Trip (1)

All of Cinnabar Island treated Gongping's plan to assess the Cinnabar Gym as a farce.

As far as Blaine's position as Cinnabar Gym Leader went, the Pokémon League had shamelessly insisted on keeping it open for the business tycoon. In fact, Blaine applied every year to close the Cinnabar Gym, but the Pokémon League simply refused to approve it.

Gongping knew this perfectly well and had no intention of actually assessing the Cinnabar Gym. Faced with Blaine's cold shoulder, Gongping, who had made up his mind to seek his advice, charged straight into the lava area inside Cinnabar Island's volcanic crater.

Facing the Cinnabar Gym staff, who were also employees of Blaine's company, Gongping explained as though it were perfectly reasonable, "I'm waiting here for Mr. Blaine to appear so we can discuss the Cinnabar Gym's assessment."

"Um, Mr. Blaine has already left for a trip to the Sinnoh Region. He also said that King Gongping could decide for himself whether the Cinnabar Gym should stay or go, without consulting him."

Gongping paid no attention and waited in the lava area for over a day without seeing any sign of Blaine. Before long, however, he learned online that Blaine really was conducting a research trip in the Sinnoh Region and had even had a friendly match with Cynthia.

As a League King, Gongping's time was precious too. Left with no choice, he could only leave for now, but just then, something unexpected happened.

"Mr. Blaine instructed us to give you this notebook."

As several Cinnabar Gym staff members handed him the notebook, Gongping raised an eyebrow, looking displeased. "Why didn't you give it to me sooner?"

Gongping had waited here for Blaine for a long time. The temperature and humidity in the lava area were very unpleasant, so his irritated tone was understandable. The staff members gave awkward chuckles as they explained.

"Before he left, Mr. Blaine said we could only give this to you once you decided to give up and leave."

What kind of strange temper did this old man have?

Gongping was so angry that he actually laughed. The staff, accustomed to the Sandstorm King's usually cold expression, felt a little frightened at the sight of his smiling face.

All I wanted was to ask how to improve beyond King-level, and he had to put on airs and pull something like this.

Of course, Gongping accepted Blaine's notebook. After all, the old man's seniority was undeniable, and the experience he had gained over decades as a Trainer was extensive and valuable. Soon, Gongping began reading it carefully.

The entire notebook contained insights into training Fire-type Pokémon, along with accounts of Blaine's battles against various King-level and Champion-level opponents over the years. A few pieces of information caught Gongping's attention.

In his youth, Blaine had also been a Trainer who traveled through several regions. By the time he was twenty, he had already taken first place in several Regional Tournaments, and had even accumulated enough match points at the Champion Conference to issue a King challenge.

In traditional one-on-one battles, the abilities of King-level and Champion-level Trainers amounted to their Pokémon's combat capabilities, their strong rapport with their Pokémon, and their grasp of the battle. After his own strength as a Trainer improved dramatically later on, Blaine had come to disdain the performances of Kings and Champions in traditional battles, believing they were nothing special.

As Trainers grew older and accumulated experience and strength over time, their control over the details of battle could likewise reach the standard of those Kings and Champions.

For that reason, Blaine had not thought much of the Pokémon League's so-called elite fighting forces, until a genuine life-or-death battle in the wild made him realize how terribly wrong he had been.

That year, a Champion-level Trainer had rebelled against the Pokémon League. After his defection, the highest Pokémon League authority at the time gathered more than a dozen Trainers, including Blaine, to pursue him.

Facing an encirclement by large numbers of Pokémon League Trainers, he had relied on just six Pokémon fighting in coordination to rout enemies dozens of times their number. Blaine, too, had suffered a crushing defeat in that battle.

What made this Champion-level Trainer terrifying was that each of his six Pokémon had mastered three tactics. For each tactic, the other five Pokémon could fit perfectly into the team and help the tactical core carry out its battle plan, allowing seamless transitions between three cores.

