T/N: New book in the area, folks! For those who like One Piece, feel free to check it out!
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Soon, Cole and his team had captured over a hundred Bug-type Pokémon.
Daisy Oak's group was in the middle of capturing a Spinarak when they noticed a flock of Butterfree flying in the same direction.
At first, they paid little attention, but suddenly Erika wrinkled her delicate nose and asked, "Do you smell that fragrance?"
"What fragrance?" Junichi asked, puzzled.
"It's from Cole's Bayleef." Erika explained, then tapped her head as realization struck, "I get it now. His team is using Bayleef's fragrance to attract Pokémon. That's why those Butterfree are heading that way."
Daisy sighed with regret, "Looks like they'll take first place this time. Cole is really impressive."
"Why don't we just copy their strategy?" Junichi suggested, "Erika, bring out your Gloom! Let it release its scent too. Your Gloom has such a strong smell — it should definitely work!"
"As if!" Erika rolled her eyes at him, "Do you think any Grass-type Pokémon can release such a unique fragrance? Even another Bayleef couldn't do it. You're so clueless!"
Junichi's eyes widened, "It's that special?"
"What do you think?"
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Meanwhile, Lucas was battling a Heracross when suddenly the Pokémon turned its head, spread its wings, and flew away mid-battle.
"Hey! Heracross, where are you going? Stop right there! Stop!"
Watching it disappear into the distance, Lucas grew furious and began chasing after it.
This wasn't an isolated incident. All around the mountain, trainers stood bewildered as Pokémon abruptly abandoned battles and flew off, leaving everyone confused about what was happening.
While Bayleef's fragrance became too faint for humans to detect at a distance, Pokémon were different. Many species were extremely sensitive to this plant scent.
"Hahaha! We're winning without even trying! Cole, being on your team is awesome!"
Cole's team was capturing Pokémon so rapidly that their hands were getting tired. They'd caught so many that Cole couldn't keep up with recording all their information.
"Then just call me your overlord, and bow whenever I enter the room." Cole joked.
Daniel: ...
Valerie and Keith burst out laughing.
"Bayleef, take a rest for a while!" Cole said, noticing his Pokémon was panting.
"Bay~"
It nodded.
"What are you doing?!"
When Lucas finally caught up with the Heracross, he arrived just in time to see Keith capturing it in a Poké Ball. His face darkened with anger as he shouted.
Upon seeing him, Daniel, Keith, and Valerie's expressions all turned sour.
Daniel immediately retorted, "None of your business!"
Lucas pointed at the Poké Ball in Keith's hand and roared, "I spotted that Heracross first!"
Daniel looked at him as if he were an idiot and said, "Did we snatch this Pokémon from your hands?"
Lucas was left speechless, and after a long pause, he finally pointed at them and shouted, "You're cheating!"
Keith's expression hardened, "Senior, you shouldn't make false accusations. There are drones monitoring everywhere. If we were really cheating, they would have issued a warning!"
"I don't care! You must return that Heracross to me today. It's mine!" Lucas roared, "Greninja, go get that Poké Ball back!"
Seeing Greninja charging toward him, Keith was startled and was about to command his Dewott to counter when suddenly a golden flash streaked by, sending Greninja flying backward.
It was Cole's Heliolisk, who had used Dragon Tail to repel the opponent.
"Lucas, do you really want to mess with me?"
"Cole, it's you again!" Lucas said through gritted teeth.
"Want to fight? I'm ready anytime." Cole said nonchalantly.
"Helio~"
Heliolisk shot an electric current at Greninja's feet, causing the frog to instinctively step back.
"Hmph! You'll pay for this!"
Under Cole's mocking gaze, Lucas finally left with his Greninja, seething with resentment.
Beep~ Beep~ Beep~
The competition's end time had arrived. The drones in the sky emitted a piercing alert sound. Cole's team now had half an hour to return to the foot of the mountain, or their competition results would be void.
