The scorching July quickly passed.
The date came to August 1st, and the month-long Paldea Victory Road finally came to a close today.
Even though two Champions were born on the same day, the subsequent students failed to follow up, and the Champion count remained unchanged by the final tally.
This was enough to show that Nemona and Red were indeed in a league of their own this year, far ahead of the others.
However, for Paldea, the title of "Champion" wasn't actually that rare—it only really worked within Naranja Academy—
It was the kind of status where you'd have face throughout the entire next year at school, and little fans would come challenge you wherever you went.
As for what use it had—well, it really had no practical use.
But for Nemona it was very meaningful, because Champions could directly skip the boring basic theory classes for the second half of the year and have free activity time until second year!
Nemona was a practical learner by nature. Making her stay at school with other students for half a year would probably bore her to death.
So from the start, she held the belief that she absolutely had to become Champion before embarking on her Trainer journey.
As for Red—
He wasn't even from Paldea. After "touring" with Aiden, he would naturally return to Kanto, so whether the Champion title had any practical benefits was meaningless to him.
For Red, being able to repeatedly challenge Teacher Azure was already the greatest benefit!
Although Chairwoman Geeta had 'reminded' Aiden, hoping he could convince Red to stay, Aiden was a reasonable person who would naturally respect Red's own wishes.
And Red's thoughts were simple: "Blue and I have a promise—we will definitely determine victory on the Victory Road, so I must return to Kanto."
What a simple wish, even moving Aiden somewhat.
Indeed, no matter how strong Red became, the victim would always be that brat Blue!
Thus, as time entered August and the Paldea Victory Road concluded perfectly, Paldea's annual plan finally made new progress.
August 3rd, Monday.
With privileges granted by Chairwoman Geeta and personally selected by Aiden, the "Area Zero Mobile Squad" was fully assembled and arrived at Medali, the closest location to the Area Zero entrance.
"So nostalgic. Just a few months ago, it was at the Treasure Eatery where I challenged Uncle Larry when he was still a Gym Leader!"
"Nemona, 'just' shouldn't be used to describe several months—"
"Anyway, it means time flies!"
Inside Medali's most famous restaurant, the Treasure Eatery, Nemona was eating breakfast while bickering with Arven across from her.
The table seated exactly six people. Besides the two of them, there was the host Larry, Aiden who was leading the team to Area Zero, "Champion" Red, and Penny who was responsible for technical support.
Paldea's cuisine truly has its own characteristics.
What a pity—if only I could bring some back for Blue to try.
Red didn't speak, completely ignoring the actions of others at the table, entirely immersed in his own world of food.
"So, I'm neither a Champion nor a Paldea native. How did the League select me—"
Only Penny still couldn't figure out the situation. After sighing, she reached back to drape her Eevee backpack's ears over her shoulders, then looked at Aiden with a confused gaze and asked.
"Hmm? Didn't I explain it to you?"
"No!" Penny looked resentful.
"Teacher Azure only said you needed my help, but never said it would be something this big!"
"And you never explained what this 'technical support' actually means—"
If the sender hadn't been Aiden himself, Penny would have thought it was some scam text message.
Being scammed onto the head of this "genius hacker girl" was indeed a very novel experience.
Unfortunately, the truth was even more outrageous than she imagined.
How could they let an exchange student participate in Area Zero exploration work? And she wasn't even a Champion like Red!
"Oh, sorry, it seems I didn't explain clearly at the time."
After being called out by Penny, Aiden scratched his head, then smiled and continued explaining.
"Simply put, there are many precision instruments left behind by researchers in Area Zero, but the originally constructed research institutes were all emergency sealed. We need to go to the site to undo the restrictions before we can enter."
"So actually, the most important person in this team is you, Penny~"
Aiden paused halfway through his words, then quickly revealed a very subtle expression.
"After all, Penny is an incredible hacker, capable of even breaking through the League intranet's security measures and freely accessing useful information inside~"
"? ? ?"
Larry, who had been focused on enjoying his grilled rice ball, suddenly froze, his hand stiffening in place.
What the?
What did I just hear?
A student hacked the supposedly impenetrable League intranet?
This is no ordinary student anymore—severe measures must be taken to correct her personality, right!
Although many thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, and he even vaguely began to feel stomach pain, Larry took no action.
After all, Aiden had proactively brought up the topic, and it seemed he came prepared.
As a corporate slave, a reliable middle-aged man, the most useful lesson he learned over years of work was—
Topics unrelated to himself—don't say a single extra word, or it easily adds to your workload!
Like Larry, when Aiden spoke, Penny's expression also immediately became shocked.
Only after several seconds did she finally recover.
"Teacher Azure—how did you know?"
How could Penny not be afraid? What she did was, strictly speaking, illegal.
Although she initially just found it inconvenient to log into the school forum to check information, so she thought about making some slight modifications to the school.
As the daughter of the former Galar Champion and niece of current League Chairman Rose, she had learned many useful skills from adults since childhood, including of course computer usage.
Moreover, she was very talented in this area, self-teaching excellent hacking techniques at a young age.
But as she was modifying things, she discovered—wait, what's going on, how did I end up in the League intranet?
Paldea's firewall doesn't seem very good either, how did I crack it?
Hmm? Isn't this Teacher Azure's information? Let me click in and see!
And what's this LP system thing, could it be Paldea League's internal currency?
Wait—I can actually modify account balances???
Am I going to get arrested!
Thus, as Penny's curiosity was gradually satisfied, she also quickly realized she might have gone a bit too far.
She certainly didn't have the guts to modify wallet balances. As a law-abiding good student, she only accessed some information about Teacher Azure from the intranet and never acted again afterward.
