The Tinkatuff angrily snatched the Pokéblock from Cole's hand and stuffed it into its mouth, crunching loudly as it chewed.
Cole ignored it and continued chatting with Dragonair, trying to win it over.
After feeding Dragonair until it was full, he began giving it a full-body massage. The little blue serpent relaxed on the water's surface, clearly enjoying the attention as Cole ran his hands from the small horn on its head to its white belly and down to its slender tail.
"Woo~~~" — So good!!!
In all its dozen years, it had never felt this good — having someone to chat with, play with, feed it, and even give it a massage!
The Tinkatuff, watching Cole touch Dragonair all over, stood completely petrified.
How... how could this be... he only touched my arms and shoulders!
Tinkatuff felt utterly defeated!
Sensing the perfect moment, Cole asked, "Dragonair, do you want to come with me?"
Dragonair looked hesitant, "But Kaiser said there are many bad people outside."
"I can protect you." Cole assured, "With me around, you won't have to fear anyone! I may not look it, but I'm actually very strong!"
As he spoke, he used his Psychic Powers to create a huge wave in the pond.
Dragonair had barely experienced any battles. Despite being the second evolution of a pseudo-legendary Pokémon, it was essentially weak in combat. Against Cole, it wouldn't stand a chance.
After witnessing this display of power, Dragonair began to waver.
It was indeed very lonely here…
Noticing Dragonair's changing expression, Cole pressed on, "Don't you want to see the outside world? There's warm sunshine, green meadows, vibrant flowers... and countless Pokémon and humans who could become your friends — people you've never had the chance to meet."
The more he spoke, the more tempted Dragonair became.
Finally, it looked up at him and asked, "Will you really protect me?"
"Of course!" Cole said firmly, "I promise you."
"Alright then, I'll go with you!" Dragonair finally made up its mind.
As soon as the words left its mouth, Dragonair felt a sudden release in its heart. All its burdens seemed to disappear, leaving only anticipation and joy.
The outside world...
Dragonair obtained!
Seeing Dragonair agree to join him, Cole's face broke into a big smile. He took out a Poké Ball and held it in front of the creature, "Dragonair, looking forward to working with you!"
"Woo~"
Dragonair gently tapped its head on the Poké Ball's button, transformed into a red light, and was drawn into the ball.
"Alright, we can leave now!" Cole said to Masquerain and Ditto. As he was about to go, he noticed Tinkatuff still standing motionless, so he called out, "Tinkatuff, aren't you coming?"
Hmph! Jerk!
Coming to its senses, Tinkatuff glared at him, then dragged its hammer along as it followed.
After they left the cave, Cole looked back and was surprised to find that Tinkatuff was no longer behind him.
"Did it come to a decision and leave?" He muttered, not knowing whether to feel happy or disappointed.
After capturing Dragonair, Cole had only one more Pokémon left to catch.
After regrouping, Cole set out again with Masquerain's guidance. By a small river, he encountered a Squirtle and quickly captured it. The hunting grounds were proving to be excellent, with rare Pokémon appearing consistently.
With his Pokémon collection complete, Cole was heading back when he ran into a worried-looking Valerie.
"Valerie!" Cole called out.
"Cole!" Despite seeing him, Valerie's expression remained troubled.
"What's wrong?" Cole asked, riding up on his Tauros (actually Ditto).
"Sigh~" Valerie heaved a deep sigh, "What else could it be? It's awful. I've only caught three Pokémon, and they're all common ones. There's no point in continuing."
Cole checked the time and noticed they still had some time before the two-hour limit, "How about this — I've already caught all my Pokémon, so I'll help you!"
The rules didn't appear to prohibit students helping each other.
"Really?" Hearing this, Valerie jumped up excitedly, "Cole, you're the best!"
"Time's running out, so let's start quickly or we won't make it!" Cole urged.
"Yes, yes, hurry, hurry!"
With his help, Valerie's Pokémon-catching speed increased dramatically. Focusing on quantity rather than quality, Cole simply caught whatever Pokémon they encountered rather than searching for rare or non-native species.
It was only then that Valerie truly understood how formidable he was. His "devil hands" were inescapable. Any Pokémon he touched became completely obedient — if he asked them to roll over, they wouldn't dare even wag their tails.
Before long, they encountered Daniel and Keith.
When Daniel learned that Cole had already helped Valerie catch more than a dozen Pokémon, he immediately knelt down and hugged Cole's leg.
"My overlord, please help your good villager!"
With no other choice, Cole helped him catch some Pokémon too.
Among the three, Keith had caught the most Pokémon independently — ten by himself. With Cole's assistance, his collection grew to 22.
Cole checked the time and said, "We're running out of time. We need to head back!"
Tearfully, Daniel said, "Big Brother Cole, from now on, you're my big brother!"
Since Cole was already older than him, Daniel had no psychological burden calling him "big brother".
"Didn't you agree to call me 'overlord'?" Cole joked.
Daniel: ...
Valerie: "Hahaha~~"
Keith: "Hahaha~~"
Cole and his group were among the later ones to return. Most students had already come back, and some had even started registering their caught Pokémon with the teachers.
Seeing this, the four of them quickly ran to join the line.
The teachers tallied the Pokémon efficiently. They used a machine with slots for Safari Balls — the screen would display which Pokémon was inside each ball. Six Poké Balls could be processed at once.
Some students hadn't even caught six Pokémon, so the counting proceeded quickly.
Cole's group observed the results and discovered that a girl from Celadon University Affiliated Middle School had caught the fewest Pokémon — just one Caterpie.
