Soon, Brutus sent a team over, and it was an old acquaintance, Major Grant.
Upon seeing Aaron, Major Grant smiled slightly and said,
"Not bad... Aaron!"
"It hasn't been that long since we last met, and you've already grown this strong."
"You've even taken down a Gym Leader Level Trainer..."
"You're truly a promising young talent!!"
Major Grant was filled with emotion. Back during the training camp tournament, this kid had barely managed to kill a Gym Leader (Early Stage) Pokémon Trainer by fighting with all his might and resorting to a sneak attack.
But now, not long after, he had captured a Gym Leader Level Trainer unscathed, and one of considerable level. This kid was a true prodigy...
But Major Grant felt no jealousy, only admiration for Aaron. He had already seen a brilliant star of the future rising steadily, and he believed that one day, Aaron would grow into a figure everyone would look up to.
"Major Grant... hahaha, you flatter me!"
"Same old trick... relying on a sneak attack."
Aaron scratched the back of his head and said with a modest smile, admitting there was a hint of a sneak attack. When he released his Pokémon, Frog Boss had interrupted Grub's "casting." Otherwise, it would have been a fierce battle...
Upon hearing Aaron's words, Major Grant rolled his eyes on the spot, not believing a word of Aaron's nonsense.
"By the way... why is the back of this guy's neck so swollen!?"
"Who did this... that's just too cruel."
Major Grant saw that the swelling on the back of Grub's neck was bigger than his own head and couldn't help but gasp in shock as he asked.
"Uh..."
Aaron was momentarily at a loss for words. His eyelid twitched slightly before he forced a smile.
"He's always been like this... maybe he has some serious illness."
"What a pitiful fellow..."
Major Grant nodded slightly upon hearing this, a hint of sympathy appearing on his face.
"With a face like that, no wonder he joined a terrorist organization."
Then Major Grant took Grub away.
Aaron released Gyarados, fed it an antidote and an Energy Cube, and Gyarados quickly regained its vigorous, dragon-like state. It stuck out its tongue and licked Aaron's cheek as if showing gratitude.
"Hey, you little... stop licking me, you licking Dragon."
Aaron laughed as he pushed away Gyarados's massive head.
After that, he rode Gyarados and headed back.
...
Meanwhile, in a luxurious villa, a man in a suit sat quietly on a sofa. He appeared to be in his forties, with a beard and a faint scar at the corner of his eye.
He lit a cigar and slowly exhaled a wisp of smoke.
Knock, knock...
A crisp knock sounded from outside the door. An elderly man dressed like a butler walked in, bowed slightly, and said,
"Master... Grub has been captured!!"
The man in the suit paused slightly and spoke in a hoarse voice,
"Grub?"
"The one sent out by Dr. Kain to capture that strange Beedrill?"
The elderly butler nodded.
"Yes..."
"And we've just learned that the owner of that Beedrill is this year's top-scoring student on the exam, who broke all previous records in Hualis."
"To take action against this person at a time like this..."
"I'm afraid Hualis won't agree to it."
The elderly butler spoke with some hesitation.
Thump, thump, thump...
The man tapped the table rhythmically with his fingers while smoking, as if deep in thought.
"Have Sting make his move."
"Bring a secret weapon. Tell him not to kill anyone, just seize the Beedrill."
After a moment, he spoke calmly.
He understood Dr. Kain's nature. Once he set his sights on something, he would stop at nothing to obtain it. Although the man felt somewhat troubled, Dr. Kain was the chief scientist of his organization and crucial to his plans. There could be no mistakes.
"Yes... sir."
The elderly butler bowed again and withdrew, leaving the room in silence once more.
...
By the time Aaron returned home, the table and floor were already piled high with gifts.
His mother was happily opening gift boxes, his father was sorting them, and his younger sister sat hugging her little Growlithe while watching TV.
"Mom, Dad... I'm back."
Aaron pushed open the door and called out.
"Son... you're back!"
"Come take a look. These are from relatives, your school administrators, and even officials from Sealine City."
His mother beamed as she spoke.
Aaron's face twitched slightly at the sight of the room full of gifts. Thankfully, he had the foresight not to stay home earlier, otherwise he would have been driven crazy by all those visitors.
"I'll be sure to thank them..."
Aaron said helplessly before heading upstairs to his room.
...
Nothing happened that night.
Early the next morning, Aaron was woken up by Fishball knocking on his door.
The reason was simple.
Today was the day to return to school and fill out college applications.
After washing up, Aaron had breakfast at home with Fishball, then the two of them headed to school.
By the time they arrived, everyone was already there.
The group gathered in a classroom to discuss their applications.
Yuri applied to a Tier-2 University: Ridgewind Pokémon University.
Victor applied to a Tier-2 University: South Hualis Pokémon University.
Ethan applied to a Tier-2 University: Azure Sea Pokémon University.
Simon, however, applied to a Tier-1 University: Pokémon Institute of Technology.
What surprised Aaron was that Grace had applied to the Pokémon Elite Defense Academy.
He later learned it was arranged by her family, and that her family held significant positions within the League Pokémon.
Aaron couldn't help but feel a bit surprised. So she was the daughter of a high-ranking person.
No wonder she had such a rare Pokémon, Dratini.
It had probably evolved into Dragonite by now, right?