The Path of a Genius to Becoming a Pokémon Champion

Arthur wasn't surprised to learn Aaron's real age.

Not only did the guy look young, but Ivy and Bianca themselves were only in their early twenties. No normal person planning a strategic marriage would try to set up their daughters with a nearly thirty-year-old man. You'd have to be crazy…

So, Aaron's youth was within Arthur's expectations.

"Two years ago, you were actually the youngest main singles player in the league, weren't you? Why did you choose to hide it?"

Aaron just smiled and, out of habit, lifted his thermos with both hands for a sip.

"Because my skills weren't good enough back then. If I had been hyped up, I might have been forced into a starting position, and it wouldn't have been good to drag down my teammates."

Arthur squinted at him.

Is that your reason for being a benchwarming ghost for the past two years?

Normal players would do anything to get a starting spot, even if it meant embarrassing themselves. But Aaron was different.

This was the first time Arthur had ever seen someone so content warming the bench…

"Besides, I'm not that much of a genius. Compared to you, Arthur, I'm still a long way off."

Aaron continued to laugh it off, not noticing that Arthur had been carefully observing his expression and his eyes the entire time.

Many people didn't know this, but Arthur was actually very good at reading people.

After a moment, a tiny, almost imperceptible curve appeared on Arthur's lips.

"That's not the truth, is it? It's because you've never been acknowledged, right? Not by the people around you, and not by your family. They don't actually care about your competitive achievements, do they?"

In that instant, just as he had hoped, he saw Aaron's entire body jolt as if struck by lightning. He turned and stared at him, a look of utter shock on his face.

The curve on Arthur's lips widened.

"Where… where did you hear that?" Aaron's voice was trembling.

"I didn't hear it from anywhere. I just guessed. Don't think you can brush me off just because I look young. I'm very good at reading people."

Arthur maintained a perfectly measured smile.

This was something he used to enjoy doing, one of his private little amusements.

He wasn't lying. He really was good at reading people. It was just that in the past, no one had believed him.

Back then, as the only neutral Champion in the league, he had never taken a side in the political disputes, focusing only on his combat missions. As a result, many people had mistakenly thought he was simple-minded.

One of his favorite pastimes back then was to quietly watch these self-proclaimed clever actors perform their little shows in front of him.

And he would just smile, saying nothing, quietly observing them, reading them, dissecting them on an informational level as if with a scalpel.

Then, just as they were smugly thinking they had fooled him, he would cut straight to the heart of the matter, exposing their darkest secrets, and smiling as he enjoyed their shocked and terrified expressions.

If someone got desperate and lashed out, even better. That would seamlessly transition into his second favorite private amusement.

This was one of the things Arthur enjoyed most outside of battle.

He didn't get involved in the political disputes simply because he didn't want to. It didn't mean he was simple-minded, and it certainly didn't mean he was stupid.

He just wasn't interested. But many people had always assumed he wasn't capable.

In the end, all of these people had their true natures seen through by Arthur in their unguarded moments.

Since his transmigration, he hadn't experienced this kind of amusement in a long time, because now, he wasn't important enough for anyone to bother scheming against.

But unexpectedly, today, he had experienced that old feeling again.

Aaron had probably seen his childish appearance and thought he could just brush him off with a casual remark, letting his guard down too much.

It wasn't until Arthur's words pierced the scar deep in his heart that he was truly shocked.

"You! Arthur… are you really seventeen this year?"

"Actually, after my birthday in January, I'll be eighteen." Arthur deliberately mimicked Aaron's earlier sentence structure, even copying his tone and expression to a T.

This left Aaron with no choice but to give a bitter smile.

"You really didn't hear any rumors from somewhere else?"

"Relax, I didn't. I just believe that there's a reason for everything."

Arthur said with a grin, "You really love competitive Pokémon, don't you? And you train very hard. Don't deny it; I've seen you in the mornings for several days now. Your training intensity is nothing like the zen attitude you usually show. If the problem isn't with your own mentality, then it must be external. And as it happens, I've heard some rumors about you, your family, and our dear… boss. So, I made a bold guess. You don't have to hide it anymore, because your reaction just now already told me I was right."

"..."

Aaron stared at him, stunned.

This look of disbelief, to be honest, was quite satisfying for Arthur to see~

Indeed, this kind of amusement never gets old, even after two hundred years.

"Want to talk about it? I'm actually quite interested in hearing the details," Arthur said with a light laugh.

And Aaron just gave a bitter smile.

What is with this seventeen-year-old kid?! He's not old, and he looks even younger than his age, but how are his eyes even more seasoned than the captain's? He's such an enigma! Are all geniuses this weird?

Helpless, Aaron sighed and found a spot to sit on the edge of the field.

"It's not really a secret that can't be told."

After Aaron started speaking, Arthur fell silent, the curve of his lips flattening.

He hadn't been trying to show off his insight, nor had he maliciously intended to reopen old wounds. So, the moment Aaron decided to open his heart, he politely put away his smile.

"As you said, I do really love competitive Pokémon. I started self-studying battle command by watching match recordings back in middle school. After school and on weekends, I would take my Gible for specialized, professional training. But… you were right about the rest. From a young age, no one has ever acknowledged my talent. When I first started battling people, if they lost, they would always make excuses, saying it was because my family was rich and could afford a pseudo-legendary. It was as if all my effort, my studying, my training, in the end, was worth less than the single word 'rich.' I refused to accept it. But back then, I only had my Gible. So I begged my parents to buy me a second Pokémon. I wanted to use the most ordinary Pokémon to beat those guys fair and square!"

The story, up to this point, should have had an inspiring ending.

The young boy would prove with his own actions that individual effort far outweighs the power of capital! He would use a different Pokémon and still crush all who opposed him!

But stories seek logic and satisfaction. Reality often doesn't care about such things…

"But when I got home, I never could have imagined it. My family just laughed at me for being childish. No one cared about my ideas. My parents blamed me for my grades dropping because I was playing around too much. Not only did they not buy me a second Pokémon, but they even took my Gible away and gave it to my younger sister!"

As he said this, a bitter taste filled Aaron's mouth.

"They thought that because they had paid for the Pokémon, they had the right to do whatever they wanted with it. The starter Pokémon that had been with me for over a decade, they took it away just like that, as if it were an insignificant toy. Later, when it first evolved, I wasn't even there! They never cared whether I had any talent for competition. Even when I became a main singles player at 22, all they would say was, 'It's all thanks to the powerful Pokémon we bought you.' A few days ago, in the first match of the Devon Cup, my first time as a starter, I lost. I was in a terrible mood. I was so upset after the match that I posted about it on social media. And you know what? The first thing my family did after seeing it was to ask me: 'Ivy just posted on her page too. She's in a bad mood right now. Why don't you hurry up and comfort her to get closer to her?' Haha! Yeah, why don't I go comfort her…"

Aaron habitually held his thermos with both hands, his gaze fixed on the distance. His face was still smiling, but it looked sadder than if he had been crying.

♧♧♧

-> SUPPORT ME WITH POWER STONE

-> FOR EVERY 200 PS = BOUNS CHAPTER

♧♧♧

-> 35 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!

-> https://www.patreon.com/c/Segais

(Just remove the hyphen to access patreon normally)

If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you