Chapter 55The old man in front of him was Tetsuya's former teacher at the Tokiwa City Pokémon School.

  Back then, the old man also served as the principal, but he still insisted on teaching courses reted to Pokémon studies. In his own words, he'd been a teacher all his life, and even as principal, he couldn't bring himself to step away from the cssroom.

  It was this very man who had once encouraged Tetsuya to pursue a path as a Pokémon schor.

  "You know, when Professor Oak first recommended you to me, I was stunned the moment I saw your name. I thought—what a coincidence! We had the same name.

  When I finally got in touch with you and realized it was you, I couldn’t help but ugh.

  Looks like you’ve made quite the life for yourself—even know Professor Oak now, huh?"

  The old man gave a warm chuckle, though his eyes held a tinge of regret.

  "Such a shame. I always thought you were meant to be a schor. Maybe even earn your doctorate. But you… you insisted on being a trainer.

  What’s so great about being a trainer? The wilderness is dangerous, and there are still so many regions humans haven’t fully explored."

  He sighed, shaking his head slightly. "But if this is what you truly want, it’s not my pce to interfere. Still, be careful out there, alright?"

  The old man kept talking as he led Tetsuya over to a sofa and gently pushed him to sit down. He didn’t stop chatting for a second.

  Tetsuya listened quietly, a soft smile on his face. There wasn’t the slightest hint of impatience in his expression. He understood these words were filled with care. That was how his teacher had always been—kind and attentive, both in the past and now.

  After nearly eight minutes of nonstop talking, the old man finally paused to take a sip of tea. He gave a wry smile.

  "Listen to me rambling. This old man really can’t stop talking nonsense."

  He turned his attention to the Bziken standing nearby.

  "Ah, this is your Pokémon? Exceptionally well raised—its feathers are thick and glossy, and those eyes, sharp and full of spirit.

  Its size is perfectly within range, build is banced, and the temperament is... very impressive. Not bad, not bad at all."

  The old man nodded repeatedly, clearly pleased. As a renowned Pokémon schor and a top-tier breeder, he could tell at a gnce how well-trained the Bziken was.

  "By the way, teacher, who’s that temporary instructor named Chen who picked me up earlier?"

  Tetsuya finally asked what had been on his mind. Even his teacher could only assess the Bziken’s surface training condition, but that man, Chen, had seen straight through to its core. Tetsuya was deeply curious.

  "Chen?" The old man blinked in surprise. "He’s the one who picked you up?"

  "Yeah," Tetsuya said honestly. "He said he was heading out soon and was just curious about you, so he offered to pick me up on the way."

  The old man let out a small ugh. "That guy, always so casual. Let me guess—he complimented your Bziken and said some things that were spot on?"

  Tetsuya nodded quickly.

  "Well, that makes sense. Chen is the League’s chief instructor. He trains the combat skills of officers like Officer Jenny, forest rangers, the criminal division—basically anyone in a battle-reted role within the Pokémon League. He also oversees some of the League’s internal elite units.

  His first Pokémon was a Torchic, a gift from the League. It’s one of his signature partners now. In fact, it’s incredibly powerful—probably Champion level.

  He also has aura abilities. You remember aura, right? I taught you about it before. So yeah, he can see through things like that naturally. No need to be too surprised."

  He paused, then added casually, "Oh, and he’s also kind of an unofficial student of Bruno. Though at this point, you could say the apprentice is nearly as strong as the master.

  Our school just invited him to do a one-day training session with the senior students who are about to graduate. He’s really busy."

  Tetsuya nodded slowly, understanding now. No wonder—if his ace Pokémon was also a Bziken, then naturally he’d be able to read its condition easily.

  "Alright then, let me show you around the campus. This’ll be your workpce for the next week."

  The old man stood up energetically.

  "No, no, teacher! You should take it easy. You’ve got plenty on your pte as the principal. Please, let someone else show me around."

  Tetsuya waved his hands quickly to stop him. He didn’t want to tire his teacher out unnecessarily.

  "Alright, alright. You’ll be living here on campus anyway for the next week. I’ll drop by when I have some free time. Hold on, I’ll call someone to come get you."

  The old man picked up the phone and dialed quickly.

