Luke's brow twitched as he shook Lance's hand, still turning the man's words over in his head.
On behalf of Red he wants a friendly match with me?
So regular Elite Four opponents weren't enough? Are World Champions next on the list?
I've been playing this for under two months.
Luke coughed lightly. "Mr. Lance, I should mention I'm not actually a Trainer."
The red-haired man crossed his arms and nodded. "Red mentioned that already. Specialists in breeding and tactics are genuinely rare these days."
"Trainer" was really just a broad umbrella term. The profession split into several distinct tracks underneath it: raising, development, tactics, command, coordination. Red had spoken highly of this "Teacher Luke," someone who apparently moved effortlessly between hazard stacking, Perish Song setups, and Minimize builds. Unlike traditional Trainers who leaned purely on raw Pokémon power, these specialists pushed the boundaries of competitive play through breeding innovation and constant tactical experimentation. Lance genuinely respected that kind of willingness to experiment.
"Is this a freshly bred Pokémon?" Lance's gaze landed on Haunter and Eevee beside Luke and his eyes lit up. "You two clearly share something deep."
Luke blinked, surprised. "You can tell that just by looking?"
Clair explained, "Lance carries the Viridian Forest's blessing. He can read a Pokémon's emotions directly. It's called—"
"Viridian Power?" Luke finished.
"You already knew about that?"
Luke felt genuinely defeated. I thought this world was just a Pokémon crossover. Turns out people can have literal supernatural abilities too. Viridian Power let its bearer heal, sense, and strengthen Pokémon through some blessing tied to the forest itself. If Trainers could carry that kind of unscientific power around, did that mean some of them could genuinely go hand-to-hand with a Pokémon and survive?
Being a Trainer really is an unreasonably dangerous job.
Luke sighed inwardly and wondered whether the system might offer something similar.
[Ding! "Viridian Power," "Aura," and similar abilities are restricted and cannot be unlocked or purchased by the Host.]
Ah. Well, fine then.
"If it's not too forward," Lance said, pausing, "may I sense your two Pokémon directly?"
Lance had already picked up genuinely strong emotional resonance off both of Luke's Pokémon from a distance. That alone was enough to mark Luke as a Trainer worth trusting. The sense of recognizing a kindred spirit pulled Lance a little closer to him.
"Sure, go ahead."
Lance hopped the railing with practiced ease, a habit clearly built from years of Team Rocket raids. He reached out and touched Haunter's forehead. Haunter tilted its head, confused.
"Kojie?" — who are you exactly?
A soft light passed between them and Haunter shivered, eyes narrowing in comfortable surprise.
Lance nodded to himself. Just as I thought. The lingering weakness made sense. This Haunter had been caught relatively recently, likely as part of a growing team. And yet in that short window it had already completed a full evolution, driven by an apparently endless hunger to keep improving. That said plenty about both its own drive and its Trainer's methods.
Then he turned to Eevee.
"Vee! (`皿)" The instant Lance reached toward her she opened her mouth and bit down hard on his hand.
Everyone froze for a second. Lance had spent years around Dragon-types and carried a naturally intimidating presence most Pokémon respected on instinct. Biting him took real nerve.
Even Lance looked briefly startled, though he still caught the emotional thread underneath it. "I see," he said gently, nodding.
Afraid I might hurt her Trainer. Genuine devotion like that between a Pokémon and its Trainer had gotten rare. The usually stern red-haired man allowed himself a rare smile, his resolve to challenge Luke only strengthening.
"You two are fighting right now?" Cynthia asked, frowning slightly, clearly not thrilled. "I was still waiting on him to cook dinner."
"Won't take long. One-on-one. If Teacher Luke agrees we could start immediately," Lance said, smiling.
Luke rubbed his temples. No getting out of this now, and I've still got dinner to make for Cynthia after.Might as well treat this like any other casual match.
"Sure, anytime works."
Clair studied Luke, visibly reassessing him. This unassuming guy can actually go toe-to-toe with my cousin? No wonder he'd had so much to say during the earlier match. She sighed, already dreading the possibility of her cousin losing in front of a crowd this size.
