One month later.
That terrifying total solar eclipse had long since passed. Today, the sun rose as usual, bringing light to the world.
As early as the second day after the incident ended, the planet had returned to its normal order. The matter of everyone turning into "light" that day seemed to have become an unspoken little secret among everyone.
However, the figure who stood on the front lines during the world's crisis, igniting the light of hope for the continuation of life, had disappeared for quite a long time.
[It's been a month already, did Teacher Azure also turn into light and disappear—]
[Shouldn't be possible, right? Didn't someone say they last saw Teacher Azure getting packed up and taken away by Champion Cynthia and her Garchomp? Maybe he's really become a live-in son-in-law in Sinnoh now?]
[Impossible, absolutely impossible! Teacher Azure will always be the soul figure of our Paldea!]
[Ohohoho, so that's what Teacher Azure is like over there? If you have the courage, open this wedding invitation~]
[??? Bro, please tell me this is an AI image generated by Porygon!]
Discussions about Aiden's whereabouts remained incredibly popular on the internet. Especially the veteran viewers in Aiden's stream room, who had basically turned the empty stream into a chatroom, posting random topics every day.
If the Champions of various regions hadn't aligned their stories, guaranteeing that Aiden was just tired and needed a break—there might already be absurd rumors like "Did Teacher Azure turn into the sun?" or "Is Teacher Azure locked on the moon?" circulating by now.
From the Alola Champion and Pokémon Professor Kukui, people finally learned the true identity of that giant dragon of light. The first light in the universe, the legendary embodiment of light, the "Blinding One" Necrozma.
Its strength had long surpassed any currently known Legendary Pokémon, second only to the Creation Deity Arceus. If not for Aiden's "awakening" at the critical moment, ultimately persuading Necrozma with the Light of Hope, perhaps the entire world would have been plunged into darkness forever.
Therefore, people could somewhat understand Aiden's disappearance. After fighting such a tough battle, he truly deserved to enjoy life for a while. However, understanding was one thing—
[PokéTV without Teacher Azure is like the Burned Tower without Ho-Oh!]
[Without Teacher Azure's tutorial videos, what are we supposed to eat?]
[These two months are passable, but the Masters Tournament registration will start soon after the New Year. Don't tell me Teacher Azure won't even participate in the Masters—]
[I still wanted to see Teacher Azure treat the Masters Tournament like a Baby Cup!]
Sinnoh region, Celestic Town.
Sitting on the sofa, Aiden was using an alt account on his phone, swiping the screen with keen interest as he watched the bullet comments in his stream room wailing in agony.
He couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling up. It had been a month, and there were still so many people waiting for him.
However, it wasn't that he didn't want to "return like lightning" sooner; he just couldn't. That all-out Z-Move had directly caused him and Sylveon to sleep for three days and three nights, and they had only barely recovered by now.
If Xerneas hadn't gifted him abundant vitality back then, he might have really gone to meet the Alpaca this time.
Even if he had died, he could probably have relied on his relationship with Marshadow and the Rainbow Hero to have Ho-Oh use its power to revive him.
Arceus was just saying things; He probably wouldn't really make him stay and accompany Him.
It was precisely because of these layers of insurance that he dared to take such a massive risk. Facts proved that being a hero was truly f***ing awesome; he'd dare to do it again next time!
Originally, on the internet, Aiden estimated his reputation was somewhat mixed. He definitely had skill, but the damage he caused by teaching bad habits to children and destroying the psychological well-being of the new generation of trainers was equally immeasurable. Just looking at the overwhelmingly negative review rate of the Sunshine Gym, one could tell that students actually had a love-hate relationship with him.
And his influence wasn't limited to the Paldea region. In almost all regions, including Kanto, Johto, and Sinnoh, from Elite Four and Gym Leaders down to rookie trainers, his shadow could be seen in their every move. This caused the originally pure battle environment to become a bit "scheming and calculating."
["It's all Teacher Azure's fault!"]
He had seen this kind of joke countless times while surfing the web. If his reputation was bad, so be it; he was used to it anyway. Could it be any worse than the Sunshine Gym's less-than-10% approval rating?
But after this incident in Alola, "Teacher Azure's" reputation underwent a massive reversal.
