“Gacha!
Gacha!”
Excadrill happily munched on the nutritional meal Weibai had provided to restore its stamina, dramatically miming its fierce battle with the big, green-and-black snake inside the cave.
“A big green-and-black snake…
That should be Zygarde’s 50% Form.
I really didn’t expect you to survive until the one-hour countdown ended and make it back from Terminus Cave.”
Weibai didn’t even know what to say.
He could only count them lucky that Zygarde wasn’t an unreasonable Pokémon.
If it had been Groudon instead, with Excadrill’s rock-throwing antics, even ten thousand lives wouldn’t have been enough to withstand a single Precipice Blades.
“Gacha!”
Excadrill waved its claws in slight dissatisfaction.
Couldn’t he have a little more faith in it?
In the end, it was clearly the victor!
Weibai: “…”
Fooling others was one thing, but don’t go fooling yourself.
However, he genuinely harbored high expectations for Excadrill’s current strength.
After all, it had spent 100 Legend Points to study abroad through the Path of Nurturing.
If the results were inferior to his routine training as a Novice Breeder, then any future Legend Points would be better spent refreshing Daily Intel instead…
After resting at home until the afternoon, Weibai packed his things and set out with Squishy and Excadrill.
Although he still bickered with Excadrill on the surface, the high affection stat of “78” in the Pokémon panel couldn’t lie.
Their relationship was less like a standard Pokémon-Trainer dynamic and more like a pair of playful banter buddies.
As for Squishy, after finally enjoying its long-awaited delicious food, its affection score was firmly locked at 100.
However, Weibai had no clear plan yet on how to permanently accommodate it, unless he traveled directly to Terminus Cave to ask Zygarde for caretaking advice…
though if he did that, leaving Terminus Cave barely alive would count as a massive success.
Excadrill was recalled into its Pokeball, which it didn’t particularly enjoy, leaving only Squishy still outside.
Nestled in Weibai’s chest pocket, it poked its tiny head out, enjoying the scenery outside the taxi window along the way, thoroughly curious about everything in this city.
After all, it had once been a mere cell without self-awareness, working 24 hours a day like a fixed surveillance camera, storing every image it observed for the Core to access at any time.
It had never left its post, nor had it rested for even a single second.
Weibai quietly observed it, a gentle smile unconsciously appearing on his face.
He cared quite a bit about Squishy’s past experiences.
Moreover, it was precisely the appearance of this little guy that had brought a complete turning point to his life.
As long as he could see this kid living happily, he would do his best to fulfill its desires.
The taxi quickly arrived at its destination.
Étoile Academy, located in the Granate District.
Rebuilt 150 years ago, this institution had once been a top-tier academy on par with—and by no means inferior to—the world’s oldest institution, Naranja Academy.
Unfortunately, during the hundred-year war between the Kalos and Galar regions, the school and countless precious records of knowledge were reduced to ashes in the fires of war.
Even so, after multiple reconstructions, Étoile Academy remained a world-famous academic sanctuary today.
It was particularly renowned as a global authority in the fields of Pokémon Breeding and Evolutionary Studies.
Professor Sycamore, an academic titan in the field of Mega Evolution, had graduated from here.
“We’re at the school.”
“Kyu~”
Squishy stared at the grand school gates with eyes full of wonder.
Although it couldn’t fully comprehend the concept of a “school,” seeing so many young people walking around with powerful Pokémon allowed it to sense that this place was far from ordinary.
After showing his student ID, Weibai stepped through the school gates with Squishy. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
It had been a month since the school year started, and aside from orientation day, this was his first time returning.
The school’s administration was quite lax and didn’t force students to attend classes.
After all, failing to graduate due to insufficient credits was the student’s own problem.
As adults, they needed to take responsibility for themselves.
“Hmm, where was the Trainer major department again…”
Weibai checked the campus map on his Rotom Phone.
Étoile Academy covered a vast area with four distinct campuses.
Except for the North Campus, which had been abandoned two years ago due to a major accident, the remaining three campuses were still in active use.
The area he was currently in was the South Campus, built less than five years ago.
“Kyu~”
At that moment, Squishy suddenly noticed many students hurrying off in a specific direction.
Curious, it called out to remind him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Kyu~”
“Huh?”
Weibai raised his head and froze for a moment.
He, too, noticed the unusually lively atmosphere.
Was there a special event happening at school today?
Driven by curiosity, he stopped a female student walking by holding a Pikachu: “Senior, excuse me, where is everyone going?”
“You don’t know?”
“I just came back to school this afternoon.”
“No wonder.
It’s the Blueberry Academy students—they got into a fight with the people from our school’s Trainer major.”
The second-year student pulled out her phone and opened the school forum.
The top trending post on the front page right now was about a certain Blueberry Academy student publicly mocking the battle prowess of Étoile Academy’s trainers in the cafeteria…
“Ho-ho, there’s drama to watch the moment I return.”
