“There are two choices.
“The first is that I can register you as a Trainer and obtain for you a qualified beginner Pokémon provided by the Pokémon League.”
Trainer registration alone cost one hundred thousand Poké Dollars.
As for the beginner Pokémon, that was another one hundred thousand.
Two hundred thousand Poké Dollars.
For Verdanturf House, that was enough to cover several years of expenses.
That was also why Grandma Agatha had never had the resources to support a child who wanted to become a Trainer.
The little more than two thousand Poké Dollars Wally had brought with him was money he had painstakingly saved bit by bit over the past four years.
So Professor Birch’s first option could provide Wally with enormous assistance.
Not only would it solve the problem of where he would live, but with official Trainer status, he could enjoy discounted meals at Pokémon Centers and receive substantial benefits in many other places as well.
“What about the second choice?”
Wally didn’t rush to make a decision.
“The second choice…
is to give you an opportunity to enter Pokémon Academy.”
Professor Birch spoke calmly.
“Pokémon Academy?
What’s that—?”
The unfamiliar name left Wally puzzled.
Professor Birch patiently explained.
“Pokémon Academy is a comprehensive academy in the Sinnoh Region.
Together with Champion Academy in the Kanto Region and Silver Academy in the Johto Region, it is known as one of the three great cradles of genius.”
“The achievements of every graduate are at least comparable to those of a competitor who can place among the top three in a regional conference.”
“Of course, that’s only the average level.”
“However, Pokémon Academy’s graduation requirements are extremely demanding.
They aren’t something an ordinary person can meet.
The requirements for admission are even more stringent.”
“If you don’t possess exceptional talent or a powerful background, buying your way into the academy would cost a million Poké Dollars…”
Pokémon Academy.
Silver Academy.
Champion Academy.
The three great academies!
Professor Birch’s explanation gave Wally another lesson.
He had never imagined that such special institutions existed in this world.
He had never even heard of them in the books he’d read.
“Of course, they’re not quite as incredible as you’re imagining.”
“The three academies are all products of an earlier era.
Take Wallace, for example.
Even if he entered Pokémon Academy, he would still be one of its most outstanding geniuses.
There wouldn’t be many people capable of matching him.”
Explaining all of this to Wally had taken Professor Birch quite some time.
“The second choice is to give you an opportunity to transfer into Pokémon Academy.”
“There, you won’t have to pay tuition.
You’ll have free accommodation and meals, and you’ll be free to study whatever you want.”
“Whether it’s Breeder knowledge, Coordinator training, or various Trainer battle tactics, you can study them all.”
“But if you choose this path, you’ll have to undergo a rigorous examination.”
“If you fail, you’ll lose both opportunities.”
These were the two paths now laid before Wally.
The first was to obtain Trainer registration.
With enough hard work, he might be able to achieve his dreams step by step.
But no one could say what might happen while he tried to find his own way forward.
The second required him to pass an unknown examination and earn the opportunity to enter Pokémon Academy.
An academy personally recommended by Professor Birch obviously wasn’t an ordinary institution.
Although Wally wouldn’t receive Trainer registration immediately, free food and accommodation, along with the opportunity to receive formal instruction in Coordinating, Breeder studies, battle tactics, and other fields, was difficult to refuse.
Moreover, the academy’s outstanding graduates all went on to achieve remarkable accomplishments and were eagerly sought after by major organizations.
“Have you decided?”
“I have.”
Wally didn’t hesitate.
As a qualified transmigrator, he knew exactly what kind of choice he should make.
These two options were essentially an easy mode and a difficult mode.
With time already pressing against him, there was no reason for him to choose the easier path.
Just as Professor Birch had expected, only by experiencing hardship could Wally make greater progress.
“I’m willing to take the examination.”
Looking at the situation with the seasoned perspective of a transmigrator, Wally believed that Professor Birch wanted him to make this choice as well.
“Are you really sure?
If you fail the examination I give you, you may lose both opportunities.”
Professor Birch tried once again to make Wally reconsider.
But the more obvious his warning became, the less Wally was willing to waver.
The hint is already this obvious.
How could I possibly refuse?
“Yes.
I want to give it a try.”
Wally believed Professor Birch wouldn’t deliberately make things impossible for him.
As long as the examination was something that could actually be completed, he would do everything in his power to pass it.
“Hahaha, good.”
“Since you’ve chosen this path, I’ll tell you a little about Pokémon Academy first.
That should also motivate you.”
“As for the examination, the time isn’t right yet.”
Professor Birch smiled.
Wally’s choice had indeed pleased him.
Pokémon Academy
Pokémon Academy had been established more than a hundred years ago.
It was founded by a Trainer of Master-level ability at the time, with the purpose of promoting the Trainer profession.
After a century of development, Pokémon Academy had never grown into a colossal organization on the scale of the Pokémon League, but it had nevertheless become an independent institution recognized by the Pokémon League.
It was powerful.
The academy’s overall strength was formidable, and every generation of its headmasters had possessed strength no weaker than that of an Elite Four member.
Its faculty was equally impressive.
Many instructors were graduates of the academy who had returned as accomplished experts from different fields.
Coordinators, Breeders, Trainers, scholars—the academy had experts from all these fields.
There were even quite a few Gym Leaders and Elite Four members who had once studied at Pokémon Academy.
As the Pokémon League developed, the number of Trainers increased dramatically.
After regional conferences and Gyms were established, safety in the wilderness improved and Trainer benefits increased.
Trainers began to favor traveling independently, collecting Gym Badges, catching more Pokémon, and experiencing the pleasures of traveling.
As a result, the position of traditional academies declined greatly.
Although a few traditional aristocratic schools and elementary institutions remained in certain places, none of them managed to develop into anything significant.
Pokémon Academy, Silver Academy, and Champion Academy were the only three institutions that still retained the status of orthodox academies.
Their century of heritage and public-school structure were advantages that newer aristocratic educational institutions and organizations simply couldn’t match.
Professor Birch himself had graduated from Pokémon Academy.
He was also currently the academy’s vice principal.
That gave him more than enough confidence to arrange Wally’s transfer.
“If you can graduate from Pokémon Academy, you could even apply to the Pokémon League to establish your own Gym and receive subsidies from the League.”
Pokémon Academy was a four-year institution.
Its curriculum was divided into four levels:
Junior Class, Intermediate Class, Advanced Class, and Graduation Class.
In theory, students entered at the age of ten and graduated at fourteen.
But that was only the theoretical schedule.
Only a small number of exceptionally talented students could pass the academy’s graduation examination.
Some students even remained there into their twenties without graduating and were eventually advised to leave.
Then there were the geniuses who applied to skip grades, completing the entire curriculum in just two or three years and reaching a level of ability that was not inferior to their teachers.
This was Pokémon Academy.
It had been cast aside by the changing times, yet through recommendations, the passing down of knowledge, and the return of its graduates to nurture the next generation, it continued to preserve a spark of its former glory.