"Finally, I did it! This place really is my lucky ground!
"Only half a month, and according to these notes, that makes me a genuine alchemy genius!"
David gave the glass reagent bottle in his hand a light toss, a smug smile spreading across his face.
What he held was the product of half a month's hard work. Just before the training camp was set to end, his research had finally paid off.
The red and blue crystalline liquid inside the bottle swirled and spiraled as he tossed it, catching the sunlight in a way that made it look less like something meant to be swallowed and more like a piece of art.
For David—who was usually rather modest about his accomplishments—to be this pleased with himself, the substance in his hand had to be something special. And it was: a Body Tempering Agent.
Not just any Body Tempering Agent, either, but a universal, high-grade version—one capable of improving a Pokémon's physical condition, purging impurities from its body, and even carrying a chance of raising its aptitude outright, with the effect growing stronger the poorer the Pokémon's aptitude to begin with. It ranked among the finest agents of its kind, a modern refinement of elixirs that dated back to ancient times in that other world.
According to the notes, refining this agent from scratch within a single month was already considered the mark of a genius among high-level alchemists. Doing it in half that time would place someone among the geniuses of geniuses—the sort whose name might be remembered in the history of alchemy itself.
David's knowledge of alchemy had come to him through the system, passed down as the legacy notes of a master alchemist from an unfamiliar Pokémon world.
That same master, after reaching the rank of high-level alchemist, had once refined this very agent in thirteen days—a feat the master himself had clearly taken pride in, judging by the notes.
David could tell as much just from how the notes were written.
It was worth remembering that pharmaceutical development in that other Pokémon world stood on a level far beyond his own. Even there, David would have counted as a top-tier alchemy genius—so it went without saying what that made him here.
And "alchemy genius" truly was the right term. That world, much like Blue Star, had eventually renamed the practice "pharmaceutical science" once it entered its modern age.
But unlike Blue Star, that world hadn't started its journey with Pokémon partway through history—its relationship with Pokémon stretched back only a little over a thousand years, in some ways very close to how things had unfolded in the original Pokémon world.
It was said that the people there had themselves evolved from a particular species of Pokémon over countless generations.
Their shared history with Pokémon spanned at least tens of thousands of years, and even in that world's ancient past, people had already been gathering materials to prepare medicines for Pokémon to consume.
Back then, those who prepared such medicines were known as alchemists, and most of what they produced took the form of pastes or pills. Even after the profession was eventually renamed to pharmacists, people still often called them alchemists out of habit in everyday conversation.
Though David had spent more than half a month on this agent, some of that time had gone into experimenting and adjusting the formula, since certain materials from that other world didn't have exact equivalents here and needed substitutes.
Factoring that in, David had actually outperformed the very alchemy master whose notes he'd studied. In that world, he would have been a genius by any measure.
"This whole bottle should split into about ten portions. One each for the pokemon, and the rest can go to Miles and Emma."
David sized up the amount of agent in his hand. Like the Pokémon agents the system produced, the Body Tempering Agent he'd made also came with limits on repeated use.
The first dose worked best; a second dose brought noticeably diminished returns, and by the third attempt, the effect would likely vanish altogether.
Given how exceptional the Pokemon' aptitude already was, David figured only the first dose would actually do anything for them.
The rest could be spread among his teammates. With the high school league approaching, a small boost now wouldn't hurt anyone.
Besides, every material used in this experiment had been provided by the school, free of charge, specifically to strengthen the team—so it wasn't as though he were taking anything that wasn't meant for this purpose.
Even though his own Pokémon had gathered the materials through their battles, David wasn't naive enough to think that was the whole story; he knew perfectly well this opportunity had come courtesy of the principal and Teacher Dominic.
Otherwise, hoping to scavenge enough materials from the Secret Realm through a handful of battles alone would have been wishful thinking.
"I'll keep four portions for myself. Of the rest, give four to Luke and his group, and send two more—one for my sister to try."
"As for the last one, I'll turn it into a reward. Whoever performs best among the team during the qualifiers gets it—call it a small gift from me, your captain, to everyone."
David worked through the allocation in his head, quickly settling on a plan.
To him, the real prize here wasn't the agent itself but the knowledge of how to make it. Giving someone a fish, after all, was never as valuable as teaching them how to fish.
The method mattered more than the result.
If he ever wanted another batch, all he'd need to do was have his family gather the materials again, and he could simply make more.
"With something like this on the line, my teammates are bound to give it everything they've got."
David thought to himself.
It would be a mistake to underestimate what he was holding—this was a genuine high-grade Pokémon agent.
What's more, agents carrying a chance to raise aptitude were typically the most valuable of their kind. This one alone would easily be worth six figures, and since David's version came from an exclusive formula refined by a master alchemist, its actual worth was likely even higher.
With a prize like that on the table, the team members below him were sure to push themselves to their absolute limit.
A high-grade agent built on an exclusive formula held plenty of appeal, even for team members who came from well-off families... Before long, David—having finally left the "laboratory"—arrived at the designated meeting point. Today marked the last day of the training camp, and Dominic had already sent word through the Pokémon in the Secret Realm for everyone to gather.
Barring any surprises, it was time to head home.
By the time David got there, most of the group had already assembled. He was, once again, the last to arrive.
He'd only set out after finishing up with the agent, so being a little late was hardly a surprise.
Still, the moment David appeared, the rest of the team greeted him warmly.
Trainers earn respect through strength, and David had more than proven his during their time training and sparring together, so it was only natural that everyone treated him with a fair amount of regard.
Among his closer companions, though, Luke wasn't about to let him off easy—seeing David show up last yet again, he stepped forward with a teasing jab at his expense.
Looking around at the others, who all nodded along in silent agreement with Luke's teasing, David couldn't help but feel a little put out.
What was he supposed to do? He'd simply had something that held him up—it wasn't as if he'd wanted to be late.
Still feeling a bit sour about it, David took the chance to land a light punch on Luke's shoulder, drawing an exaggerated wince of pain from him in return.
"Alright, that's enough messing around. Now that everyone's here, let's move! Time to head out."
Seeing that David—the one person they'd been missing—had finally shown up, Dominic did a quick headcount, then spoke up to settle the group down before leading them back the way they'd come.
As they rose into the sky, the many Pokémon they'd spent the past few days with gathered below to see them off.
Even up in the air, a faint reluctance to leave lingered among the group. After a round of farewells, everyone followed Dominic away from the place that had been their home for nearly a month.