Day two arrived.
The new video's impact was a bit larger than Aiden had anticipated. While going viral across the internet, it actually managed to spark a surge in Kitakami's popularity.
President Geeta, with her keen business sense, immediately made a sweeping gesture, using her private account on PokéTV to start promoting Kitakami's tourism projects.
Among them, the introductions of Aiden and Ogerpon as the two heroes took up quite a bit of space. She even came to Aiden's video section to drop a "GG."
Aiden seriously suspected President Geeta did all this out of pettiness.
But since it was the League President's request, he naturally lent a small hand, pinning her GG at the top of the comment section.
As long as it didn't mean he had to go to work, everything else was fine!
After all, he currently had more important things to prepare for.
Once the tournament entered the semi-finals, the schedule maintained its previous grueling pace, leaving virtually no time for preparation.
So, barely a day after winning their grueling match against the two Kanto Elite Four members, Aiden and Cynthia now had to face their semi-final opponents.
Master Mustard and Honey.
To Aiden, Master Mustard was a Battle Legend who could be considered both a teacher and a friend.
Not only had Lucario learned a lot at the Mustard Dojo on the Isle of Armor, but even Aiden's own commanding style when directing Lucario had been somewhat influenced by Master Mustard.
And this battle between master and disciple was the perfect opportunity for him and Lucario to prove their strength to Master Mustard!
The Lumiose Stadium was bustling with noise.
The contestants who had been eliminated early had mostly taken up the front rows of the audience stands, starting to enjoy the upcoming matches in their new identities as spectators.
"One Cookie, two Berry Juices, please."
"Alright, that'll be 1000 Poké Dollars, meow~"
After buying snacks from the Meowth vendor above the stands, Bruno and Lance quickly took their seats.
"How do you see today's match going?"
"How do I see it? With my eyes, obviously."
—
Having been eliminated early, Lance was in a pretty good mood without the burden of competing, and even started cracking little jokes with Bruno.
However, he soon shook his head and became a bit more serious.
"Aiden and the others are too young. Going up against a battle-hardened veteran like Master Mustard, they'll probably suffer a big loss."
"—Under normal circumstances, that would be true. But that kid Aiden is incredibly bizarre. Who knows what kind of weird tricks he's prepared this time?"
Lance finished with a shrug.
"So, our guesses before the battle are completely meaningless. We just have to wait and see."
Whether Aiden stomped Master Mustard, or Master Mustard stomped Aiden, it was a win-win for them.
If Aiden won, what did it prove?
It proved that his loss wasn't unjustified! If even a Battle Legend couldn't beat his opponent, that opponent couldn't be measured by common sense anymore!
And if Aiden lost?
If even Aiden couldn't beat Master Mustard, they would have been absolutely slaughtered if they had gone up there!
Since they couldn't lose either way, Lance decided to simply drop his biases and just focus on whether the match was spectacular enough.
"Mmm—I suppose you have a point."
Bruno nodded, looking a bit disappointed.
"But if possible, I really wanted to have a purely martial arts duel with Master Mustard!"
"He's the legendary strongest Fighting-type specialist. If I could just glimpse a move or two of his Unseen Fist—"
"—"
Blue and Red, who were sitting not far behind them and silently eavesdropping with their ears perked up, exchanged a glance. Both could see a hint of terror in each other's eyes.
If Bruno actually learned Unseen Fist, when they went to challenge the Elite Four, this group of rookies would absolutely get destroyed!
Thank you, Teacher Azure!
Blue thanked Aiden from the bottom of his heart for the grace of not killing him.
The "harsh winds" of a Gym battle could be overcome with enough effort, and there was plenty of time for trial and error.
But when the Victory Road actually opened and they ran into four insanely scummy Elite Four members—
Half a month probably wouldn't even be enough!
Lance and Lorelei, the two Elite Four members who were close to Teacher Azure, had probably already been assimilated by him. If Granny Agatha and Mr. Bruno also—
They really couldn't handle that!
It was best to retire while they were ahead!
The audience stands quickly filled up, and the lively atmosphere made the entire stadium heat up.
"Can Teacher Azure and Big Sis actually pull off a win?"
On the other side of the audience, the Sinnoh "Three Musketeers" reunited.
Flint, who had already recovered from the gloom of defeat, looked at Lucian and asked the question.
"I don't know, but their chances probably aren't high."
