The Major's sharp, piercing gaze swept across the assembled trainees as he spoke in a steady, commanding voice.
"First—welcome to Sealine Military Base."
"Today, you will compete here in a Pokémon tournament!"
"All of you will fight for the honor of your respective academies and training camps."
"You represent the finest of Sealine City's younger generation—the pride of this city."
"So I expect every one of you to give it everything you've got and deliver a spectacular Pokémon battle!"
"Come on—let your schools, and let me, see the results of your month-long training!"
"Attention, all personnel!"
"Left turn—march!"
The Major's passionate address instantly ignited the atmosphere.
Fighting spirit surged through the crowd. Everyone was brimming with eagerness, like blades drawn and ready for battle, eager to seize glory with all they had.
All seven formations followed the Major into a new venue.
The structure resembled an ancient Roman colosseum—towering on all sides, with a lowered central platform.
Tier upon tier of seats rose around the arena, each row higher than the last. At the center lay a massive Pokémon battlefield.
At that moment, the main VIP seating area was already occupied.
With a single glance, Aaron spotted his own school's principal, Sterling, seated there alongside other school leaders.
As for the rest, they were clearly principals and administrators from the other academies.
In the principals' section, the seven principals were deep in conversation.
"Principal Harvey, I hear your school produced a genius this year," said a principal in his fifties wearing a green hat, glancing toward the potbellied man beside him. "Looks like first place in this year's training camp Pokémon tournament will belong to your academy again, won't it?"
"Oh, don't put it like that," the portly man replied modestly. "Who knows? Maybe some of the public academies have geniuses too."
"It's still far too early to say…"
Despite his words, the radiant smile on his face betrayed him completely. Clearly, he too believed his school was on track for a fourth consecutive championship.
Both men were principals of private academies. The green-hatted one was Baldwin, principal of Spirit Insight Academy. The portly man was Harvey, principal of Hidden Dragon Academy.
"Principal Harvey, you're being far too humble!"
"Heh… I suppose anything's possible," Harvey said with a laugh. "But I wouldn't bet on it."
Baldwin cast a sideways glance at the five public academy principals and burst into laughter.
The public academy principals' expressions darkened. Every one of them looked ready to punch that damned man on the spot.
"You smug bastard," one hot-tempered elderly principal snapped, leaping to his feet and pointing straight at Baldwin. "Cut the sarcasm. Don't celebrate too soon—you might regret it!"
"Hahaha… Principal Flame, you worry too much," Baldwin replied casually. "Don't worry—we won't be giving you any chances at all. Hahaha."
His laughter only intensified.
Principal Flame's face flushed crimson as he prepared to lash out, but the other public academy principals quickly grabbed him and held him back.
On the far left, Sterling remained seated, calm and composed, saying nothing.
"Old Sterling… something feels off," one of the principals remarked, eyeing him curiously. "Could it be that your academy has a promising talent this year?"
"Hmph. Just wait and see," Sterling replied.
"This time… the rankings of the training camp Pokémon tournament are going to be completely reshuffled."
A knowing smile appeared on his lips.
...
At the same time, the matchups had already been decided.
The instructors from each training camp had drawn lots. Training camps with matching numbers would face each other, and each camp would field five participants.
Only then did Aaron fully understand.
The earlier Pokémon assessment—where only five students were allowed to pass—had been designed precisely for this format.
Tournament Rules:
Each training camp sends out one participant at a time, with three Pokémon per participant. When all of one participant's Pokémon faint, the next participant takes the field. The match continues until all five participants from one camp have had all their Pokémon defeated.
The camp whose five participants are completely eliminated loses the match.
Aaron read through the rules and immediately grasped the situation.
This was going to be a war of attrition.
Unless… he went up first.
Would it be possible to wipe out the opposing camp all by himself?
A sly, dangerous thought crept into Aaron's mind.
"Ding~"
"Triggered Mission: Win the Training Camp Tournament!!"
"For someone who loves showing off, how could you possibly miss such a perfect opportunity?!"
"Crush all other training camps and claim first place to complete the mission!!"
"Mission Rewards: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken (Skill Card) ×1, Armament Haki (Skill Card) ×1, Observation Haki (Skill Card) ×1"
At that moment, the system's excited voice rang clearly in Aaron's ears.
...