November 23rd, Sunday.
Just like yesterday, due to the dismissal from Naranja Academy, there were noticeably more students coming to challenge the gym these two days.
"Welcome to come again next time, don't forget to give a good review, okay, classmate~"
After seeing off another challenger with a complex expression, gym apprentice Nemona wiped away the fine beads of sweat from her temple.
"Phew— what an exhilarating battle, I almost lost!"
"But this SubProtectToxic tactic that Teacher Aiden taught is so useful. I didn't expect it to be so easy to master, right, Dunsparce~"
Nemona laughed heartily, and the Dunsparce at her feet also happily wriggled around.
Aiden, silently watching from the side, couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration.
Because there were quite a few challengers today, when Eevee and Riolu were resting, relatively weaker guests were handled by Nemona.
From Aiden's perspective, Nemona's current strength was no less than that of a second-year student at Naranja Academy.
"Tch, I always feel like I have become the sinner who opened Pandora's box?"
When learning Pawmo training tips, Nemona was a bit clumsy and needed reminders from time to time.
But after just watching him play for one night, she already handled this SubProtectToxic very proficiently on her first try today.
Is it because I am such a good teacher, or is Nemona just more suited to this style?
Aiden did not know the answer to this question, he just sighed silently.
"If this trend continues, all my tricks will eventually be learned by Nemona..."
"When Nemona goes on the Victory Road to train next year, will other gym leaders and Elite Four members come to me for trouble?"
But somehow, thinking about it like this actually feels pretty exciting...
After pondering for a while, Aiden decided to maintain the status quo.
Just as he was preparing to hang up the ceasefire sign at the gym entrance to let his and Nemona's Pokémon take a nap, a commotion suddenly arose outside.
"Gao—!"
The warning sound emitted by Miraidon when scared came in, accompanied by a somewhat familiar female voice, though Aiden didn't catch exactly what was said.
Aiden immediately pushed open the gym door.
"Wow—! This kid is too handsome! Is this a Pokémon newly caught by Junior? I've never seen you before!"
"Hey! Don't run, let me touch you!"
A pink-haired girl wearing a yellow and black windbreaker with a unique hairstyle appeared at the gym entrance, with two small Magnemites integrated into her hairstyle bobbing up and down with her movements.
"Senior Iono?"
Aiden immediately recognized this girl who helped him get on track with live streaming at the beginning.
Also a Paldea gym leader, the emerging popular streamer from Levincia, the adorable Iono!
At this moment, she was squatting half-way at the gym entrance, trying to reach out and touch Miraidon's chest full of metallic beauty, but Miraidon kept dodging her attempts disdainfully.
Iono is cute~
"Oh, it's Junior, Ciao-llo～(∠ω<)⌒★"
Hearing Aiden's voice, Iono instinctively stood up and looked at him, making a cute gesture.
It was a greeting she often used during her streams.
As she stood up, Aiden inadvertently caught a glimpse of her daring fishnet outfit under her windbreaker and immediately turned his head away.
If he remembered correctly, this should be their first meeting in real life, right?
Such a grand gesture on the first meeting...
This can't possibly be broadcasted!
"By the way, Junior, is this a Pokémon you recently caught? I think I should be able to touch it, right!"
Iono didn't seem to notice any issue with her actions and, failing once again to touch Miraidon, immediately looked at Aiden with starry eyes.
"Gao!"
Miraidon immediately jumped nervously and scurried to hide behind Aiden, seemingly wary of this impolite woman who wanted to touch him upon arrival.
"Uh..."
Aiden scratched his head, how did he suddenly end up stuck in the middle?
As a gym leader specializing in Electric-type Pokémon, Iono indeed seemed to have little resistance to these handsome Electric-type Pokémon.
However, perhaps due to being overly enthusiastic, she ended up scaring this particularly timid Miraidon...
"Speaking of which, why did Senior Iono suddenly have time to visit Sunlight Gym?"
Aiden decided to change the topic first, patting Miraidon from behind and signaling it to sneak back into the gym.
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot!"
Reminded by him, Iono suddenly remembered she had important business.
Iono's expression suddenly became serious, and after lightly coughing twice, she spoke in a low voice:
"Gym Leader Aiden, I'm here to challenge your gym today!"
"Huh?"
Aiden immediately looked confused, gazing at Iono with bewilderment.
What's going on?
So they really came to find trouble with me, but I haven't done anything yet!
"Eh? You don't know?"
Noticing Aiden's gaze, Iono instantly broke character, widening her eyes.
"You probably haven't checked the messages in the work group chat, have you!"
Reminded by her, Aiden immediately took out his phone.
Oh no, according to the habits from his previous life, he subconsciously set the group chat to "Do Not Disturb" after joining.
He rarely bothered to check it...
So he had no idea what everyone had been talking about these past few days.
There wasn't much content; Aiden quickly skimmed through and extracted the key information.
The cause was a message from Geeta.
[Geeta: According to the league assessment results and internal evaluations, the person replacing Gym Leader Cossette of Deep Bowl Town as the examiner for next year's Victory Road will be Gym Leader Aiden of Sunlight Gym in Cabo Poco.]
[Larry: I have no objections.]
[Ryme: Is that the young man who was recently added to the group? Truly talented at such a young age!]
[Geeta: That's right, but precisely because he's new, he may still be inexperienced as a gym leader, so please take care of him in the future.]
[Katy: Cabo Poco... It's very close. Recently, I've heard children coming to challenge mention Sunlight Gym, and it seems to be highly rated among students!]
[Rika: Eh! How about this: if the gym leaders have time, they can go and spar with this new gym leader to help him quickly become a reliable gym leader, alright?]
[Iono: Then I'll take the lead!]
...
"Hiss—"
Seeing this, Aiden couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.
At this point, he roughly understood why Iono was here.
And it's very likely that Sunlight Gym will occasionally refresh with a few peers coming to challenge him as well...
Rika must be getting revenge, definitely!
"Junior has become incredibly famous throughout Paldea recently, so much so that even I feel a bit jealous!"
Iono continued to stir the pot while cheerfully slapping Aiden on the shoulder.
"So, today's live preview for Iono Channel is to challenge Sunlight Gym."
"You'd better be mentally prepared, Junior~"
"…"
Aiden couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
So that's how it is, rather than challenging, it's more like a way for streamers to mutually boost each other's popularity?
No wonder she's a super-popular streamer destined for great success, her mind works fast.
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