The champion of the bullfighting tournament had been decided!
Staring at the legendary warrior wreathed in roaring Sacred Fire, Dendra froze for a moment. After a short silence, she let out a sigh—almost as if she'd finally accepted it.
"In the end… I knew from the start I couldn't win."
"But being able to see something this incredible is pretty great too."
"This was a really fun tournament. I had a blast, and the audience had a blast too. And for the Iron Fist Championship coming up, I've gained a lot of experience… Someday, I'll have my own growth spurt too."
Hands on her hips, Dendra then noticed her Tauros wobbling its head on the ground. She hurried over to give it some emergency treatment—after that, it would still need a full recovery at the Pokémon Center.
"Congrats. You really are Elite Four. Inviting you to this tournament was absolutely the right call."
Seeing Hikaru walk over, Dendra greeted him first. There wasn't much disappointment in her eyes—if anything, she looked genuinely happy, like she'd gained something too.
This loss would become nourishment for future victories—and one day it would explode into bloom.
Of course, if Dendra knew she'd end up teaching at the academy later, it wasn't that becoming a teacher meant her path as a fighter was over. It was just that compared to most martial artists, Dendra was more like a sports specialist.
And the gap between a sports specialist and a warrior was huge—this "sports kid" wasn't the joking kind of "sports kid," either!
"You've got my thanks too. That final match helped Charcadet complete its mental transformation." Hikaru looked around at the crowd in the arena, cheering and leaping with joy. That happiness felt like it could fill the entire world.
"Auspicious Armor is armor that's earned great merit—and it still carries the emotion of celebration. I've been thinking… does that kind of armor hold the joy and energy of victory too? Merit remembered in a moment of crisis, preserving its own legend…"
"And under the influence of all that celebration… even the most battered armor, as long as it has merit, becomes a treasure sung for generations."
"That's exactly why my Charcadet finally completed its last evolution. It isn't just my strength and its strength—it also contains yours, your Tauros's, and the strength of everyone who came here today."
"That's what 'celebration' means—moments like this!"
In other words, Malicious Armor might be armor that "ate" a defeat—its soul-energy condensed by failure, cursing the victorious opponent, becoming resentment and fury. After all, its description was basically "old armor soaked in grudges."
And considering Paldea's history—eight hundred years ago, even if there was one great empire, other nations still existed and fought—so "victor's armor" and "loser's armor" naturally would have been forged in great numbers.
Influenced by that human weight, Charcadet gained two different evolutions, became a legend, and the legend became real.
And the prototype for Ceruledge was also a famous legendary knight—the flame-forged sword of regret, matching the "Sword of Flame" from Spanish legend.
They said that swordsman, after dying, returned in the form of the dead and drove off invading enemies once more.
So Armarouge corresponded to a hero who survived countless battles in blood and fire—while Ceruledge corresponded to a fallen hero who returned from death.
"Maybe, in an even more distant age, Charcadet had other forms too."
Hikaru patted Tauros's head and fed it some healing medicine. The bull immediately perked up, looking lively enough that it didn't seem to need the Pokémon Center anymore!
Dendra scratched her cheek, surprised. "Ah… when you put it like that, you're making me embarrassed."
"Whoa. That medicine is insanely effective!"
Hikaru said, "It's my secret medicine. One dose and you recover all your stamina."
"Waaaaaagh!"
The Falinks danced in a circle around Armarouge, like some kind of battle-hardened war dance. They were beyond excited!
The biggest, baddest, most boss monster led us little guys to a super victory!
"Agas!"
Miraidon wagged its tail too, the pixels in its electronic eyes turning into crescent moons. Even the electric dragon had a rich range of emotion.
To feel happy with your companions, to feel sad with them too, to read the atmosphere around you—
Winning was obviously something to be happy about, wasn't it?
The tournament organizers clapped as they entered the field. What this final match had displayed was astonishing and it had ignited the entire stadium, so there was basically no dispute at all over who deserved the title of "Champion Matador"!
Besides, this was a local entertainment event in the first place. As long as everyone had an amazing time, the tournament was already a huge success.
"Congratulations, congratulations…"
Principal Harrington came in with the organizers. Among the invited VIP guests, Hikaru even spotted Katy, the Gym Leader of Cortondo Town.
No wonder that slightly battle-loving pastry chef hadn't shown up on the battlefield—she'd been sitting in the special guest section.
Come to think of it, the billboard ads around the arena even had dessert advertisements for Katy's shop, Patisserie Soapberry.
"Patisserie Soapberry is a hugely popular dessert brand. Katy's probably swamped with work—maybe even busier than Tulip."
"And Paldea's Gym Leaders… every single one of them is basically a workaholic. Except the injured Grusha—he's not working. Uh… wow, I suddenly understand where Grusha's anxiety comes from."
Gym Leaders in other regions weren't like Paldea's, juggling daily shop operations and work nonstop.
A lot of them treated Pokémon battles as their lifelong pursuit, and they wanted to devote their entire lives to it.
"That's how regional culture and human atmosphere shape people."
