Chapter 18: Huh

Speaker: "Ladies and gentlemen, we welcome you all to this competition. I am your host Luc and I will be the one to guide you throughout this competition." 

[Crowds cheers] 

Luc: "First let's welcome all the young individuals who have travelled far from other regions to participate in this competition. Let's welcome them with a big round of applause." 

The participants of this competition slowly made their way toward the middle of the stage. There were some old as well as young ones who participated in this competition. Some of them carried out a normal experiment but they were nervous inside, some were not doing a good job keeping their cool but they still managed it, while some were completely indifferent to what was going on. 

Luc: "Now that everyone is here, I would like to introduce our chief guest for today's competition. Everyone, please welcome Chairman Rose." 

The lights were pointed in a certain direction and there stood a man in his early 30s. 

(A/N: He is much older in-game but for the time being I will make him as he is in his thirties.) 

He was a tall man with tanned skin, black hair and green eyes and neatly trimmed facial hair. Rose also had one ear pierced and wore a sharp grey business suit, as to show his status and wealth. His suit consists of a grey vest with numerous black buttons, a grey overcoat with a single gold button, a white shirt, and a red tie. He also wore classy grey pants that match his suit, along with a gold and black belt, pointed red and black shoes, and a gold watch. 

The crowd cheered for Chairman Rose because he was pretty well known within the Galar region and hold a lot of power. Amidst this cheering Autumn observed his surroundings to see if there is any change in the expression of anyone among the participants. What he saw was that most of the participants had stars in their eyes which was to be expected but the one who was acting a little weird was Bede. Autumn looked in the direction he was looking and found that he was looking at Chairman Rose. 

Autumn: 'I see this makes a lot more sense now. So, Bede was the one chosen by the Chairman to take part in this competition, probably because he has shown some good talent for his age.' 

To Autumn Bede was not a threat but when he had interaction with Bede he always felt like this boy was a little too arrogant and confident for his age. The first time Autumn just gave a small slap to him which is a normal case would have either made Bedd develop a fear or enmity toward him but the result was that Bede didn't hold any of those emotions and held indifference towards Autumn. But Autumn was a little spectacle about this, if the boy had managed to do it with just his willpower then even Autumn would be impressed but the way that Bede interacted with Autumn the second time was similar to the first time as if nothing had happened before but it felt forced as if Bede swallowed his pride and interacted with him. It felt like he was trying to impress someone by showing how mature he is for his age. 

Autumn: 'Hmm interesting. Guess I will have to take you a bit seriously Bede so I hope you won't disappoint. To be able to swallow one's pride is not easy, especially for those who are considered a genius.' 

While Autumn was lost in his inner monologue Rose gave his speech. 

Rose: "I am very much looking forward to seeing all of you young children competing against each other. You young ones are talented individuals who will surely become outstanding people in the future. So I hope you all do your best.." 

Luc: "Thank you for your kind words chairman Rose. Now let's get into the rules and challenges shall we?" 

The huge display suddenly switched on and began to show 5 different pictures which was the clue to the challenges that were sorted out for this competition. 

Luc: "The first challenge is simple it tests your general knowledge of Pokemon. You all will be given some MCQ to solve and at the end, you all will be given points from 1-10 depending on how many you got right also you will be given 5 minutes to solve these. Then without further ado let's begin." 

The participants slowly made their way toward the chairs which had their numbers. Soon they were each handed a tablet abs it seems like each of them had to just press on the options provided to them. Autumn first looked over the questions and found them easy until he reached the 8th question. The 8th, 9th and 10th questions were the difficult ones. The 8th and 9th were high intermediate and the 10th one was advanced level if you try to compare them academic-wise. 

Autumn: 'Though this might be hard for anyone who is still a kid or maybe even for adults it's easy for me. Okay then let's get over with this.' 

Autumn quickly selected all the answers and put down his tablet the spectators were confused at first and wore doubtful expressions. The participants were also a little spectacle but Autumn didn't mind any of the gazes and just sat there waiting for others to finish. 

Luc: "Oh, Are you done already?" 

Autumn: "Yes" 

Luc: "Are you sure about not checking your answers?" 

Autumn: "No need I know what I have selected as the answers to the questions." 

Luc: "Okay then but keep this in mind that you can not change your answers when time is up." 

Autumn nodded at this, he had finished the first challenge pretty fast. It took him about 40 seconds to complete them. Soon the other contestants also finished and put down their tablets. 

Luc: "It seems like everyone is finished and since there is still more time does anyone wants to recheck their choice." 

The contestants shook their heads it seems like they had made their choices. Luc seeing this nodded before he looked toward Autumn, the latter also noticed his gaze and gave a nod saying that he is sure. 

