"Top Champion's just like that, so don't take it to heart, okay?"
"Anyway, congrats on joining. In theory, we should throw some kind of welcome party, so… how about I treat you to a meal sometime?"
"Especially over in western Paldea, Medali and Cascarrafa are famous for their local specialties!"
Rika hurried in to smooth things over. But Geeta was still smiling, as if she didn't think Hikaru would mind at all.
After all, an artist being invited to an academy as an "art instructor" was hardly an unusual thing.
"Students are in a period of confusion about their lives, so positive guidance is extremely important."
"…Isn't that not really the point?" Rika muttered under her breath to Geeta. "Isn't it because there've been some bad rumors going around the school lately?"
Geeta only smiled and said nothing.
It was something she'd already considered back when she was together with Juniper-sensei and Grimsley.
Precisely because of those strange rumors, and because Paldea Academy's internal atmosphere might be headed in an unhealthy direction, she had brought this up in the first place.
Seeing Geeta's look, Rika understood immediately, and still couldn't help looking even more awkward.
The guy had literally just agreed to be hired.
And earlier she'd even said she absolutely wouldn't work overtime.
Now the work was already here. Embarrassing.
"Haaah, what even is this…" Rika rubbed her green ponytail, looking a little speechless.
And Hikaru's commentary was sharp enough that Rika nearly laughed out loud.
"…Isn't that not really the point?" Hikaru first repeated what Rika had said, then questioned, "If it's young students, sure, you can say they're in a 'confused phase' of life, but Paldea Academy is an eight-hundred-year-old school."
"I've heard there's no age limit for enrollment. That means there are even students in their sixties. Are those people confused too?"
That was true.
Paldea Academy didn't restrict enrollment by age, but it did restrict enrollment by strength. Someone as absurdly strong as Poppy couldn't enroll, but aside from cases like that, there were basically no requirements.
So in-game, you really did see plenty of middle-aged and elderly "classmates" everywhere. Seeing them in uniforms at that age gave everything an oddly absurdist vibe.
Geeta chuckled softly. "Hehe. People can lose their way on the road of life. What does age have to do with it?"
"But it's fine. Getting lost isn't frightening. You just need to find the right path again."
That made Hikaru fall silent for a moment.
He'd said the same thing before.
"Taking detours is a part of life you have to taste. Except for a small handful of people, no one gets smooth sailing."
Yes. Except for those "young people" singled out by the Great One of Sinnoh, the ones who, whenever major events erupted, ended up right in the center of the whirlpool of their era.
Hikaru said, "If I have time, I'll think about it."
Geeta said, "That answer is enough. We'll keep increasing the compensation too. Paldea Academy's faculty待遇 is extremely good. You have to believe me, Paldea has never been stingy about this sort of thing."
"And incidentally, I'm also a chairwoman on the academy's board."
That, Hikaru already knew.
It was precisely because Geeta was also on the board that she could make a request like this. The academy was also her talent pipeline.
A guest instructor role wasn't a problem anyway. It wasn't a permanent post, the待遇 was great, and for Hikaru it was basically a paid title he could "collect" while doing nothing.
Put that way… the salaries he was already collecting for free were the Pokémon Ranger Union's pay and the International Police Ultra Beast Task Force's pay. If he added Paldea League on top, would that be two paychecks here too?
But the first two "free salaries" carried no risk. Geeta's side, though… however much you were paid today, that was how much work you'd be handed tomorrow.
Still, Hikaru had his own plan.
That is, the "Trainer Record."
And conveniently, hadn't the Great One of Sinnoh hinted through a dream that the Dream-Sky consecutive battles were going to restart? If the plan was to build a "Battle Tower" kind of facility inside the dream world, instead of just fighting immediately in the Hall of Origin like the original…
A tower always needed guardians, didn't it?
"Wouldn't a Champion make a great tower guardian?"
"We'll meet again in dreams. Probably. Right?"
Hikaru muttered inwardly. Geeta couldn't read anything from his expression and was mildly puzzled.
But she quickly stopped caring about it.
A new hire feeling unfamiliar with Paldea League, and having some confusion, was normal.
Work there for a while and you'd get used to it. Everyone needed an adjustment period.