  "Hello? Yezo? Come to my office. I’ve got something for you to do. Move it!"

  Click. He hung up with a familiar abruptness.

  Tetsuya chuckled beside him. Yep—his teacher hadn’t changed a bit.

  While they waited, the two caught up. Most of the conversation was Tetsuya sharing stories from over the years. He’d never really had the chance to talk about them before.

  Of course, he left out the dangerous parts. He focused on the highlights—meeting Poppo, obtaining a Fire Stone, exchanging it for a Torchic, being sponsored by the Pewter Gym, winning the Saint Anne Gym Exchange Tournament.

  He only shared the good. He didn’t want his teacher to worry.

  But the old man was no fool. The more calmly Tetsuya described his journey, the more he sensed the challenges behind the words. He knew that a smooth tone often hid rough roads.

  Still, it wasn’t his pce to dig. He liked Tetsuya very much, but a child had to walk their own path.

  Knock knock!

  Their chat was interrupted by a knock on the door.

  "Come in," Principal Sasaki Gota called.

  A young man with silver-gray hair walked in. He was about to speak when he caught sight of Tetsuya.

  "You!? What are you doing here?!"

  Yezo stared in disbelief. This guy had crushed him in battle yesterday—was he here to rub it in?

  After Chen’s css yesterday morning, Yezo had snuck off to Cerulean City’s Pokémon Center to battle with his new partner. He was itching to show off. But instead, he’d been defeated by this very man—Tetsuya—with just one move.

  Even after talking things through with his Zubat and coming to admire Tetsuya’s skill, Yezo still hadn’t expected to see him again so soon.

  Tetsuya, sipping water, looked up at the voice and recalled who the young man was.

  "Oh! You’re Yezo from yesterday. Your Zubat is amazing!"

  Tetsuya’s praise was genuine. Zubat had adjusted swiftly during battle, clearly the result of solid training.

  But Yezo’s face turned a little red. To him, it sounded like mockery.

  Principal Gota watched the two young men with a knowing smile. From their interaction, he had a pretty good idea of what had happened. And honestly, he liked what he saw.

  It was good for young trainers to have rivals.

  "Well, since you two already know each other, that makes things easy. Yezo, Tetsuya is here to help provide training guidance for your junior cssmates this week. Take him around and help him get settled."

  "Yes, Principal!" Yezo responded, still throwing occasional gnces at Tetsuya.

  Tetsuya smiled. This was going to be an interesting week.

  The two young men walked side by side along the road, the air between them heavy with tension.

  A few female students from the nearby campus caught sight of the two sharp-featured, cool-faced guys and couldn’t help but sneak gnces. Some straightened their postures and adjusted their uniforms, while others giggled quietly, captivated by the pair.

  As they passed, students wearing the same bck-colored uniform as Ye Zang greeted him respectfully. Even many students in different colored uniforms, usually younger, offered polite hellos. Clearly, Ye Zang had quite the reputation at this school.

  It made sense. His strength was no joke, and his status was clearly high—otherwise, the teacher wouldn’t have specifically requested his presence.

  "Why does your school have four different uniform colors? Aren’t there only three student levels?" Tetsuya broke the silence, his voice calm but curious.

  Naturally, it was the victor who spoke first—leaving the defeated in awkward silence. Still, Tetsuya genuinely wondered about the four different uniform colors he had seen on the way over.

  "Those are prospective students," Ye Zang replied, trying to compose himself as he slipped back into expnation mode. If he had known what Tetsuya was really thinking, though, he might have exploded again.

  "Our school is a little different from other Pokémon academies. We teach basic knowledge starting at age six, move to advanced topics at eleven, and students typically graduate at sixteen.

  The official admission age here is twelve. After enrolling, students take an assessment. If they pass, they become junior students and wear red-and-white uniforms.

  If they fail, they’re cssified as prospective students and wear gray.

  As students advance, intermediate students wear teal-blue, and senior students—like me—wear bck."

  He paused before adding, "But there aren’t too many prospective students. Most kids have studied before coming here, so the odds of passing the initial assessment are high. Those who fail usually fall into two categories: civilian students who scraped their way in… or privileged brats who never bothered to study."

