So, she ended up fighting side by side with one of the protagonists, huh? Hilda's specialty had already completely shifted into Fire-types.
The Battle Subway's Super Multi Train wouldn't be much harder than the Black Tower anyway, and while battle facilities in the games didn't give experience, real battles obviously weren't like that.
"It'll still take a while to raise Litten into Incineroar. It looks like Hilda has paused her Battle Subway challenge, and that's the right call."
"She needs to keep building up her strength. By the time she fully conquers the Battle Subway, that'll also be when Hilbert, Cheren, and Bianca set out on their journey."
After sending Hilda that promised message, Hikaru rode Genesect and, using astonishing Extreme Speed, crossed the lands and mountains of Unova to arrive at Challenger's Cave, near Opelucid City.
It was an ancient cavern, with underground rivers and hanging bridges built long ago for training. The cave had three levels, and everywhere inside were Pokémon around levels 49 to 50.
Boldore, Graveler, Lickitung... Because there was no special magnetic field here, they couldn't evolve in this place. If they wanted to evolve, they had to go to Chargestone Cave, but the Pokémon living here had no way of knowing that.
So day after day, they trained here and battled the people who came from outside.
That included the six Trainers who appeared in Challenger's Cave during the actual game.
There were six of them in total, and the average level of their teams was between 62 and 64 - far above the tough Trainers on Victory Road.
In the first playthrough of the game, a Black Belt stood guard here, preventing entry until later.
And from his earlier conversation with Professor Juniper's father, Hikaru had learned that this unnamed Black Belt seemed to be the "legendary Karate King Zaymon," who might appear in the underground section of White Forest.
In the Unova region, he was said to be a master on par with Elite Four member Marshal. Supposedly, no matter how ferocious a Pokémon was, it would tremble before him like a mouse. Naturally, the level of his team scaled to match the challenge facility, and the Haxorus on his team was as high as level 74.
He only appeared in the challenge facility in White Forest.
And since he wasn't among the Trainers in Challenger's Cave, that perhaps proved he had left this place and gone to White Forest instead.
Inside the White Treehollow, there were several powerful martial artists constantly pushing deeper in hopes of battling him. Among them were even martial artists who had once won world tournament championships in the Pokémon world.
Unova had five battle facilities. Setting aside the Pokémon World Tournament, the other four all had multiple boss-level gatekeepers - people like Haru Shion, Valajia, Banshirou, and super experts like Zaymon, who existed mostly through dialogue and lore.
And Unova's League itself had an enormous structure of eleven Gyms and fourteen Gym Leaders. Judging from its numbers on paper, if all these background figures and facility Trainers were counted as part of Unova's combat power...
Then aside from the Champion being a little weaker,
the number of experts close to Elite Four level, along with Battle Frontier Head-level fighters, would still, even by conservative estimates, be nearly thirty. There were so many of them it was ridiculous.
No wonder the Unova League had practically ignored Team Plasma. On the surface, what kind of trouble could just seven Sages possibly cause?
"To fight someone like that... Fighting-types fear Psychic-types. If I can beat an opponent like that, I'll gain a huge amount of experience."
"There are just too many strong people in Unova. Far more than in Paldea."
"Wuff!"
The moment they arrived at Challenger's Cave, Riolu jumped out of its Ultra Ball on its own and fixed Hikaru with a solemn look.
At long last, the promise and anticipation from back then were finally about to be fulfilled here.
One final meditation, and then... a one-on-one contest between Pokémon and Trainer!
Thump.
Kubfu ran out too, reverently taking in the atmosphere.
Victini plopped itself down beside Kubfu, looked left and right, then suddenly vanished from sight.
Because at some point, a great many powerful Pokémon had quietly gathered all around them. They seemed to have sensed that a clash between true masters was about to happen, and so they had come.
"Then I'll have to trouble you to act as referee for us," Hikaru said to Kubfu.
Kubfu nodded solemnly.
Meanwhile, Riolu had already begun to calm its breathing and focus its mind.
Focus Energy!
Mind Reader!
Aura!
Magnet Rise!
Hikaru said, "If you can't beat me, then you won't evolve - that's what you said, right? Now that we're back in this nostalgic place, you must really want one all-out battle."
"But there are advantages to not evolving too. Prankster is way stronger than Lucario's Justified. What do you think, Riolu?"
Riolu said nothing. It only let fierce electricity crackle across its entire body, its fighting spirit rising to its absolute peak.
Violent currents of air swirled up beneath its feet.