As for salary and待遇, aside from the待遇 appropriate for an Elite Four-level trainer, Geeta also added some new perks.
Of course, most of those perks were "custom tailored."
"Every Elite Four member has different benefits. These are privately customized, because you're all among the very best trainers Paldea League has."
"And of course, it's also to prevent potential dissatisfaction from cropping up."
Geeta explained with a smile.
It was easy to understand.
Different regions' Leagues operated differently. Paldea League was more like taking a civil service exam, or working at a company. If the Elite Four's salaries and福利 weren't the same, or if there were massive gaps, it was easy for veteran staff to become resentful.
So to prevent that, the Elite Four's compensation packages were custom tailored.
After all, the Elite Four had only just been fully assembled, hadn't they?
Of course, guest instructor pay was calculated separately. Larry had already been working three jobs, and Hassel had two. That sort of thing was normal.
"You can freely use all facilities established by the Paldea League, you have the highest level of operational clearance, full reimbursement for travel assignments, transportation, lodging, and meals, and each month you'll receive an extremely high allotment of League Points. You can draw on League-internal resources, use those resources to better raise and develop your Pokémon, receive priority access to Area Zero research results, and have reading and materials access at Paldea Academy's library."
"And so on."
That was the upside of a new League: anything good was prioritized for the Elite Four to use. Though at the same time, the Elite Four also served as "testers" for research outcomes.
Most of it was benefits tied to Area Zero and specialized instruments, but there wasn't much to say beyond that.
After all, Paldea's researchers were single-mindedly obsessed with Terastallization research. They didn't even do ecological surveys, let alone invent fun gadgets. Something like the Exp. Share? Of course it didn't exist.
The only thing really worth mentioning was League Points.
This was the "special currency" Penny once hacked into the League system and transferred to the protagonist. A special currency usable only in Paldea, abbreviated as LP. In Paldea, you could buy items with normal money or pay with LP.
Of course, you couldn't use that special currency at the auction in Porto Marinada.
Hikaru thought to himself.
"This is basically imitating Galar's Watts, isn't it? Paldea League really is feeling its way across the river by grabbing Galar's stones."
It was the relationship between Gen 9 and Gen 8. A junior generation taking a few cues from a senior one was normal.
Still, with a monthly LP allotment, the fact that Larry, as an Elite Four-level wage slave, was always thinking about expensing meals… maybe some restaurants really didn't accept LP.
"Then, I'm very glad we were able to come to an agreement. Even if you think of it as only a temporary dual role, Paldea League still welcomes you."
After paying quite a lot, Geeta finally got the result she wanted.
But for Paldea League… were those really "costs?"
Through the earlier rounds of conversation, Hikaru had come to a deep realization: Geeta was the kind of person who could turn any "cost" into an advantage. In short:
You might make a little, but I definitely won't lose.
"Working under someone like that is miserable."
"But if you're trading with her, it's pretty easy for both sides to win."
"Good thing I'm part-time. Otherwise I'd end up like Larry, looking pathetic. Your overtime reputation is infamous all across Paldea."
Hikaru shook Geeta's hand, and Geeta added a reminder:
"Right, there are some important things you need to keep in mind."
Geeta said seriously, "As an Elite Four member, when you conduct Champion Assessments and when you participate in academy activities, you must use the type you designated and specialize in. The same goes for charging your Tera Orb. Also, during testing, you'll need to select one Pokémon to Terastallize, and ensure its Tera Type is Steel, that's all."
"But that said, recently no one has been able to pass the Champion Assessment. Many challengers have battled Rika, but they all failed."
"Yeah, yeah. The type you specialize in is Steel, right?" Rika finally found her opening to join the conversation, and she also let out a quiet sigh of relief, though her expression toward Hikaru turned a bit strange.
This guy really dared to ask the Top Champion for the moon.
But if he was the boss of the strongest challenge facility in another region, then待遇 like this was normal.
Rika thought that, and didn't see any problem.
She even found herself thinking that if you judged purely by examinations and battles, with Hikaru's strength, maybe he was even stronger than Hassel…
Because:
"In our battle earlier, you didn't bring out your ace, did you?"
Rika's lips curled. "That's a real shame. But since we're comrades now, even if you won't be in Paldea for long, let's get along, okay?"