"Your Pokémon are all out of action," Clair pointed out, frowning. "Even at best that's an hour minimum before any of them recover."
"You've still got yours, though," Lance said, laughing. "Rental battles test a Trainer just as thoroughly."
Rental battles involved borrowing unfamiliar Pokémon to challenge an opponent, a format used commonly at both the Battle Factory and Battle Tent. Since a rented Pokémon's exact ability and moveset stayed unknown going in, the format put real pressure on a Trainer's pure command instincts. In Pokémon Adventures canon, Kohran the Calm built an entire reputation around rental battles, famously defeating Ruby at the Battle Frontier en route to a hundred-match win streak.
Hearing Lance's suggestion, Luke blinked, then felt a wave of relief on Haunter's behalf. Haunter, you're off the hook for this one at least.
"Kojie? Σ(°△°|||)︴" — I have no idea what you're thinking right now, but it doesn't look good for me.
"You're renting from my team?" Clair started. "Then he'd be—"
"Use mine," Cynthia said, tucking her hair back and smiling at Luke. "Pick whichever one you'd like."
"Aren't your Pokémon also out of energy?" Luke asked, surprised.
Cynthia said nothing, just pulled a can of Pokéblock from her handbag and gave it a light shake. "Brought this from your place. Fed it to them before they went on stage. Worked remarkably well."
It was, in fact, another one of Luke's own creations — a Sitrus Berry block he'd made specifically for her before the match, with recovery efficiency that put even the Oran Berry version to shame.
Lance's attention snapped to it, genuinely surprised. "That's Pokéblock at this quality level—"
"Not sharing," Cynthia said flatly.
"...Everyone's already renting Pokémon anyway, this would just level the field," Lance countered.
Luke looked up at the ceiling, genuinely moved. See that, Haunter? Cynthia's an actual angel.
"Kojie? (⊙~⊙)"* Haunter had already claimed a jar and was working through Sitrus cubes one after another.
"Hey! Leave some for the rest of us!"
[Quest: Friendly Match Against an Elite Four Member
Objective: Survive at least ten rounds in a rental battle against Lance
Reward: 1000 BP, 1x Premier Ball, 1x Random Orange-tier Item
Note: Starting against an Elite Four Champion right out the gate? Someone's trying to get you killed.]
Luke's brow twitched reading it. Survive ten rounds? Who exactly are you underestimating here?A Dragon Elite, Champion of the Johto Alliance, and the system thinks I can't even last five?
Luke coughed and quietly locked in his real strategy. Fine. Survive ten rounds and call it a win regardless of the actual outcome.
______________________________
Lance secured a spare venue from the organizers for the match. Clair lined up her Poké Balls, arms crossed.
"Fair warning — my Pokémon might not listen to your commands at all."
"That's fine. That's exactly the point," Lance said, picking up a ball and reading the Pokémon's emotional state inside, expression sharpening.
Across the field Luke studied the six Pokémon lined up in front of him. Garchomp looked strong, sure, but judging by the look in her eyes she'd probably remove a limb for the crime of being selected. Lucario stood off to the side radiating pure detachment. Glaceon and Togekiss both seemed friendly enough, but neither really fit Luke's usual tactical approach.
After scanning the lineup Luke coughed and pointed. "I'll take you. Spiritomb."
"Hiss?" Spiritomb froze. ...Me? You picked me?
A beat later seven or eight pairs of glowing green eyes bloomed across its fan-shaped face, practically welling up with emotion.
Cynthia smiled. "It looks thrilled you picked it."
Luke studied the genuinely unsettling Spiritomb for a long moment, then rubbed his chin. "Honestly, after living with Haunter this long, this whole ghost aesthetic's kind of grown on me. Cute, even."
Cute?!
"Hiss... o(////▽////)q" Spiritomb's fan curled inward, faint red patterns blooming across its surface.
[Spiritomb. Ghost / Dark. Gender: ♀. Ability: Pressure.
Moves: Hypnosis, Dream Eater, Curse, Sucker Punch, Deceit, Destiny Bond, Pain Split, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Ball...]
Luke's expression turned thoughtful. "This... actually fits my whole playstyle disturbingly well."