Chapter 56The Second Day at the Pokémon Research School

  "201, um... here."

  Tetsuya stopped outside a cssroom door, eyeing the "201" sign with a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

  Alright, one floor spans nearly 300 square meters with only two cssrooms—definitely spacious. The teaching area was generous, which was nice.

  The student roster for his css had been sent to him yesterday. The group was small—just over a dozen—and composed entirely of new junior students who had just passed the test entrance exams.

  After straightening his clothes and collecting himself, he pushed the door open with a nervous breath. Immediately, a dozen curious eyes turned to him.

  He calmly counted—sixteen students. Good. No absentees.

  With a gentle smile, he stepped forward.

  "Hello, and welcome to the Pokémon Research School. I’ll be your trainer for the next week. My name is Tetsuya Tamaki, and I hope we’ll all get along well."

  A girl in the front raised her hand.

  "Yes, you?" Tetsuya gestured for her to speak.

  "Teacher, do you have a girlfriend?" she asked, blushing furiously.

  Tetsuya's perfect smile froze. What was with kids these days? Why ask that right out of the gate?

  "Not yet," he replied, clearing his throat. "But let's not ask questions unreted to css during css time."

  Another hand shot up—this time, a sturdier boy.

  "Why is it just one week, Teacher?"

  "Good question. Your official trainer is currently in the Sinnoh region on important business. She’ll be returning soon. In the meantime, Professor Oak invited me to be your substitute."

  Tetsuya patiently addressed their questions one by one. Despite the unexpected personal queries, he found the css rather well-behaved overall. Maybe the troublemaker Yezo mentioned yesterday really was the exception.

  Somewhere far from the cssroom, Kiba Yezo sneezed on the battlefield. Off to the side, a stern blonde woman frowned and made a note in her notebook.

  Back in the cssroom, Tetsuya smiled to himself. Time to make a good impression.

  "I know, I know! Just like the gods and teachers who trained my brothers!" another boy blurted out.

  "That’s right," Tetsuya nodded. "But remember, raise your hand before speaking, alright?"

  He gnced down at his attendance list.

  Are there substitute teachers for other grades too? Shenhe... wasn’t that Sirona’s st name? He pondered the thought for a moment.

  Maybe a retive of hers. Mustard Orchid—Sirona’s grandmother—is also a renowned Pokémon historian. Her whole family excels in this stuff.

  Shaking the thought off, he got down to business.

  "Let’s take attendance. When I call your name, please stand up and introduce yourself. This is probably your first time meeting one another, so take the opportunity to get to know your cssmates."

  He had been told he’d act as a sort of homeroom teacher for the week since the incoming trainer would take over that role. Most of these kids were aiming to become Pokémon Trainers themselves. Their journey was just beginning.

  He sighed inwardly. And here I am, making things harder for a kid who's only 10 years and 82 months old.

  "First up, Yuto Seidai."

  Right, she was the top student in the Pokémon Research School—the same one Brock and Ash were smitten with in the original work. Her name screamed honor student—Seidai being synonymous with talent and pride.

  The same girl who had asked if he had a girlfriend stood up.

  "My name is Yuto Seidai. I’m from Vermilion City in the Kanto region, and my Pokémon motto is: ‘Training for my love!’"

  Tetsuya blinked. A little embarrassing, he thought, watching as the rest of the css looked at her with admiration.

  "Very energetic," he said, nodding. "Let’s hope you put the same passion into your studies."

  Yuto blushed and nodded, then sat down like a proper dy.

  "Next—Ghost Feather Eagle."

  The boy who had mentioned his brother earlier stood up.

  "Hi everyone. I’m Ghost Feather Eagle. My brother is the senior student Kiba Yezo, and my grandmother is Agatha. I hope we’ll get along."

  Tetsuya was about to compliment him when the boy added, "My brother said you beat him and asked me to teach you a lesson. I said no. You seem like a good person.

  He always has dead eyes and bullies me by not letting me eat good food. Teacher, you have to teach him a lesson."

  Tetsuya nodded solemnly, praised his honesty, and motioned for him to sit down.

  "Next, Eri Akimoto."

  As the students took turns introducing themselves, Tetsuya multitasked—listening carefully while reflecting.

  Kiba Yezo, huh? That expins the friendly warning yesterday. No wonder. With those dead-fish eyes, I should’ve known he was up to something.

  He adjusted his pin-framed gsses—chosen specifically to boost his teacherly demeanor. The gre off the lenses obscured his eyes, lending him a mysterious aura.

  Finally, he closed the list.

  "Let’s begin today’s css. We’ll be learning about how to train common Grass-type Pokémon. As many of you know, Grass-types often have unique biological structures. They only require..."

  He continued, expining various traits of Grass-types. At one point, he posed a question.

  "So, if we combine this method with the use of Three-Stripe Grass, what happens? Sundai, could you answer?"

  Meanwhile, on a battlefield elsewhere...

  Kiba Yezo sneezed again—and botched another command.

  Sirona, observing from the sidelines, frowned deeply.

  "Yezo, are you feeling unwell? I’ve told you before: when both sides are equally matched, the outcome doesn’t depend solely on the Pokémon. It’s about the trainer’s performance in the moment.

  If you’re sick, pause training. Otherwise, we won’t be able to accurately identify and fix your issues."

  His opponent paused, waiting.

  Yezo bowed his head respectfully. "I’m sorry, Teacher Sirona. I’m not sick—it was just an accident."

  He rubbed his nose in confusion. Why did he keep sneezing?

  Still, he couldn’t afford to upset this teacher. Not her.

  When he first learned that his css would have two instructors—one of whom was the Alliance's chief instructor, Chen—Tetsuya was thrilled, even fanatical. He had always admired Chen deeply. Although not famous in the public eye, everyone within the Alliance knew just how powerful Chen was.