Its level was already very high.
"Probably somewhere around 65 to 67... that's my guess. It's finally reached the average level of the experts in Challenger's Cave."
The higher a Pokémon's level, the more experience it needed to reach the next one, which meant defeating even more Pokémon. If Hikaru hadn't grinded against ancient Pokémon in Area Zero, reaching this level through ordinary wild battles would have taken an enormous amount of time.
Later generations had streamlined experience gain, making high levels feel much less distant. But in the earlier generations, raising a Pokémon to a high level was extremely difficult, especially in Unova.
Of course, in reality, "level" was only a rough measure. What it really meant was growth.
Still, "growth" was a little too vague.
"All right, then I'm going in too!"
"Wuff-rrowf! (Let's settle this!)"
Light flared from Riolu's fists.
Power-Up Punch!
"If you don't go through harsh training, you can't obtain what you want."
Deep within the second level of the cave, in an area lit by glowing moss, a wheat-skinned girl covered in cuts and bruises was training with her Machoke and Farfetch'd, the latter swinging its thick leek stalk.
Then she heard the sounds of battle.
Her face was drenched in sweat, and she was breathing hard. The exhaustion was obvious.
She had come all the way to Unova to train so that she could become the Gym Leader of Stow-on-Side, while also carrying the title of Galar's karate prodigy.
During her training, Elite Four member Marshal had told her to come to Challenger's Cave and search for what her heart truly sought.
Because this was a place where Legendary Pokémon had once trained their disciples.
And during her time here, she had also met another master from Unova.
Her battle with the legendary martial artist Zaymon had ended in a total defeat. And he had left her with these words:
"There was Gouda, who once won a Pokémon championship and felt hollow because of his own strength. There was Segen, who went through hellish ascetic training. There was Idar, who claimed to possess an unrivaled secret technique. There was the fighting girl Shukure, who came seeking fame across the world. There was Bude, the Karate King of Kanto... and then there is you."
"I've met many masters who challenged me, but every one of them was defeated by my hand."
"If you do not pass through suffering, you cannot obtain the strength we seek. All of you have made the same critical mistake in your training. Do not rely on the shape of the body. Use the eye of the heart to catch movement. Focus your spirit. Your greatest enemy is yourself. You still need to grow."
Those words from the legendary martial artist echoed in Bea's mind.
She had already spent five days in Challenger's Cave, constantly tempering both body and mind, battling other experts who trained here and fighting the wild Pokémon as well, yet she still felt that something was missing.
All she felt was endless pain.
"Fighting those stronger than yourself is the key to growth." "Even if you have no chance of winning, you must still go all out and fight for a draw."
That was how her parents had raised her. And in Galar, both in training and in battle, she had kept winning. Everything had seemed like it would go smoothly. Before long, she would surely become one of Galar's major Gym Leaders. She might even get the chance this year.
But in preparation for the grand gathering of martial artists from all over the world, she had come to Unova to train and seek out powerful masters.
And not long after arriving in Unova, she had lost not only when challenging Marshal, but had also encountered a legendary martial artist and been utterly shut out. It had left her seriously doubting herself.
"Can I really shoulder the legacy of Galar karate? Not just for the martial arts tournament, but also for becoming a top-tier Gym Leader... What does strength even mean? Where is the answer to that question?"
"Am I... just too young after all?"
As she thought that, she heard the fierce sounds of battle.
This part of Challenger's Cave lay deep inside. Aside from wild Pokémon, only a handful of elite and veteran Trainers had ever trained here.
With her Machoke and Farfetch'd at her side, she followed the sound - and what she saw left her stunned.
A Riolu wreathed in lightning, using an unknown martial art powerful enough to shatter boulders with a single strike, was battling a human martial artist.
And in the middle of that battle, Bea saw this:
Although the Riolu was slightly on the defensive, every single time, it was still able to block its opponent's attacks with perfect accuracy.
And the martial artist on the other side was the same!
They weren't fighting with their bodies - they were fighting with their spirits. The body was nothing more than an extension of the spirit!
"So strong... too strong!"
Bea was utterly shaken. Even though she had trained in Galar karate since childhood, she had never seen a battle this intense.
This was different from battling Mr. Zaymon and Elite Four Marshal.
This was sparring between a human and a Pokémon. It was the same kind of fighting method she herself pursued.
Of course, those two masters could definitely do something like this as well. But Bea had never personally seen them fight hand-to-hand. What she was seeing now with her own eyes struck directly at her soul.
