“I’m here to poach your talent.”
Noah gave the same answer as before.
And Nessa reacted just like Sonia had—
She was stunned.
“Professor Noah, what do you mean by poaching…?”
This time, even Sonia couldn’t hold back her curiosity and questioned Noah.
“I’m going to turn Alola into the strongest League—one that surpasses Kanto.
To do that, I need to recruit talented trainers from all regions to my side.”
Noah made no effort to hide his ambitions.
As he spoke, he ruffled Serena’s chestnut-brown hair and continued:
“Serena is one of them.
She’ll become Alola’s new Elite Four member.”
Just like Diantha before them,
Sonia and Nessa—this pair of best friends— were both dumbfounded after hearing Noah’s declaration.
‘Surpass…
Kanto?’
‘With that backwater place called Alola?’
Noah couldn’t be bothered to waste words.
Time would tell whether he was just blowing smoke.
Both Nessa and Sonia were polite enough that, although they thought Noah’s goal was pure fantasy, they didn’t mock him like the cannon fodder in some third-rate Chinese Webnovel.
“So…
does Professor Noah have anyone in mind?”
Sonia asked.
“Yeah.
If I can recruit her, she’ll at least make Elite Four—her potential is at minimum peak Elite Four-level.”
Noah said with a light laugh.
Nessa and Sonia exchanged glances, both seeing disbelief in each other’s eyes.
‘Galar had such a talent?’
‘How come we didn’t know?’
The main reason was that Marnie hadn’t debuted yet.
Noah only knew about her because he was a Transmigrator.
“Too bad—if Miss Nessa were a bit stronger, I’d want to recruit you too.”
Noah suddenly sighed.
“Mr.
Noah, what do you mean by that?”
Nessa’s charming face paled and reddened in alternating waves as she snapped.
She looked ready to flip the table.
“Professor Noah, that’s going too far.”
Even the easygoing Sonia was starting to get angry.
“It’s the truth,”
Noah said calmly.
“If you can’t even accept criticism of this level, then your strength will never improve.”
“I’m full!”
Nessa immediately stood up and walked back to her room without looking back.
To be precise, she’d been filled with anger, not food.
“Nessa, wait…”
Sonia looked conflicted, unsure whether to chase after her or stay.
“Her mentality is too fragile,”
Noah said again.
“Miss Sonia, go ahead and comfort her if you want.
But the upcoming tournament will soon show her that reality is far more brutal than my words.”
The next day, this year’s Galar Star Tournament officially began.
Of course, Gym Leaders like Raihan and Nessa didn’t have to start from the hundreds-person preliminary rounds like regular trainers.
They advanced directly to the tournament bracket, starting from the round of 64.
Kind of like the World Cup’s group stage and knockout rounds.
The preliminary rounds took about a week.
Noah didn’t waste that time, either.
On the third day, he found his target for this trip—Marnie.
Finding Marnie wasn’t difficult.
After all, she was the sister of Piers, Galar’s third-ranked trainer.
So as long as he kept an eye on Piers, it was easy to locate Marnie.
“May I have a moment, you two?”
Outside the Motostoke Stadium, surrounded by the punk-styled crowd from Spikemuth,
Noah suddenly appeared, blocking the path of the sibling duo, Piers and Marnie.
“Who are you?
We’re about to go to a concert—can you get out of the way?”
Piers asked listlessly.
It seemed he hadn’t been online much lately and didn’t know Noah’s name.
“Sure, Mr.
Piers—I’m not here for you anyway.”
Noah smiled slightly, stepped aside, but then pointed at Marnie, who stood beside Piers and was around Serena’s age.
“However, I’d like to have a word with your sister.”
Piers’s sleepy expression gradually turned serious.
“What do you want with Marnie?”
‘Could this be a creep obsessed with my little sister?’
Although Marnie had a difficult personality, there was no denying she was a bona fide beauty.
She even had her own fan club in Spikemuth.
“Piers, I…
remember now.
He’s that Noah—the one who beat Diantha…”
Before Noah could answer,
Marnie, still expressionless, spoke up.
Apparently, unlike her shut-in brother, Marnie paid attention to the outside world.
Although she hadn’t heard the name ‘Noah’,
The phrase ‘beat Diantha’ immediately made Piers’s expression change drastically.
He looked back at Noah in disbelief.
“It’s you?!”
“Little Marnie, come to Alola with me.
I’ll train you into a Champion-level trainer.”
Noah locked his gaze on Marnie and extended his hand in an inviting gesture.
Marnie still wore her usual blank expression, but her slightly contracted pupils revealed the shock she felt inside.
‘Was I…
being poached?’