kota, did you win your challenge?” Ittetsu asked hurriedly.
“Barely managed to win!” Kota smiled slightly. “It was all thanks to Gallade.”
“As long as you won.” Terrance then said, “Two rooms should be enough. We’ll deal with the rest when the time comes.”
Hearing this, Kota looked at Lirica in confusion. “Two rooms? Does that mean Lirica…”
“Yes, my Castform lost.”
Terrance was a bit surprised. He hadn’t told Lirica that Castform’s Snowy Weather ability could greatly amplify its power after Rain Dance, but even without that, a Snowy Weather Castform shouldn’t have been easy to defeat.
Losing the battle… was completely outside of Terrance’s expectations. He had never even considered this possibility.
“Lirica, do you remember that person’s room number?” Terrance smiled. Since she had lost, and since the opponent had even challenged Castform’s true Trainer, it wouldn’t matter to him if he didn’t go—but Castform certainly wouldn’t be satisfied.
“I remember…” Lirica nodded.
…
…
“The only thing that bothers me is how their Bug-type Pokémon completely ignored Castform’s Snowy Weather ability.”
After settling the students’ accommodations, Terrance started considering whether he should face the opponent.
Despite the type disadvantage, the opponent had still displayed overwhelming strength. If it wasn’t simply a matter of raw power, then the opponent must have mastered some special technique—or undergone intense specialized training.
After some thought, Terrance finally made his way toward a certain room on one of the Battle Hotel’s floors.
Terrance noticed some key details in Lirica’s words—Vespiquen and a strange move that she hadn’t fully understood. This only made Terrance even more curious.
Even after spending two years as a Crown Academy student, he had never seen a Trainer who used Vespiquen as their main Pokémon.
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Arriving at the room’s door, Terrance gave it a gentle knock and said, “Excuse me, is anyone here?”
A response quickly came from inside, and the door opened. A young man with short green hair, looking very youthful, gazed at Terrance.
“And you are?”
“I’m Castform’s Trainer,” Terrance said with a slight smile. “The one who battled Castform earlier—that was you, wasn’t it?”
Terrance got straight to the point. The green-haired youth thought for a moment, then his eyes lit up. “Oh? So, it’s you. Hello. So, are you here to avenge Castform’s loss?”
“I do have that in mind,” Terrance replied with a grin.
Under Lirica’s command, Castform hadn’t been able to display its true strength before losing. If they had a rematch and still weren’t strong enough, then at least there would be no regrets.
“I accept. My name is Aaron.”
“Aaron…” Terrance searched his memory but couldn’t recall hearing the name before.
“My name is Terrance.”
“Um… if we’re going to battle, could we do it tomorrow afternoon? I have some things to take care of first,” Aaron said.
“I’ll still be in this room, or if you’d rather, you can tell me where you’re staying, and I’ll come find you.”
“No problem.” Terrance nodded.
After a brief conversation, Terrance took his leave.
When he reunited with the four students, he told them about the rematch with Aaron.
“Aaron?” Kaido furrowed his brows. “I feel like I’ve heard that name somewhere before.”
“Huh… Kaido, do you know him?” Lirica asked.
“Is he a famous Trainer?” Terrance inquired.
Kaido fell into deep thought. After a while, his eyes suddenly widened: “I remember now!”
“He was featured in a tv news report before—the biggest dark horse of the Elite Four Challenge Competition! He was hailed by the media as a genius Trainer that would become an Elite Four within three years!”
“What made him so memorable was his age… and the fact that he’s the first Trainer in decades to rise to prominence by specializing in Bug-type Pokémon!”
At this point, Kaido suddenly found it unbelievable.
If there was a hierarchy of types, then Bug-type Pokémon would undoubtedly be at the bottom, facing the most disdain. Very few Trainers who specialized in Bug-type had ever made a name for themselves—becoming a Gym Leader seemed to be the highest they could reach.
Compared to Ghost, Psychic, or Dragon-type, which had big advantages from birth, the weaknesses of Bug-type Pokémon were glaringly obvious.
Because of this, Aaron’s current achievements were all the more remarkable. At the same time, they had earned him a large following. If one were to ask which Pokémon types were most commonly owned by Trainers, Bug, Grass, and Flying-type would undoubtedly rank among the top.
These types were relatively easy to raise, making them the best choices for Trainers who didn’t come from wealthy backgrounds.
“If Aaron becomes an Elite Four, he might be the first to hold the title of ‘Bug-type Elite Four’ and reach the pinnacle of the Trainer world,” Kaido said.
“That impressive…” Terrance was momentarily stunned.
Praised by the media to become an Elite Four within three years?
If that wasn’t just exaggerated hype, then Aaron must have real skills.
If the rumors were true, then Terrance could somewhat understand why Castform had lost to a Bug-type Pokémon.
However, he could only determine the full extent of Aaron’s strength through battle!
“Senior Terrance, if you’re going to battle Aaron…” Kaido looked at him worriedly.
After learning Aaron’s true identity, Lirica suddenly felt much better about her loss. Losing to someone like that… wasn’t really shameful, right?
“Senior Terrance…” Kota looked at Terrance. He had great confidence in Terrance’s strength, but Aaron was the leader of the new generation of Trainers in Sinnoh.
“There’s no need to worry about me,” Terrance shot them a glance. “You should focus on preparing for your own training journey mission.”
“Also, if you’re planning to participate in the Gem Tournament, go sign up as soon as possible. If you miss the deadline, there won’t be another chance.”
PC Chapter 497 Inviting Aaron for Battle
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