She never expected that even after clearing all traces, she would still be discovered!
"Actually, Chairwoman Geeta told me, so rest assured, there won't be any repercussions."
Aiden smiled, signaling Penny to relax.
Every child at this table had their own unique skills.
Especially this Penny who looked honest and well-behaved—behind the scenes, she was actually a fairly well-known hacker!
Who would have thought?
However, young people still suffer from lack of experience. After accessing data and permissions, there were no browsing traces at all—far too obvious.
So her bold actions were quickly discovered by Chairwoman Geeta.
If it had been an iron-faced justice police officer (like a certain Lance), even a child would probably be thoroughly interrogated.
But Geeta was different. Her evaluation standard had always been only one—
As long as they're useful, nothing else matters!
So, not only did Chairwoman Geeta not punish Penny, she kept this matter suppressed until now, making it a bargaining chip for making demands of Aiden.
After all, entering Area Zero also required a "technical specialist" who could open smart locks, and Penny's strength was already sufficient—at least self-protection was no problem.
"—"
Penny also quickly figured this out, so she could only nod helplessly.
"Alright, I understand!"
"Adults are really full of schemes, so annoying—"
Regarding her lament, Larry beside her nodded in strong agreement.
After a simple breakfast at the Treasure Eatery and preparing supplies for deep Area Zero exploration, Larry led the group headed by Aiden to the Zero Gate.
"Jump down from here, and it's the only entrance to Area Zero."
"? ? ? Jump down—from here?"
Aiden's single sentence immediately made the previously cheerful Nemona shrink her neck.
She only looked down from the viewing platform once, then showed an unbelievable expression, turning back to look at Aiden.
"This high, jumping down will definitely kill you!"
"—Actually, there's an elevator that goes directly there, but it requires very high permissions."
As a "regular customer" here, Arven quickly stepped forward to resolve Nemona's confusion.
He also looked at Aiden, seemingly waiting for his next action.
And Aiden didn't disappoint Arven. In a few steps, he walked forward and took out a card in front of the tightly closed mechanical gate, swiping it on the card reader beside it.
Actually, the more convenient descent method was using flying Pokémon, but the few students here combined couldn't even put one together.
Would they really have to recreate the Scarlet/Violet plot where four people ride one dog—ah no, one motorcycle?
As everyone knows, motorcycle overloading is the most common reckless driving behavior, only trained people can pull it off~
So for safety considerations, Aiden chose a more ordinary descent method—taking the elevator!
With a "beep," a crisp electronic sound echoed throughout.
[Welcome, Paldea League Elite Four member Aiden.]
[Permission functions confirmed, Zero Gate opening.]
After the voice disappeared, it was immediately replaced by the sound of gears turning.
Soon, the airtight heavy metal door before their eyes split in two, slowly moving to both sides while howling wind immediately rushed toward them. The relatively thin Nemona nearly lost her balance.
A giant pit shrouded in clouds and mist, with only glimpses of scenery visible, came into view.
"Below is Area Zero. Once the elevator arrives, be especially careful not to be ambushed by Paradox Pokémon."
Before stepping onto the elevator and departing, Aiden didn't forget to remind his adorable students once more, preventing them from being overwhelmed by this brand new world below and forgetting the hidden dangers.
"Yes!"
"Okay."
The four students' moods varied at this moment. It was the usually quiet Arven who suddenly remembered something and asked Aiden: "Speaking of which, Brother Aiden—"
"I remember there should be a black Rayquaza above Area Zero, right? Why didn't I see it today?"
Reminded by Arven, Nemona also immediately reacted.
"Right! That super cool big guy seemed to have a very good relationship with Teacher Aiden!"
"—Actually, I'm not too sure either."
Aiden had already noticed this point long ago, but also felt it was normal that the black Rayquaza wasn't there, so he hadn't paid it much attention.
No, actually he vaguely had an answer in his heart—
Perhaps because as long as it appeared, the Paradox Pokémon and other Pokémon in Area Zero wouldn't show themselves, so the black Rayquaza deliberately didn't appear?
This thought seemed a bit self-absorbed, as if that black Rayquaza was looking out for him, but Aiden had his basis.
After all, within the clouds above the sky, a small section of black pointed tail was extremely eye-catching.
With slight observation, it wasn't hard to discover that the black Rayquaza was actually in the sky and hadn't left at all.
After discovering this point, Aiden finally breathed a sigh of relief.
With the black Rayquaza as a bodyguard, even if something really happened, they would absolutely be safe.
What do you call this? Demon King protection?
Under Aiden's guidance, the elevator slowly began to operate, starting to accelerate downward.
In the enclosed spacious area, the other four students were more or less nervous.
After all, they were going to extremely dangerous Area Zero on this trip, where an elite investigation team was reportedly wiped out. Saying they weren't afraid at all would be a lie.
Only Aiden completely didn't care, taking out his Rotom Phone from his pocket and beginning to debug the device, verifying whether the nearby network was available.
As a Paldea teacher and streamer, with this good opportunity to bring students to learn about Paradox Pokémon and Area Zero, he naturally wouldn't miss it.
He had also reported his livestreaming idea to Chairwoman Geeta. Because this could also allow real-time understanding of their situation, Geeta passed it without hesitation and decided to organize students to watch this special "educational livestream" together.
The elevator slowly descended until finally reaching zero speed, stopping right at the Area Zero surface.
The door slowly opened, revealing the uneven, Terastallized mineral-filled surface of Area Zero's interior.
At the same time, Aiden also began livestreaming, with the Rotom Phone beginning to slowly rotate around him.
"Hello everyone, today Teacher Azure is bringing you to see the world!"
"Immersive Area Zero exploration experience—can other streamers do this?!"
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