Truthfully... I love shorts too.

He walked to the arena and stood in the 'Gym Leader' position.

Maylene looked over and froze before puffing her cheeks, realizing that she had been fooled!

Ace looked at the kid in front of him and rubbed his nose, youngster joey?? He asked, "Do you like shorts?" the kid paused and looked surprised, "How did you know?!" Ace grinned, "I like them too." The kid had an immediate connection, "Haha! You're not bad, uncle!"

Ace's lips twitched and he suddenly felt awkward, looking at the Rattata in front of him. He scratched his cheek and said "I don't have any weak Pokemon on me…" the Judge's lips twitched and he spoke into the microphone, "Examinee #746 please take out your Pokemon."

Ace sighed and released all his Pokemon, waving at Noivern.

Youngster Joey looked at the Pokemon with a dazed expression. He came here to learn, not get abused! Ace looked awkward before seeing Mareep at his feet. His eyes lit up and he patted Mareep, "Go on, girl."

Mareep was happy and jumped onto the field, saying happily, "Reep~" while waving a paw at Rattata. The Rattata was dumbfounded and looked at Youngster Joey, who looked at him, saying, "Well? Would you rather fight Noivern?"

Rattata shivered and turned back to Mareep seriously.

Ace waved, "Alright, kid. You go first." Joey nodded and said "Rattata, quick attack!" Ace commanded calmly, "Electric Terrain." Mareep baah'd and the ground lit up with electric currents, covering the entire field.

Mareep baah'd happily and looked more powerful suddenly. Ace nodded and said "Now, Electro Web." Mareep growled and a web of electricity appeared in front of Rattata, making it slower.

Joey was stunned and said "Rattata!" Ace smiled and said, "Kid, you have to stay calm during battles and react to the enemy's moves. Look, during your quick attack, I put down Electric Terrain and slowed your speed at the same time."

He waved, "Dodge to the left, Mareep." Joey said at the same time, "Tackle!" but Rattata flew by Mareep as Joey was startled, "How did you know?" Ace waved a finger, smiling, "This is experience. You'll get more experience as you have more and more battles."

He looked at Mareep and smiled, "Thunder Shock." Mareep cheered and a bit of lightning struck Rattata as Joey had a brain blast, shouting, "Quick Attack to dodge!" Ace clapped, "Good job, kid! Mareep Charge!"

Mareep cried out as a yellow light appeared on her, Ace looked at Joey, "Now that Rattata's speed was slowed by 2 stages, they both have the same speed." Joey was sweating as he smiled, "Come on, Rattata! Tackle!"

Ace commented, "Cover yourself in a Thunder Shock." Rattata bumped into Mareep's wool, electrocuting himself.

Ace looked at Rattata with surprise, smiling, "I see." Joey smiled happily, "Now, Rattata Take Down!" Rattata smashed into Mareep again as Ace said slowly, "Dodge it." Mareep jumped to the side and dodged as Joey frowned, "Aw man!"

Ace smiled and said, "You want to trigger Guts. It's a good strategy but you should go for a Burning State, not a paralyzed one." Joey scratched his head, "But then Rattata will take damage from the Burn?" Ace nodded and smiled, "Yes, but when a Pokemon is Paralyzed, their speed gets cut in half. Pokemon with Guts don't get the Attack cut from Burn."

Joey was stunned and Ace nodded, "Mareep, Thunder Shock again." Mareep hit Rattata with a little bit of lightning, making Rattata cry out in pain. Joey shouted, "Quick Attack to move, Rattata!" 

Rattata started moving faster, but a far cry from the speed at the beginning!

Ace shook his head, "Charge and Thunder Shock." Mareep growled and blasted Rattata with a full power Thunder Shock!

Joey shouted, "Dodge, Rattata!" but alas, Rattata triggered the Paralyzed state and froze as the Thunder Shock hit him, knocking him out.

Joey sighed and picked up Rattata as Ace walked over, giving him a Cheri Berry, "Here, this'll heal his Paralyzed state." Joey smiled, "Thank you, Mister!" as he fed Rattata the Cheri Berry.

Rattata looked more comfortable and cried sadly. Joey smiled at him, "We'll get stronger, Rattata!" Rattata cried out in agreement. Ace nodded at him, "Your strategy is a good idea, but you have to watch who you're fighting. Mareep has lower speed than Rattata, you should use this to your advantage. Rattata is a fast Pokemon, it only loses this speed when it evolves. So you should be focusing more on hit and run tactics. If you trigger guts then that's great, but you shouldn't count on it unless you're fighting a Fire-Type."

Joey nodded and listened carefully, Ace continued with a smile, "Other than that, you need to focus on staying calm. Though… this will come with experience. Keep pushing yourself in battles, kid. I'm optimistic about you!" 

Joey's eyes sparkled and he nodded, Ace thought about it and bought something from the shop, pressing a pill into a Sitrus berry that he pulled from his pocket. He handed it to Joey, smiling, "This will recover Rattata's strength."

Joey fed Rattata and thanked Ace before leaving.

Ace watched him go with a smile. He hoped to see him again, after all, he gave that Rattata a [Ultra Talent Pill] that increased the Talent of a Pokemon by a few stages.

Like Humans, Pokemon also had a talent level!

It's just that the Eggs he gave out and his own Pokemon didn't have a cap… They were like the Games with infinite Potential. After all, in the games any Pokemon can reach level 100.

But this wasn't the case in real life. Some pokemon stopped at 30! Not every Pokemon can train to level 100.

And to be honest, Ace was pretty sure that 100 wasn't the cap either. Otherwise how do you explain the Legendary Pokemon that are Gods. It can't be like the games where they were level 70 or something.

These are real Gods!

At any rate, Ace had boosted Sirfetch'd and Mareep's talents already, putting them on the same level as the others. Of course, Mareep still needed to go through the Hot Spring cleansing at home.

That alone increased Farfetch'd's talent by a large margin!

Mareep ran over and nudged Ace's leg happily. Ace picked her up and walked out, taking back his Pokemon as Noivern flew to his head, laying down as he shrank. He roared and gave Mareep a thumbs up.

'Almost as handsome as me!'

Mareep giggled and Ace shook his head with a smile, going back to sit down. Byron looked at him and gave him a thumbs up, "Nice." he turned his eyes to the Mareep, "By the way, where did you get that Mareep?"

Ace looked awkward, "Elesa…" Byron pursed his lips and grinned at him, making Ace's lips twitch. Maylene walked over and pouted at Ace, "You meanie! You fooled me!" Ace rolled his eyes and smiled, "Teacher Maylene, you taught me a lot!"

Maylene squiggled like Chopper, saying "Hehe~ No way~" Ace blinked and laughed, but Maylene snapped out of it, saying "Then this Torchic is yours?!" Ace shook his head and smiled, "Nope, he saw you first! If you abandon him now, he'll be pretty sad, right?"

Torchic froze and turned to Maylene with big watery eyes, ready to cry!

Maylene couldn't stand it and hugged the Torchic, mumbling, "Then I forgive you, I guess… Mean Uncle…" Ace's eyes twitched and felt like taking back Torchic now…

The rest of the Examination went smoothly, even a bit boring since Bruno directly said that Ace's other Pokemon passed the requirements. In the end, after Bruno and Cynthia vouched for Ace, he received his Gym Leader Certification.

Since there wasn't much left to do in Lumiose, Ace left with Cynthia and Byron. They said goodbye to Bruno and Sycamore before taking Cynthia's private jet back to Sinnoh.

It wasn't long before Ace was back at home.