Paul

"Did you take care of the issue with Mesprit?"

Hearing the familiar voice of Mr. Justin behind him, Reid turned and replied, "It's mostly handled, nothing too serious."

Since Professor Rowan didn't want the situation with Mesprit to become widely known, Reid naturally played along.

After all, sharing something that would only cause more anxiety wouldn't help anyone.

"Maybe it wasn't a big deal to you, but everyone was talking about how terrifying the aura from that Legendary Pokémon was, even just seeing it from a distance."

Justin let out a sigh of relief, a relaxed expression on his face. "It's a good thing you came back. Otherwise, if this kept going, I'd probably end up falling asleep standing up."

"The professor already went back to the lab. You should take a break when you have a moment, Mr. Justin."

"Almost done, just finishing up this last task."

As Justin spoke, he waved to someone in the distance.

"A young Trainer who just returned from a trip to Kanto is here to update his Pokédex information. Once I take care of that, I can finally go home and sleep."

Justin stretched lazily as he spoke.

The young Trainer approached them, but instead of following Justin, he walked directly towards Reid.

Once they were at a normal conversational distance, the Trainer stopped.

"Are you Reid?"

"Yes."

Reid lowered his gaze slightly, and in front of him was a boy around thirteen or fourteen years old, dressed in dark clothing, his face cold and expressionless.

Though Reid had never met him, the boy seemed oddly familiar.

The next moment, Reid realized why the boy looked familiar.

"I'm Paul from Veilstone City. I'd like to challenge you to a Pokémon battle."

"Huh?"

Not only had it been a long time since someone had so abruptly challenged him, but just hearing that name surprised Reid.

Paul? Ash's rival from Sinnoh?

Why was he here?

If Reid remembered the timeline correctly, Ash should still be challenging the Hoenn League at this point. Similarly, Paul should be in Kanto. What was he doing at Rowan's lab, and why was he challenging Reid?

Oh…

Right, the Indigo Plateau Conference just ended a few days ago.

That explains it.

As for why Paul wanted to challenge him, Reid recalled that Paul was different from most people. He often sought out strong opponents to test his strategies and gain experience.

First, he had challenged Cynthia. Now, perhaps because Reid was the Sinnoh Champion instead of Cynthia, Paul had turned his sights on him.

Reid was curious about what kind of strategy Paul would use against him.

Thinking of this, he looked at Paul.

"I have a few hours free right now. Sure, I'll accept your challenge."

Paul looked momentarily surprised that Reid had agreed so quickly, but his expression soon returned to its usual calm.

He asked Justin if they could postpone updating the Pokédex and use the lab's battle arena instead. Since Reid had already agreed, Justin had no objections.

Paul then turned back to Reid and asked, "Would a full battle with six Pokémon be okay?"

Just like when he challenged Cynthia, huh?

Reid smiled. "No problem."

...

Word spread quickly throughout the lab that Reid was going to battle.

Driven by curiosity about who his opponent might be, the researchers, despite their exhaustion, forced themselves to stay awake and rushed to the battle arena.

Soon, Paul came into view, standing opposite Reid.

"Who's that guy?"

"Never seen him before."

"He's the Trainer here to update his Pokédex today. His name's Paul, from Veilstone City. He's already competed in the Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn Leagues, and he just made it to the quarterfinals of the Indigo Plateau Conference."

"Quarterfinals? And he dares challenge Reid?"

Normally, placing in the quarterfinals of a tournament would be impressive. But compared to Reid, the gap was so large that it was almost laughable.

"Maybe… he's just brave?"

While the people around them speculated, Reid turned his gaze to Paul.

Paul, as if oblivious to the murmurs questioning his judgment, remained focused, staring at Reid with unwavering determination.

A trace of admiration appeared on Reid's face.

"Let's skip the small talk and get started."

Reid reached for a Master Ball at his waist, pressed the button, and tossed it gently.

With a clear sound, a small, floating Pokémon resembling a black letter "A" with a single eye appeared, enveloped in red light.

The researchers instantly recognized the Pokémon.

"Unown, one of the most mysterious Pokémon, resembling ancient writing."

"There's always been debate in the academic world about whether Unown existed before written language. It's one of the Seven Wonders of the Pokémon world."

Paul, staring at the Unown floating in mid-air, muttered to himself, "So it's Unown first, huh?"

He, too, knew all about Unown from his extensive knowledge of the Pokédex.

Though Unown was associated with many mysteries, in terms of individual combat strength, it was weak.

Unown could only learn one move: Hidden Power.

But even so, Paul couldn't afford to be careless.

Because this Unown didn't belong to just anyone—it was Reid's Unown, one of the strongest in the world.

"Murkrow, prepare for battle."

As Paul's voice fell, a flash of red light revealed a large, hat-wearing black crow flapping its wings, facing the Unown.

"You chose Murkrow, a Dark-type Pokémon immune to Psychic-type moves."

"Though a bit overconfident, his fundamentals seem solid."

Justin, hearing the nearby researchers whispering, commented quietly, "But if he's only focusing on type advantages, he's going to suffer…"

Just then, the battle began as Paul called out the first move.

"Murkrow, use Dark Pulse."

Murkrow opened its beak wide, unleashing a swirling wave of dark energy straight toward Unown.

Reid's command was simple.

"Dodge, then use Hidden Power."

"Chiiing!"

Unown, small and nimble, easily dodged the incoming Dark Pulse, and in an instant, unleashed a counterattack of Hidden Power with astonishing speed.

Compared to Murkrow's Dark Pulse, Unown's attack was not only faster to charge but also quicker to strike!

Paul didn't have time to issue a command, and Murkrow couldn't react in time to evade or counter.

The Hidden Power hit its mark.

Boom!!!

With a loud explosion, Murkrow fell from the sky, fainted, losing it's ability to battle.