Roxanne

Lina brought Roy into the classroom, gave him a brief introduction without mentioning that his Pokémon was Ghost type, then assigned him a seat.

At the back of the classroom by the window—the king's homeland.

Roy's seat was also a desk for one, for the same reason.

Holding his newly issued textbook, Pokémon Breeding Essentials, Roy began flipping through it.

He hadn't really seen books like this back at Mt. Pyre. It described the things to watch out for when training and raising Pokémon of different types.

Of course, books available on the market only skimmed the surface. They contained no in-depth explanations, let alone anything truly useful.

Yet Roy flipped through the entire book without finding the words "Ghost type." Even the Fairy type, which had only been officially defined in the Galar region last year, was covered—but Ghost type was nowhere to be found.

No wonder Professor Birch had been so excited when he learned Roy was a Ghost-type Pokémon Trainer.

Lina spoke endlessly from the podium, occasionally slapping the desk and calling on someone to answer a question.

"Which two Pokémon aren't good at flying, yet can both learn Fly?"

Well, Groudon could be ruled out first.

The Little Fatty who'd been called on clearly didn't know the answer and could only turn to someone else for help.

His deskmate quietly prompted, "Dodrio and Doduo!"

You know, this really did feel a little like going to school back then.

Seeing Roy reading through his book with interest, Lina finally relaxed. So far, Roy didn't seem to have any strange habits. He was a normal twelve-year-old boy.

She mainly taught students about Pokémon types and breeding. At the same time, she was also the substitute teacher for the beginner class.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Class was over.

There was still about one more class before lunch. Time really was passing rather slowly.

Just as Roy was considering what to eat for lunch—

A plump, fleshy hand lightly slapped Roy's single desk. It was obvious that its owner wanted to intimidate him.

Yet he didn't dare act too arrogantly because of Roy's identity as a Ghost-type Trainer.

Was this some kind of school bullying scene?

"H-Hey! You... you're that Ghost-type Pokémon Trainer who just joined the academy?"

Roy stood up. At 170 centimeters, he wasn't short for a twelve-year-old. He looked down at the Little Fatty, who was half a head shorter than him.

For some reason, the Little Fatty looked a little like the dean Roy had just met.

When Roy suddenly stood up, the Little Fatty was so frightened that he staggered back two steps, as if he were afraid Roy would eat him.

But Roy merely stood up, raised his head, and stretched before asking the Little Fatty,

"Classmate, do you know where the restroom is?"

"J-Just go straight that way, sir..."

Watching Roy leave the classroom, the Little Fatty wiped a layer of cold sweat from his forehead.

A mocking voice sounded behind him. A tall, skinny boy sneered,

"Ohoho, you're even calling him 'sir.' In a little while, are you going to serve that new kid tea and water too?

"You were told to intimidate him, so why didn't you do it properly? Stop shaking your legs! Now you've turned yourself into a joke. What will Boss Lady think? Useless."

Faced with the skinny boy's mockery, the Little Fatty immediately fired back.

"Fine, you go next time?"

"T-That was the task Boss Lady gave you. Why should I go?"

The skinny boy spoke without conviction. He had no desire to offend that new Ghost-type Trainer. Better let this fatso test the waters first.

The Little Fatty stopped arguing with the skinny boy. He had something more important to do.

He walked over to the desk of a girl with twin tails, a pink hair clip, and thigh-high socks, then reported solemnly,

"Boss Lady, I asked my uncle and found out for sure. He's the Ghost-type Trainer who just joined the academy."

He really was a Ghost-type Trainer. If she took him on as her underling, wouldn't that sound incredibly cool?

After thinking it over, the girl made up her mind. She was going to take a Ghost-type Trainer as her underling.

At that moment, Roy returned to the classroom and gave the Little Fatty a friendly look. At least, Roy considered it friendly—but the moment the Little Fatty saw it, he immediately hid behind the girl.

The girl stood up, but because of the difference in height, she could only look up at Roy.

"Roy, I challenge you! If you lose, you'll become my underling."

Roy took one look at the girl and grinned.

Wasn't this Roxanne, the future Rock-type Gym Leader of Rustboro City? It seemed she had also studied at Rustboro Academy. After graduating, she'd stayed behind to teach at the school while also serving as the Rock-type Gym Leader.

She looked much younger now, with the air of a Japanese delinquent girl.

Who would've thought Roxanne was so cute as a child? Roy suddenly felt like teasing her a little.

"What if I win?"

Roxanne didn't react right away. This was the first time someone had contradicted her. He actually thought he could beat her! With a proud expression, Roxanne declared,

"I can't possibly lose to you."

"Then that's unfair. If I win, I get no reward, but if I lose, I have to become your underling. I'm not battling you."

Roy lay back down on his desk. After cleaning the storage room all morning, he was a little tired too.

Roxanne considered it and found that Roy had a point.

"Then if you win, I'll do as you say."

"If I win..." Roy looked at Roxanne with a teasing expression and slowly stated his condition.

"Then you'll write me a love letter! At least five hundred words, sincere and not pretentious. No prose or poetry."

"A... a love letter!"

Two blushes appeared on Roxanne's clean little face. She hadn't expected Roy to make such a demand and froze where she stood.

The Pokémon World wasn't exactly child-oriented, and people matured early, but did they really need to start writing love letters already?

When Roxanne didn't respond, Roy assumed she was unwilling.

"If you don't want to, forget it. When class ends, I'm going to eat."

As Roxanne's number-one underling and lackey, the Little Fatty forgot his fear and immediately retorted,

"How dare you! You eat—"

Before he could start cursing, Roxanne beside him agreed, "Fine! I accept."

Roxanne had never believed she could lose.

The Little Fatty, who had just gathered the courage to passionately speak up for Roxanne, stared at his boss lady in disbelief.

The other tall, skinny boy beside him patted the Little Fatty on the shoulder in consolation.

"Brother, forget it. Don't waste your effort."

"Then after school this afternoon, we'll go to the dedicated battle arena in the center of the academy. There are proper referees and battlefields there."

"Don't be late."

With that, Roxanne returned to her seat, her face red.

Seriously, why were you blushing like a teapot?

The people gathered around to watch the excitement also dispersed. If Boss Lady hadn't insisted on taking Roy on as some underling, they wouldn't have wanted to offend a Ghost-type Trainer.

But after that brief exchange, they realized Roy didn't seem any different from an ordinary Trainer. He had one nose and two eyes, and the guy was even kind of handsome.

Could it be that the urban legend about Ghost-type Trainers using dark magic was fake?