While Hikaru was thinking that through, the organizers weren't just preparing the gold trophy—they were also arranging for the prize transport.
"The strongest bull was defeated by the strongest matador, so we can't award the golden bull trophy. We can only award the silver bull trophy instead."
"A silver trophy, huh…"
Dendra spread her hands and shook her head at Tulip, who had walked over. Tulip covered her mouth and chuckled.
"Try harder next time. And at the Iron Fist Championship, you'd better do your best too."
"Uh… Iron Fist? Can I really place well?" Dendra suddenly sounded a lot less confident.
They said the weakest participants were at least Gym Leader level—and Elite Four, even "Legend Master"-tier people, were everywhere.
She'd been full of confidence, but now she was getting nervous just thinking about it.
"But… when the time comes, I won't be using bullfighting rules anymore, so I'll be able to show a bit more of my real strength."
She muttered that under her breath.
As for prizes—Radiant Vegetables were a special prize that everyone who placed would receive. But Hikaru gave his Radiant Vegetables to Dendra instead. Dendra looked confused, and Tulip cleared her throat softly, covering her face with her hand as she explained in a low voice:
"I heard the person promoting Radiant Vegetables is that Elite Four member right there. In other words, he's Iono's partner."
Dendra blinked. "Huh?! So that's how it is! Then that means this stuff has to be amazing! It might even be more profitable than a year's worth of Pokémon food!"
Hikaru nodded and casually promoted it a little more. "Of course. This is food cultivated by Calyrex—produce grown by a legendary Pokémon. And for martial artists, eating it lets you recover stamina rapidly."
Calyrex was really moving up in the world.
It was about to become the supplier for the Naranja Academy cafeteria!
The dream of becoming the King of Vegetables was honestly getting close. When it revived back on the Crown Tundra, it'd probably transform on the spot into a giant Calyrex and punish those two runaway little horses hard!
Besides, Calyrex was always supposed to have that kind of power.
In the legends, Calyrex used that power to subdue two horses and become king.
Then after getting the horses, it slacked on training itself!
And then it got nailed by an Eternatus from the sky, got a nasty concussion, and turned into "Cal-weak-rex."
"Legendary Pokémon, huh… Never heard of that legend. But this logo is pretty cute. Is that thing a rabbit or a little deer? Is the stuff on its head cauliflower, or is it its head?"
Hearing Dendra's serious, earnest roasting, Hikaru coughed helplessly.
"Calyrex's head might look ridiculous, but it really does have terrifying power."
Everyone who saw Calyrex said something like that. He was used to it by now!
Hikaru added, "By the way, want to buy a plush? I've got Calyrex plushies too. Great for mood regulation and soothing a wounded heart—selling like crazy right now and extremely popular among Psychics!"
"And if you run into trouble training in the wild, you can throw the plush to distract wild Pokémon. Same effect as a Poké Doll!"
Hikaru somehow produced a Calyrex plush from nowhere, to the point that even Tulip complained, "Y-you… where did you pull that out from? Your bag? But I didn't see you put it down…"
Where from?
Obviously from the pocket space connected to the C-Gear.
This portable storage was insanely convenient!
"By the way—weren't there other mysterious prizes too…?"
Hikaru shoved the plushies into Dendra and Tulip's arms, sparking their curiosity as they examined them, then turned to look at Harrington, who wore a thoughtful expression.
Amid the celebratory award ceremony, Harrington cleared his throat lightly. The current principal of Naranja Academy decided it would be good to get familiar with Hikaru.
At the same time, he'd basically confirmed it—this person in front of him really was the new Elite Four member.
"I'm Harrington, principal of Naranja Academy. Congratulations on winning the Champion Matador title at this bullfighting tournament…"
"Ah! That—yeah, there is!" Harrington straightened his posture. After a moment of thought, he decided to ask directly.
"But before that, I'd like to ask something… I heard Chairwoman Geeta recruited you under exceptional terms…?"
"Chairwoman Geeta told me how outstanding the young people of other regions are. You seem to be a remarkable figure in other regions as well, and the chairwoman also criticized me…"
"Naranja Academy has a long teaching history, yet we haven't produced talent as outstanding as you. I heard Chairwoman Geeta invited you to serve as a special guest instructor, and I support that one hundred percent."
Harrington gave a brief opening statement and also revealed the awkward state he was in.
"Principal-san." Hikaru sighed. "I've heard the academy's atmosphere is really bad right now."
"Uh… yes, there are rumors like that." Harrington wiped his sweat, thinking, Sure enough, a guest instructor would investigate internal issues. The academy climate was a severe problem Naranja Academy faced right now.
"Those aren't rumors, Principal-san. I know you feel powerless against the status quo, but you're the principal." Hikaru shook his head. "How students should properly study, what kind of school life and future they'll have—those are things you're responsible for."
"Clean up what's going on inside the academy first, and then we can talk about guest teaching and all that. Otherwise, if I go in right now, it might not be very friendly for you."
"As Elite Four, we have a lot of work. And sometimes the Elite Four also get involved in academy affairs, don't they?"
