The dean clenched his fists, his body trembling with anger.
This was the best class in the entire grade! Was this really the place for teaching such nonsensical things?!
Yet after hesitating for a long while, he still held himself back and didn't barge in.
Perhaps he'd arrived too late and missed some of the earlier content.
You couldn't judge a class by just one fragment—these students weren't stupid. How could they possibly believe something this outrageous?
There had to be some hidden joke he didn't get. This was probably just the teacher cracking jokes to lighten the mood!
With that thought, he continued lurking by the window, stealthily observing the class.
"Based on what I just said, I'll ask you another question!"
The moment Lumiere spoke, every student tightened their grip on their pens, ready to take notes.
"Imagine this: one day, while you're out in the wild, you're attacked by a ferocious wild Pokémon. Your own Pokémon has already run out of stamina after constant battles."
"You have no items to restore it. There's no one else around within ten kilometers. What do you do?"
"Same rules—ten minutes to discuss! There's no single correct answer. I want to know your emergency response when something unexpected happens in the wild."
With that, Lumiere went back to playing with Eevee, gently combing Rowlet's feathers as it slept, while the students below immediately became lively, discussing animatedly.
Noticing a student glance his way, the dean quickly ducked aside. At this moment, a smile finally appeared on his face.
"So I really did misjudge him earlier," the dean nodded in satisfaction.
"Even though this is a battle class, teaching students about real wilderness situations is actually quite good. The classroom atmosphere is excellent too—this kid really has the makings of a good teacher."
He waited outside for ten minutes.
When the classroom quieted down, he peeked in again, eager to hear Lumiere's analysis of such a dangerous scenario.
After all, encountering aggressive wild Pokémon in the field was no joke—especially when a trainer had no Pokémon left to rely on.
Lumiere lightly clapped his hands. "Alright, looks like everyone has an answer. No need to be shy—go ahead and share."
The familiar front-row student spoke first.
"Play dead! My dad ran into something like this once. He was attacked by an Ursaring near Mt. Silver and survived by pretending to be dead!"
"Playing dead may be shameful, but it does work," Lumiere nodded.
"That said, it only worked because Ursaring is actually quite gentle—basically the gentlest thing on the surface of the planet. If it had been Urshifu, you wouldn't have been so lucky. Next."
A student by the window raised their hand.
"As long as you run fast enough, the Pokémon can't catch you! A friend of mine escaped after getting slapped by an Incineroar when it was really angry!"
"That's because that Incineroar had the Blaze ability and hadn't even learned Fake Out," Lumiere replied calmly.
"Otherwise, your friend could've grown two more legs and still wouldn't have escaped. Next."
A chubby student chimed in, "Just give up and wait for rescue!"
"You might as well lie down and wait to transmigrate to another world," Lumiere sighed.
"That's more realistic. Next."
"I don't know. I've never thought about it."
…
Just like the morning session, the answers were wildly imaginative and all over the place. Still, it was clear they'd genuinely thought about it.
"They're still just kids," the dean observed quietly.
"Without real wilderness experience, they can't truly picture that situation."
Watching everything unfold, the dean couldn't help but feel a growing sense of admiration for Lumiere.
In just half a day, he'd managed to get the entire class thinking together.
He really was teacher material…
After everyone finished answering, it was finally the class monitor Cynthia's turn. All eyes focused on her, eager to hear her thoughts.
Cynthia stood up, her expression serious.
"I think the more dangerous the situation, the calmer you need to be. Carefully observe the Pokémon's habits and the surrounding environment, then adapt accordingly."
"Use everything you can to leave the danger zone as quickly as possible! If conditions allow, you could even gather berries along the way to help your Pokémon recover and prevent further accidents!"
As her words ended, the classroom erupted into applause.
There was no doubt—this was the best possible answer.
"As expected of Professor Carola's granddaughter," the dean nodded with a smile.
Lumiere clapped lightly as well, signaling for Cynthia to sit down, clearly satisfied with her response.
But Cynthia didn't sit.
Instead, she asked respectfully,
"Then, teacher—what is your answer?"
Not just her. Everyone—including the dean outside—turned their gaze to the podium.
What they wanted to hear most… was your answer.
"My answer?" Lumiere snorted softly. He scanned the room, then stood up and sneered.
"So you can't fight without Pokémon? Since when were Pokémon such inconvenient things?!"
"What?!" The class gasped in shock.
Lumiere stepped down from the podium, grabbed a Bibarel plush used as decoration on a bookshelf, and continued:
"How could fragile Pokémon compare to a trainer's body, honed through countless adventures?!"
"If the wild Pokémon still attacks—then hit it! Kick it! Beat it!"
"Beat it until it stops attacking and surrenders!"
As he spoke, Lumiere viciously kneaded the Bibarel plush.
The sheer presence and intensity of the act stunned everyone present.
"So… that's also an option…"
Cynthia felt as if a brand-new door had opened before her eyes. She hurriedly wrote down Lumiere's words in her notebook.
The other students followed suit, as if they'd grasped a shortcut to becoming the strongest trainers. They shouted in unison:
"Teacher Lumiere, please guide us!"
"Damn it!"
Outside the door, the dean finally snapped.
"What kind of setting is this?! Even sci-fi movies wouldn't dare use this nonsense—how did you come up with it?!"
He kicked the classroom door open in fury.
He'd been completely played by this guy!
A good teacher? No—this was clearly a madman who'd toyed with everyone from start to finish!
If he didn't stop this now, who knew what these students would become?!
And that Fanma—just wait until he gets back!
Bang!
The loud crash drew everyone's attention, even jolting Rowlet awake.
The dean stood rigidly at the doorway, hands behind his back, expression severe. The classroom fell dead silent.
"Got a problem?" Lumiere leaned casually on the podium, asking offhandedly.
He didn't recognize the man, but he could tell instantly—this one wasn't ordinary.
The dean's mouth twitched. "Are you the teacher of this class?"
"I don't know," Lumiere replied calmly.
"I've never thought about that. Why don't you ask them?"
He turned toward the students.
He wasn't technically lying—he was just a substitute hired on commission. But did that matter?
As long as the students said yes, then yes it was.
The dean hadn't expected that answer—but such tricks wouldn't work on him!
As his gaze swept across the room, the students avoided eye contact in silence—except for Cynthia.
"He is," she said firmly.
"Hm?"
"Those who are capable are teachers. What matters is experience and what we learn. As long as he can teach us something, he is our teacher!"
The front-row student immediately stood up.
"That's right! We come to school to learn. Who teaches us doesn't really matter!"
"Yeah, as long as I learn something, that's enough!"
"We can't do practical battles anyway—might as well learn something useful."
"The dean's wig is crooked today."
"Rowlet and Eevee are so cute~"
…
Listening to the students repeatedly acknowledge this mysterious man as their teacher—while also saying a bunch of inexplicable things—the dean took a deep breath to steady himself.
At this moment, he had to admit it.
He was impressed.
"Since you say 'the capable are teachers,'" the dean said slowly,
"then may I see whether you truly have the ability to lead them?"
"Oh?" Lumiere raised an eyebrow, genuinely surprised.
"PTCG or Pokémon Unite?"
The dean smiled.
"Of course, we'll use the simplest—and fairest—method."
"Let's have a Pokémon battle."