Roy and the other two turned their heads toward the source of the sound at the same time.
Then came a panting reply: "Yes... yes! Pidgey, Normal-type and Flying-type, ability... the ability could be Keen Eye or Tangled Feet, common moves include Tackle, Sand Attack, Gust..."
"The sound is coming from over there."
Misty pricked up her ears, her sense of justice instantly overflowing: "This sound... it sounds like someone is being bullied?"
Delia was a bit worried: "In this remote mountain wilderness, why would there be people?"
"Let's go take a look."
Roy picked up his bowl and continued eating the blanched bean curd skin from the pot while walking toward the sound.
Misty and Delia exchanged looks, quickly grabbed their own bowls, and followed.
After a few steps, they pushed through a thick fog.
The scene before them stunned all three.
On a relatively flat clearing ahead, several brand-new, high-tech treadmills were set up.
A skinny boy was running desperately on one of the treadmills, his face covered in sweat.
Beside him stood three tall teenagers in matching uniforms with arrogant expressions.
The leader was a red-haired guy with spiky hair, arms crossed, glaring unhappily at the boy on the treadmill.
"Joe! You're too slow! Your knowledge isn't solid either! What else are Pidgey's potential abilities? Speak!"
"There's... there's also the Hidden Ability 'Big Pecks'!" The boy named Joe answered while gasping for breath, his steps stumbling.
"And the common moves of its evolved form, Pidgeotto? Speak up! Don't stop running!" another yellow-haired youth urged, even reaching out to increase the treadmill's speed.
"Pidgeotto... moves include Quick Attack, Wing Attack, Whirlwind... ah!"
The treadmill speed suddenly increased, causing Joe to lose his balance. He nearly fell and had to move his legs frantically to keep up.
The third person, a purple-haired girl, sneered while recording something: "Reaction speed C-, knowledge mastery B-, physical stamina D... Joe, you're going to drag down our 'Elite Preparatory Group' at this rate."
[Ding!]
The System notification rang clearly in Roy's mind.
[Triggered Mission: Help Joe find the correct path as a Trainer. Defeat the new generation Genius of the Academic Faction, Giselle, with Pokémon education and shatter her pride.]
[Mission Reward: High-quality Miracle Seed—increases the power of Grass-type moves by 40% when held by a Pokémon; Junior Rare Candy *3]
Roy chewed on the bean curd skin while checking the newly popped-up mission panel.
Oh?
Educate Giselle?
That's the young lady from the original story who thought she was better than everyone else and constantly talked about being a "Genius."
System, are you sure just using Pokémon battles to educate her will be enough to break her pride?
Shouldn't there be some more direct rod-based education?
Roy joked internally, but his face remained expressionless as he leisurely picked up another piece of meat.
At this moment, Delia gently tugged his sleeve, leaned in closer, and whispered:
"Roy, look at the uniforms they're wearing... don't they look like the students from 'Pokémon Technical Institute' who came to challenge you when you set up the arena in Viridian City?"
With Delia's reminder, Roy noticed it too.
The uniforms embroidered with noble crests were indeed identical to those of the guys who called themselves "Academic Faction Superiors" before.
"Hey! You guys!"
Before Roy could speak, Misty beside him couldn't take it anymore.
Filled with a sense of justice, she rushed out with her bowl—still floating with chili oil and a slice of fatty beef—and blocked the path between the treadmill and the three tall students.
"What are you doing? You're not allowed to bully your classmates!"
Misty's brows were furrowed, her voice clear and imposing.
The red-haired spiky-headed guy—Abin—turned around unhappily after being interrupted.
Seeing a pretty girl in ordinary traveling clothes holding a hot pot bowl, a look of contempt immediately appeared on his face.
"Bullying? You ignorant country girl."
Abin sneered and pointed at Joe on the treadmill:
"How is this bullying? This is'spurring of love'! It's to urge him to improve! What does a wandering Training Faction like you know about the training methods of our 'Elite Preparatory Group'?"
As he spoke, he deliberately pressed the treadmill's acceleration button again.
The treadmill suddenly sped up!
"Whoa!" Joe cried out in alarm, his footsteps completely failing him as his body lunged forward!
