Chapter 637 - Academic Learning and Traveling Learning

The speed of the Flygon is indeed much faster than that of the Tropius.

After all, the Levitate ability of Flygon reduces the effect of gravity on it.

At the same time, because the Flygon is much more agile than the Tropius, and its level and strength are much higher, its speed is also significantly greater.

Aoki rode the Flygon directly to Rustboro City without stopping at all.

He remembered that the gym in Rustboro City should be a Rock-type gym, and he could use Slowking as his main Pokemon for the battle.

With the flying speed of the Tropius, it might have been afternoon by the time he arrived, but thanks to the Flygon, Aoki reached Rustboro City just in time for lunch.

Aoki returned the Flygon to its Pokeball and entered the city, taking a taxi straight to the Devon Corporation building.

The taxi driver, seeing Aoki was a Trainer, chatted enthusiastically the entire way.

It wasn't until Aoki got out of the car that he finally escaped the talkative man.

Upon entering the Devon Corporation, he presented his employee ID, confirming his status within the company.

As Steven's personal advisor, Aoki proceeded directly to the top-floor office. No one dared to stop him once they saw his badge.

"Knock, knock!"

Aoki grinned as he rapped on the door of Steven's office, watching the busy executive inside.

Hearing the sound, Steven looked up and gave a tired smile.

"What's with that miserable expression?" Aoki asked, plopping down on the sofa.

Steven gestured at the stacks of documents on his desk. "Look at all this paperwork. How could anyone be happy?"

"Hah! That's the price of success. You reap what you sow." Aoki laughed.

Steven could only shake his head helplessly before returning to his paperwork. "So, why are you in Rustboro City? I thought you were resting in Verdanturf Town for a while."

"I have been resting—for a whole month. It's time to get moving again." Aoki replied.

Suddenly, Steven set down his pen, staring at Aoki in disbelief. "A month?!"

Hearing the question, Aoki realized Steven had been so buried in work that he'd lost track of time.

"Obviously. What did you think?" Aoki retorted.

Of course, Steven's family was wealthy enough to maintain a private training facility. All his Pokemon were kept there, ensuring they never fell behind due to lack of battle experience.

In fact, thanks to the specialized training regimen, his team's strength only grew stronger over time.

But Steven himself was starting to feel rusty from being cooped up in the office for so long.

Yet, faced with the mountain of paperwork, he slumped in defeat.

As Aoki had said—success demanded sacrifice.

With renewed determination, Steven sped up his document review. He needed to finish quickly so he could get back to training. He refused to let Aoki surpass him.

"So, where are you heading this time?" Steven asked without looking up.

"I want to test Cynthia's method—see if it works for me."

Aoki was searching for something in Hoenn, and though he had some leads from past knowledge, things had changed in this life. It was better to have a clear goal than to wander blindly.

"Cynthia's method? Your battle instincts are already on par with hers. With your Telepathy, your adaptability in fights is even sharper than hers." Steven sounded puzzled.

"I want to learn her approach—gain experience against different Pokemon, study other Trainers' tactics, and refine my own strategies. That's what both my team and I need." Aoki explained.

Finally understanding, Steven nodded.

Aoki's skills as a Trainer were solid, but because he had started later than most, his Pokemon's strength hadn't caught up to his command ability.

It was an unusual problem. Most Trainers struggled to keep up with their growing teams, but Aoki was the opposite—his mind was ahead of his Pokemon's power.

"So, starting from Rustboro City, then?"

"Yeah."

"I know the Gym Leader here—an old friend of mine. She specializes in Rock-types. Hope you're prepared." Steven warned.

"I've heard about her. A top graduate from the Trainer School in Rustboro City, specializing in applying academic battle theory to real fights. A strong scholarly Trainer—and newly appointed as Gym Leader, right?" Aoki recalled.

League Trainers could generally be divided into two groups.

The first were the academic Trainers. They attended Pokemon schools from a young age, and upon graduation, they could immediately participate in League competitions.

Of course, graduating was no easy feat.

These Trainers had deep knowledge of Pokemon and followed structured battle strategies, often sticking closely to textbook methods.

If they graduated successfully, their future achievements were usually high.

The second group were the journeying Trainers, who believed in learning through experience.

They encouraged young Trainers to travel after receiving their first Pokemon, encountering different species and battle styles.

However, without formal education, they often made mistakes in command.

Though their early progress was slower, the most elite Trainers usually came from this group.

The best example was Professor Oak from Kanto.

Once a traveling Trainer himself, he later became Champion before abandoning the title to focus on research. His vast knowledge came from years of firsthand experience.

Practical learning often outweighed book smarts.

And this time, Roxanne, the Gym Leader of Rustboro City, was a classic academic Trainer.

Aoki hadn't fought many scholarly opponents before.