The starter Pokémon applications naturally took time to process, so Aiden Flint and the Professors all exchanged contact information, waiting for the starters to be sent over later.
Only Professor Birch, being the Hoenn Professor, directly handled Aiden's request on the spot—and Gary also chose a Treecko, so both were processed together.
Since this Professor Conference was being held in Hoenn, the Hoenn Pokémon League moved with top priority and quickly transmitted the starters.
Professor Oak, with his high authority, made a single call to Tracey and had several starters taken from the lab. Charmander was given to Aiden, Squirtle to Tyson, and Bulbasaur to Torkoal, and that concluded the Kanto starter distribution.
So before long, Aiden was the first to receive his Torchic's Poké Ball.
Ding! Torchic's current status is as follows:
Pokémon: Torchic
Divinity: None
Level: 12
Ability: Speed Boost
Type: Fire
Aptitude: Purple
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Ember, Peck, Quick Attack, Scratch, Detect…
Friendship: 70
Experience: Met in Scientist Town, a carefully selected Torchic by Professor Birch, an outstanding member of the Torchic species
Hobby: Loves spicy food, enjoys battling and growing stronger
Seeing that Torchic had the hidden Ability Speed Boost, Aiden couldn't help but smile.
Professor Birch really treated him well. Of course, that was also because Aiden had demonstrated exceptional talent to deserve such a special Torchic.
When he checked the Charmander as well, Aiden was equally pleased. Two Fire-type starters arriving at the same time—perfect rivals and companions who could grow together.
Ding! Charmander's current status is as follows:
Pokémon: Charmander
Divinity: None
Level: 10
Ability: Blaze
Type: Fire
Aptitude: Purple
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Ember, Scratch, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath, Dragon Tail…
Friendship: 70
Experience: Met in Scientist Town, a Charmander carefully chosen by Professor Oak, inheriting excellent Dragon-type potential
Hobby: Loves battling
Perfect. Fire-types really did have that kind of personality—exactly what Aiden liked.
Only Pokémon that loved to battle could grow stronger quickly.
After switching both Torchic and Charmander into Luxury Balls, Aiden recalled them.
Unlike most Trainers who sent their Pokémon back to a Professor's lab, Aiden kept all his Pokémon with him.
Professor Birch was fine with that—after all, his lab and Professor Oak's weren't on the same budget level.
After Aiden received his two new Pokémon, Drake's voice rang out, and Professor Birch greeted him first.
"Yo, Drake! What brings you here all of a sudden?"
Drake laughed loudly.
"I heard from Wallace and Steven that there's an outstanding Trainer here, so I came to take a look!"
Hearing that, everyone was surprised. Ash, who had met Drake before, even went up to greet him.
"Oh? You're here too, kid? Looks like you're a pretty impressive Trainer as well!"
After a bit of small talk, Professor Birch asked in surprise,
"Steven and Wallace? The two Hoenn Champions both praising a Trainer and even sending you to look for him… You didn't come just to battle him, did you?"
Drake froze for a moment.
"How did you know?"
"Wallace has been calling me nonstop lately—three times a day—urging me to come see some Trainer named Aiden—uh, Aiden Flint," Drake said with a laugh.
"He kept saying that I had to battle this kid, that I'd experience what a true Dragon-type powerhouse really is. So of course, I came!"
Hearing that, everyone turned to look at Aiden.
They already thought they were giving him plenty of credit—but who would've imagined that even a member of the Elite Four would come personally to challenge him?
And not just any Elite Four—Hoenn's strongest Dragon-type specialist.
Did that mean Aiden had already battled Steven and Wallace?
For Drake to come in person, did that mean Aiden's true strength was at least at the Elite Four level?
May and Max, remembering their father Norman's words, now felt even more certain.
Yes—Aiden Flint was absolutely at Elite Four level… maybe even higher.
With deep curiosity, Drake looked straight at Aiden.
"So you're Aiden Flint?"
Hearing that, Aiden stepped forward, silently cursing Steven and Wallace in his heart.
Those two had really teamed up. After getting beaten by him, they weren't satisfied and had to call in every powerhouse to get their own taste of getting wrecked.
Were they trying to let everyone experience what it felt like to be beaten senseless by Rayquaza?
Now that he thought about it, those two giving him a Bagon and a Beldum suddenly felt suspicious.
Were they trying to shut him up so he wouldn't tell everyone how badly he crushed them?
So those two rare pseudo-legendaries were basically hush money?
The more Aiden thought about it, the more it made sense.
Both had started at Gold Aptitude too—clearly they'd planned this.
"Elite Four Drake, I'm Aiden. You don't need to take Steven and Wallace too seriously, I—"
Before Aiden could finish, Drake burst into laughter.
"No problem! Since I came all this way, as a Trainer, you can't avoid a battle!"
Seeing how stubborn Drake was, Aiden could only nod.
"Then as you wish."
Mega Sceptile hadn't reverted yet, so he might as well let it go first.
As a high-EQ Trainer, Aiden didn't want to give this Dragon Elite a mental scar right from the start.
"That Sceptile of yours is quite different from normal ones… interesting. In that case, I'll leave it to you—Salamence!"
Without hesitation, Drake sent out the same Salamence he had ridden in on.
Ding! Salamence's current status is as follows:
Pokémon: Salamence
Level: 73
Ability: Moxie
Type: Dragon, Flying
Aptitude: Gold
Bond Evolution: Locked
Mega Evolution: Locked
Moves: Roost, Dragon Claw, Zen Headbutt, Flamethrower, Dragon Pulse…
Read 50 chapters ahead on P@treon -> patreon.com/SorenSwiftTL