Thud!
He fell hard off the treadmill, rolling twice on the ground before stopping.
His forehead and knees were scraped, bleeding slightly, and his cheeks were rubbed red, making him look quite miserable.
"What love! What spurring! Stop it right now!"
Misty was fuming. She quickly stuffed the slice of fatty beef from her bowl into her mouth, chewed twice, swallowed, and raised her voice:
"That student is all bruised and battered! How is that not bullying?"
"Tch."
Abin turned around completely, hands in his pockets, looking down at Misty and then at Roy and Delia, who were slowly walking over.
His gaze swept over their ordinary clothes and the hot pot bowl in Roy's hand, his expression of disgust becoming even more apparent.
"Wait, who are you people? Where did you come from?"
Abin waved his hand impatiently, as if shooing away flies:
"It's one thing to interrupt our precious training time, but you actually dare to... eat hot pot in the advanced mountain training grounds of our Pokémon Technical Institute?"
He pointed at the red, oily soup base in Roy's bowl, his face saying, "Is there something wrong with your heads?"
"Huh? What 'your school'?"
Misty was stunned by his words and subconsciously looked around.
It was all white—nothing but fog.
Where was there a school?
Delia also blinked in confusion and looked at Roy.
Just then, a clear and melodious electronic prompt sounded, seemingly coming from all directions:
[The specialized training course for foggy environments has ended.]
[All students, please return to the dormitory area in an orderly manner.]
[Tomorrow's course preview: Extreme weather adaptability training—battling and survival in the snow.]
As the prompt sounded, the thick fog around them seemed to be controlled by an invisible hand, quickly thinning and dispersing.
It was as if... a fog-making machine had been turned off.
The scene before them gradually became clear.
The place they were in was no remote mountain wilderness!
It was a meticulously maintained and extremely wide mountain platform.
Below the platform, looking down the slope as the fog cleared, a vast complex of magnificent buildings was revealed!
Gothic-style teaching buildings combined with modern ones, a towering bell tower, a glass-domed gymnasium, and a dormitory area that looked like a manor... a sprawling, incredibly luxurious Institute was suddenly laid out before them!
At the Institute's main gate, the gilded words "Pokémon Technical Institute" sparkled in the thinning mist.
The three of them had actually stumbled into the training grounds of this top-tier noble Institute, famous throughout the Kanto region, without even realizing it!
Roy raised an eyebrow.
So that's how it was.
No wonder the fog appeared so strangely and vanished so suddenly.
It turned out to be a teaching tool for the Institute.
"See that? You hicks!"
Abin's sense of superiority was practically overflowing as he pointed down the mountain:
"This is Pokémon Technical Institute! The cradle of Superiors! Wandering Trainers like you, who crawled out from who-knows-where, aren't even fit to carry our shoes!"
"It's all your fault!"
He got angrier as he spoke, turning his focus back to Roy:
"Today's fog training course was interrupted, Joe's training wasn't completed, and the data wasn't fully recorded! Our group's score is going to be affected because of this!"
"Tell me, how are you going to compensate us?"
The other two students, a boy and a girl, also crossed their arms and glared coldly at the three of them, as if they were there to demand an explanation.
Beside the treadmill, Joe had already climbed up on his own.
Despite the injuries on his face, he quickly ran between Abin and Roy, bowing repeatedly:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Brother Abin, it's my fault! It's because I didn't master the knowledge well and my stamina is too poor that I dragged everyone down!"
He then turned to Roy and the others. Although his eyes were a bit timid, he still tried to straighten his thin back:
"These... these travelers didn't do it on purpose. They might have just gotten lost... blame me if you must! Please don't blame them anymore!"
"Joe! Get out of the way!" Abin shoved him aside and took a few steps toward Roy, shaking his fist:
"If I don't give you a lesson today, you won't know the rules of Pokémon Technical Institute!"
From his stance, it looked like he was about to get physical.
Roy still held his bowl, not even lifting an eyelid, just gently blowing on the piping hot soup.
Pikachu beside him didn't care either, just looking at the treadmill with curiosity.
