"I've lost."
Looking at his Metagross lying unconscious on the ground, a rare look of helplessness appeared on Steven's face.
He got crushed, and crushed in a nearly overwhelming, one-sided manner.
His proudly formulated Sandstorm + Dual Screens strategy had been completely useless. In the end, even relying on Trick Room to secure the first strike, his ace Shiny Metagross couldn't out-damage the opponent at all, and was instantly one-shot by a single move.
He never expected the gap between them to be this massive.
Steven sighed inwardly, but quickly recovered his composure.
As the Hoenn Champion and the heir to the Devon Corporation, he wasn't someone who couldn't handle a loss.
In fact, upon a second thought, Steven felt this was incredibly good news.
—The Hoenn Champion position finally has a worthy successor! In a while, once Hakuya collects all the Gym Badges and goes through the standard procedure of challenging the Elite Four, he might not even need to fight the Champion battle. I can just logically and seamlessly resign! Then I can finally travel to other regions to dig for rocks and explore ruins in peace!
"Hakuya, your strength truly lives up to the rumors."
Steven recalled his unconscious Metagross into its Poké Ball, walked over, and patted Hakuya's shoulder, his eyes filled with admiration.
"Not only do you raise incredibly strong Pokémon, but your on-the-spot commanding abilities also far surpass ordinary people. This is the first time I've ever seen Trick Room shattered by a direct attack. That really opened my eyes."
"You flatter me. That's mostly due to Latias's daily training."
Faced with the Champion's praise, Hakuya remained extremely humble.
After all, as the commander, besides recognizing Steven's Trick Room + Explosion strategy, his only other contribution was constantly spamming the command "Draco Meteor." His brain hadn't done much actual thinking, but his mouth was certainly getting a bit dry.
"Hmm... no matter how many times I see it, it's always so beautiful~"
Roxanne, having observed the entire battle as the referee, walked over, her gaze entirely focused on the little jet plane hovering in mid-air.
At this moment, marveling once again at the white magatama beads orbiting Mega Latias, Roxanne couldn't help but lean closer to Hakuya curiously, asking, "Such a beautiful move... how come I didn't see you command her to use it during our battles?"
"It's not a move. It's just the effect of Latias's new ability after Mega Evolving," Hakuya waved his hand and explained with a smile.
"I see..."
Roxanne nodded in sudden realization, her gaze shifting back to Latias.
Illuminated by the stadium lights, the orbiting white magatama beads shone with an astonishing brilliance.
It was just... why did she inexplicably feel her body growing weaker the longer she stood near them?
"Speaking of which, roughly how much of a power boost does Mega Evolution provide?"
As a standard 'academic' Trainer, after marveling at the Mega little jet plane's aesthetics and strength, Roxanne's attention naturally shifted to the raw statistical data Latias had displayed.
"How much of a power boost, huh..."
Hakuya pondered, admitting that Roxanne's question had actually stumped him.
'Base stats' were a concept from the games; naturally, no such thing existed in reality.
However, utilizing the Randomized Emerald system panel, he could see the numerical changes in the little jet plane after Mega Evolving.
After thinking for a moment, Hakuya pointed his finger at the Probopass standing beside Roxanne, preparing to make a visual comparison.
"The power boost from Mega Evolution should be linked to the Pokémon's own base strength."
"I'm not too sure about other Trainers who have mastered Mega Evolution, but for me... after Mega Evolving, Latias's flight speed noticeably increases, and the magnitude of her strength increase is roughly equivalent to... six of your Probopass, Ms. Roxanne~"
Nearby, Steven, who was equally curious, heard this explanation and muttered to himself thoughtfully.
"I see. So after using Mega Evolution, a Pokémon's strength roughly gains a boost equivalent to six of Gym Leader Roxanne's Probopass? It seems the power of Mega Evolution truly lives up to its reputation..."
Probopass was Roxanne's ace Pokémon.
Even when he sent out his Claydol, he couldn't guarantee taking it down reliably.
And to get a boost equivalent to a full six of them... that meant the strength of Mega Evolution far exceeded his initial expectations.
Steven was already mentally calculating where he needed to go to dig up a Metagrossite.
"Ugh..."
As the person who asked the question, the smile on Roxanne's face froze slightly.
While the explanation was indeed very visual and easy to understand...
"Mr. Hakuya, when evaluating combat power, could you please not use ME as the unit of measurement—"
The girl completely lost her usual rock-steady aura. Instead, like a resentful little housewife, she leaned forward, thrusting her face right up to Hakuya's with an expression full of grievance.
"Sorry, sorry! I just wanted to use a more easily understandable way to explain it. I didn't mean anything else by it." Realizing the resentful gaze was just inches away, Hakuya smiled and waved his hands defensively.
Alright, I've used Probopass as a punching bag so much lately that it's genuinely become muscle memory.
