Chapter 602: Hassel: I Will Win

Even though the Paldea Broadcasting Station was airing the broadcast, Luo Mu still opened his laptop and clicked into the high-popularity livestream room prominently displayed on the homepage of the streaming site.

In the dedicated studio, Iono, still wearing her distinctive outfit, energetically bounced around while interacting with her audience.

After a year of management, she had transformed from an obscure small-time streamer into one of the platform's top anchors.

—One could catch a glimpse of this just from the dense barrage of comments scrolling across the screen and the dazzling number of viewers online in the livestream room.

Iono's path as a streamer over this past year was quite simple.

Initially, when she hadn't revealed her identity as the newly appointed Gym Leader of Levincia, her livestream's popularity was merely average, supported mostly by fans who liked the cute style.

When Iono was worried about her livestream's low popularity, she, dreaming of becoming a huge internet celebrity, had a sudden inspiration; upon hearing that Luo Mu was about to challenge the Champion Assessment, she went to great lengths to obtain from Geeta the broadcasting rights for the Champion Assessment, which were theoretically not available to the public.

However, this only applied to Luo Mu's battle against Geeta.

Constrained by the tiny popularity of her livestream room, this particular broadcast by Iono did not create any significant waves on the internet.

Later, relying on her own efforts, she managed to accumulate somewhat more popularity.

But if one were to say when she truly became famous, it should be that one time.

Hearing Hearing Nimo suggested to her that she could create clips from battle recordings of famous Trainers and provide commentary and analysis using her insights as a Gym Leader.

Since then, Iono's streaming career seemed to have opened a brand-new chapter.

Leveraging the inherent popularity of some famous Trainers, every video she produced garnered high view counts, and this popularity fed back very well into her livestreams.

Since then, Iono's livestream content became more varied; there were livestreams of herself accepting challenges at the Gym, ventures onto the streets to find lucky Trainers, and she even secured broadcasting rights for several quite popular tournaments.

Her popularity was also steadily climbing.

Unfortunately, Iono's previous livestreams didn't have many recorded broadcasts, and the Champion Assessment battle between Luo Mu and Geeta existed only as some scattered fragments.

Strictly speaking, today should be her first time livestreaming such a special Pokémon battle feast, one without parallel in other Leagues.

Gazing at the constantly jumping viewer count in the livestream room, Luo Mu murmured, "With this level of popularity, it shouldn't disappoint me, right?"

Northwest of Mesagoza, beneath the Great Crater of Paldea, stood the headquarters of the Paldea Pokémon League.

Today, many workers here tightened their focus, welcoming the League headquarters' important work of the day with the utmost seriousness.

The opponent was the first Trainer to challenge the Champion Assessment since the beginning of the year, and also the Trainer favored most by the Chairwoman.

Although many Trainers had collected badges from all eight Gyms and come to the Paldea League's Champion Assessment, very few were able to break through the defense of the first Elite Four member.

—Having exhausted all their strength just to pass the Gym Leaders' trials where they didn't go all out, how could they possibly possess the strength to deal with the Elite Four going all out?

To put it bluntly, as the pinnacle of Trainers, an Elite Four member only needed to send out one main Pokémon to utterly crush an entire team.

At the Paldea Pokémon League headquarters in the past, such things always happened frequently.

Many people felt they should reference other Leagues and prepare a buffer tournament bridging the cliff-like gap in strength between the Gym Leaders, who held back during trials, and the Elite Four, similar to those League Conferences held once every half-year or year.

It would be lively, attract Trainers from other regions to challenge, and during the final conference stage, could create economic value, driving urban development and boosting tourism revenue.

But the higher-ups seemed to have other considerations; this proposal hadn't even reached the drafting stage.

However, today's challenger was different from the usual; they had consecutively defeated several Gym Leaders who went all out, and even the serious Elite Four Member Brother Brother Qingmu.

Speaking of Elite Four Member Brother Brother Qingmu, many workers quite admired him.

Standing at the pinnacle of most Trainers in terms of battling, and being an almost omnipotent subordinate highly valued by Chairwoman Geeta, many of them regarded him as their idol and goal!

Such an Elite Four Member Brother Brother Qingmu had been defeated by the other party.

Even though he hadn't deployed his Flying-type main Pokémon but rather a Normal-type main Pokémon cultivated subsequently to handle Gym challenges, the mere fact that he lost in battle was enough to shock people like them.

Not to mention, the challenger arriving today actually wanted to challenge the most difficult consecutive battle mode!