All around them, a huge number of Pokémon such as Graveler and Boldore had gathered to watch. None of them attacked Bea.
And just like that, she stepped right into their midst and blended in without the slightest sense of discord.
At this moment, there was no distinction between humans and Pokémon. Everyone here stood as equals.
Bea didn't dare blink. As the battle escalated, she gradually began to understand something from it.
Her eyes remained fixed on the battlefield. Challenger's Cave was a little dim, but the glow from the luminous moss still let her make out the battle in the distance.
The warning Zaymon had given her rose in her mind once more.
That was it... the thing the legendary martial artist Zaymon had told her:
Use the heart to feel your opponent's ultimate technique.
"The eye of the heart!"
A duel between masters using Mind Reader!
And that Riolu was absurdly strong!
Bea glanced at the Machoke and Farfetch'd beside her and found that their expressions were just as grave - even faintly horrified.
Now that she thought about it, ever since arriving in Challenger's Cave, she had yet to encounter a single weak wild Pokémon.
Even the Graveler here, Rock-types that should have been weak to Fighting, could still withstand the attacks from her and her Pokémon and launch fierce counterattacks in return.
And how was that Riolu flying?!
Its whole body blazed with golden lightning, and the instant close combat proved ineffective, it switched to ranged attacks. What kind of move pool was that - Aura Sphere, Dragon Pulse, and Flash Cannon?!
"And it's so fast! Don't tell me that's Extreme Speed?! A Riolu with Extreme Speed?!"
"And those fist strikes, like shooting meteors... and that martial art that gets stronger and stronger as it fights, boosting its own stats..."
"And the martial artist himself!"
Bea saw Riolu suddenly get hit by a lightning-fast straight punch.
For a moment, the concentration behind its Mind Reader wavered - then it sprang back.
At that moment, the "martial artist" on the other side gathered fierce fighting spirit.
Riolu realized what the martial artist was about to do and also began gathering Aura and fighting spirit.
Then a scene Bea had never imagined unfolded before her.
The two of them made the exact same movement.
They compressed their energy, condensed it, and blasted it forward all at once like a bomb. It was a sure-hit strike.
It looked exactly like in a video game, where two characters gather power and then fire beams at each other head-on.
And right now, that Riolu and the unknown martial artist were fighting exactly like that. Both launched condensed shockwaves of fighting spirit at the same time, and the two blasts collided in a roaring clash of energy.
A huge explosion erupted inside Challenger's Cave.
Bea stared in utter disbelief at the sight before her.
Compressing fighting spirit and releasing it like that was the mark of a martial arts master, but not to such a ridiculous degree.
Even Bruno of the Indigo League could only leap high enough to clear an Onix's head - though there were rumors that he too could use this kind of power.
And supposedly, there were people somewhere in the world who really could do such things.
Her parents had once told her that in the far-off land of Ferrum, people like that existed, but she had never seen one herself.
And in places even farther away, there were said to be powers like the "strength of warlords."
But now... Bea was certain.
A martial artist of legend was right in front of her.
"Temper Flare is a move I taught you. Meteor Assault comes from Marshadow's martial arts. Hm. Looks like you're running on fumes now, and instead of going for Reversal, you're planning to use Drain Punch?"
"Come to think of it, you little punk actually used Swift on me. If I didn't have psychic powers, I couldn't have batted that back. You can't block some of these moves without special physical gifts. I'm not exactly Ash or Kellyn, after all."
"Though I do carry a Protective Pads-style charm on me too, since I'm a craftsman."
Thanks to the Heart of the Giant, he could gather energy. With a few tricks and some use of psychic power - especially Zen Headbutt's kind of telekinetic force - Hikaru had barely managed to suppress his own prodigy puppy for a short while.
And there was Aura Sphere too.
Still, knocking away Aura Sphere was basic skill for a martial artist.
Maylene and Chief Ranger Kellyn had both done it in the anime. And as for Ash, even after taking an Aura Sphere head-on, he usually just got knocked over and was otherwise perfectly fine.
Human bodies came in tiers too.
"If I can swat away an Aura Sphere, then that means I'm on the same level as Maylene and Kellyn, right? I think that move is called Aura Counter or something, even though I can't actually use Aura."
Riolu staggered and looked at its Trainer, who was even stronger than it was, and remembered their seven days and seven nights of training from before.
The little blue dog immediately bared its fangs.
This was way too hard!
A faint green current gathered around both of its fists.