Weibai’s interest was piqued.
Thanking the student, he headed toward the school arena while logging into the forum with his student ID to carefully read the thread.
Soon, he pieced together the whole story.
It had started with the Trainer major students of Étoile Academy picking a fight first.
As students of a world-class prestigious school, they naturally possessed their own pride.
Blueberry Academy had been established for only a few years, yet it not only stood on equal footing with them but had completely surpassed them in training battle-oriented talent.
This naturally sparked dissatisfaction among some students, leading a few to test the strength of the Blueberry Academy visitors.
The result…
Several third-year Trainer major students were swept completely by Drayton, a student from Blueberry Academy’s Battle Club who claimed to be the “Blueberry League Champion,” using just a single Haxorus.
That led to the farce in the cafeteria at noon.
The conflict between both sides escalated drastically.
Fortunately, the administration intervened in time.
Combined with the mediation of Nerine, the Student Council President of Blueberry Academy, Étoile Academy decided to uphold the tradition of hospitality and resolve the conflict using Blueberry Academy’s rules.
The strongest students of Blueberry Academy—the “Blueberry League Elite Four”—would set up a challenge stage in the school arena.
Any student, regardless of major, could challenge Blueberry Academy.
Defeating the Elite Four would grant the right to challenge Champion Drayton.
Want to win back your pride?
Beat them with sheer strength!
Although it seemed somewhat unfair to battle on home turf, the Blueberry League itself was an internal competitive mechanism created to motivate students and raise overall battle standards.
Étoile Academy’s administration likely harbored the intention of taking this opportunity to observe and learn, or perhaps the school board had even orchestrated the whole thing behind the scenes. New chapters come out on novelping(.)com first.
In short, everyone had their own calculations…
Weibai certainly didn’t want to miss out on such excitement.
The arena was bound to be packed to the brim, making it the perfect opportunity to advertise his soon-to-reopen White Gym.
However, reality dealt him a harsh blow.
Under the deliberate promotion of the school board, even though the audience consisted mostly of students, the outer perimeter of the arena was jammed packed.
Forget placing advertisements—he couldn’t even see where the arena’s entrance was.
To watch the challenge matches, one had to view the livestream on the official school website.
“Are you kidding me?!”
“Kyu!”
Squishy was also a bit displeased.
It really wanted to see with its own eyes what could attract so many people.
Just then, a flash of inspiration struck Weibai’s mind, sparking a new idea…
Meanwhile, inside the arena’s resting area.
“You guys work hard.
I’m going to find a spot to lie down.”
A white-haired youth wearing a outfit decorated with dragon-scale patterns yawned listlessly as he slumped in his chair.
Exhibiting an utterly slack attitude, he dumped all the tasks onto his companions.
He was the central figure of this incident, the Blueberry League Champion—Drayton.
He was not only a prodigy trainer specializing in Dragon-type Pokémon, but also the grandson of Drayden, the Opelucid Gym Leader of the Unova region, carrying the high expectations of countless people.
Just as he finished speaking, a girl radiating a unique sapphire glow sat up not far across from him.
She possessed neat, layered violet short hair, her fair skin looking even more delicate against her dark uniform.
A few longer strands hung by her ears, swaying lightly as she raised her arms to form an “X” shape in front of her chest.
“I don’t think that’s acceptable!” the girl said with a serious expression.
“When it comes down to it, this whole thing started because you couldn’t keep your mouth shut in the cafeteria!
Today is only our first day at Étoile Academy.
What if this affects our upcoming Mega Evolution class schedule?”
This sternly spoken girl was none other than Lacey, the top-ranked Elite Four member of the Blueberry League and an idol of the academy.
She was not only exceptionally skilled in Pokémon battles and immensely popular among students, but she was also a genuine high-society young lady.
Her father was none other than Clay, the Driftveil Gym Leader whose mining business spanned the globe.
Just as Lacey was expressing her dissatisfaction and preparing to press her argument, Nerine, the Student Council President and fellow Blueberry League Elite Four member, pushed up her glasses and interrupted: “Rest assured, there is no need to worry about the classes.
The school administration has already guaranteed it.
The only thing we need to be careful of is watching our backs at night during our next three months at Étoile Academy.
Who knows if the students here…”
Before Nerine could finish her sentence, a sharp vibration suddenly reverberated through the floor beneath their resting area.
The center of the quake was positioned right underneath the feet of the serious-looking Lacey.
By the time they realized it, it was already too late.
A metallic drill violently burst through the floorboards!
Lacey, who had been brooding seriously nearby, had no time to react.
The sudden impact threw her off balance, causing her serious expression to crumble instantly into shock and panic as she fell backward.
Meanwhile, Weibai, who had just dug into the resting area through the tunnel created by Excadrill, hadn’t even had the time to take in his surroundings.
Just as he popped his head out of the hole, a soft body landed firmly right on his back, jolting his entire frame.
“Oof—who is that?
So heavy…”