Changing Stereotypes

Roy's opponent was contestant number one, a little girl in a skirt. Perhaps because it was her first time on stage,

Roy felt that her entire body was tense, as if she might run back to the preparation area at any second.

The little girl was named Erika, and her Pokémon was Chikorita, one of Johto's Starter Pokémon, with a large leaf on its head.

As one of Johto's Starter Pokémon, Chikorita was also extremely popular.

However, compared to Roy's rarely seen Litwick, its discussion value was much lower.

System Scan

Pokémon: Chikorita

Level: 16

Gender: Female

Ability: Overgrow (When HP decreases, the power of Grass-type moves increases.)

Moves: Tackle, Growl, Razor Leaf, Poison Powder, Synthesis, Leech Seed

Held Item: Miracle Seed

Egg Moves: Vine Whip, Ingrain

Individual Values: 20

Technical Machine/Move Tutor: None

Chikorita was only level 16?

But this Chikorita's talent was incredibly good. It was Roy's first time seeing a Pokémon with Individual Values above 20 in another Trainer's hands.

It was even holding a Miracle Seed, a Pokémon item that could boost the power of Grass-type moves.

The little girl's identity was clearly not as simple as she appeared, but that had nothing to do with him. Roy could only say that with both a type advantage and a level advantage, he was sorry.

The flame atop Litwick's head surged instantly, splitting into countless tiny flames that swirled continuously around its body.

"The match begins now!"

With Mary's command, the discussions throughout the venue abruptly stopped, and everyone focused on the center of the battlefield.

"Chikorita, use Bulbasaur..."

A huge question mark seemed to appear above Chikorita's head as it turned back to look at its Trainer. What was it supposed to use Bulbasaur with?

Erika also realized she had misspoken, but she was simply too nervous. She had even called out the wrong move name.

Her mind went blank. She quickly thought of something, but the words reached her lips and still would not come out.

"I'm dying, bro. What do you mean, use Bulbasaur... I can't, my stomach hurts from laughing."

"That's it!? And you want to be a Coordinator? You're even copying others by entering a competition?"

"Pfft... If you can't do it, go train for a few more years. Hahaha."

Several mocking laughs rang out from the spectator stands, especially piercing in the quiet arena.

Hearing the ridicule, Erika, already nervous, instantly panicked. This was her first time participating in a Pokémon Contest.

She had practiced countless times in the battle arena at home before gathering enough courage to enter.

The judges' expressions darkened at once, especially the president of the Pokémon Coordinator Association. He had specifically called in favors to serve as a judge this time in order to encourage newcomers who wanted to become Coordinators to participate.

A few rotten eggs were trying to ruin the whole pot of porridge.

More importantly, Erika was the granddaughter of an old friend. If that friend found out, where would he put his face?

The hot-tempered Agatha beside him had just been about to speak up and reprimand them. Of course, she knew how important a first match was for a rookie Trainer.

Before she could say anything,

a gentle yet calm voice came from across from the little girl:

"Don't be nervous. Don't let a few pieces of trash ruin today's match. The fact that you came here to compete already makes you much braver than those who do not even have the courage to register, doesn't it?"

Roy's voice passed through the sound amplifier at the command platform and reached everyone's ears clearly.

Everyone in the arena was stunned by Roy's behavior. You were telling them this was the Trainer of a sinister and cunning Ghost-type Pokémon?

The stereotypes surrounding Ghost-type Pokémon Trainers were shattered once again by Roy.

The people who had laughed earlier could no longer laugh now. The hostile looks from those around them made them afraid to make another sound.

Roy's lofty image made them look like kings of Gotham by comparison.

They could only rise from their seats in disgrace and hurry out of the Pokémon Contest venue. If they left too late, whether they would get clubbed from behind was another matter entirely.

Erika looked across the field at the boy comforting her, as though she had grabbed onto a lifeline.

With just that one glance,

a faint smile rested at the corners of the buzz-cut boy's eyes and mouth.

At that moment, a perfectly timed spotlight shone down on Roy, making his entire figure seem taller.

In the little girl's eyes, Roy's image became even more imposing.

Erika nodded excitedly, and the words at the tip of her tongue finally came back to her.

"Yes!"

"Chikorita, let's use Leech Seed!"

"Chiko!"

A small emerald-green seed grew from the leaf atop Chikorita's head and flew toward Roy's Litwick, but Litwick easily dodged it.

"Your movements are still a little slow. You can train Chikorita's speed and move accuracy more."

