As the largest Pokémon academy in the Hoenn region, Rustboro Pokémon Academy naturally offered a wide range of courses and activities.
In addition to the Battle Department regularly organizing wilderness expeditions, the academy held spring and autumn outings almost every year.
These activities were intended both to enrich students’ lives outside the classroom and to strengthen their practical skills.
The divide between the “Academy School” and the “Traveling School” had always been one of the biggest problems troubling the Pokémon League.
The “Academy School” looked down on the “Traveling School,” believing them to be nothing more than a bunch of “reckless brawlers.” They traveled alone without sufficient theoretical knowledge, which was considered one of the major reasons Trainer mortality rates remained so high.
The “Traveling School,” meanwhile, looked down on the “Academy School” just as much.
In their eyes, academy-trained Trainers were stuffed full of theoretical knowledge but had little actual combat experience.
They might do fine in competitions, but the moment they encountered real danger in the wilderness, they wouldn’t know what to do.
The academy’s wilderness expeditions and seasonal outings were, to some extent, intended to make up for these shortcomings.
Normally, none of this had much to do with Nathan Hale.
But this time, his name had appeared on the list of teachers accompanying the autumn outing.
More importantly, the class he had been assigned to accompany was Class 1 of the first-year Battle Department!
Of course, he wouldn’t be the only teacher.
The main person responsible was actually a Battle Department instructor named Du Fu, and two other teachers would be accompanying them besides Nathan Hale.
But that was precisely where the problem lay.
One of those teachers was Ayako, a Breeding Department instructor with whom Nathan Hale had a fairly good relationship.
The other…
Was A Quan, the Marine Meteorology instructor!
At present, Nathan Hale still didn’t know whether A Quan had joined Team Aqua yet, or whether she had already become one of its members.
And since Team Aqua’s plans weren’t going to change for the time being…
Still, just seeing that name was like a constant reminder to Nathan Hale—
Hoenn wasn’t going to remain peaceful.
And neither was the Pokémon League as a whole.
This left Nathan Hale, who had originally only wanted to quietly work as a teacher, perhaps earn a researcher or doctorate title if he got lucky, catch a few Pokémon, and become an ordinary Trainer, feeling utterly helpless.
If he didn’t know what was going to happen in the future, that would be one thing.
The problem was…
He knew.
Before long, Team Aqua and Team Magma would throw the entire Hoenn region into chaos.
The legendary Ancient Pokémon would awaken!
At that point, whether one was an ordinary person or even an ordinary Trainer, their safety would no longer be entirely within their own control.
Yes, Steven would eventually become strong enough to hold up the sky over Hoenn.
But did Nathan Hale really want to place all his hopes on Steven single-handedly battling that terrifying fat fish and the one who couldn’t fly for twenty-two days?
Twenty-two days!
Looking further ahead, there was the disaster caused by Team Aqua and Team Magma.
Looking closer, the remnants of Da Zi Jin Holdings weren’t going to remain quiet either.
And he couldn’t simply run off to another region.
Aside from the problem of what would happen to his job, the troubles that would eventually arise in other regions weren’t exactly any smaller than those in Hoenn.
In the end…
If he wanted to protect himself, he first needed enough strength.
“Ugh—”
Nathan Hale let out a long sigh.
The tension that had eased after he successfully dealt with Dahui had once again tightened.
“Ko-gee?”
Gastly looked at Nathan Hale strangely.
Wasn’t an autumn outing a good thing?
They could even soak in hot springs.
Why had looking at this piece of paper turned him into such a gloomy, paranoid mess?
“Let’s go.
Time to train.”
Nathan Hale took a large gulp of coffee and forced himself to perk up.
“You still had some problems with the timing of your Will-O-Wisp yesterday…”
“Ko-gee—”
Gastly slipped inside Nathan Hale’s clothes.
Surprisingly, it didn’t complain about training today.
That afternoon.