"I really want to battle your ace. That Pokémon that looked like a greatsword… the aura it gave off made even me pretty cautious. How do I put it… was it 'shiver-inducing'?"
"Paldea doesn't have anything like that. I'm really curious. Ah, of course, there are plenty of Pokémon you have with you that I've never seen either."
Hikaru looked out toward the plaza beyond the window. "You mean… Aegislash, right."
"Yeah, there's no way you'd see that Pokémon here."
Aegislash didn't have the "visa" for Paldea, so it was normal not to see it in this region.
If that legendary merchant back then hadn't dumped it in another region because it was "cheap stock," maybe Paldea would be crawling with Aegislash today.
"And its size is seriously off," Rika shook her head. "I've never seen a Pokémon like that, but my instincts tell me its body size is absolutely not normal!"
"That one is a 'King,'" Hikaru didn't hide it. "Long ago, it was a Pokémon blessed by the gods, with power no ordinary member of its species could match."
"And my Aegislash also passed a legendary trial in Unova. It exists as a 'Sacred Swordsman of Legend.'"
Rika's expression grew serious, but the excitement inside it was impossible to suppress.
"King" and "Sacred Swordsman of Legend" were names she'd never heard before, but that didn't stop her from making a judgment.
"Oh?" The Elite Four lady's tone turned meaningfully deep. "So you're saying it's on the same level as a Legendary Pokémon?"
"How interesting. And it's not the only one with a frightening aura either. I want to see more, and learn more about the power of Steel!"
At that moment, Hikaru suddenly remembered that Rika had said earlier she had something she wanted to discuss after he met the Top Champion.
So Hikaru asked, "By the way, the thing you said you'd talk about after the Top Champion met me. What was it?"
"Ah, that." Rika twirled a strand of hair around her finger, her face thoughtful, as if weighing how to say it.
After thinking it over again and again, she seemed to make up her mind.
"Ah… saying this now is kind of hard to bring up…"
"But after fighting you, and then seeing that painting… I really did remember something from a long time ago."
A gentle smile surfaced on Rika's face, and in her mind, many yellowed memories rose up.
"Maybe because I've been so far from my hometown. My childhood in Johto… it's like it turned into a faraway dream. Like it happened ages ago."
"When you were little, did you have a companion in the same town as you?"
"Maybe a boy, maybe a girl. When you were kids, you played together, battled together, grew together. They were your friend, your playmate, and also your best opponent."
"Me, I had someone like that where I used to live. I miss it."
"Paldea's academy has a lot of energetic students, but I've always felt like something was missing. Ah… and only today did I finally understand what it was."
"It was a 'rival.'"
The laughter of childhood, that friend who appeared in our limited little world and grew alongside us… how are they doing now?
A playmate, a close friend, maybe even a first love, and also a rival.
They'd always pop up now and then, speaking in a familiar or unfamiliar accent, laughing, raising a Poké Ball, and battling fiercely with partners they'd caught in forests and fields.
The world is finite, but the new world a rival brings you feels endlessly explorable.
"As you grow older, your social circle keeps expanding. Besides childhood companions, there are classmates, coworkers, friends, all kinds of relationships…"
"I still remember what my companion looked like."
"The last time I went back, they weren't in Johto anymore."
Rika said it like that, but Hikaru's words made her suddenly see it clearly:
"True friendship doesn't disappear because of time or distance."
That wasn't Hikaru's line.
It was something Professor Oak had once said to Ash.
It was just that earlier, thinking about Ash's side, he happened to remember it, because Ash should have gone through Celebi: The Voice of the Forest.
Professor Oak had once crossed time, met Ash, and gone on an adventure with him.
So after decades had passed, when Professor Oak saw Ash again and put Pikachu into his hands… what kind of feeling was that?
In the movie's ending, in a deleted scene, Professor Oak told Ash that his friendship with Sam could stand the test of time.
"Do you have regrets about your life now?" Hikaru asked back.
"No. Nothing like that. I really like the atmosphere I have now," Rika shook her head. Then her gaze steadied, as if she'd made a decision. "Even if this is sudden."
"Will you be my rival?"
Hikaru: "?"
W-what are you doing?
I came here to collect a paycheck. Why are you stealing Nemona's ecological niche!
(End of Chapter)
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