Chapter 489: Caleb—Quest Triggered

"Knock, knock."

Just then, someone knocked on the door.

A handsome young man in a suit stepped inside carrying a gift bag, a confident smile on his face. His arrival immediately drew everyone's attention, and the moment Maya saw him, her eyes lit up.

The grievance she had been holding back surfaced just as quickly. She hurried over and threw herself into his arms.

"Caleb, you're finally here..." she cried. "My dad almost married me off to someone else. And to some small-town guy, too."

Caleb's expression changed as he wrapped an arm around her. "Don't worry. I'm here now. No one's going to separate us."

Maya immediately looked up at him with admiration. "Caleb, you're so good to me."

After comforting her, Caleb led Maya back toward the table. His gaze swept across everyone present, lingering briefly on Aaron before settling on David.

"Hello, sir. My name is Caleb. I'm Maya's boyfriend."

David took a deep breath and forced down his anger.

"Caleb, was it? Then I'll be clear with you. Maya already has an engagement, so the two of you need to break up."

David was furious, but after hearing that Caleb had been taken on as the personal student of a Class Champion-level Trainer, he was not foolish enough to offend him without reason.

Under any other circumstances, Caleb would have been exactly the sort of young Trainer David would welcome with open arms.

Unfortunately for him, Aaron was sitting right there.

Compared with Aaron's talent and future prospects, Caleb simply was not worth considering. David was a businessman. Given the choice between the two, there was no question which connection he wanted.

He pointed toward Aaron.

"This is Aaron. He and Maya were promised to each other when they were children. As for your relationship with her, I don't approve."

"Aaron?"

Caleb frowned slightly.

The name sounded vaguely familiar, but after thinking about it for a moment, he still could not place it. He assumed it could not be anyone particularly important. This was Sealine City, after all, and he had little reason to pay attention to some local Trainer.

His confident smile returned.

He looked at Aaron. "Nice to meet you. I'm Caleb, Maya's boyfriend."

Aaron said nothing.

"You're a Pokémon Trainer too, right?" Caleb continued. "Then let's settle this with a battle."

He spoke as though the outcome had already been decided.

"If you win, I'll back off. If I win, you give up this engagement with Maya."

Caleb paused, then added generously, "You're younger than me, so I'll give you a handicap. You can use six Pokémon. I'll only use three."

"Pfft."

Aaron could not hold it in.

Caleb's eyes sharpened.

Aaron quickly raised a hand. "Sorry. Something funny just crossed my mind. I wasn't laughing at you."

Caleb's expression made it obvious he did not believe him.

Aaron, meanwhile, had already lost interest in the whole thing.

"Anyway, do whatever you want. Maya and I have nothing to do with each other in the first place. As for battling over her—"

Before he could finish, the System's voice suddenly rang in his head.

[Ding~ Quest Triggered: Crush Caleb and "accidentally" reveal that you are number one on the Hidden Dragon Rankings.]

[Caleb may be smiling politely, but underneath it all, he looks down on you. Are you seriously going to let that slide? Beat him, wipe that smug look off Maya's face, and complete the quest.]

[Quest Reward: Increase the proficiency of any one move belonging to any Pokémon to Apotheosis.]

Aaron immediately swallowed the rest of his sentence.

Apotheosis proficiency.

For free.

His expression changed at once, and a bright smile spread across his face.

"Sure. Let's battle."

There was no way he was turning down a reward like that.

David's eyes sharpened when Aaron agreed.

This was perfect.

Not only would he get to see for himself whether Aaron was truly as monstrous as the rumors claimed, he could also use the battle to put an end to Maya's relationship with Caleb.

Two problems solved at once.

Naturally, he made no attempt to stop them.

Maya, on the other hand, looked at Aaron with open mockery.

This clown actually had the nerve to challenge Caleb to a Pokémon battle. He was practically begging to humiliate himself.

He's completely out of his league. I'll have Caleb teach this clown a lesson.

Victor and Aaron's mother exchanged a glance but said nothing.

They trusted their son completely. If Aaron had agreed to the battle, then he clearly knew what he was doing.

Besides, neither of them had ever actually seen him battle before. This was a rare opportunity to see just how strong their son had become.

Lily was even more excited. Few things entertained her more than watching her brother battle.

...

The hotel's Pokémon battle arena was spacious enough to accommodate serious Trainer battles, which was only fitting for one of the largest hotels in Sealine City.

Aaron and Caleb now stood opposite each other on the field while everyone else watched from the spectator seats.

The battle was about to begin.

...