Chapter 254: The Freshmen Training Camp

Chapter 254: The Freshmen Training Camp

This scene immediately attracted the attention of the surrounding students.

The Longspring Secret Realm Expedition at the beginning of October—commonly referred to as the Freshmen Training Camp—was essentially a welcome benefit for students who had worked hard to gain admission into Central Youth University.

However, this "benefit" wasn't as simple as just walking in and picking fruit from the trees.

The Longspring Secret Realm was fundamentally a forest-type secret realm. The difference was that nearly every tree inside was a Longspring Fruit tree, much like the orchards outside Aura Town.

Although most of these trees were cultivated by humans, they were primarily protected by the Pokémon inhabiting the secret realm.

Because of this, different regions in the Longspring Secret Realm had various Pokémon species acting as territorial guardians.

According to school regulations, before entering the secret realm, each freshman would be given a special spatial backpack.

Aside from that, they weren't allowed to bring any additional containers for collecting Longspring Fruits.

Furthermore, once a Longspring Fruit was placed inside the backpack, it couldn't be taken out until the student exited the secret realm.

The higher the age of a Longspring Fruit tree, the greater the energy concentration in its fruit.

Naturally, the Pokémon guarding those trees would also be stronger.

The Pokémon in the Longspring Secret Realm were veterans—they had witnessed numerous mass human intrusions over the years.

Under these conditions, forming teams became the best strategy.

Originally, there were no restrictions on team sizes.

However, in one of the past training camps, a particularly clever freshman created a private group chat and recruited a large number of other freshmen.

Once inside the secret realm, they used their Flying-type Pokémon to locate each other and regrouped into a massive team.

The result?

They formed a several-hundred-member squad.

Unless they encountered Elite-level Pokémon or large territorial Pokémon groups, they could roam the secret realm unchallenged.

That year, most of the freshmen left the secret realm with a ridiculous bounty of Longspring Fruits, which left the resident Pokémon furious.

After this incident, the university immediately changed the rules.

Now, for each Freshmen Training Camp, the maximum team size was limited to three members.

Additionally, teams could engage in battles with other teams to exchange their Longspring Fruits.

That meant if a team won, they had the right to swap their lower-grade fruits for the opponent's higher-grade fruits.

Importantly, once a challenge was issued, the opponent was not allowed to refuse.

One crucial rule to note—

Upperclassmen (sophomores and juniors) were also allowed to enter the secret realm during this period.

Unlike freshmen, they weren't bound by the special spatial backpack rule and weren't required to follow the fruit exchange system.

As long as they didn't go overboard, the school turned a blind eye to their actions.

In other words, upperclassmen could rob freshmen of their Longspring Fruits.

And the upperclassmen who participated?

They were primarily student mentors and students with special positions on campus.

Although they typically wouldn't target their own class's freshmen, they had no problem raiding students from other classes.

For students who had already been at the university for one or two years, their Pokémon were generally stronger than most freshmen's.

Every year, this event was one of the most exciting periods for upperclassmen.

Everyone knew about these rules.

When upperclassmen took Longspring Fruits from freshmen, they usually didn't take everything.

They would take more at the beginning of the event and gradually reduce their "loot" later on.

Right now…

Hikaru and Sakura were prime targets.

Everyone in the room had already seen their battle skills in the High School League Championship.

Not to mention—Hikaru's final Pokémon had never even been revealed.

If someone teamed up with them,

Most upperclassmen wouldn't dare to attack.

But why would they let some random girl join their team?

Sakura, of course, wouldn't allow it.

She stepped closer to Hikaru, grabbed his arm protectively, and said,

"Sorry, Onii-chan already has a team."

"Ah… I see…"

The girl looked disappointed but didn't argue. She simply turned and left.

Seeing this scene, the other students were shocked.

They had already suspected something when Hikaru and Sakura walked into class together.

But now…

Sakura, who was always polite and friendly, had just blatantly marked her territory?

It really seemed like their relationship was more than just friendship.

Still, considering both of their talents, ages, and looks,

They were practically a perfect match.

The only thing that didn't seem to align was Hikaru's background.

But given that he was already recognized as a Legendary Pokémon Trainer,

It probably didn't matter much.

After all, in Huaguo, there were very few Legendary Pokémon Trainers.

As long as nothing unexpected happened,

Hikaru would undoubtedly become at least a Top Elite Trainer in the future.

For example—

The National Fighting Gym Leader, Ke Xuan, had caught a Stufful in his youth.

After it evolved into Bewear, he challenged every major Fighting Gym in the region—securing a 100-win streak.

At the time, he was one of the most celebrated young trainers in Huaguo.

Eventually, he settled down, got married, and became one of Huaguo's eight National Gym Leaders.

His Bewear was so powerful that it became an internet sensation—he even livestreamed his gym battles, drawing millions of fans.

Compared to Ke Xuan, Hikaru was even more dazzling.

He was only a teenager, yet he already had a near-Master-level Latias.

It was hard to imagine how strong he would become in the future.

Once they left the classroom, Sakura finally let go of Hikaru's arm.

She grinned mischievously.

"Want me to show you around the school, Onii-chan?"

Hikaru shook his head.

"No need."

He had something else on his mind.

After today's lesson on the Substitute-Protect-Toxic strategy,

He wanted to train Bulbasaur to master the key techniques as quickly as possible.

Once combined with Rhythm Master,

And given that Bulbasaur was more agile than Venusaur,

This strategy would work even better than with Venusaur.

In fact, it could become even more frustrating for opponents!

He was eager to start working on a training plan for Bulbasaur.

"…Oh."

Sakura pouted slightly when Hikaru refused her offer.

She glanced at him, clearly holding back several questions.

Like—

Why was he with Mei-jie when he returned to Mizuki City?

Or—

Why did his expression seem a little off?

Even though he tried to hide it,

She could tell something was wrong.

After all, before returning to Kyoto,

She had practically grown up with him.

She could read him like a book.

Something was definitely bothering him.

"…Forget it. I'll ask next time."

Sakura quickly brushed off her thoughts, smiled, and asked—

"Then where are you going now?"

Hikaru was still thinking about battle strategies and absentmindedly replied,

"Heading back for a bit…"

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