They felt they might be witnessing history, just like last year!

"Maintenance on the four Elite Four battle rooms is complete; background music will be played on a loop inside!"

"The four Elite Four members of the Paldea Pokémon League are in position, guarding the four battle rooms in sequence according to their strength order."

"The first room is Ground-type Elite Four Member Rika, the second room is Flying-type Elite Four Member Brother Brother Qingmu, the third room is Dragon-type Elite Four Member Hassel, and the fourth room is—"

"Livestream equipment status is good, dedicated network lines are smooth, connection with Levincia City is maintained, professional photographers are in position, the livestream has begun—"

That this highly anticipated showdown could proceed smoothly was thanks to the efforts of these behind-the-scenes workers.

Sitting upright in the waiting room, Hearing Hearing Nimo listened to the commotion outside, took a deep breath, and adjusted her school uniform tie once again.

That's right; on such an important occasion today, Hearing Hearing Nimo rejected the suggestions of her father and older sister, who were far away in the Kalos region, and did not wear the battle suits they had custom-made for her long ago for this day, sized from her childhood form to her adult form.

—She truly felt that her father and older sister, who were already scouting for her future wedding dress, were somewhat sick in the head.

This morning, she also did not wear the dress the butler Sebastian had the maids prepare, but instead put on this Orange Academy school uniform, which held a different significance for her.

This was what she wore when she enrolled in Orange Academy, and it was wearing this very outfit that she became Luo Mu's student.

Hearing Hearing Nimo wanted to wear this commemorative school uniform on this memorable day to pass the Champion Assessment and become her teacher's pride.

Listening to the busy sounds of the League workers outside the waiting room, Hearing Hearing Nimo also silently thanked them in her heart for their hard work.

As the time for the battle to officially begin drew nearer, Hearing Hearing Nimo began frequently peering outside the waiting room.

But the figure she wanted to see never appeared within the Paldea Pokémon League headquarters.

Hearing Hearing Nimo knew very well that the League headquarters was likely under the highest state of alert today, eliminating any factor that might interfere with the Champion Assessment.

Even though Teacher Luo Mu was the head of the Battle Department at Grape Academy, he probably couldn't get close to this place.

After all, from the moment he chose to retire, although no one would forget or deny his various honors as a Trainer...

... from the League's perspective, all of these had already been cancelled.

Chairwoman Geeta, who respected his wishes, probably wouldn't actively grant conveniences before he proposed it himself.

There was a high probability that Teacher Luo Mu would not appear inside the Paldea League headquarters; at most, he could only watch this match through Young Lady Iono's livestream.

Although Hearing Hearing Nimo felt somewhat disappointed, she could only accept it.

At the very least, Teacher Luo Mu, her father, mother, and older sister, Penny, Arven, Grusha, Shizuka, Paul, her classmates, the butler Sebastian, and the friends she had met during her travels in Galar and Hoenn were all watching her via the internet.

Just this point alone was enough to motivate her to go all out.

Seeing that the scheduled time was approaching, Hearing Hearing Nimo could only reluctantly withdraw her gaze and turn to look at the Pokémon resting quietly in the waiting room, each adjusting their condition in their own way.

Pawmi, Aqua Breed Tauros, Ursaluna, Goodra, Decidueye, Ribombee.

This was her full powerhouse lineup, held back by nothing, and also the best partners with whom she had built bonds over the past year.

Today, they would challenge the pinnacle of Trainers!

Past memories flashed continuously in her mind; Hearing Hearing Nimo's lips curved up slightly, and just as she was about to speak, Pawmi leaped onto the chair first, chest puffed out, raising its fist, with electric currents crackling between the gaps in its fur.

"Paw-mi!"

Pawmi's vigorous voice echoed through the resting room; unexpectedly, it was the one to take the lead in cheering them on.

Hearing Hearing Nimo smiled gently, placing her wheat-colored palm, tanned by frequent outdoor travel, before her.

"Let's all work hard together!"

"Paw-mi!" "Moo!" "Roar!" "Rru-gong!" "Chirp-pa!" "Meng-meng!"

The six Pokémon responded to Hearing Hearing Nimo's voice with equally high morale, stacking their hands, hooves, and wings atop her palm.

Greavard, who could only serve as a cheerleader, landed on their stacked "hands" and likewise exerted all its strength to cheer them on.

At this moment, a knocking sound suddenly came from outside the resting room door.