"Honestly, my strength isn't actually weak, okay? But now I've somehow become the base unit for calculating combat power." Roxanne crossed her arms, her fair, tender cheeks puffing out in embarrassed anger like a little girl.
She felt like every time she spent too much time with Hakuya, her authoritative aura as a teacher was completely shattered.
Roxanne pursed her soft, jade-like lips. Then, as if realizing something, she sighed. "However, I feel like with your current strength, Mr. Hakuya, looking across the entire Hoenn region, there probably isn't a single Gym left that could withstand your challenge~"
He was merely a rookie Trainer who had started his journey less than a month ago.
Yet the Pokémon strength and commanding abilities he displayed far surpassed ordinary people. Let alone solo-sweeping the full main team of a rookie Gym Leader like her; even when facing the Hoenn Champion today, he still maintained an invincible posture and completely crushed him.
As expected of my ultimate 'oshi' (favorite).
Unaware of the hidden admiration in Roxanne's beautiful eyes, Hakuya shook his head.
"I don't plan on challenging the Hoenn Gyms for the time being. I'll probably be taking a trip to Galar in a while."
"Galar?"
Roxanne and Steven looked at him with identical expressions of surprise.
Ms. Roxanne was full of confusion, not understanding why Hakuya, who was doing so well sweeping Gyms here, would suddenly turn around and run off to Galar. Meanwhile, Steven, who had been wholeheartedly planning for Hakuya to become the Hoenn Champion, felt a sudden sense of dread.
Not challenging Hoenn Gyms, and instead traveling thousands of miles to the Galar region...
Don't tell me that guy Leon has already poached him?!
"Hakuya, do you not plan on collecting Gym Badges and participating in the local Hoenn League Conference?" Eager for an answer but feeling it would be inappropriate to ask so bluntly given they had just met, Steven prepared to fish for information indirectly.
"Not at all. Compared to staying in one region the whole time, I prefer traveling around, sightseeing, and experiencing the local customs and cultures of different places. Plus, I happen to be quite interested in the Stow-on-Side Stadium in the Galar region recently, so I want to go check it out."
Hakuya smiled and shook his head.
Based on the Fighting typing of the Dewford Gym in the randomized world, if he wanted to challenge the Gym Leader and break through the level cap for Floragato and the others, he had to first obtain a Fighting-type Badge in reality. After three seconds of thought, he set his sights on the Stow-on-Side Stadium.
As for why he didn't go to Kalos to find Korrina or Sinnoh to find Maylene... Hakuya could only say that compared to those two female Trainers, he simply liked Bea a little bit more.
"I see. I understand now." Steven breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness he only wants to go there to challenge a Gym.
Otherwise, he would have called Leon—who was still in the Galar region—right this second.
"Although I don't know why you'd be interested in a Stadium Gym so far away, Hakuya, I can understand the mindset of a genius Trainer." Glancing at Roxanne, who still looked a bit confused, Steven smiled and began to explain.
"For example, the Kalos Champion, Diantha. She spends more time immersed in movies and acting than she does participating in Pokémon battles."
"Mr. Alder also frequently dislikes staying at home. Instead, he's passionate about physically jumping off ten or twenty-meter-high cliffs, supposedly to discover rookie Trainers who aren't afraid of Intimidate."
"As for me... I'm actually quite similar to you, Hakuya. I also enjoy traveling around. The only difference is that while you travel to experience the local culture, I prefer to dig for rocks and explore ruins... After all, being a Champion is quite a relaxing job."
As he reached the end of his sentence, Steven deliberately emphasized the words 'relaxing job'.
Hmm... is it possible that the Champion position isn't actually 'relaxing', but rather that you, Steven, are too busy digging for rocks and have committed 'workplace bullying', dumping most of your miscellaneous paperwork onto those four poor Elite Four members?
At this moment, Roxanne, a fellow League member, and Hakuya, who understood Steven's true nature, both cast highly meaningful glances at him.
"Haha~"
Steven awkwardly rubbed the back of his head.
In reality, it wasn't actually workplace bullying. After handing off most of his paperwork to the Elite Four, he paid them out of his own pocket, giving them overtime pay that far exceeded the average salary of League employees.
To maintain what little remained of his good image, the Hoenn Champion shifted the topic, bringing it back to his rocks and ruins.
"Speaking of ruins... a very important reason why I came to Rustboro City recently is related to a mysterious ruin recorded in this document." As he spoke, Steven pulled a document out of his suit pocket and began explaining in detail.
"Since ancient times, there has been a folktale in the Hoenn region about a 'Legendary Giant Rock'. And during a recent urban construction project organized by the League, someone excavated ancient texts underground that record the location of this Giant Rock. It is said that this Giant Rock is intimately connected to the secret origins of Mega Evolution..."