Luc: "Since everyone had made their choices we will display the results immediately." 

The screen turned on and show the results of the first challenge. 

Autumn: 10 

Cynthia: 9 

Bede: 9 

Rio: 8 

.....

....

....

.... 

After seeing the results on the huge display everyone was shocked nobody expected Autumn to get all the questions right. Most of them even started to think he may have cheated but immediately denied that thought, it was impossible to cheat when there were so many spectators watching so in the end they all concluded that it was due to luck but among the crowd, someone was cheering for him. 

Sonia: "Good job Autumn you did great keep it up." 

It was Sonia Autumn noticing her waved at her with a smile and then focused back on the competition. The next challenge showed gears on the monitor so it must be a machine-related challenge. 

Luc: "The next challenge is for you to fix some machine and don't be intermediate you just need to fix what is wrong and there is no danger. Just like the previous challenge, you all will be given points from 1-10 and the time limit is 30 minutes." 

If one is not careful enough they may hurt themselves and that could range from getting minor injuries to getting badly hurt which may leave a scar. The participants were given a broken generator each which they had to fix. Autumn could see what the problem was without opening it. It looked like a generator which used gears to produce electricity and it needed some oiling some parts were mismatched and also needed cleaning but he wanted to test something first. He activated his ability [Analyze]. 

(A/N: I will call his eye ability 'analyze' from now on.) 

Item: Generator 

Condition: Broken not working properly 

Description: An old generator that seems to be broken. 

Autumn: *Haiz 'A pity that these eyes cannot analyse items in depth but they are still useful to some extent. I wonder if I could improve their ability in the future maybe I will try to improve them in the future.' 

For this next challenge, Autumn didn't try to finish it fast he took his time. Truth be told he enjoyed doing these kinds of things, he loved machines and often build something that he wants if he gets inspiration. He also created his computer and ride by himself which were advanced in terms of features. 

Autumn: "First let's open this thing up and dismantle its inside, then I will clean the parts and let them dry then check the parts and keep the ones that can be used and replace the broken or rusted ones then do oiling then it would be good to go." 

Autumn did that and he took his time and finished last this time because he was just doing this for fun. It seems like others were also done and seeing this Luc also called out some examiners to check the generators and soon enough the results were out. 

Autumn: 9

Bede: 9

Cynthia: 8

Bob: 8

...

...

...

... 

This time Autumn and Bede were tied for first place in this challenge mainly because Autumn was taking this challenge easy for the time being. It seems like Cynthia was also pretty good at machinery but Bede was surprisingly good. 

Luc: "Well it seems we have a tie for the highest point this round. But let's move on to the next round of the competition now let's see what it is." 

The monitor showed a Hand lens and a fossil of some sort. 

Autumn & Cynthia: 'Archaeology, interesting/ Great.' 

Luc: "The next challenge is related to Archaeology. You all will be blindfolded and have to try and guess the fossil by touching it. The more you answer correctly the more points you get. Let's begin. 

Autumn: 'Hmm let's see what we have here oh this one has a circular shell. If I remember this one should be a Helix fossil.' 

(A/N: Praise our lord and Saviour Lord Helix.) 

Autumn: " This one is a Helix fossil." 

The examiner didn't say anything and placed another fossil in front of him. Autumn touched the fossil and found it to be a sail fossil."l 

Autumn: "Sail fossil." 

The same procedure continued until Autumn was finished naming the fossils. He was then told to remove his blindfold and stand on his seat, Autumn did that and waited for the results with the other who also finished before him. After everyone was done the results were shown on the monitor. 

Autumn: 10

Cynthia: 10

Jotaro: 9

Dio: 9

Bede: 8

...

...

...

... 

Luc: "The result ate out and it seems we had an interesting match so far. We have two contestants tied for first and second place." 

[Crowd cheers] 

The area was getting heated with excitement, currently, Autumn was in the lead followed by Cynthia and Bede and there was just a difference of two points. 

Cynthia: 'Impressive Autumn but I won't give up I will catch up soon.' 

Bede: 'I will win the next round.' 

Autumn: 'I wonder what I should eat today.' 

Luc: "Now now calm down everyone. The competition is not finished yet, the next challenge is an interesting one and it is." 

The monitor showed Pokemon food. 

Luc: "It's a Pokemon food-making contest you will be given points according to how satisfied the Pokemons are with your food." 

Autumn: 'Hah Easy.' 

The next round was a walk in the park for Autumn his cooking skills were very high but it also caused chaos during the competition. The aroma that was coming from Autumn's Pokemon food was so good that all the pokemon came toward Autumn to try the food. This caused the judges and examiner to be unable to judge properly so they decided to give Autumn ten points and everyone else nine points. 