"Student Hearing Nimo, it is about time to prepare to head to the first battle room."

Considering Hearing Hearing Nimo's gender, the League had dispatched a female staff member to notify her.

Hearing Hearing Nimo answered with a sound, recalled Pawmi and the others into their Poké Balls, and then left the resting room directly.

At the same time.

The live stream hosted by Iono was also seeing its viewer count rise at an astonishing speed.

According to data from the Paldea League's personnel monitoring the live stream in real time, it seemed that many IP addresses from other regions, unable to watch Paldea TV programs, were flooding into the live stream via the internet.

Galar Region, Hammerlocke City.

Within the landmark building standing in this city, the Macro Cosmos Group headquarters, or rather more appropriately called the Rose Tower.

As the Group Chairman, Rose rarely put down the work in his hands, yet now he was instead "slacking off."

His secretary Oleana, who usually had plenty to say about him, remained silent at this moment.

For the Rose of now was not only the President of the Macro Cosmos Group but also the one controlling the highest authority in the Galar Region—the Chairman of the Galar Pokémon League.

He was, from the perspective of the League Chairman, seriously watching an online live stream.

"How unusual; the generally conservative Paldea Region has actually pulled a stunt like this."

A playful smile floated across Rose's face, but his serious eyes could hardly be called indifferent.

He felt that the Paldea Region might be planning to emulate the Galar Region, using the form of a live stream to expand its influence in the battle domain.

Essentially, it was just like the "Stadium Battles" that had already become a trend in the Galar Region, intending to display the League's strength, enhance influence regarding Trainers, and attract more attention.

"The Trainer challenging that Champion Test today seems to be a classmate of my dear little niece?"

"Truly unexpected; her growth speed is already comparable to those two Battle Legends from the Kanto Region, isn't it?"

"And she is challenging the proper consecutive battle mode, not that kind of playing house."

At this moment, Rose truly felt a bit of regret; if he had worked a bit harder half a year ago, perhaps he could have poached Hearing Hearing Nimo over to the Galar side.

What a fine seedling; what a waste to let Geeta, that terrifying woman who leaves no loopholes in her work, get her for free.

Recalling the memories from that dinner, Rose naturally remembered the teacher Hearing Hearing Nimo had mentioned; the phrase "never thought I'd see the teacher lose" was something he remembered vividly.

It was just that after the Three Legendary Birds incident, the other party had disappeared for quite some time recently, and the biggest commotion they had caused instead involved a restaurant in Kalos, which was quite perplexing.

In the planned Pokémon World Championships, that person would be suitable as an opponent to make Champion Dan Di and the Galar Region's fame go even further.

However, before that, let us first see how this student they taught performs in the Champion Consecutive Battles.

Paldea League Headquarters, within the four rooms.

Watching Iono's figure, who had already started the live stream on her phone, Rika, dressed in a neutral style with a distinct heroic air, turned off her phone, shoved her hands into her pockets, and revealed a slightly unrestrained smile.

"It is about time; the young Miss Hearing Nimo should already be on her way here to us; aren't you three leaving yet?"

Looking at the three people still staying in their own Elite Four rooms, Rika's expression showed some displeasure.

Brother Brother Qingmu, who hid his abilities deeply; Hassel, who was somewhat lazy but whose strength was truly indisputable; and Zhi De Jing Zhong, the great senior who should retire within these next year or two.

Even though Rika was the weakest among the four, this did not prevent her from directly chasing people out.

The great senior smiled in good temper, exchanged a greeting, and then headed first toward the innermost room.

Brother Brother Qingmu, having restored his entire "office worker" demeanor, tugged at his tie, his numb face full of resistance toward the upcoming work.

Hassel, on the other hand, still had the mood to joke at this moment.

"Rika, you are the weakest among us; don't lose too quickly or too miserably in the live stream, oh."

"This humble one will pray for you."

"Stop spouting nonsense here; if you're going, go quickly."

Rika rolled her eyes at Hassel without any courtesy, her words equally ruthless.

"As for you, last year you used the same excuse; if it weren't for Toxapex, you would have nearly had your whole team swept by Luo Mu's Mimikyu; this year, you'd better think of a way not to lose to his student in an even more miserable fashion."

Hassel made an expression of indifference toward Rika digging up his old scars.

Waving his hand, while walking toward a room even deeper than Brother Brother Qingmu's, Hassel laughed and retorted.

"How could that be; this humble one is full of confidence this year and will definitely win, oh~"

(End of Chapter)