Even though he had rushed to Lumiose City to watch the match, Lucian still couldn't put down his work. His tablet screen was covered in dense file annotations.
This utterly absurd dedication to his job even made Flint feel a bit of awe.
He might not have the strength of a Champion, but he already had the mindset of one, taking over all their work so the participating members could focus on the tournament.
I acknowledge your willpower to become Champion, Lucian!
"Battle Legends—a title you don't even dare to dream of."
Aaron on the side looked at the big screen and let out a sincere sigh.
When facing opponents of this caliber, just keeping yourself calm and not making rookie mistakes took a lot of courage.
"Even if it's selfish of me, I still hope Teacher Azure can win."
Aaron's words won the unanimous agreement of Flint and Lucian.
Even Caitlin and Shauntal nearby couldn't help but nod in secret.
"You better do your best, Aiden!"
"If you still lose while teaming up with Cynthia, don't blame me for making fun of you for the rest of your life!"
Caitlin clenched her fists, starting to get nervous even before the contestants stepped onto the field.
Similarly anticipating the contestants' entrance were many of Teacher Azure's fans.
"Go Teacher Azure! Even if you lose to Master Mustard, don't be afraid, show off that Paldean pride!"
"Dumbass, Teacher Azure is clearly our Sinnoh bro, stop talking nonsense!"
"Master Mustard century-old fan gatecrashing here. In front of the veteran, all are equal. The youngsters still need more training~"
"Wait bro, aren't you a Ghost-type Pokémon? How are you so lively?"
In the competitor tunnel, Aiden faintly heard the commotion from above, along with his fans' various absurd comments.
He, who had been a little nervous, suddenly laughed out loud.
Even though his fans were mostly a bunch of gremlins, this was still their way of encouraging him to win, right?
"It's time, Aiden."
Beside him, Cynthia had already retracted her smile, revealing a sharp, aggressive gaze.
"Yeah."
Aiden nodded.
After the two walked out of the tunnel hand-in-hand, the view ahead suddenly opened up.
The cheers and roars of the audience were deafening, but Aiden's attention was entirely focused on the figures walking toward them.
Master Mustard was still wearing that baseball uniform, looking incredibly casual compared to Honey, who wore a noticeably more refined outfit and careful makeup.
"Finally, the day to battle Little Aiden has arrived!"
"This old man has been waiting for quite a few days now!"
As they shook hands, Master Mustard's face was covered in a smile.
However, beneath that smile, Aiden clearly felt a heavy, almost tangible, oppressive aura.
"Please take care of us, Master Mustard."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, both sides took their positions on their respective halves of the field.
The battle was on the verge of breaking out, and the audience stands fell into a brief silence.
But soon, they violently rebounded.
"Go Teacher Azure!"
"Sis Cynthia, do it one more time for Sinnoh!"
"Master Mustard is the strongest!"
Amidst the audience's forgetful cheering and shouting, the referee blew the whistle, declaring the official start of the match.
"Go, Urshifu!"
"I choose you, Darmanitan!"
Four Poké Balls burst open simultaneously, releasing a red light that enveloped the field.
After the light faded, four Pokémon of varying postures stood glaring at their opponents, fully prepared for battle.
The Urshifu in front of Master Mustard had one foot kicked up, its hands stretched out, standing tall upon the earth.
From its well-balanced offensive and defensive stance, and the headband-like fur hanging over its shoulder, one could tell its style was the "Rapid Strike" style.
As for Honey's Darmanitan, it was Galar's unique regional form.
It looked similar to a standard Darmanitan, but it had a giant snowball on its head, and its fur was a snowy, icy blue-white.
Just looking with the naked eye, you could tell it was an Ice-type.
It was obviously brought in to target Cynthia's matchup. After all, the Sinnoh Champion's ace was Garchomp, which was terrified of Ice-type moves.
However—
Cynthia's choice this time actually caught everyone a bit off guard.
A Gastrodon, shaped like a slug, leaving a trail of viscous liquid wherever its antennae touched the ground, its body completely composed of fluid.
While it was indeed one of Cynthia's mains, Gastrodon's offensive presence was very limited. Most of the time in her hands, it served as an excellent defensive pivot.
As a lead, the threat it posed to the opponent was simply too weak.
But if you combined it with Aiden's Lucario—
"Luca!"
Unlike the Urshifu across from it, which was squinting and observing it, Lucario didn't take up an Unseen Fist stance. Instead, it held an ancient, unadorned sword covered in frost, using the blade to maintain a defensive posture.
