Chapter 89 - High School Exchange Tournament

For Nathan, the most troublesome thing was the first day of regular subjects.

He had completely forgotten all about them.

If it were Pokémon-related trivia, he wouldn't have any problems—he was very well-versed in that area.

Like which Pokémon would cause the most harm to male trainers?

He would definitely say Jynx—because Jynx is a particularly affectionate Pokémon that loves to show her gratitude.

And her way of showing gratitude? A big kiss.

That kiss?

Male trainers call it the "Kiss of Doom."

It's like one of Jynx's actual moves.

He also knew that Magmar's body temperature was so high that humans couldn't even touch it, and the hotter its environment, the more energetic it became.

In short, any knowledge related to Pokémon was second nature to him.

But regular academic subjects?

Ha. No thanks.

"Forget it."

Nathan shook his head and pulled out his phone.

It was too late to cram anyway, so he figured he might as well use the opportunity to make some money.

He opened his friend circle and uploaded a photo of his Pokéblocks, immediately starting an ad campaign.

[Come take a look! Brand-new Pokémon feed that even the Pokémon of the Pokéball Group's heiress approves of—Pokéblocks! Totally worth your purchase!]

[Top-quality, guaranteed! For your Pokémon's happiness, for your kid's future achievements, you owe it to yourself to buy this!]

After finishing the post,

Nathan sent it out to his Weibo.

And then—

Ding-dong.

Ding-dong.

Ding-dong.

His private messages started pouring in.

…

Miss Evelyn: [Another 3,000 sets!]

Sam: [Damn, boss! You had this good stuff and didn't recommend it earlier? Gimme some!]

Leo: [1,000 sets for me!]

Willow: [I'll take one of those feed packages!]

[…]

Tsk.

Gotta say, using Miss Evelyn as an endorsement worked like a charm.

Nathan happily replied to each message one by one, gathering phone numbers and addresses, then dove headfirst into making Pokéblocks.

By dinner time,

Nathan's dad had come home. During the meal, he said, "You've started the Elite Trainer exams?"

"Yeah." Nathan nodded.

After a brief pause, his dad added, "Be careful."

While elite trainers do get great treatment and benefits, there's also danger involved—especially during wild exploration missions. Nathan's father had looked into it—every year, some elite trainers die on such missions.

Nathan grinned. "Don't worry, Dad. With Volcarona by my side, there's no real danger."

His mom patted his head and said, "It's because you have Volcarona that we didn't want you to become an elite trainer in the first place."

Dinner was a cheerful occasion.

After all, it was Lily's tenth birthday.

Nathan's parents had even bought her presents—some cute accessories that girls would like. They made a wish and cut the cake.

While eating cake, Nathan nudged Lily with his shoulder and asked, "What did you wish for? Come on, tell me."

"Not telling you." Lily wrinkled her nose. "If I say it out loud, it won't come true."

"Stingy."

Nathan rolled his eyes and went back to enjoying his cake.

Over the next three days, Nathan stuck to a strict routine between school and home.

He'd go to school during the day for exams, then go home and make Pokéblocks in his room.

And honestly, he was making bank.

In just a few days, he had earned about 8 million.

Mainly because most of his contacts were rich—people who weren't short on money.

They'd buy in bulk, hundreds or even thousands of portions at once.

Each deal earned him hundreds of thousands, sometimes over a million.

Before he knew it, it was already the fourth day—

The final day of exams.

High School Exchange Tournament.

In the past, students would go to other schools for the event,

But this year, since Nathan had won the Trial Tournament on behalf of his school, the other schools came to Poplar City instead.

That morning, Nathan woke up early, washed up, had breakfast, and leisurely made his way to school.

"Another boring day," Nathan muttered to himself.

In his eyes, the exchange tournament was just a day of beating rookies.

Some opponents might have Gym-level Pokémon, but that didn't change the fact that it was an easy win.

When he arrived at school,

he spotted Lily and Sam at the gate—they'd just arrived too.

"Boss, over here!" Sam waved at Nathan.