When this student's score was announced, the girl's face turned bright red with embarrassment. She quickly hid among her classmates, keeping her head down, too ashamed to show her face.
However, the classmates who jeered and mocked the girl were quickly reprimanded by the teacher.
"What are you laughing at? Does mocking your own classmate give you a sense of achievement?"
Soon it was Cole and his group's turn. Valerie went first, handing all her Pokémon-filled Poké Balls to the teacher, then quietly waited for the score calculation.
"Rattata, 1 point!"
"Oddish, 1 point!"
...
"Vulpix, 2 points!"
"Nidorino, 1 point."
Valerie's final score totaled 18 points.
This put her in second place so far, behind only Anabel from Hoenn's Ever Grande City 8th Middle School, who had scored 21 points.
Cole remembered that Anabel would eventually become one of the Frontier Brains of the Hoenn Battle Frontier.
Anabel was small and very thin, giving the impression she wasn't even ten years old yet, though she was actually 13. She was a popular figure at her school, always surrounded by many classmates — like the moon encircled by stars.
Valerie's impressive score immediately created excitement among the waiting students, who cast admiring glances her way. Her overall ranking, which had been quite low initially, immediately rose by several dozen places — truly skyrocketing.
After Valerie came Keith, whose score was even higher than hers — a full 26 points — instantly surpassing Anabel to take first place.
A wave of gasps spread through the crowd, while those who had caught fewer than ten Pokémon could only shed tears of envy.
Next up was Daniel, who held his head high with a contemptuous gaze, looking down at the other students as if to say: Everyone here is garbage!
Although the others didn't immediately grasp the meaning behind his look, they inexplicably felt annoyed. His smug expression made them want to walk up and step on his foot.
"Sandshrew, 1 point!"
"Diglett, 1 point!"
...
"Drowzee, 2 points!"
"Mr. Mime, 2 points!"
Daniel's points were quickly tallied: his score was only 16 points, lower than both Valerie's and Keith's.
But this still exceeded most other students' scores, so once again there were murmurs and expressions of envy and jealousy toward him.
Gradually, some discordant voices emerged from the crowd.
"Look, aren't those the team members who got first place in the first outdoor activity?"
"Now that you mention it, you're right!"
"Do you think they might be cheating? How else could they all get such high scores when they're together?"
"No way, right? How could you cheat at something like this?"
"You never know, maybe they've got some special tricks!"
...
Such suspicious whispers were not uncommon.
This showed that wherever there are people, there will inevitably be scheming and intrigue, even among those who are only in their teens.
Valerie, Keith, Daniel, and Cole all heard these comments, and their expressions darkened. No one likes being falsely accused.
Although three of them indeed hadn't caught their Pokémon through their own efforts, they had done so within the permitted rules — the rules neither required nor forbade teaming up.
Daniel, having the most volatile temper, immediately jumped up upon hearing accusations of cheating and pointed at the crowd below.
"If you've got the guts, say it to my face! What's with all this whispering down there? Are you Rattata in the sewers? Even Rattata are cuter than you all!"
Someone in the crowd shouted back, "If you're not cheating, how did you all manage to get such high scores at the same time?"
Daniel immediately locked onto the person who had called out.
"What business is it of yours how I did it? Do I need to report to you whether I took a dump today, whether it was solid or liquid? If you think I'm cheating, show me the evidence. Without evidence, stop running your mouth!"
Hearing his words, the students burst into laughter. The person who had spoken out turned bright red, his lips trembling before he reluctantly fell silent.
At this point, the teacher, having understood the situation, stepped forward.
"Everything requires evidence. If anyone feels something is unfair, come forward and tell us directly rather than casually slandering others out of jealousy. Everyone here is your classmate, and you might even become colleagues in the future. If we all spoke so carelessly, what would happen to rules and laws?"
Others in the crowd shared the same suspicions, but seeing Daniel's forceful response and the teacher stepping in, they kept quiet — especially since they had no evidence.
Having put the hecklers in their place, Daniel walked off the stage feeling refreshed.
After him came Cole.
He handed all his Poké Balls to the teacher and stood to the side.
The teacher, after counting the Poké Balls, looked at him in surprise, "All 29 Poké Balls contain Pokémon?"
Cole nodded, "Yes, one Poké Ball was damaged by a Pokémon, otherwise there would be 30."
Hearing this, the teacher gave him an admiring thumbs up, while the crowd erupted below.
"No way, he used all his Poké Balls? Does that mean he'll get at least 29 points?"
"As expected of the top-ranked student — his caliber shows just from this!"
"I bet no one can challenge his first place now!"
"Now I understand why everyone on his team scored so high — Cole is basically carrying the other three!"
...
Then the teacher began calculating the score.
"Ditto, 2 points!"
"Ditto, 2 points!"
...
"Eevee, 2 points!"
"Vaporeon, 2 points!"
...
As the teacher announced each Pokémon Cole had caught, the students' expressions changed from initial shock to eventual numbness.
No more competing. What's the point? Even riding a Rapidash wouldn't let us catch up!
While others couldn't even catch 10 ordinary Pokémon, this guy had been selective and still caught 29.
"Dragonair, 2 points!"
When the teacher announced the final Pokémon, exclamations and murmurs spread through the crowd.
"Pinch me, did I hear wrong? Did the teacher just say Dragonair?"
"No, you pinch me. I think my ears have problems too."
"There's actually a Dragonair in this hunting area? Why didn't I encounter one?"
...
For a moment, discussions filled the crowd below.
"Dragonair? Who caught a Dragonair?"
But just then, a discordant voice rose up.
✲✲✲
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