Two pairs of eyes quietly followed Roy as he left the battlefield.
They belonged to Mr.
Stone and Steven Stone, seated in the spectator stands.
After watching the entire battle, Mr.
Stone wore a thoughtful expression before turning to the balding dean.
“So…”
“Is that young man also a student at your academy?”
The dean hesitated.
Honestly…
He didn’t know how to answer.
He had watched the battle from beginning to end.
If he had to summarize it in two words…
Utterly disgusting.
“Well…”
“Mr.
Stone, have you forgotten?”
“He’s the student you personally recommended to the academy.”
Mr.
Stone froze.
“That was him?!”
He slapped his thigh as the memory finally came back.
Back then, the elderly guardian from Mt.
Pyre had approached him.
He had assumed the mysterious family wanted a major favor.
Instead…
It had simply been about enrolling a student.
A trivial request.
So he agreed without much thought.
What puzzled him, however…
Was why such a mysterious family would ask him for something so simple.
As far as he knew…
The heirs of Mt.
Pyre had always been trained within their own family.
Why send someone to Rustboro Academy?
And hadn’t he heard that the two previous successors had left behind…
A little girl?
So why…
Was there suddenly a boy named Roy?
Question after question flooded Mr.
Stone’s mind.
Roy felt like a glitch in reality.
No matter how much he thought about it…
Nothing made sense.
Meanwhile…
Steven had been replaying the battle inside his head.
If I were the one commanding Onix…
How would I defeat Roy?
He thought it through over and over.
No matter what strategy he came up with…
None of them seemed reliable.
Roy’s battle style was simply…
Too revolting.
What if it had been my Beldum instead…?
Steven suddenly paused.
“…”
Wait.
My Beldum would be at a type disadvantage.
Steven stared at Roy’s departing figure.
He hadn’t even battled the guy…
Yet somehow…
He already felt annoyed.
Almost as if sensing Steven’s gaze…
Roy suddenly turned around.
Their eyes met.
Roy blinked for a moment.
Then…
Without the slightest hint of awkwardness…
He smiled politely.
He even waved at Steven before casually leaving the arena.
Steven watched him disappear into the distance.
Do I know him…?
Around the arena…
Students immediately began discussing the match.
Most of the conversations revolved around Roy’s tactics.
Disgusting?
Absolutely.
Effective?
Also absolutely.
“So Ghost-type Trainers all battle like this?”
Looking at the system interface…
Roy’s Popularity Points had skyrocketed to 900. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
His eyes lit up.
Just as I thought.
Even bad publicity is still publicity.
Apparently…
Making everyone suffer mentally earned just as many Popularity Points as doing good deeds.
And he had even seen Steven.
Steven might not know him…
But Roy knew Steven almost as well as he knew Ash Ketchum.
The heir to Devon Corporation.
Future Hoenn Champion.
One of the Masters Eight.
Owner of a Shiny Mega Metagross.
Strength.
Looks.
Wealth.
Stack all three together…
And you got Steven Stone.
“Grrr…”
Roy’s stomach interrupted his thoughts.
Following the delicious aroma drifting through the academy…
He arrived at the largest cafeteria on campus.
The place resembled an upscale buffet.
There was every kind of food imaginable.
Even Pokémon Energy Cubes were available for purchase.
Then Roy noticed something…
Human meals…
Were completely free.
As long as you didn’t waste food…
You could eat as much as you wanted.
Waste food?
You’d be punished by working as a cafeteria volunteer for an entire week.
Human food was free.
Pokémon food…
Definitely wasn’t.
Energy Cubes were surprisingly expensive.
The moment Roy heard the word…
Free.
His feet refused to move any farther.
He hadn’t brought much League money with him.
This was practically heaven.
He immediately marched over to the noodle station.
Behind the counter stood a middle-aged chef.
Inside the kitchen…
A Machoke was busy cooking noodles.
“Uncle.”
“I’ll have this…”
“And that…”
“And another one…”
Roy rattled off dish after dish like he was reading from a restaurant menu.
The chef stared at him.
Eight bowls of ramen?
“Kid…”
“Can you really finish all that?”
“If you waste food, you’ll be punished.”
Roy grinned confidently.
“Don’t worry, Uncle.”
“If I can’t finish it…”
“I’ll clean the entire cafeteria myself.”
“Hahaha!”
“I like your spirit!”
The chef burst into laughter.
He wanted to see exactly how much this kid could eat.
His wok moved even faster.
Soon…
A steaming bowl of ramen landed in front of Roy.
The rich aroma immediately filled the air.
Back at Mt.
Pyre…
The elderly couple had always cooked light, simple meals.
Roy ate whatever they made.
Their food wasn’t bad…
It just never quite satisfied him.
But this chef…
His ramen looked incredible.
Roy grabbed his chopsticks and started eating.
By the time the chef carried over the second bowl…
The first one was already empty.
Roy was calmly waiting for Bowl Number Two.
The chef’s eyes widened.
He had worked in this cafeteria for five years.
It had been a long time… Get faster updates on g.com.
Since he’d met someone who could truly eat.
“Old partner!”
“Let’s pick up the pace!”
“Machoke!”
The Machoke answered enthusiastically before throwing another bundle of noodles into the boiling water.
Very quickly…
Students throughout the cafeteria noticed the spectacle.
One after another…
They gathered around to watch.
At first…
Everyone was simply enjoying the show.
Then…
Their expressions slowly changed.
From amusement…
To disbelief.
Finally…
To complete silence.
The chubby boy also wandered into the cafeteria.
Still devastated by Roxanne’s defeat.
He still couldn’t understand how she’d lost.
If he had been the one battling…
He would’ve lost even faster.
Only food could heal his broken heart.
As soon as he entered…
He noticed a huge crowd.
“Whoa!”
“He’s already on his fifth bowl!”
“No!”
“It’s the sixth!”
“The sixth bowl is starting!”
What was happening?
Using his size to his advantage…
The chubby boy squeezed through the crowd.
Then…
He saw the unforgettable figure.
Roy.
Sitting in the center…
Casually slurping enormous bowls of ramen while repeatedly complimenting the chef’s cooking.
He looked exactly like a Snorlax that hadn’t eaten in three days.
His eating speed didn’t actually seem that fast.
But the rhythm was terrifying.
His right hand held a grilled chicken wing.
His left hand continuously shoveled ramen into his mouth with chopsticks.
Was this guy reincarnated from a hungry ghost?
This was already…
Roy’s tenth bowl.
The empty bowls stacked beside him had grown nearly waist-high.
Finally…
After finishing his twelfth bowl…
Roy let out a satisfied burp.
He wiped the soup from the corner of his mouth.
Then…
Under everyone’s dumbfounded gaze…
He casually walked over to the dessert station…
Scooped himself a bowl of ice cream…
And strolled away as if nothing unusual had happened.
“Impossible…”
The chubby boy stood frozen.
How…
How can he eat that much?
He couldn’t beat Roy in presence.
He couldn’t beat him in looks.
He definitely couldn’t beat him in Pokémon battles.
But eating…
Eating was his specialty!
His greatest pride!
And now…
Even that…
He had lost.
What made even less sense…
Was that after eating enough food for several people…
Roy’s stomach wasn’t even bulging.
How is that fair?
The chubby boy felt as though a Ghost-type Pokémon had drained away his very soul.
He had been utterly defeated…
In the one field where he had always been the champion.
Even tonight’s dinner…
Didn’t seem nearly as delicious anymore.