"Alright, that's enough. Let's hurry back. We'll forget about the ones we didn't have time to record information for!" Cole said.
Daniel sighed with regret, "Ah~ What a waste!"
"What does it matter? We're definitely going to take first place anyway!" Valerie replied confidently.
Keith nodded in agreement.
When Cole's team returned to the foot of the mountain, most teams had already arrived. Everyone had gathered in small groups, discussing their competition experiences and exchanging strategies.
Lucas's team had also returned. Their once fragmented team had finally reunited, but their expressions were grim. It didn't take much to guess that their performance had been poor.
"Hey, isn't it strange? We provoked a swarm of Beedrill today, but halfway through chasing us, they mysteriously flew away."
"I experienced something similar. Our team was trying to capture a Butterfree, but suddenly it seemed attracted to something and flew off. Isn't that weird?"
"You guys were lucky. We had it worse. At first, we were encountering Butterfree every few steps, but suddenly all of them disappeared. In the end, our catch was pathetically small."
...
Hearing these conversations, Cole's team exchanged glances and silently laughed.
Not far away, Lucas desperately wanted to run over and tell those people that their Pokémon had all been stolen by that team over there!
But in the end, he restrained himself, knowing that doing so would make him seem petty and wouldn't really accomplish anything.
After nearly all the teams had gathered, Professor Oak slowly descended from the sky riding a Dragonite, landing on the platform in front.
"Students, today's activity went very smoothly without any incidents. I'm happy for all of you, and I can see that everyone followed the rules well. Now, each team will come forward in an orderly fashion to submit your results. The teachers will be responsible for recording and tallying your scores, which will then be announced on the spot!"
Following his words, each team, organized by the teachers, went forward one by one to submit their results.
As the scores were announced, occasional gasps could be heard from the crowd. Before Cole's team, the highest scoring team was from the Eighth Junior High School in Mistralton City of Unova.
Their team also consisted of four people and had captured 93 Pokémon in total, with an effective score of 78. This accuracy rate was already quite high.
Soon it was Cole's team's turn. They piled all their captured Pokémon onto the table in front of the teacher, who stood there stunned.
"So many? Don't mix in your own Pokémon!"
Daniel playfully replied as he took out his Poké Balls, "Teacher, I only have two Pokémon, they're right here!"
Hearing this, the teacher immediately smiled and said, "Looks like your team will have an excellent score today."
Cole and Keith just smiled silently, while Valerie took out another pile of Poké Balls and said, "Teacher, these are the ones we haven't had time to record information for yet."
The teacher's mouth fell open. This was the first team he had registered so far that hadn't finished recording their Pokémon information — other teams didn't even have enough Pokémon to record.
"A-Alright... I understand."
Teams near the scoring table gaped at the number of Poké Balls that Cole's team had brought.
"My goodness, that's so many! How did they do it? Did they clean out all the Pokémon on the mountain? No wonder we couldn't find any!"
"This team has definitely won, right? They'll score at least twice as high as the Mistralton team."
"Which team is this? Does anyone know them?"
"I think they're from the Fourth Junior High School in Coumarine City in Kalos. I know that cute girl is called Valerie, but I don't recognize the others."
"Look, the tallest one on the platform — isn't he the one who was so impressive this morning? He really is amazing!"
...
Amid the discussions from other teams, Cole's team's score was calculated: they had captured 208 Pokémon, with an effective score of 169.
This score was more than enough for first place, but some people from other teams didn't understand the full situation.
"Hmm, the accuracy rate for their information is so low? Those people must not be very good academically."
But no matter what others said, the fact that Cole's team was currently in first place was undeniable.
As time passed, all the teams' scores were tallied, and Cole's team unsurprisingly claimed first place.
The team from Mistralton ranked second, while third place went to a team from Celadon University Affiliated Junior High School in Kanto.
The gap between second and third place was minimal — it was Cole's team's score that was simply extraordinary!
