"Elite Four? Who?"
Peter shook his head. "No idea. They're probably seniors who graduated from the school before."
"Oh, right." Jace nodded. Either way, it had nothing to do with him.
"Good morning, everyone."
At that moment, a silver-haired old man leaning on a walking cane stepped up onto the platform and smiled warmly at the students below, offering a friendly greeting.
Everyone on the grounds lifted their heads to look.
The chancellor on the platform smiled gently, then began his address to the students below.
This freshman battle tournament also served as the enrollment ceremony. At Skyspire, the freshman tournament had to conclude before the school year was considered truly begun.
The old chancellor stood on the platform, delivered his enrollment ceremony remarks, and then stopped talking—instead announcing that the freshman battle tournament had begun.
"Huh, this chancellor is surprisingly brief."
"Of course. He's military background."
The moment Peter mentioned the chancellor had a military background, everyone's regard for the old man shifted immediately.
"Ding-ling~"
Suddenly, everyone's phones buzzed at the same time. The group exchanged glances, then pulled out their phones with curiosity.
Auron Vale, Breeding Department Year 1 Class 2 — Battle Arena No. 3. Please arrive at your designated arena within 10 minutes. Failure to arrive within 10 minutes results in a forfeit.
"Battle assignments are out."
Jace peered curiously over to see others' screens. "Mm, I'm Arena 13. What about you guys?"
"I'm No. 3."
"I'm 24."
"I'm 70."
"I don't have one yet—mine says I'm in the next round."
"Simon and I are the same. Though mine is Round 4, Simon's is Round 5."
The assignments were in. Auron had Arena No. 3.
Jace was Arena No. 13.
Tim was Arena No. 24.
Peter was Arena No. 70.
Serena, Simon, and Lena didn't have matches this round—they'd have to wait for later rounds.
"Alright, good thing we didn't get matched against each other. Let's do this." Auron extended his hand toward everyone as always.
One by one, hands stacked on top of his, then pressed down together.
"Let's do this!"
Before long, Auron arrived at Battle Arena No. 3. His opponent was already waiting there.
"Hello. Battle Department Year 1 Class 3—Wei Zhongzhi."
"Hello. Breeding Department Year 1 Class 2—Auron Vale."
The two nodded at each other in greeting. The moment Wei Zhongzhi heard Auron was from the Breeding Department, a flicker of contempt crossed his eyes.
In his mind, anyone who chose the Breeding Department simply lacked confidence in their own battle strength.
Even so, when the match was about to start, he collected himself, adjusted his mindset, and decided to take the competition seriously.
"Holy crap, a Luxury Ball. Must be from a wealthy family!" The moment Wei Zhongzhi spotted the Luxury Ball in Auron's hand, he grew even more cautious. Pokémon from wealthy families were generally hand-picked by their elders—rare or exceptional specimens.
Bad luck, but strength makes up for it. Wei Zhongzhi quietly reassured himself, then focused his attention sharper than ever, drawing out every ounce of concentration he had.
"Swish!"
The flag dropped. The battle began.
Auron didn't care what the man was thinking. He simply tossed out the Luxury Ball containing Clawitzer.
"Clawitzer, Water Jet!"
The moment his opponent's Pokémon hit the ground, Auron had already made his decision and ordered Clawitzer to close in immediately.
His opponent's Pokémon was a Rock/Psychic-type Solrock. Before it could even process what was happening, it found Clawitzer already right in its face. Startled, it instinctively fired off Psychic to try to block the oncoming attacker.
Clawitzer's claw, wrapped in Dark-type energy, stretched forward—and Psychic dissolved like fire cutting through butter.
And even if Psychic hadn't dissolved, it wouldn't have stopped Clawitzer in the slightest. After all, Clawitzer was a Water/Dark type.
Seeing this, Clawitzer didn't hold back in the least. Dark Snipe struck Solrock squarely, sending it flying—though unfortunately it didn't hit a vital spot.
"Solrock!"
Wei Zhongzhi watched his Pokémon get knocked away and shouted out in alarm.
"Damn it. Solrock, use Sharp Stone Attack!"
"Clawitzer, dodge it, then close back in!"
Auron saw Solrock begin condensing sharp stones and immediately laughed inside. This was practically a gift.
Sharp Stone Attack had two stages to its execution. First, the sharp stones had to be condensed. Then they were launched.
How quickly the move could fire depended entirely on the Pokémon. Some released it very fast—like Peter's Drilbur, whose release speed was remarkably quick.
But others were painfully slow, like Wei Zhongzhi's Solrock. From the moment Auron saw the stones begin condensing to the moment he gave his command, the stones had only just finished forming.
In that window of time, it was more than enough for Clawitzer—whose Water Jet had been drilled into pure instinct by now—to close right back in.
"BOOM!"
Another Dark Snipe landed on Solrock.
Clawitzer's three-move repertoire had been perfected by now. The moment he closed the distance, it was Dark Snipe, Slam Down, or Shell Blade—first strike, no hesitation.
Solrock truly couldn't keep up. After all, Clawitzer's Water Jet was so fast that even Wei Zhongzhi on the other side hadn't been able to react to it.
"Return, Solrock."
"Go, Poppig."
Wei Zhongzhi calmly recalled Solrock, then sent out his other Pokémon—Poppig.
The final result was exactly as Wei Zhongzhi had expected. Poppig lost without any suspense whatsoever. His freshman tournament was over.
After recalling Clawitzer, a flash of satisfaction crossed Auron's eyes. Good fortune—he'd drawn an opponent whose Pokémon were countered by his own.
Watching Wei Zhongzhi's dejected silhouette retreat, Auron said nothing. He simply exchanged a nod with the referee and stepped off the field.
"Mm, Jace is at Arena 13. That's not too far. Let me go take a look."
After winning his match, Auron's mood lifted considerably. He happily patted the cat backpack behind him, lifted it up, and peered through the transparent window.
"Myu!"
"Ah, Dratini, you're so beautiful—if you came out, you'd draw way too much attention. It's not like I'm forcing you in here."
Seeing Dratini's resentful gaze through the window, Auron smiled and offered her some consolation. A pink Dratini really was impossibly eye-catching—the kind that stood out like a crane among chickens.
"Alright, alright. When we get home tonight, I'll make you fried chicken, okay?"
"Myu!"
The instant Auron mentioned fried chicken, Dratini huffed, turned her head away with an indignant air, and refused to look at him.
Speaking of which—this backpack was cat-shaped, but it was actually quite large, like a hiking pack. The interior space was far from cramped, so Dratini wasn't uncomfortable inside at all.
After soothing Dratini, Auron slung the backpack back over his shoulder and continued on toward Arena 13.
"Ugh, why did I ever let Dratini try fried chicken... Now I can't shake this habit, can I?"
Auron walked along, clapping his hands together and then spreading them open, muttering to himself.
Last time, Auron had been craving something and ordered fried chicken for delivery. As he ate, he thought it'd be fun to tease Dratini with some—but she wrinkled her nose in apparent disgust.
In the end, though, she couldn't resist his persistent coaxing and took the tiniest little bite.
And that one bite? That was it. She was completely hooked. After that, she clung to Auron every single day, making it very clear she wanted more fried chicken.
But fried chicken was the kind of thing you could enjoy once in a while. You couldn't eat it every meal.
So Auron eventually turned fried chicken into a reward—something he'd only make for Dratini when he needed to coax her into a good mood.
"Well, well. Jace seems to be struggling a bit."
When Auron arrived at Arena 13, he took one look at the situation on the field and immediately couldn't help but laugh.