Early the next morning, Evan Lane dragged his suitcase to the standalone dorm reserved exclusively for the elite class.
Even including the dorm supervisor and other staff, only forty-five people lived in the entire building.
Yet not only did it occupy a large area, it was a full five stories tall.
The first, third, and fifth floors were used for student housing.
Each room housed two students, and the rooms had everything needed to satisfy the daily needs of both students and Pokémon.
The second and fourth floors not only had training fields and battle courts, but also Pokémon medical facilities and a cafeteria.
Although using these was not free, the prices were very low.
The fees charged were only enough to maintain normal equipment operation.
An apartment building that fully integrated Pokémon training and daily life like this was one of the reasons students fought so hard to enter the elite class.
“Room 303?” After checking the information on his phone, Evan walked toward Dorm Room 303.
When he arrived on the third floor and confirmed the room number, Evan strode inside.
First, he opened the window to air out the room.
Then he threw out his Poké Ball and had Snivy help clean with him.
“It would be so convenient if Snivy could learn Refresh.” After making the bed, Evan wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked around.
He was very satisfied with the dorm environment.
Although each room only housed two people, the school had not reduced the room size because of that.
Not only was there a balcony and a private bathroom, there was also a special area set aside for Pokémon to rest.
Snivy lying there would not take up much space at all.
Clearly, the school had also considered the possibility of larger Pokémon living in the room.
Looking at the empty bed across from his own, Evan felt faintly uneasy.
Principal Marcus Greenhill strongly encouraged the kind of relationship Evan and Lucas Ember had, where they competed with each other and improved together.
Because of that, he had specially assigned them to the same dorm room.
Lucas usually arrived very early.
Not to mention, after moving into the dorm today, they still had to attend a class mobilization meeting.
Evan had Lucas’s contact information, but he had not been able to reach him since last night.
That made him feel somewhat worried.
“Hopefully he just overslept.” Evan grabbed Snivy, who was about to fall asleep on the soft cushion, and headed toward the tactical analysis room on the second floor.
After being assigned to the elite class, they basically would no longer use their previous training field and classrooms.
This dorm building essentially contained all the functions that Junior to Intermediate Trainers needed.
Unless something urgent happened, the students in the elite class would not leave this place until before the state tournament.
Of course, that was assuming they could keep their spots in the elite class.
This kind of centralized management was very rare among Trainer schools in this world.
From this alone, one could see how much importance Mapleford attached to this year’s state tournament.
Mapleford was simply too small.
Among this batch of students, not a single one had a pseudo-Legendary Pokémon.
One had to know that in those big cities, some heirs of Trainer families or battle clubs started with either pseudo-Legendary Pokémon with powerful overall stats, or Pokémon that had been bred and trained through several generations of family inheritance.
Their strength could not be underestimated.
On the way, Evan saw a teacher leading regular class students to visit the elite class dorm environment.
Many students who recognized Evan greeted him.
Some teachers also smiled and nodded toward him, showing just how famous Evan had become at Mapleford First Academy.
If the elite class mobilization meeting was meant to have Professional Trainer Elena Greenhill encourage the students, then the regular class mobilization meeting was having teachers bring them over to see the “privileges” of the elite class with their own eyes.
Nothing motivated students to improve more than directly feeling the difference in treatment.
No matter how flowery a teacher’s speech was, it was not as real as seeing it with your own eyes.
Looking at Evan’s departing back, the leading teacher said to the students behind him, “You’ve all seen the training conditions of the elite class.
I’ve received news that, due to special circumstances, the elite class currently has two vacant spots.” Hearing this, many students’ eyes lit up.
Some even began breathing heavily.
The resources enjoyed by the elite class and the regular class were worlds apart.
If all the school’s resources were compared to a bottle of yogurt, then the regular class only got to lick what was stuck to the lid, and one or two hundred people had to share even that.
One could imagine how little they received.
Seeing the students’ expressions, the leading teacher smiled in satisfaction.
“Don’t blame the school for being biased.
After all, only so many students can participate in the state tournament each year.
As for what you should do over the next week, I don’t think I need to motivate you any further.” The students immediately became eager to try.
Filling an empty spot was far easier than competing against students who had already enjoyed elite class resources for a full week.
…
Walking into the tactical analysis room, Evan casually found a seat in the back row and sat down.
After looking around, he saw seventeen people scattered throughout the room.
Evan’s lazy expression also became serious.
Including Sophia King, who had transferred away, Evan still did not see Lucas.
At that moment, Elena Greenhill walked up to the podium.
After roughly glancing around, she began today’s mobilization meeting.
“I’ll introduce myself first.
My name is Elena Greenhill, and I will be the elite class mentor for the next year.
If you encounter any problems during this year, you may consult me.” As she spoke, Elena threw out a Poké Ball.
In a flash of white light, a Swellow appeared beside her.
Its broad wings were covered in dark blue feathers, and both its neck and tail tips had crimson markings.
Its belly was white, and the two straight tail feathers rising behind it gave off a sharp, blade-like feeling, showing that this Swellow was no ordinary Pokémon.
“Swee!” As Swellow let out a piercing cry, Professional-level pressure spread throughout the tactical analysis room.
Many students who had originally looked relaxed immediately became serious.
A light flickered in Evan’s eyes, and Swellow’s information appeared in front of him.
Name: Swellow Gender: Male Type: Normal/Flying Ability: Guts Effect: When Swellow is poisoned, paralyzed, burned, or affected by similar status conditions, its Attack increases by 50%.
Known Moves: Peck, Growl, Quick Attack, Protect, Air Slash, Focus Energy, Wing Attack, Double Team, Aerial Ace, Quick Guard, Agility, Endeavor Egg Moves: Boomburst, Sky Attack Rank: Early Professional Evolution Progress: None, final form reached After reading Swellow’s information, Evan secretly felt it was a pity.
Although the Guts ability increased Swellow’s offensive power while under a status condition, and could produce very high burst damage when paired with a Flame Orb, it was still far behind its other ability, Scrappy.
Scrappy not only allowed Swellow to hit rare Ghost-type Pokémon with Fighting-type moves, but also made it immune to the effects of Intimidate.
Combined with Swellow’s terrifying base Speed of 125, as well as moves like Endeavor, Quick Attack, and U-turn, it had once been called the “tactical bird” and “broken bird” in the battle community.
According to Evan’s knowledge of the anime, Ash seemed to have owned a Swellow too.
Although it only had one evolution, in the hearts of many players and competitive battlers, Swellow was still one of the strongest early-route birds.
Back then, Evan had once spent more than five straight hours grinding just to get a Taillow with a Timid nature and the Scrappy ability.