[Who said Teacher Azure has a dark psyche? He's a great hero who saved the world, even the Light acknowledged him!]
[Teacher Azure, we were wrong!]
[Could he really be a genius?]
Not only did his current reputation directly turn into "Overwhelmingly Positive," but the approval rating of the Sunshine Gym, which had been closed for a while, also miraculously recovered. It had historically returned to a 30% approval rating, and vying for the #1 spot was just around the corner!
Just as Aiden was daydreaming, the door to the research institute clicked open, and Cynthia, dressed in her casual clothes, pushed the door and walked in.
"I'm back."
"Welcome back~"
After a month of "cohabitation," Aiden and Cynthia seemed to have prematurely entered an old-married-couple mode. Although he always felt like their roles were somewhat reversed.
"I heard from Volkner today that Red and Blue seem to have won several Ultra Ball-tier tournament championships recently."
"They should have started preparing for the Masters Tournament early, right?"
Sitting beside Aiden, their shoulders almost touching, Cynthia smiled and shared what she had seen at work.
"They probably still need to make up quite a few points, right?" Aiden thought for a moment, then added, "Being regional champions should be enough to qualify for the Masters Tournament qualifiers, but the higher the points, the lower the chance of crashing out. They'll probably have to play in quite a few niche, hidden tournaments during this time. For them, it's purely smurfing in a kiddie pool—"
"I wonder who they learned that from, right?" Cynthia suddenly smiled playfully, looking at Aiden with a teasing tone.
"Who knows, it definitely wasn't me." Aiden responded with a feigned serious expression. "I, Aiden, hate smurfing the most."
"Especially people who smurf without bringing me along!"
"Pfft."
After saying that, he couldn't hold back his own laughter.
Jokes aside, preparing for the Masters Tournament was almost the primary goal of every elite trainer right now. Although he and Cynthia hadn't started preparing yet, it didn't mean they didn't care.
Cynthia naturally didn't need to say much. With her title as Sinnoh Champion and victories in two Master Ball-tier tournaments, she was currently ranked fifth in points and had basically locked in a spot among the Top 8 Masters.
According to the rules of the Masters Tournament, the first round of qualifiers had 100 trainers outside the Top 8 competing for eight challenger spots. The competition was incredibly cruel, and even if they survived the grind, they still had to challenge the true Top 8 Masters, winning at least one match to join their ranks and enter the knockout stage—
Cynthia naturally didn't need to worry about the qualifiers; champions like her were usually the defenders. However, because Red and Blue started too late and only had champion titles, it was hard for them to grab tickets to the Top 8, so they would likely be seen in the qualifiers.
As for Aiden? His position was slightly awkward, stuck exactly at 9th place. Ahead of him were Leon, Steven, Lance, Wallace, Cynthia, Geeta, Raihan, and Diantha. After all, he lacked the points brought by a regional championship title and was a rookie who had debuted just over a year ago.
If it weren't for the fact that Unova Champion Alder didn't participate in the previous tournament and hadn't played in any international events, and Alola's Professor Kukui was busy integrating into the League and also had no time to compete, his ranking might have been even lower.
But Aiden wasn't in a hurry.
Playing in the qualifiers wasn't necessarily a bad thing; maybe he could warm up his flow first? As long as he didn't run into Red and Blue, those two little demons popping off, he should be able to steamroll over any currently known contestants.
He'd just treat it as a warm-up for his Pokémon. Anyway, he was definitely aiming for the championship, so playing a few more or fewer matches made no difference at all. If he couldn't defeat all the strong opponents, even winning the championship would seem undeserved.
Therefore, he wouldn't lose a single match from here on out!
Night fell. After dinner, Aiden sat alone in the small courtyard of the research institute, watching his partners relaxing leisurely. This was both a mundane daily observation and an opportunity to reassess the current combat power of his family members.
Sylveon sat on Miraidon's back, enjoying the night breeze with this good-tempered "slacker buddy," relishing the quiet pastoral life. Half-asleep and half-awake, its ribbons waved casually in the air, seemingly still painting in its dreams.
Compared to battling, Sylveon had always been more passionate about painting. If not for the disastrous start at the beginning, and if there had been other Pokémon in the Sunshine Gym to hold the fort—perhaps he really would have accompanied it to specialize in painting and become a generation's art master?
