It was another bustling day.
Today, Grassmere City Gym was exceptionally busy. People streamed in and out of the entrance while a long line of vehicles stretched down the block. Reporters armed with cameras and microphones positioned themselves strategically, hoping to catch John at the first opportunity for an interview.
Emerald had doubled the security force to prevent reporters and visiting trainers from entering the gymnasium’s private training grounds and disturbing John’s preparations.
Not long ago, John had challenged the Elite Four as the nation’s number one Gym Leader. This was massive news.
John was already a top-tier figure, and now he was challenging the Elite Four, an event that could only be described as earth-shattering. Naturally, it had captured the attention of the entire nation.
This time, there were far fewer doubts online. Those who had questioned him before had been thoroughly proven wrong.
John had become the youngest Senior Breeder, then a Gym Leader, and finally the number one Gym Leader! Throughout this journey, many people had remained skeptical. But now, these achievements were undeniably his.
Rather than questioning, more people were filled with anticipation. Many had speculated about when he would challenge the Elite Four after learning he’d won the "Number One Gym Leader" title. Everyone assumed he’d wait until next year’s Gym Leader conference, but no one expected the challenge to come before the year’s end!
Therefore, John’s Gym was swarming with people and media outlets hoping to secure an exclusive interview with John before the battle.
But John had rejected them all, citing his need to focus on battle preparations.
"If you really want an exclusive interview, we can talk after I win. Before the victory, any interview is meaningless."
The commotion at Grassmere City Gym’s gates didn’t affect John, who was training in the back villa. He was conducting intensive pre-battle Pokemon training.
"Tyranitar, reduce the range of Rock Slide to be more precise, and control the falling speed of the rock spikes better. You need to be more strategic!" Fresh chapters posted on NoveI(F)ire.net
"Zeraora, the Force Palm technique isn’t about releasing all your strength at once, but building up power. Release your moves with controlled intensity!"
"Greninja, focus on perfecting the Ultimate Water Shuriken first, then work on the Spiral Aura Sphere. When Mew arrives, we’ll train at the Tree of Beginning."
John stood with arms crossed, directing his Pokemon’s training sessions.
As a trainer, his job was to identify and correct his Pokemon’s weaknesses to achieve excellence. The more elite the opponent, the more crucial attention to detail became. When the skill gap between two parties was small, details often determined victory or defeat!
John had finalized his six Pokemon for this battle: Zeraora, Greninja, Tyranitar, Gardevoir, Aggron, and Gengar.
The Draconia’s Elite Four specialized in Ghost, Fire, Flying, and Ground types respectively.
The Ghost Elite was John’s senior, "King of Hell" Damian.
The Fire Elite was Riley Lin, nicknamed "Firestorm"
The Ground Elite was Victor Stone, nicknamed "Tyrant."
The Flying Elite was Damon Drake, whose nickname was, somewhat amusingly, "Dragon King."
A Flying Elite called "Dragon King"? It sounded unexpectedly fitting. After all, many Dragon-type Pokemon were also Flying-type. This Flying Elite, Damon Drake, owned many Dragon-types, earning him the Dragon King moniker from the public.
Of course, this was a fan-given title that Damon himself didn’t officially acknowledge, since his ace Pokemon was a Mega Pidgeot.
Among the four Elite members, John had hesitated before finally choosing Damon Drake as his opponent for this duel.
The reason was simple: with Zeraora as his main attacker, why not choose an opponent with a type advantage against him? It would make things more interesting.
John still needed to train Zeraora extensively, especially to ensure a dominant performance in the Elite Four battle. A shiny Zeraora’s debut had to leave an unforgettable impression on this world!
While training his Pokemon, a red shadow suddenly flew over from the distance and affectionately nuzzled against John.
It was Latias, rubbing her head against his body like a puppy expressing affection. She then flew to perch on John’s head, her two slender but powerful arms resting on his shoulders, whether she wanted to take him for a "ride" around the grounds or give him a massage was unclear.
"What’s wrong?" John looked up and patted Latias’s head.
"Latias~" Latias projected a beam of psychic light into the distance, immediately blasting a huge crater in the ground. She then circled around John excitedly, making "Latias! Latias!" sounds.
"Okay, okay, I know you want to train too, but don’t rush. You should familiarize yourself with the environment and my commands first," John comforted her.
For legendary Pokemon, the Soothe Bell’s effect was greatly reduced. It was impossible to know exactly what Pokemon were thinking or hold conversations with them, he could only understand their general meaning.
Like now, Latias saw all her "companions" training and couldn’t wait to join in. But John decided to wait until after the Elite Four battle, when he and Latias had developed a stronger bond.
This was because John still hadn’t participated in the Altomare Grand Water Racing Tournament. The tournament was held in August, and now they were approaching the New Year. They’d have to wait for the next competition.
But it didn’t matter. If he wanted to obtain the Mega Stone, he could visit the Tower of Mastery in the Kalos Region. The LV80 Mega Lucario there could provide good training for Latias, she could defeat it after gaining a few levels.
Instead, growing the bond between himself and Latias would take more time. It had been ten days since she’d joined his team, and with the blessings of his Soothe Bell and Pokemon like Togepi and Mew, their friendship had exceeded 100 points.
The higher the friendship level, the slower the improvement. To raise Latias’s bond to the level needed for Mega Evolution would take at least three to four months of constant companionship.