After the meeting concluded, Aoki temporarily stayed at the League headquarters.
He needed to wait there for a week to see if anyone would challenge him.
Although it was highly unlikely.
Indeed, during that week, not only did no one challenge him, but a large number of fans also waited at the League headquarters, hoping to see him battle again.
The largest group consisted of reporters from various major media outlets, hoping to bring back firsthand news about Aoki.
Unfortunately, after learning that no one would challenge him, Aoki, along with Steven and the other three, secluded themselves in the League building to discuss and exchange ideas.
Aoki was at the forefront of tactical development; his dual-core or pseudo-triple-core strategies were the most sought-after at the moment.
Steven already had the rudimentary form of a single-core strategy, while Phoebe and Wallace had yet to find their core, hoping Aoki could help them solve this problem.
While discussing with them, Aoki had already shifted his attention to his own Pokémon.
Shelgon, Seadra, and the recently evolved Gardevoir.
He spent ten days on Drake's ship, and besides testing tactics with Drake, the rest of the time was spent discussing training methods for Shelgon and other Dragon-type Pokémon.
Although Seadra was currently only a Water-type Pokémon, it would become Water/Dragon-type according to his plan.
Of course, the two primarily discussed Shelgon.
Aoki's Shelgon could still use the special method Drake had given him, but to maximize its effect, he needed purer dragon blood with the highest energy concentration.
Kommo-o, though powerful, had already helped Bagon evolve into Shelgon with its Clangorous Soulblaze last time, so Shelgon's body already contained some of Kommo-o's energy, rendering Kommo-o's dragon blood ineffective as a catalyst.
Drake's Salamence at this time did not have as high an energy purity as Kommo-o, and could not achieve more than eighty percent of the desired effect.
It was best to find dragon blood with higher purity.
Aoki was also troubled by this, but fortunately, Drake said he might have a solution and asked Aoki to wait a few more days and continue to suppress Shelgon's level.
As for Gardevoir, after evolving, her strength soared, making rapid progress. Despite evolving only about twenty days ago, she officially advanced from level 35 to the elite level, which is level 40.
All of this was due to the energy crystal on her head.
Because the energy within it originally belonged to another Gardevoir, the energy compatibility was very high. Coupled with the fact that the other Gardevoir was completely willing, there were very few side effects from the energy.
Every day, a large amount of energy would integrate into Gardevoir's body, slowly absorbing and improving. While this might lead to an unstable foundation, it only required a little time to familiarize and stabilize, and then there would be no problems.
In Aoki's vision, Gardevoir was actually more suitable for building a second core than Slowking, but the current Gardevoir's strength was still far behind, so Slowking was chosen.
Fortunately, Slowking also performed exceptionally well, which gave Aoki some unique ideas for the third and even fourth cores later on.
Combining core combinations without affecting strength improvement was also a way to increase power.
However, the materials exchanged from Team Rocket had already run out, and he would have to revert to using the original ones.
Aoki could sustain such consumption in the short term, but long-term use would be unsustainable even with his current status and income.
It would be better to use a more stable method... The seven-day waiting period ended.
Aoki helped Steven summarize and categorize the pros and cons of his current single-core tactics.
At the same time, he also helped Phoebe and Wallace roughly determine their first core based on their combat habits and control over their Pokémon.
In general, the first core is the easiest to determine, and single-core tactics are also the easiest to form.
As the number of cores increases, it becomes increasingly difficult.
This is not only a test for the Pokémon but also places high demands on the trainer's command abilities.
Even though Aoki has psychic powers and his command ability is much stronger than that of ordinary trainers, this was his first time dealing with this level of complexity. If he were given a four-core lineup now, he wouldn't be able to command it.
The more cores there are, the more difficult the command becomes.
Aoki's current dual-core lineup, in the eyes of people like Drake and Adams, had not yet reached its full potential. As for the pseudo-triple-core, it was only because Aoki's lineup configuration showed signs of it, but the so-called third core had not yet demonstrated any synergistic, combinatorial, or complementary effects; it was merely a prototype.
"The seven days are up. What are your plans next?" Aoki asked.
"I have to take the gym assessment during this period. My master hopes that I can return to become a gym leader after the assessment ends," Wallace said, running a hand through his hair.
"I should stay at headquarters. Grandpa Adams said he wants to give me some special training, but I'm not sure what it entails yet," Phoebe added.
"As for me, I'll probably return to my family. I might participate in some high-level competitions then. Once I meet the challenge conditions, I'll challenge Aoki and dethrone our Sandstorm Elite Four member, haha!" Steven laughed heartily.
The three of them also smiled knowingly.
For Steven, being one of the Elite Four was more a title to prove his strength and effort, and not that important.
They all knew he was joking.
"No way, I want to participate too! I can't fall too far behind. I also want to become an Elite Four member, how cool!" Phoebe exclaimed.
Hearing Phoebe's words, Wallace hesitated slightly, about to speak, when Aoki's hand landed on his shoulder, "Do what you want to do."
Upon hearing this, Wallace paused, then ran a hand through his hair again and said, "Hmm, I might participate in Contests. This kind of competition, showcasing the beauty of Pokémon, might suit me better."
The three didn't say much; they all knew Wallace's aspirations.
Aren't battles also being added to Contests? Combat is still a very important part.
"You guys are comfortable, but I'm going to be busy. Elite Four Drake just called me. My busy mission life is about to begin," Aoki said helplessly.
He was completely at the mercy of Drake and Adams, and there was nothing he could do.
Hearing Aoki's slightly complaining tone, Steven and the other two smiled knowingly.
"Our Sandstorm Elite Four is going to be busy, but we can't delay our important matters. It's almost time for us to go," Steven said, patting Aoki's shoulder sympathetically.
"How about I apply to Elite Four Drake to let you accompany me?" Aoki said, exasperated.
Before he could finish speaking, the three of them ran off like the wind, leaving only the sound of their joyful laughter.