During those seven days and seven nights of training, Marshadow had taught it Drain Punch, while Hikaru had taught it a second way to use Drain Punch, recreating an ancient Hisuian style of combat.
Use the ancient style when you're weak. Use the modern style when you've grown strong.
And Drain Punch was a Fighting-type move humans simply couldn't use.
For Pokémon, moves based on fighting spirit could be matched by human masters, and even Aura could be replicated by an Aura Guardian.
But a move like Drain Punch, which went beyond the scope of normal human ability, was no technique a human could ever unleash.
Riolu's eyes shone brilliantly.
Mind Reader's effect - the next attack would definitely hit.
It would lock the opponent in.
The little blue dog exploded with electric power from head to toe. The golden aura around it made it look like it had entered a second phase.
It still hadn't fully made up its mind about whether it wanted to evolve.
Even this battle... though the promise had long since been made, the deeper it got into the fight, the more it felt that there were advantages to not evolving after all.
So the next strike wouldn't just decide victory or defeat.
It would also decide whether it truly had the resolve to evolve.
"Drain Punch, huh? Yeah, that really is a Fighting-type move humans can't learn. And with that stance, you're planning to use the martial art I taught you against me?"
"But you forgot one thing."
Hikaru raised a finger in front of him.
Riolu froze for an instant, then got struck head-on by an invisible shockwave.
Spiritual power!
"That's right - spiritual power. Riolu, did you forget? The first thing I ever was... was a medium."
Shock rippled through Riolu's eyes. It flailed both paws in midair, trying to grab onto something, but then its eyes lost focus and it dropped flat with a smack.
After all, without evolving, its stamina still lagged behind a bit.
And pure Fighting typing had pros and cons.
The good part was that before evolving, it wasn't weak to Fire, Fighting, or Ground.
The bad part was that against Psychic, Flying, and Fairy, it had no resistances at all.
"Match over!"
Kubfu chopped its paw through the air, declaring the result of the battle. Its eyes were full of reverence.
That's it.
No matter how many times it watched, it still found this terrifying.
If there really was a divine messenger in this world capable of purging evil, then it had to be Master.
"Don't put it like that. My battle skill only counts as average among martial artists. There are stronger people out there - Marshal, Zaymon, and champions and masters from Ferrum too, including the Chief Rangers..."
Hikaru let out a breath and looked at the fallen blue puppy, thinking that it was a good thing he'd been just a little better.
He'd almost gotten taken down by it.
Without using the Flash sword technique, this was about as far as he could go.
Humans had plenty of other special powers they could use too. Beyond Aura, psychic power, fighting spirit, aura of creation, spiritual force, and the like, there was also the power of warlords, Terastal raid cheers, and more.
But if a human wanted to fight Pokémon head-on in intense combat, then that human also needed constant training, just like the Aura Guardians.
That was why so many Fighting specialists sparred directly with their own Pokémon - Bruno, Brawly, Bea...
"There's a huge wall between fighting barehanded and fighting with weapons, especially when special weapons are involved. If I'm not using a sword, then this is my limit."
"So, that means your wish has been fulfilled. Since you didn't evolve, are you planning to keep storing up this power and save it for the final moment?"
"Wuff!"
That's right! When I challenge the League with you, when I fight that strongest old man, that's when I'll undergo my final evolution!
Before Riolu could finish speaking, a girl's shout suddenly rang out and interrupted the blue puppy's outpouring.
"You there, martial artist! You're incredible!"
"I know this is very sudden, but please... please battle me!"
Hikaru turned toward the source of the voice.
And what he saw was -
"You're... Galar's karate prodigy, Bea?!"
Now that he thought about it, Marshal did seem to have mentioned earlier that Galar's karate prodigy had come here to study.
Still, Bea wasn't wearing her Gym Leader outfit. Was that because she hadn't officially taken the position yet?
Or had she been demoted to the minor league for now?
From some of her lines in Masters, it did seem like both Bea and Nessa had nearly been dropped to the minor division before. Nessa's case had even shown up in Twilight Wings.
Come to think of it, this girl also belonged to the category of "won another Pokémon battle today without using Pokémon."
"Even though I'm curious why you're here... among Trainers, there's a saying."
"No need for introductions or explanations. Once your eyes meet, you battle."
And this was Challenger's Cave. People came here for only one thing:
Training.
So -
"Genius girl from a distant land... there's a bit of confusion in your voice, isn't there? Then..."
"Let's battle."
(End of Chapter)
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