Coumarine's Fourth Junior High School had been a rather unremarkable presence among the summer camp participants, but today they had definitely made a name for themselves. Below the platform, Victoria's face bloomed with joy.
Of course, Coumarine's Fourth Junior High also had a second-to-last place team — Lucas's team.
Though only one student in that team actually attended the school.
Still, avoiding last place was quite an achievement for them, mainly because the alternative-looking girl on their team had made a significant contribution by catching several Pokémon and accurately recording their information.
Now she stood in the center of her team with a smug, arrogant expression.
"You bunch of useless losers, bow down and praise your lady! Without me, you would've been dead last. From now on, if anyone dares to talk nonsense in front of me, I'll smash their head in!"
This girl wasn't just alternative in style — she also had a bit of chunibyo syndrome.
The four boys felt utterly embarrassed, but since they truly hadn't contributed to the team, they all pressed their lips together in silence, looking extremely frustrated.
"Alright, the results are in. The teams that placed first will each receive 10 points. Second place gets 8 points per person. Third place gets 5 points. Fourth through tenth place get 3 points. All other teams receive 1 point each."
After announcing this, Professor Oak rode away on his Dragonite, and the students gradually dispersed.
Tired and hungry after their busy afternoon, Cole's team left the mountain and headed straight to the research facility's cafeteria.
As winners of today's competition, they were entitled to a special feast.
Upon arriving at the cafeteria, the four identified themselves to the chef, who immediately understood their status.
"Find yourselves a seat; your feast will be ready shortly. Please look forward to it!"
They chose a table, and within moments, the staff brought out several plates and arranged them before the team.
The meal began with a seafood pot featuring Kingler, Clawitzer, and Crabrawler claw meat. Next came Farfetch'd leek stir-fried with Basculin meat, followed by steamed Slowpoke tail. The fourth dish was a delicate Chansey egg flower soup.
For the fifth course, they enjoyed a mixed fruit platter with bananas from beneath Tropius's neck, Froslass's ice berries, and berries from Torterra's back. The sixth dish was a dessert crafted by Alcremie.
To finish, each received a cup of warm Miltank milk.
The meal was truly extravagant, and the four ate until completely satisfied.
After dinner, Daniel and Valerie headed back to their dormitories, while Cole and Keith planned to train their Pokémon together.
Once training finished, Cole told Keith to go ahead without him, as he wanted to find a place to give his Pokémon some wellness treatment.
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At Professor Oak's research lab, Cole approached a researcher and asked, "Excuse me, are there any vacant rooms in the facility? I'd like to massage my Pokémon to help them relax."
He was concerned that giving treatments outdoors might cause his Pokémon to make sounds that could lead to misunderstandings.
"Are you with the summer camp?" The researcher asked.
"Yes. Is that a problem?" Cole replied.
"Not at all." The researcher quickly shook his head, adopting a friendly tone, "Come with me. Massaging your Pokémon is excellent for their health. You take good care of them."
The researcher led Cole to a room while chatting with him.
"This room is rarely used and completely empty. Feel free to use it."
"Thank you, brother." Cole said gratefully.
"It's nothing — just a small favor. Just remember to close the door when you leave." The researcher said before walking away.
Inside, Cole found the room was indeed empty. He pulled a cushion from his spatial backpack, spread it on the floor, and released all his Pokémon.
"Alright, let's begin!"
"Bay~!"
"Bri~!"
"Helio~!"
...
The Pokémon cheered with excitement.
Soon, various sounds — "mmm" and "ahh", "chirp", "warble" — could be heard from the room, leaving much to the imagination.
Just then, Daisy happened to pass by. She had also planned to use this empty room, but when she reached the door, she heard the faint sounds coming from inside.
"Who... who could that be?" Her face instantly flushed with embarrassment as she quietly peeked into the room.
The door's center panel was made of glass, making it easy to see inside from the hallway.
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