After grabbing a simple lunch at the school cafeteria, Nathan Hale brought Gastly back to the counseling room.
He planned to take a short nap before beginning his afternoon training.
Pokémon weren’t machines or tools.
Excessive training would only be counterproductive.
Nathan Hale wasn’t so irrational as to overlook the importance of balancing work and rest.
“Ko-gee~~”
Since Nathan Hale needed the computer, Gastly cheekily begged to borrow his phone instead.
It slid its tongue across the screen, preparing to finish watching the rest of Gengar’s Adventures.
Kalyna photo collection?
No.
Cynthia’s Swimsuit Showcase?
No…
Huh?
How come there are so many strange video recommendations on this phone after only a few days?
Trash websites!
Bah!
Meanwhile.
Nathan Hale rested his head against one hand and controlled the mouse with the other, preparing to look up the requirements for becoming a registered Trainer with the League.
“Massive explosion occurs on an unnamed island in Kanto waters.
No casualties reported so far.
Cause remains under investigation.”
“Unova announces construction plans for the ‘Royal Unova,’ aiming to build the largest luxury cruise ship.”
After briefly browsing several current-events articles, he entered the Trainer registration section.
The League’s requirements for registered Trainers weren’t particularly high.
If someone had a sufficiently qualified League official to recommend them, they could register directly.
However, if they needed an initial Pokémon, they would have to pay a substantial fee.
That option was primarily aimed at Trainers from families with some background.
But it wasn’t exactly low either.
For Trainers from ordinary families, they had to pay a certain fee and pass several assessments before obtaining Trainer certification.
Not only was the fee rather expensive, the examinations were supposedly extremely difficult.
There was a written test, a battle assessment, and even a psychological evaluation.
And if they failed…
The fee wouldn’t be refunded.
This prevented many people from becoming Trainers on a sudden impulse while also reducing the workload of the Pokémon Association.
Beep, beep!
As Nathan Hale browsed, a chat channel that had been silent for quite some time suddenly lit up.
He opened it.
Sure enough, it was that user.
“Who Am I.”
Nathan Hale had thought that after so long without hearing from them, he’d successfully “handled” the matter last time.
He hadn’t expected them to come back online.
This time, Nathan Hale already knew that the person on the other end was a Pokémon.
If he had been surprised before by a Pokémon seeking psychological counseling on its own, he no longer found it strange.
Just look at Gastly.
It was currently lying on a single-seat sofa, happily binge-watching a series.
However, the first question this client asked this time left Nathan Hale completely stumped.
“Who am I?”
Nathan Hale glanced at the username.
The corner of his mouth twitched.
Who you are?
Shouldn’t you be asking yourself that?
He was just about to type a response when another message popped up.
“Who am I, really?!”
Has it gone crazy?
Nathan Hale stopped with his fingers hovering over the keyboard.
He decided to wait.
Judging from the client’s current state, they would probably explain the reason themselves without him having to ask.
Sure enough, his guess was quickly proven correct.
“Who is it?
Why does it keep appearing in my mind?
What exactly is my relationship with it?”
It?
Multiple personalities?
Nathan Hale rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
He immediately became interested.
Pokémon suffering from dissociative identity disorder were relatively rare.
This was the first case he’d encountered.
After a brief moment of thought, he confirmed that the other party wasn’t going to say anything else.
Only then did Nathan Hale begin typing.
“First, I need to determine what kind of Pokémon you are.
Second, if possible, I would like you to describe the ‘it’ you see.”
After sending the message, Nathan Hale folded his hands together, his eyes flickering slightly.
This time, the other party kept him waiting for quite a while.
But Nathan Hale wasn’t in a hurry.
He simply waited patiently.
Beep—
When the reply finally appeared in the chat window, the previously composed Nathan Hale shot to his feet with a loud scrape of his chair.
There was only one line of text.
“They call me…
Mewtwo.”
Gasp—