  Tetsuya nodded thoughtfully. "Then by that cssification, junior students are at two-badge strength, intermediates at four, and advanced at eight. Are your students really at two-badge level by age twelve?"

  That question had lingered in his mind. It seemed impossible.

  After all, the Pokémon League only allowed official trainer registration at age sixteen. While some kids might raise Pokémon early at home, starting formal training at twelve was highly unusual.

  "Of course not," Ye Zang said with a shake of his head. "That strength cssification is more of a bel outsiders give us. Before you become a senior student, that 'strength' isn’t real.

  It just means students have a certain level of knowledge and training. In actual combat, most of them wouldn’t stand a chance. A lot of juniors don’t even own a Pokémon yet. They usually use school-provided Pokémon for training.

  How could they earn badges that way? That’s basically asking to be crushed."

  He continued, "Typically, a student enters at twelve, gets promoted to intermediate at fifteen, and only starts officially raising their first Pokémon at sixteen. By eighteen, they reach advanced level like me, and then they choose whether to graduate.

  Most people stay for an extra year or two to study more. So the average graduation age is about twenty.

  By then, our strength is pretty solid.

  You're probably teaching junior students, so be careful. Even if the strength bels don’t mean much, some kids take them seriously and might try to pick a fight.

  They’re mostly rich kids used to doing whatever they want, and every new temp teacher ends up being their target."

  He finished with a pointed gnce.

  Tetsuya raised an eyebrow, amused. "You sure know the ropes. Sounds like you’ve been in their shoes."

  Ye Zang clenched his fists. This guy seriously needed a punch. How could he stay so smug?! Anyone got advice? Urgent.

  "What about that older-looking guy over there in the teal uniform? Is he still an intermediate student?" Tetsuya lowered his voice slightly.

  Ye Zang spared a gnce, then snorted. "Yeah, those are the ones who either ck talent or just don’t study. They take forever to move up.

  What I just said applies to the talented students. Plenty of people are slower.

  In fact, that’s why people even think our juniors and intermediates are at badge-level strength—because those students get stuck in one stage for years and then graduate at twenty-two with just two or three badges. They go around showing off, pretending to be elite students.

  But they’re just washed-up failures.

  They don’t even get a proper diploma."

  "So the advancement exams for intermediates and seniors must be tough, huh?" Tetsuya asked with a sigh.

  "Not really," Ye Zang said with a dry ugh. "They're mostly practical and theoretical tests. If you know your stuff and aren’t zy, it’s not that hard."

  Tetsuya gnced at him with quiet astonishment. How could someone be this jaded at such a young age? It was honestly kind of sad. Still, the tests didn’t sound so bad.

  They continued walking.

  Tetsuya suddenly muttered, "Your expnation sucks. Why do you answer every question I ask one by one? Can’t you just summarize the whole thing and save us both the trouble? I’m exhausted."

  Ye Zang didn’t respond. He led Tetsuya to the rge field next to the main building, mentally checking off his final task before leaving.

  He now fully understood: this younger guy beside him had a sharp tongue and endless questions. He was impossible to deal with.

  "This is the teaching building. Each color corresponds to the school uniforms. Prospective students don’t have a building. Their csses are outdoors, or they study at home and just take exams. Still gotta pay tuition, though.

  That’s the training center over there—wind-pressure rooms, gravity chambers, that kind of stuff. If you want to go to the simution battlefield, just go through the training center gate and head all the way to the back. Staff will guide you.

  And over there is the Pokémon nursery and activity room."

  After a whirlwind tour, Ye Zang brought Tetsuya to the teacher dorms.

  "Here’s your room. The principal gave me the key. I’ve got other stuff to do, so I’m out!"

  He shoved the key into Tetsuya’s hand and bolted.

  Tetsuya scratched his head. Did I scare him off with my enthusiasm? Maybe I need to tone it down with people.

  He unlocked the door and walked in. The room’s high-end furnishings made him pause for a moment in wonder. It was way fancier than he expected.

  With a smile, he released his three Pokémon and let them stretch and rest.

  Outside, a blonde woman with long hair sat on a bench, eating ice cream and watching curiously as someone entered the room next to hers.

  "Hmm… so Chen finally left, huh? Looks like there’s a new temp teacher around."