"Abin! Why hasn't your group finished yet? The fog cleared five minutes ago!" Just then, from the corner where the platform connected to the main road, a somewhat familiar, dissatisfied young male voice called out.
Hearing this voice, the anger on Abin's face instantly turned into respect, and he quickly jogged over to meet him.
"Brother Yuhiko! What brings you here?"
At the corner, a handsome youth wearing a more refined uniform—a silver-trimmed windbreaker over his deep blue uniform—with meticulously styled hair walked over, frowning, followed by two lackeys.
Abin ran to Yuhiko, pointed at Roy's side, and loudly complained:
"Brother Yuhiko, Joe is too stupid and can never finish his training! Also, three nonsensical troublemakers showed up today! Look, they're even eating hot pot in our training grounds! It's an insult to the Institute!"
"What kind of people? Daring to run wild at our Pokémon Technical Institute?"
Yuhiko's face darkened. Following Abin's finger with his usual arrogant expression, he looked over.
Then, his gaze collided with Roy's lazily glancing eyes.
Their eyes met.
The "Superior" arrogance on Yuhiko's face froze instantly.
Then, as if a freeze-frame button had been pressed, it rapidly turned into shock, disbelief, and finally... a hint of hard-to-conceal panic and shame.
The harsh words he hadn't finished were choked back into his throat.
The corner of his mouth even twitched involuntarily.
"Brother Yuhiko? It's that kid holding the bowl! He looks so uneducated! Should we teach him a lesson right now?" Abin didn't notice the change in Yuhiko's expression and was still fanning the flames, rubbing his hands together.
The yellow-haired boy and purple-haired girl behind him were also eager to try.
"Shut... shut up!"
Yuhiko suddenly snapped out of it, his face turning from red to white, his voice even changing pitch.
He used almost all his strength to maintain a facade of composure, turning his head away from Roy and shouting at Abin in a low voice:
"What... what are you talking about? We are noble students of a prestigious Institute! We've received the top education!"
"How can we... how can we be like those barbaric, crude wandering Training Faction people, thinking about fighting at the drop of a hat?"
Abin was stunned by the scolding: "Huh? Brother Yuhiko, but they..."
"No buts!"
Yuhiko interrupted him, speaking faster, but his voice was lower and carried a hint of imperceptible urgency:
"If the training... if the training isn't finished, make it up next time! Tangling with these... these nonsensical people will only lower our class!"
"Let's go! Right now! Immediately!"
After saying that, he didn't want to stay for another second. He turned around and walked away quickly, almost at a run, back the way he had come.
The two lackeys looked at each other, not understanding what had happened, but they quickly followed.
"Brother Yuhiko? Wait for us!" Abin was completely dumbfounded. He looked at Yuhiko's retreating back—which was practically fleeing in panic—and then at Roy, who was still calmly eating hot pot nearby. His mind was a mess.
But Yuhiko's status in the Institute was much higher than his, so he didn't dare to disobey. He could only glare fiercely at Roy and leave a parting shot:
"Joe! You're a bit slow in the head, so we can use more'spurring of love' to supervise you."
"But if you continue to hang out with these... these crude and barbaric Training Faction people and tarnish the reputation of our Pokémon Technical Institute Superiors..."
He pointed at Roy and then at Joe, his tone threatening:
"Then the 'group friendship' between us will truly disappear! You'd better watch yourself!"
After saying that, he also quickly led the yellow-haired boy and purple-haired girl, scurrying away after Yuhiko.
In the blink of an eye, the people who had been so aggressive just a moment ago had vanished.
Only Joe, with a wound on his forehead and a face full of confusion and unease, and Roy's group of three remained.
The surroundings fell silent.
Only the occasional "crackle" of the remaining wood in the hot pot stove could be heard.
"What... what was that all about!" Misty was the first to break the silence, putting down her hand that had been touching her Poké Ball, looking annoyed: "A bunch of bullies who pick on the weak but fear the strong! They sure ran fast!"
"And talking about some weird friendship—you call that friendship?"
۞۞۞۞
p-atreon.com/PokeFicLord
40+ Chapters in p-atreon.com.
(Just remove the hyphen to access Patreon normally.)