  As for the other instructor? Tetsuya had never heard of her. Probably some no-name assistant. She seemed pretty ordinary, just someone to help out.

  At that time, Cynthia was still traveling for training and archaeological research. She hadn’t participated in many major conferences, so naturally, she wasn’t well-known.

  Tetsuya didn’t think much of her. He was only excited about Instructor Chen.

  Different trainers had different preferences when it came to battling. For Tetsuya, he admired Chen’s direct, overwhelming battle style far more than the spiritual techniques passed down from his own grandmother.

  He wanted to become the King of Shadows—not some gentle spirit master.

  But it was his own decision. Even with his grandmother being Agatha, he couldn’t ask Chen for private, one-on-one guidance. This opportunity was already rare.

  Usually, when students were promoted to the advanced level or approaching graduation, the Pokémon Research Academy would invite top trainers to mentor them for a week.

  That might be exciting for most students, but Tetsuya hadn’t cared too much—until he heard that Chen himself would be coming. That had been a big surprise.

  But who could have guessed that Instructor Chen would only teach for a single day and then leave?

  His repcement? The woman now standing in front of them: Cynthia.

  When the announcement came on the first day of css, not just Tetsuya, but many other students were dissatisfied.

  After all, according to the brief introduction, this woman—Cynthia—was only 20 years old. Just two years older than they were. How could she possibly be qualified to teach them, the so-called “prodigies” recognized even by the outside world?

  They knew the school didn’t hire incompetents, but still… just how strong could she be at that age?

  Their pride turned into quiet frustration—frustration that boiled into resentment the moment Cynthia said calmly, "You ten can each send out a Pokémon to battle me at once."

  What a joke. At 20, did she think she was a Champion? A Dragon Master? She was just two years older than them!

  The ten students, led by Tetsuya, were all extremely gifted, each with three or four powerful Pokémon. Most of their current partners were already at the elite level.

  There was no way they believed Cynthia could defeat all ten of them by herself.

  Their good upbringing kept them from openly voicing their anger.

  For a tense moment, the atmosphere was electric.

  It was Instructor Chen who finally broke the silence, clearly in a rush. "Each of you, send out your strongest Pokémon. Hurry up—this is a good chance to test your strength."

  The ten students exchanged gnces, then nodded.

  "Go, Charizard!"

  "Come out, Feraligatr!"

  "Serperior, get ready to battle!"

  Pokémon of various forms, most of them fully-evolved starter Pokémon, appeared on the battlefield. Nine of them were the final evolutions of the cssic regional starters.

  But one stood out from the rest—a childlike figure cd in armor, with twin bdes for arms and more bde-like projections on its head and torso. It was Bisharp, Tetsuya’s current ace.

  Cynthia pced one hand on her hip and brushed her long golden hair aside with her right. From her belt, she drew a Luxury Ball.

  “Take to the sky—Garchomp!”

  A shark-like Pokémon emerged in a fsh of light, its dark blue body offset by red coloring from its lower jaw to abdomen, and yellow running across its belly. Wings grew from its forearms like a jet’s pectoral fins. Two fins protruded from its head like a hammerhead shark, with a yellow star-shaped marking on its nose. Razor-sharp teeth filled its mouth, and its limbs bore white cws and spurs.

  The second it nded, Garchomp let out a powerful roar, coiling its body and fring its wings like a fighter jet ready for unch.

  The ten students all had mixed reactions. Yes, Garchomp was a pseudo-legendary, and from the look of it, it was at least approaching Champion-tier. But that didn’t mean it could defeat their ten ace Pokémon alone.

  Tetsuya’s Bisharp, for example, was already level 48—just two levels shy of the official threshold for the Champion tier. The others weren’t far behind, with most of their Pokémon sitting well above level 40.

  Even a top-level pseudo-legendary wouldn’t win against ten elite Pokémon—unless it was truly Champion-tier.

  They began to calm down. Perhaps Cynthia had something special pnned.

  But she didn’t give them time to specute. "Let’s end this quickly. Garchomp—use Draco Meteor!"

  Garchomp crouched low, its body glowing with intense yellow light. A swirling orb of power condensed in its chest, climbing toward its throat.

  “BOOM!”

  The glowing sphere shot into the sky, leaving shockwaves in its wake.

  Moments ter, it exploded high above, splitting into dozens of golden energy meteors that rained down on the battlefield like divine judgment.

  The students’ eyes widened. “Fmethrower!” “Hydro Pump!” “Leaf Storm!”

  They threw out their strongest counterattacks—bzing fire, torrential water, razor-sharp leaves.

  But it was no use. Garchomp’s Draco Meteor shattered their attacks like a wrecking ball through gss, sweeping their defenses aside. The golden meteorites crashed down, engulfing every Pokémon on the field.

  When the dust cleared, all ten Pokémon y unconscious, eyes dull with disbelief.

  Ten-on-one… and they were defeated instantly.

  Instructor Chen sighed and sent out his own Luxury Ball.

  "Audino—use Heal Pulse and Life Dew."

  A wave of soothing light spread across the field, and droplets of shimmering energy rained down. The fallen Pokémon stirred and slowly rose, healed by Audino’s gentle touch.

  Chen quietly recalled the Pokémon to its ball.

  “Cp! Cp!”

  Chen’s appuse cut through the silence, drawing the stunned students’ attention.

  “I’m disappointed,” he said pinly.

  The students looked down in shame.

  “I’m not disappointed in your strength. Among your peers, you’re among the best. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be here, at the Pokémon Research Academy. We don’t accept fakes.

  Do you know where my disappointment lies?”