"Yeah yeah, I'm coming."

Nathan looked at Sam's excited face and sighed. "You look way too hyped for this."

"Of course I'm excited!"

Sam grinned. "The exchange tournament's a great chance to show off. Do well and the school will even reward us."

"Let's go. The homeroom teacher's waiting." Lily chimed in.

She didn't seem as pumped as Sam.

For her, doing well or not didn't really matter—she had made up her mind to become a Pokémon Breeder.

After some serious thought over the past couple of days, she decided that since she didn't have a strong talent for being a Trainer, she might as well change paths early.

At least as a Breeder, she could still be with Pokémon every day.

Nathan just shrugged and walked with them to the school's sports field.

There, several battle arenas had already been set up.

Teams from various schools stood in their assigned spots, each led by their homeroom teacher.

But not everyone from each school participated.

Each school selected the ten strongest students from the senior year.

Naturally, Nathan was among the top ten from Poplar City High.

Sam and Lily were also selected—both had Gym-level Pokémon, after all.

"Nathan, you're finally here!" Their homeroom teacher William came up and wrapped an arm around his neck. "Today's match depends on you—do your best, alright?"

"Teacher, can you not be so... intimate?" Nathan gave him a look. "I'll do my best, okay?"

"Heh, good enough." William nodded, not minding the jab. As long as they won, he was happy.

With Nathan on their team, there was no way they'd lose.

Come on, a Volcarona at the Elite level?

That thing could get Nathan a decent ranking even in a national tournament, let alone against a bunch of high schoolers.

"Oh right—does the school have any rewards this time?" Nathan asked.

"Of course," William replied. "Depends on what you want—resources or cash. You can pick one."

"Of course, it won't be as generous as the national tournaments though."

Nathan rubbed his chin and asked, "If I win the whole thing, can the principal do what he did last time?"

"You mean help you look for those weird stones?"

"Yup."

"Psh." William gave Nathan a light smack on the shoulder. "Why are you so obsessed with collecting those stones? Wouldn't it be better to use resources to power up your Pokémon?"

Nathan shrugged and smiled. "What can I say, collecting stones is my one true hobby in life."

"Fine, fine. I'll talk to the principal for you," William said with a sigh.

Then he pointed to a group off in the distance. "Those folks are from various universities—top-tier Pokémon academies. Normally, only second or third-tier schools would send scouts, but this year they're all here because of you. They want to see how much you've grown since the Trial Tournament. So make sure to put on a good show. Best if you send out all of your Pokémon during the match."

All of them?

Yeah, no thanks.

Nathan's mouth twitched. He had zero intention of doing that.

If he brought out his Steelix, those university professors might just pass out from shock.

Still, aside from Steelix and Volcarona, the rest of his team were also Gym-level.

Those alone were more than enough to impress.

…

At exactly 9 a.m.,

The exchange tournament began.

The rules were simple:

1v1 battles.

The 3v3 or 6v6 formats were generally reserved for university-level matches.

Before college, 1v1 was the standard.

Nathan's match wasn't until around 11,

so he just watched the other matches by the battlefield in the meantime.

The first match was between two other schools—North City and River City.

A boy and a girl, both about equal in strength.

Since it was a 1v1, they both brought out their strongest Pokémon, which were commander-level.

Sam was up in the fourth match.

Lily had the seventh.

Not long after Sam's match, it was finally Nathan's turn.

As soon as Nathan stepped onto the battlefield,

the professors from the universities lit up with interest.

"That's the Trial Tournament champion, right? Trainer Nathan Vesper?"

"Yeah, what a promising young man. Already has a Elite-level Pokémon in his rookie stage—and it's Volcarona, no less."

"I'm really curious to see how he's progressed since the tournament. I heard he passed the Elite Trainer qualification, which means aside from Volcarona, he should have at least two other Gym-level or higher Pokémon."

"Ha! A real gem. I'm claiming him for my university in Magic City."

"Buzz off. Imperial City University already has their eye on him."