Three tactics?

Gongping murmured the words. He could not imagine what kind of tactical system allowed three tactics to transition seamlessly.

His own Sandstorm Team was essentially a single-core tactical system. Its tactical core was the combination of Lileep and Tyranitar, which created a desert hellscape as the foundation of that core.

A dual-core system required a combination of two tactics, rather than simply cobbling them together. For instance, his Alolan Ninetales's Snow Warning and Sandstorm were two incompatible systems. He could not perfectly integrate Tyranitar and Lileep into Ninetales's Snow Warning when it activated.

At the end of the notebook, Blaine advised Gongping to consider how to construct a second tactical system and make the two compatible.

In an office in the Johto Region, Agatha held the documents concerning the Cinnabar Gym's assessment, unsure whether to laugh or cry. Still, she understood Gongping's eagerness to grow stronger. Wasn't Blaine's way of tempering him also a form of help?

"Although the Kings of other regions have relaxed their standards to require only a single core in these peaceful times, a King of the Kanto Region must master dual-core tactics."

The Kanto League might not have been the strongest in ordinary training matches, but in genuine, deadly team battles, Kanto's Kings, who generally possessed dual-core systems, far surpassed the Kings of ordinary regions.

At fifteen, Gongping had already grasped the principles of a single-core combat system on his own, without anyone's guidance. That alone was astonishing, but Lance believed Gongping's potential went further. Once someone pointed him in the right direction, he was bound to become even stronger.

The opening ceremony would begin tomorrow. With that thought, Agatha prepared to set off for Cinnabar Island.

Under Lorelei's arrangements, the second new-style Pokémon Center would also open in a week. The Kings were all busy with preparations centered on Cinnabar Island. Meanwhile, after returning with the notebook, Gongping reviewed the finalized list of new students at the final mobilization meeting and unexpectedly found several familiar names besides Yin and Gary.

"They're all promising students. Oh, and here are some textbooks for the other courses. Take a look and see if there are any problems."

After flipping through the Ideology Class material Gongping had written, one teacher said with a smile, "We don't really understand this entirely new course, but it looks reasonable. It does seem as though it could elevate the students' souls."

"Director Gongping really is talented. There's absolutely nothing wrong with these materials."

At a mobilization meeting like this, when a decision-maker put forward a suggestion, it was not really to invite opposition from subordinates, but perhaps merely to hear their agreement. Although Gongping had not meant it that way, their unanimous praise did make him feel that what he had written might genuinely be quite good, and he did not want to dwell on the subject any further.

After finishing the editing of the last few textbooks, Gongping packed up his things and walked out of the school gates, only to unexpectedly hear a familiar voice.

"Hey, Gongping."

That familiar voice made Gongping's pupils contract instantly. A sudden surge of turmoil inside him made his hand tremble involuntarily.

Looking up, he saw the blue-haired Trip walking toward him with a smile. By now, he had lost an arm, but the Mechanical Arm made using this era's advanced technology was still extremely nimble, allowing him to deftly toy with the Poké Ball in his hand.

"I'm heading to the Johto Region to challenge its Regional Tournament this time. I heard you were on Cinnabar Island, so I dropped by to see you."

"Trip..."

Trip seemed very dissatisfied with Gongping's reaction. He propped up his chin, looking a little troubled. "Hey, hey, how come you've turned into such a poker face? I thought you'd throw yourself at me and hug me in tears."

"If it weren't for me, you wouldn't have..."

Ignoring Gongping's words, Trip casually slung his arm around him. "You really don't need to apologize. You're my brother. What's losing an arm for you?"

In the years since they had last seen each other, Gongping's personality had changed greatly. He had gone from a sunny, cheerful young man to the way he was now, and that was deeply painful for Trip too.

Gongping, no matter what happens, you're the brother I've chosen. And since we're brothers, I'll stand by you for the rest of my life!