Luc *Ahem "This round took a turn there but let's not discuss it, for now, let's focus on the final challenge everyone's attention toward the monitor." 

This time it showed two Pokeballs and by looking at them everyone could tell that this next challenge was a Pokemon battle but contrary to how the crowd would get excited they became confused and spectacle. Children below 10 were not allowed to get Pokemon because they need a trainer's license and even if this competition is to find good talented individuals but Pokemon battle before getting a license is not something that would be viewed in a good way, Rules were rules after all. 

Luc: "I know what you all are thinking and may be dissatisfied with the way this is going but don't worry we follow the rules. So this next battle will be a simulation battle we will use these machines to duel. This next challenge will test your knowledge of Pokemon abilities and movesets." 

The crowd finally understood what was going on and cheered even if this was just a simulation battle it's still exciting to watch but Autumn was not that happy and was frowning. Cynthia noticed Autumn's sour mood and decided to ask if something was wrong. 

Cynthia: "Is something wrong Autumn?" 

Autumn: "This doesn't stand right with me. I don't think that they should have put this as the final challenge." 

Cynthia: "Why is that, knowing different Pokemon abilities is a good thing and I think this is a great option to put as the final challenge." 

Autumn: "I am not talking about that Cynthia. I am not happy with how they are using a simulation to do this challenge." 

Cynthia: "Is it a bad thing?" 

Autumn: "Yea, you see there is a vast difference between reality and a simulation furthermore a simulation is also not a good way to decide who wins and who losses because it works on a set of rules we call data. but these data in the simulation are noting but superficial if we compare them with reality. To understand it in simple terms let's say that, 'sometimes type advantage doesn't give you the win.' I am trying to say that." 

You are reading story Pokemon: The master of Aura at novel35.com

Cynthia also pondered over the matter and nodded, she had first-hand experience as well. She and her Gible lost to Autumn and his Torchic even though they had the type advantage. 

Bede: "Hmph, Why don't you just say that your knowledge of Pokemon abilities is not that good? Why are you blaming the simulation I think you are just finding an excuse." 

Bede overheard the conversation between autumn and Cynthia. 

Cynthia: "You again." 

Cynthia groaned in annoyance meanwhile Autumn just glanced at him. 

Autumn: *Haiz " You don't understand do you." 

Bede: "Huh what do you mean?" 

Autumn: "I guess I will have to show it to you. Don't worry just wait until we have to face off." 

Saying this Autumn left meanwhile Bede was frowning in displeasure while Cynthia was having a bad premonition like a storm was soon approaching. When the challenge began everyone came in front of the machine and soon the simulation was about to begin. Autumn sat on a white Monobloc chair and readied himself, he was not going to hold anything back. 

(A/N: He is motivated.) 

Autumn: 'Okay, let's dance.' 

After some time the 5th challenge was also finished but there was a weird atmosphere inside the hall. 

Luc: "Umm it looks like our 5th challenge is also over." 

The hall was still quiet nobody talked and only after what felt like an eternity did a person speak. 

Spectator1: "What was that?" 

Spectator2: "I think the host said that the 5th challenge is over." 

Spectator1: "I am not talking about I am talking about how the match played out." 

Spectator2: "I-I don't know I have never seen someone do something like that. The way he lined up his pokemon was bizarre to look at first but who would have known you can do something like that." 

Luc: "Okay let's look at the results." 

Autumn: 10

Cynthia: 9

Bede:8

...

...

...

... 

Luc: "Okay this concludes all the challenges and now let's look at the final results." 

Spectator1: "I still can't believe that he won." 

Spectator2: "I know, he used an LVL 1 Aron for Arceus's sake and still won using the ability 'sturdy' and move Endeavour." 

Spectator3: "Not to mention the one match where he sweep the other person's team with just Liepard." 

Spectator4: "Yeah, the contestants were also given the freedom to choose from any Pokemon and some even used legendaries while this Autumn guy just used Pokemon teams that didn't include legendary and still won." 

(A/N: They were given chance to change teams before a battle.) 

Spectator3: "Ikr it felt like this guy was just playing poker hiding his ace cards from others waiting for the right chance to strike back. Do you remember how when he was down to his last pokemon he still won?" 

Spectator 5: "Yes I remember he used Abomasnow's Snow warning ability and then used a Froslass which also got lucky with Ominous Wind and after getting the stat boost it swept the other team." 

(A/N: Snowcloak.) 

Spectator 6: "Is that even possible to do in a Pokemon battle." 

