#ryme being his last tester is naturally built towards and they probably waited for this specific confrontation for hogator's evolution

[amelikos]

Really liking what they're doing so far with the basics and implementation tests with Liko and the others and how each test and Gym Leader they are facing pertains to their specific arcs as characters.

Liko's battles so far having her learn to enjoy the moment (VS Kaede, who is someone who holds back on some level just like Liko does) and allowing herself to go all out and using battles as a way to connect with her Pokemon's emotions which is her goal as a trainer (VS Chili). So her battles are more on the emotional side and deal with passion, which fits her development (especially since she is learning to find things she can be passionate about). Her test against Grusha will presumably deal with that too, since as far as I know, Grusha was passionate about snowboarding and eventually had to retire (in the games, at least), so we'll see how the anime chooses to use his character. He made a comment to Liko after seeing her battle against Chili in HZ056 ("if that's enough to raise your spirits, you must be pretty frigid"), which makes me think their battle could deal with "passion" in general.

Roy is learning to be more observant in general through his battles so far, and he is improving on the technical side of things. He realized that moves could be added to one another, and that battles could be made together with his opponent. Him facing artists of all kinds (Colza, Hassaku and eventually Ryme) also shows that he is learning to perfect his craft as a trainer and taking his time instead of rushing in. (Also, I like that it's specifically Roy who faces the trainers who are artists. You'd think that maybe since Liko likes drawing and has an affinity with art, she'd be more connected to these characters, but it's Roy who is involved with them and it fits really well with his arc.)

With Dot, I like that she is feeling frustration for different reasons during her battles so far. She was frustrated that she lost against Nanjamo in HZ050 but admits that she had fun. She was frustrated that she won against Poppy in HZ055 because she felt like her victory wasn't truly hers and that she couldn't have done anything by herself. And it looked like she was a bit frustrated after her battle against Aoki in HZ059 because she felt she was close to potentially defeating one of his Pokemon. I feel like she is starting to want to win too. Makes sense that she is going through these stages of frustration which will push her to want to improve as a trainer since she only came out of her room to travel outside in this chapter. Liko and Roy went through similar stages before too (Liko was frustrated at not being able to defeat Amethio in HZ007, and Roy felt something similar too when Rayquaza wouldn't look his way back in HZ033 for example, and both times it motivated them to grow stronger).

Also, I was kind of wondering why Dot was made to face Aoki for her implementation test at first, but I like the contrast with him and Nanjamo. Nanjamo is a streamer so she is someone who draws attention to herself and likes standing out, while Aoki is the complete opposite of that and takes pride in not standing out and being a regular person. So this kind of fits Dot in different ways.