With Sylveon's heaven-defying sketching talent, perhaps even that Smeargle master from Kalos would have to bow in defeat.
Aiden thought this in his heart, but then couldn't help but shake his head. But if that had happened, there wouldn't be this current god-tier little guy at home who had conquered multiple Legendary Pokémon and received Xerneas's inheritance.
In the process of growing up alongside him, Sylveon had not only worked hard to overcome its timid weaknesses, but had also grown stronger step by step, until it became one of the most solid main forces on the team. Beneath the Legendary tier, it was invincible; above the Legendary tier, it could hold its own.
Relying on its ridiculously overpowered Z-Move, even Ultra Necrozma would fall asleep on the spot if it came.
Was this the power of bonds?
In short, Sylveon's overall rating could be given an "S-tier".
Aiden blinked, then looked at Miraidon being pinned underneath Sylveon.
What was going on with this guy!
Although it did step up at critical moments, even after resolving its inner demons, it was still continuously slacking off. He couldn't rely on it for big things, and it wasn't needed for small things either.
He should have built a deep bond with it, so why did he feel like he was the one being influenced by it, becoming lazier and lazier recently—
Pass, next!
Moving his gaze away from Miraidon, who was lying flat on its back with its belly exposed, he turned to look at Mewtwo and Lucario, who were meditating with their eyes closed on the other side.
The value of "Dora-A-Mewtwo" naturally went without saying; it itself was a Legendary Pokémon whose strength could still improve. Not only was its power formidable, but its tsunami-like terrifying psychic power was something few Pokémon could withstand.
More importantly—with Mewtwo's psychic assistance, many troublesome matters could be easily resolved. Because of the existence of this "easy-mode carry" like Mewtwo, he felt he was being raised into a useless person who didn't need to think.
Directly liberating his brain, Mewtwo thought for him.
S-tier among S-tiers!
As for Lucario—
"Lu?"
Even though Lucario was in a meditative state, when Aiden turned his gaze to it, Lucario immediately opened its eyes and looked at him with a confused face.
"Nothing, continue meditating."
Aiden scratched his head, brushed it off, and sighed. Lucario seemed to have mastered "Ultra Instinct" now, able to keenly sense even others' gazes.
Not to mention its incredibly strong melee capabilities, it also had a neat trick of telekinetically wielding Chien-Pao's swords from afar, and now it had learned some special attack moves from Mewtwo—
It could already be called an all-rounder, a perfectly balanced hexagon warrior. The only problem might be that it occasionally didn't know its own strength, easily making the opponent cry when beating up babies.
Wow, talk about a dirty play.
Aiden's gaze shifted to the other companions in the team.
Ogerpon was holding its Teal Mask in a daze, looking up at the moon, not knowing what it was thinking. If you said Ogerpon without its mask was harmless, I wouldn't argue with you. But once on the battlefield, seeing the four colored masks like an evil spirit, along with Tera Shards increasing its output power, once it went all out, even Champions had to constantly guard against its unadorned, simple Ivy Cudgel strikes.
When strength was powerful enough, there was no need to consider so many flashy things.
Salamence was still circling in the sky; one could only faintly make out its flight path in the moonlight, as well as its scarlet, blood-colored wings under the moon. It hadn't really experienced any tough battles, after all, it was just a one-year-old baby.
However, Salamence's strength was still quite good; just the fact that it could control Mega Evolution on its own was already outrageous. Plus, it had a real big shot backing it. If it provoked Black Rayquaza, maybe it wouldn't even need to act; the sky would just start raining meteorites filled with dragon energy.
It was shady to the extreme.
And finally, the female Indeedee—
Seeing it, Aiden's mind already floated up the red-faced, furious expressions of future trainers challenging him when they saw it. The flushed faces of young boys and girls spoke louder than any words; nothing more needed to be said.
Thinking about it like this, it seemed like he was terrifyingly strong right now?
Add to that Marshadow and the four Ruinous Pokémon, as well as Flutter Mane, who hadn't come out since entering his shadow.
These unlisted members were also all ridiculously broken—
Aiden suddenly realized—
Oh no, it seemed like he would be smurfing even in the Masters Tournament!
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