Spectator 7: "Well I have seen many Pokemon battles and I would have to say no if we are talking about a real Pokemon battle. If it was a real Pokemon battle then Autumn would surely lose because there is a vast difference between a real and a simulation battle." 

Spectator 1: "I agree with what he just said. This child outplayed the system by using it to his advantage. He exploited the limitations of the simulation and abused the written data within the system to win." 

[Crowd noise intensifies] 

Autumn: 'It seems like this world does not do these simulation battles that much great, although this can be considered a battle in a way this limits one potential as a trainer. Why even bother doing a simulation battle when you can do a real battle.' 

While the crowd were discussing how Autumn managed to win even in unfavourable conditions the participants also had different thoughts in their head. 

"That was scary." 

"How is that even possible." 

"What just happened?" 

"I am still confused." 

"Mom picks me up I am scared." 

Bede: "Exactly how did he do it?" 

Bede was the one who was the most shaken among all the participants. Never would he have imagined that someone could do something like this. 

Autumn: "To be honest you don't need to think too much of this." 

Bede looked toward the place from where the voice came and he saw Autumn coming toward him. Bede subconsciously take a step back, Autumn also looked at Bede but this time he could see fear in Bede's eyes although it was not that apparent it was still there. 

Autumn: 'Seems like I went a little overboard. I just wanted to teach him the difference between a simulation and a real battle not give him a trauma.' 

Autumn: "Remember this was just a simulation not a real Pokemon battle if it was a real one then I would have lost badly." 

Bede: 'He is right he won because it was just a stupid simulation he would have lost if it was a real Pokemon battle. No need to be so worked up over a simulation battle." 

Bede: "Hmm, you are right it was just a simulation and not a real battle but your knowledge of Pokemon abilities and moves are above mine I will give you that." 

Autumn: "It is good that you understand." 

After saying that Autumn left Bede alone though he could say that Bede did fear Autumn from now on. He would have to think twice before he tries to fight Autumn again. Clap Clap Clap A sudden clapping sound was heard by Autumn and when he look towards the source of the sound he found Cynthia who was clapping with a smile. 

Cynthia: "Congratulations that was an impressive play." 

Autumn: "Thank you, Cynthia, you were also great you got the second position." 

Cynthia: "Yeah I still wasn't able to beat you." 

Cynthia said in a sad tone. Autumn patted her head and said. 

Autumn: "There will be another chance in the future again no need to feel down. You can improve and challenge me again." 

Cynthia nodded at this. 

Cynthia: "I will challenge you when I get stronger." 

Autumn: *nods 

Luc: "Alright here are the results." 

1st Autumn 

2nd Cynthia 

3rd Bede

....

....

....

.... 

The crowd cheered and gave a round of applause for all the participants it was a good competition nonetheless. 

Luc: "Now I would request Chairman Rose to hand out the prizes to the participants." 

It was now time for the awarding ceremony Chairman Rose handed out the awards to the participants who came in the fourth, third, second and first. After he gave the prizes to the fourth, third and second position winners it was Autumn's turn. 

Rose: "That was a spectacular performance out there." 

Autumn: "It wasn't much." 

Rose: "No need to be so humble you were great I expect great things from you in the future." 

Autumn: "Thank you for your kind words." 

Autumn ten received his prize which included some money, a trophy and most importantly an examination pass. Autumn held the trophy high and the crowd cheered for him. 

Luc: "That was an amazing show, now Autumn can you tell whether you will become a Pokemon professor in the future or not yes." 

Autumn: "Yes" 

This caused the organisations who have come to spectate the competition excited they were looking at an invaluable gem here. They all held their breaths in anticipation. 

Luc: "I can see many organisations here who have come to spectate. Is there any organisation you are interested in joining?" 

Autumn: "Sadly no." 

This caused people from the different organisations to sign in disappointment. They could try to tempt Autumn to join their organisation by offering him great deals but Autumn didn't look like a person who would be tempted by those things. They couldn't force him because they knew he was from the Oak's family and they didn't want to mess with them. 

Luc: "I see, Well can you at least tell us when will you take the test to become a professor?" 

Autumn: "Oh about that I will take it right now."

*Silence

Everyone who was watching was unable to process what Autumn just said and after some time when it felt like an eternity they finally responded

Everyone: "HUH"

○○○○○○○○○○

(A/N: Ididn't feel like cutting the competition into different chapters so I did it in one chapter.)

Chapter Ends

You can find story with these keywords: Pokemon: The master of Aura, Read Pokemon: The master of Aura, Pokemon: The master of Aura novel, Pokemon: The master of Aura book, Pokemon: The master of Aura story, Pokemon: The master of Aura full, Pokemon: The master of Aura Latest Chapter