"If we just push through in one burst and eliminate the source of the academy's problems, what then?"
Hikaru's suggestion made Harrington's heart clench. He fell silent.
For an Elite Four member, he absolutely could do that.
But for a principal like Harrington—or other teachers, even some students—that would be… not very friendly.
Of course, the League—being the top authority in local governance—suppressing old nobility was inevitable, and the academy was exactly the battlefield where those forces clashed.
But bullying problems were, by nature, the result of failures at the top—and irresponsibility.
"Let's talk about the tournament rewards instead, Principal-san."
Even if Harrington made up his mind to reform the campus right now, Hikaru didn't have time to serve as a guest instructor anyway. So this topic was inevitably getting shelved.
Besides—if Harrington could truly make up his mind, he wouldn't be Harrington.
After all, Paldea didn't lack capable people. If Geeta wanted to do a hard purge, it wasn't impossible.
She just didn't usually do things that directly. Her methods tended to be… quiet, under-the-table, and full of hidden hooks.
"People here sometimes have a hundred schemes in their heads."
Among all Leagues, the purest was the Ranger Union.
As for the other Leagues, they all had their issues.
The Indigo League had been infiltrated by Team Rocket, the Hoenn League was lax and loose, and the Sinnoh League overworked itself into ignoring Team Galactic.
The Unova League turned a blind eye to various mysterious organizations, the Kalos League didn't care about civilian affairs at all, Alola didn't even have a League yet, and Galar was controlled by Chairman Rose—one big song-and-dance spectacle.
Harrington clearly understood that until the academy climate changed, the guest instructor wouldn't enter the school. But for some reason, he felt oddly relieved.
Or maybe he simply hadn't figured out what he should do yet.
"As for prizes—Auspicious Armor was a special reward. But the legend has already borne witness, so your Charcadet—no, your Armarouge—shouldn't need it anymore."
"However, aside from that, we've also prepared another special reward for first place. This tournament's special prize is meant to promote the academy's Treasure Hunt activity."
"So, among the ancient relics left behind by the old Paldean empire, we found something like this. It seems to be some kind of amulet from a far eastern country."
"It's a bit old, but it's a nice antique. I believe it can bring good fortune to the tournament's victor."
Harrington produced the so-called mystery grand prize. It looked like a wooden token, rimmed with inlaid gold and copper—ancient and weathered. Strange text was carved on it, impossible to decipher, but Hikaru could tell at a glance: it was writing connected to Unown!
[Mythic Craftwork (Lost/Damaged): Haisei Ofuda (Guardian Charm)!]
[Description: One of the goods sold by a legendary traveling merchant from some region. Supposedly tied to an extraordinary legend and blessed by something inexplicable. Its maker remains a mystery. Antique collectors may buy it for a high price.]
[Effect (Inactive): When your side has only 1 Pokémon left on the field, the Pokémon holding this item gains Attack and Defense ×2.5, and its movement speed rises by one stage!]
[Note: This item seems closely tied to the distant "Ransei Region." Use Psychic power and advanced technique to find specific wood to repair this craftwork and restore its power!]
A traveling merchant… the Ransei Region?!
A distant region from roughly four hundred years ago. It had appeared as a spinoff connected to Generation V: Pokémon Conquest.
That region had unique items, and it was also the Pokémon franchise's only true "strategy tactics game," modeled after Japan's Sengoku era. The region was divided into seventeen kingdoms—each with a castle ruled by a warlord.
Unify Ransei, meet Arceus in the "Mystery Ruins."
Even the shape of the land itself resembled an Arceus.
And on certain special days in that region, special events would occur.
One such event was the legendary "Traveling Merchant."
Every year in March, a male traveling merchant would visit. Every year in September, another merchant—described as very cute, a woman—would visit.
And they would sell extremely unique legendary items.
Among them, the Guardian Charm was called—by players—one of the most god-tier artifacts of all!
"In other words…"
"The traveling merchant who appears in Paldea's history—selling Honedge and the Treasures of Ruin—might be connected to the traveling merchants of the Ransei Region?"
"Or maybe the two merchants from four hundred years ago were descendants of the merchant from a thousand years ago."
"When you think about it that way…"
"This thing really does have a long, deep historical lineage."
A mythic artifact of legend, finally lucky enough to see the light of day again.
Hikaru accepted the treasure. To ordinary people, it was just an old amulet.
"It's basically a built-in Supreme Overlord trait—or maybe the Supreme Overlord trait was created with this as its prototype?"
"And while we're at it… should we promote item battles into Gym battles and test battles too? Of course, tactics like holding Berries are already common. Any decent high-level trainer knows to have key Berries on hand."
"Other than a few legendary Berries being hard to obtain, most Berries get used all the time."
After coming back from Area Zero, maybe he could bring up this suggestion to Geeta.
After all, he couldn't let her feel like he was collecting a paycheck for nothing. And once in a while, he could also pitch a few of the items he made himself!
(End of Chapter)
[Get +30 Extra Chapters On — P@tr3on "Zaelum"]
[Every 300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter Drop]
[Thanks for Reading!]