A month had passed since Alex arrived in the Isle of Armor and took up calligraphy. Through sheer repetition, he had dragged his penmanship from below average to a professional level. On Earth, that kind of progress would have been called miraculous. Here, as a Champion ranked trainer, Mustard judged him as barely passable.

It was clear he lacked any real talent for the craft, but he compensated with stubborn will, relentless focus, and single-minded determination. One hour each day went to maintaining his physique, another eight to sleep, three to basic necessities like eating and instructing his Pokémon, and the rest was spent with a brush in hand, kneeling on the floor as instructed and putting ink to paper over and over again.

Mustard had initially advised him to master the basic strokes before worrying about posture, but Alex insisted on doing it properly from the start. The decision paid off, helping him settle into the right mindset whenever he wrote. There was something about kneeling in front of a clean sheet of paper that forced a shift in his mentality, grounding him and pushing him to take the practice seriously. That consistency reinforced the process and made it easier to maintain concentration for long periods of time.

Slowly but surely, he was starting to equate his writing with his daily meditation, as he rotated his energy with his Aura while writing stroke after meticulous stroke. Once he reached a point where they combined into the same action, he would be able to begin writing the Scroll of Steel.

Over the past month, Alex wasn’t the only one who had improved. Kubfu, Azuking, and Grimmsnarl had as well. Kubfu’s sparring with Raticate had shown remarkable improvement in his fighting style, as more wrestling and grappling were incorporated. It also taught him the art of observation, allowing him to identify an opponent’s weaknesses, something Raticate had relied on his entire life.

Azuking had seen progress as well, learning to properly channel all the strength in his body. He no longer simply threw his weight around but began considering feints, wrestling, and grappling, since Kommo-o would otherwise treat him like a training dummy. No matter how much he raged, he quickly learned that Kommo-o had the technique to turn his own strength against him, so he had to think more rather than just punch it out.

Finally, Grimmsnarl had grown more mischievous, able to use a variety of tricks to slip in, plant a nasty debilitation, and slip out before anyone noticed. His Prankster ability seemed to bloom as he mastered the use of his many status moves.

As for the rest of Alex’s Pokémon, they managed to train with a far greater variety of powerful opponents. Usually, they trained against each other or weaker opponents like the bounty hunters’ Pokémon. Here on the Isle of Armor, however, they had plenty of Elite and Champion ranked Pokémon to spar with. They also had plenty of admirers to goad them on. They were quite popular with the dojo’s students, after all.

“Alex! The Isle of Armor Battle Royale is finally ready!” Bea shouted as she entered the calligraphy room, much to Mustard’s and Alex’s displeasure.

They let it slide, though, already used to her exuberant energy. If anything, Alex considered it part of his training, as her interruption didn’t cause his hand to slip while he completed a rising curve after a downward stroke. He finished his latest piece, Strength, in bold, powerful lettering before finally giving her his attention.

“Are you sure the cameras are properly linked to the database this time?” Alex asked. “Otherwise, when they get accidentally destroyed, you won’t be able to recover any images.”

“Yes, yes, I hired a professional to handle it.”

“Klara? Are you sure the cameras won’t all be pointed at her during the battle?”

“Of course! She promised to configure them properly.”

“Alright, but don’t complain if they don’t capture the entire battle because a certain angle isn’t hitting her good side.”

Bea wanted to immediately defend Klara, but upon further thought, that sounded exactly like something she would do.

“I’ll double-check just in case,” Bea said with a heavy sigh. “Everything should still be ready by tomorrow, though.”

“Alright then.”

“Yey!” Bea shouted before bolting off, leaving the door open.

Alex sighed, stood, and walked over to the door to close it. He still had a few hours before heading off to sleep. He sat back down, replaced the paper with a new sheet, and proceeded to continue writing his next word.

“Are you sure you want Bea to be your successor?” Alex asked. “She’s a bit disorganized.”

“Hohoho! She’s got the right drive and energy to go far. Just needs a bit of help with the technical side, that’s all, heh heh. Besides, she put all this together in a month. That’s impressive enough in my book!” Mustard replied.

Alex shook his head and didn’t comment. His girls would have been able to come up with something in a day or, at most, two, not take an entire month consulting and hiring different people to set up the Battle Court for the Battle Royale.

Then again, to be fair, he himself would have taken quite a while to do the same. What was important was that Bea never gave up, no matter the difficulties or the unfamiliar expertise.

“I guess you’re right,” Alex said as he began writing his new piece, ignoring all the distractions around him.

“Hohoho! Of course, I may be old, but I can recognize drive and a good heart when I see it.”

The next day, Alex stood at the center of the Battle Court, surrounded by nearly a thousand other competitors. The majority of them were Elite ranked Pokémon with their trainers present, as well as a handful of Champion ranked trainers and their Pokémon. Interestingly, this included Lucas as well, who, after losing to both Alex and Bea, decided to shell out for a year-long retreat to train.

The Battle Court behind the dojo’s main building sat in the center of a natural valley, its walls of rock and greenery rising around it in a near-perfect enclosure that left the dojo as the only clear point of entry. The arena itself was a broad expanse of flattened earth carved from the valley floor, shaped and maintained into a level battleground that supported Dynamaxing and included a Power Spot beneath it. The surrounding slopes formed natural tiered viewing platforms that ringed the arena, each level packed tightly with trainers, attendants, and Pokémon. The entire valley felt crowded despite its size, the pressure of so many strong presences building in the air, heavy with anticipation.

The reason Bea took an entire month to get everything set up was the escalation of the proposed battle. It began with collecting waivers of consent from the participants, which quickly snowballed into a full-scale event that everyone wanted a part in.

Many people, especially those connected to the participants, also wanted to witness the battle, and word of it somehow reached the media as well. To manage the unsustainable surge of visitors, she had to lock in a proper date to ensure everyone arrived on schedule.

Then, due to the high level of danger the battle posed, she had to commission an arena shield to protect the spectators and oversee its installation without disturbing the Power Spot. Finally, the cameras would broadcast the entire event, allowing them to recoup some of the costs from the overall expenditure.

Needless to say, Bea truly did an impressive job putting it all together.

“Ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to the Isle of Armor’s first ever broadcasted event, the Isle of Armor Battle Royale, hosted by yours truly, Klara!”

Cheers erupted across the stadium as the sound rolled through the valley, bouncing off the surrounding cliffs and filling the air with a rising roar of anticipation.

“We have a very special guest to thank for this event. Some of you may or may not know that there is an original version of this format, streamed live by Mr. Alex Wattson, who helped popularize this style of battle event. Today, he will be joining us as a participant, in partnership with the Isle of Armor.”

The crowd cheered again, but with markedly less enthusiasm. It was clear that Alex and his streams weren’t that popular with the public. At most, only Fighting type trainers seemed genuinely excited to hear his name.

As Klara continued explaining the rules, thanking the sponsors, and announcing the prizes for both trainers and Pokémon, Alex turned his attention to the people and Pokémon around him.

As a Champion ranked trainer, he was smack dab in the middle of Champion ranked Pokémon, which immediately heightened the difficulty of survival right at the start of the battle. Trainers were still an entire rank physically weaker than their own Pokémon, after all.

Still, he wouldn’t let that prevent him from enjoying himself, as this battle would be a nice break from his calligraphy practice. He needed to stretch his muscles and refresh his mind, so this battle was exactly what he needed.

“Everybody ready?!”

“FIIIIIIIIGHT!”