"Yes!"

Encouraged by Roy, the little girl grew more confident as the battle continued, and her moves became increasingly smooth.

Even Chikorita felt as though its Trainer had become a different person. Even when the little girl trained alone in the battle arena at home, she had never been this confident.

This was Chikorita's Trainer!

A perfectly normal battle had been forcibly turned into a teaching match by Roy. If not for the match rules imposing a time limit, Roy would have wanted to drag things out longer to see if he could accumulate more Popularity Points.

Chikorita's level was still far too different from Litwick's, and with the type disadvantage, it could not deal any meaningful damage at all.

Before Leech Seed could even get halfway close, Litwick's flames burned it to ashes.

Razor Leaf had not hit Litwick even once. Every attack had been dodged.

Roy might have been guiding her, but he had not deliberately gone easy on her. On the battlefield, the greatest respect for an opponent was to give it everything you had.

When the match reached the twenty-ninth minute, Litwick's Fire Spin swept Chikorita into its flames. Knowing she could not win, Erika chose to concede, and Roy had Litwick stop the fire.

Chikorita, standing in the center of the ring of flames, had not suffered even the slightest injury. Clearly, Roy had been waiting for the little girl to concede.

As Erika left the field, she did not forget to bow deeply toward Roy, thanking him for his guidance and help.

Roy likewise bent at the waist and returned the gesture like a gentleman before leaving the stage.

Once again, he earned a full round of applause and screams from the crowd.

His sunny, handsome appearance and gentlemanly bearing instantly maxed out the female audience's favorability toward him.

This battle had practically stamped the words "good person" directly onto Roy's face.

Seeing that the battle was over from her aircraft, Mary immediately announced:

"What a wonderful exhibition match. It seems we have always misunderstood Ghost-type Trainers.

Even I was moved by contestant Roy's gentlemanly conduct. I wonder what the judges think?

Now, please give Roy and Erika your scores!"

The first few judges all gave Roy the highest score of ten, while the little girl Erika received seven.

What else could they do?

He had directly morally blackmailed them. What choice did they have?

The scoring stalled when it reached Stone Hibiscus. His brows were tightly furrowed, and no one knew what he was thinking.

Hibiscus had watched the entire match with a frown on his face. Was this right?

Back then, the brat had not treated Roxanne like this. He had thrown underhanded tricks like Will-O-Wisp, Haze, and Minimize straight at Onix.

And now, at a Pokémon Contest, the brat had transformed into a saint?

Could Roy possibly have a twin brother? One a born villain, the other with the heart of a bodhisattva?

In the end, Agatha could not stand it anymore and poked Hibiscus. Only then did he realize it was his turn to score. Seeing that Professor Oak, Agatha, and the old man before him had all given tens, Hibiscus wisely raised cards showing ten and seven respectively.

Roy advanced to the next round with a perfect score.

Agatha found the entire battle immensely satisfying and refreshing. Although Roy had not displayed his true strength in this match,

still!

Did they see that? This was the image of a Ghost-type Trainer.

This young man was good material, and his character was upright as well. Her own strength had already reached its peak, and there was almost no possibility of advancing further. But if the boy at the command platform received more training in the future, perhaps he could...

Actions spoke louder than thoughts. Remembering the conversation between Oak and Hibiscus earlier, Agatha turned to Hibiscus.

"Hibiscus, this child is a beginner-class student at Rustboro Academy, correct?"

"Huh? Yes!"

Hibiscus answered instinctively as he lowered the score cards in his hand.

"Then his teacher..."

Hibiscus truthfully told her that two elderly people on Mt. Pyre had entrusted him with arranging Roy's admission qualifications for Rustboro Academy.

Just as she had expected, Roy was from Mt. Pyre. No wonder he carried that familiar aura. This made things somewhat troublesome.

It seemed she would have to set out tomorrow to meet those two.

From Agatha's words, Hibiscus roughly guessed that she wanted to take Roy as her disciple.

He wondered whether he should tell her about Roy's performance at Rustboro Academy, but after thinking it over, Hibiscus decided to forget it.

"Wow! Brother Roy is so handsome!"

May's eyes were filled with stars. Clearly, Roy's gentlemanly bow had also captivated her.

His own daughter was praising another man right in front of him!

"I don't care! Dad, I want a Litwick! I want one! I want one! Buy me one! Buy me one!"

Norman nearly spat out another mouthful of blood.

That brat Roy was trying to cut off his Gym's inheritance.