Seeing this, Master Mustard narrowed his eyes and nodded in satisfaction.
"So what little Leon said was true."
"That child has indeed learned other martial arts that don't lose out to Unseen Fist—"
Since Aiden's Lucario had already graduated from his tutelage, it was only normal for it to learn other things to expand its repertoire later on.
Just like when he was young, Master Mustard had traveled to the East to learn multiple martial arts before finally summarizing them into the "Unseen Fist" style, which suited the Fighting-type's fierce, strength-based nature. (The East where the Treasures of Ruin originated from)
So, Lucario's stance actually piqued Master Mustard's curiosity.
"Urshifu, rush in and use Water Strike, let's test its depths!"
"Urshifu!"
Receiving Master Mustard's command, Urshifu immediately took a step forward.
Its movements were minimal, completely exposing no openings, yet its speed wasn't slow in the slightest.
Seeing this, Aiden immediately decided to disrupt the opponent: "Lucario, use Sacred Sword to interfere with its footing!"
"Luca!"
As a Pokémon that had appreciated the hanging scrolls in the Dojo and cultivated both the Single Strike and Rapid Strike styles, Lucario knew the Urshifu masters' routines all too well.
Because of this, every sword aura it swung perfectly intercepted Urshifu's next foothold.
While actually landing a hit was still difficult, it severely disrupted Urshifu's footwork and rhythm.
"Beautiful!"
In the stands, Bruno fiercely slapped his thigh, letting out a genuine sigh of admiration.
Lucario's seemingly useless actions were incredibly ingenious in Bruno's eyes.
Because as Urshifu's footsteps continuously deviated, the ground behind it was quickly eroded by the sword auras, leaving patches of ice.
This meant Urshifu's viable footholds would only become fewer and fewer, making its movements much easier to predict.
However, since the rules of this tournament were Doubles:
"Darmanitan, use Heat Wave on the field!"
Honey reacted immediately.
Galarian Darmanitan was indeed an Ice-type, but its dormant internal flame sac still retained the ability to temporarily generate heat.
If it entered Zen Mode, its flame sac could even regenerate out of anger, creating a literal Ice-Fire duality that wouldn't calm down until it caused a massive ruckus.
The Heat Wave it exhaled quickly swept across the field, instantly melting Lucario's little trick into puddles of ice water.
"Gastrodon, kick up a Sandstorm on the field!"
Cynthia seized the opportunity to make a move.
It was true that Gastrodon couldn't directly impact the match's momentum, but many people overlooked its supportive utility.
And what Aiden valued was its relatively complete toolkit of support moves.
The Sandstorm wouldn't affect their side much, but it would continuously chip away at Urshifu and Darmanitan.
In a short time, it might seem useless, but once they entered a war of attrition—
Any tiny disruption could completely change the course of the battle.
The Gastrodon, which had been silently charging up, finally made its move, throwing a burst of energy into the air. The field immediately became a swirling storm of sand.
At the same time, Urshifu had silently closed the distance, taking up the standard starting stance of the Rapid Strike style.
Hmmm!
The first punch shot straight toward Lucario's relatively fragile face.
"Luca!"
Lucario immediately freed up one hand to effortlessly deflect the punch from Urshifu's fist.
However, a second punch followed at an even faster speed, slamming into Lucario's soft abdomen with even more force than the first.
Lucario raised one leg, using the common Single Strike style's high-kick stance to steady its body, while its free leg took up a blocking posture, barely catching the second punch.
But there was still a third phase.
HAH!!!
Urshifu suddenly retracted its leg, shifting its center of gravity in the blink of an eye. Using the momentum, it rapidly spun its body, violently kicking out with its other leg like a whip.
The target was aimed straight at Lucario's completely unguarded neck.
With one hand and one leg already used to defend against the previous attacks, Urshifu was certain Lucario couldn't block this kick!
"Luca!"
As the heavy whip kick was about to land, Lucario suddenly revealed a wickedly smug smile, as if saying "Just as I expected." Without hesitation, it let go of the sword in its right hand.
It instantly dropped into a crouch, using its two free hands as pivots. With its liberated left leg, it resolutely swept forward.
While dodging the Urshifu master's attack, it launched an assault directly at the opponent's single supporting leg, which was bearing the entirety of its body weight!
Besides practicing the sword, it hadn't let a single day go to waste over this past year!
Unseen Fist, I know it too!
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