New Events Unfolding

Azalea Town.

The sun shone brightly, and the air was filled with birdsong and the fragrance of flowers.

Heiduo stepped out of a two-story building, with Arbok beside him, wearing an utterly satisfied expression.

"Hiss!" Arbok nudged Heiduo's back with its large head, as though begging for something.

Heiduo impatiently pushed Arbok's head away. "That's enough! Too much is as bad as too little. Teacher Tuo Nan said massages can't last longer than two hours!"

A week had already passed since he arrived in Azalea Town.

Don't ask why time had passed so quickly. You would feel the same way when you were spending money to learn knowledge.

Didn't I just pay last week's tuition? How had I already used up all my class hours?

When he saw how drastically his wallet had shrunk, Heiduo nearly broke down inside.

Back at Team Rocket's Special Training Camp, Heiduo had cashed out 3,000 in cash. Adding the 2,000 he already had on him, he had possessed a total of 5,000.

Over the past half month, food expenses for himself and the four little ones had come to nearly 1,500. Books cost 400, fruit 500, snacks 200, and clothes and miscellaneous items 600.

That already added up to 3,200. Then the First Badge had earned him 1,000, leaving him with 2,800. But the Pokémon massage classes had cost him another 500, fifty per lesson, with each lesson lasting two hours.

With only 2,300 left in his pocket, if he found no new source of income, he probably would not make it through next month.

"Money, money!" Heiduo turned around and looked at the small two-story villa behind him, his heart filled with envy.

The owner of the house was a respectable lady.

Her name was Tuo Nan. She was a Veteran Breeder employed at the Pokémon School in Azalea Town, with twenty-five years of experience raising Pokémon. Though she was thirty-six this year and not particularly famous, she had taught a great many Breeders.

Heiduo had an excellent impression of her. This beautiful woman was extremely responsible, and her husband was a carpenter. While teaching him Pokémon massage, she had also taught him plenty of knowledge related to Breeders.

Her annual income of 300,000 made Heiduo green with envy.

Moreover, her Nidoqueen had left a deep impression on Heiduo as well. Though that Ground-type Pokémon stood eighty centimeters taller than the average Nidoqueen and did not have a high Energy Level, it was exceptionally healthy and strong. Its sapphire-blue keratinous skin was sleek and glossy, its cry loud and clear, and it brimmed with vitality.

That was the strength of Breeders. Their Pokémon might not be powerful, but they were absolutely healthy, vastly different from some high-level Pokémon whose bodies were riddled with hidden problems. Such health and extraordinary growth were precisely what Heiduo wanted.

He longed to own a gigantic Arbok comparable to the snake from Anaconda.

Since he had paid for it, Heiduo was extremely enthusiastic about learning. Like a sponge absorbing water, he tirelessly soaked up Tuo Nan's knowledge.

Heiduo's earnest attitude and efficient learning ability made Tuo Nan unable to resist praising and appreciating him. When Tuo Nan asked whether he wished to study at the Azalea Town Pokémon School, Heiduo chose to refuse. He knew Tuo Nan might have taken a liking to him and wanted to teach him personally. But at his current pace, if he peacefully studied at school before collecting Badges and entering the tournament, his hopes of winning the championship would be extremely slim.

To win the League Tournament, enter the Champion League, and defeat Lorelei, his Pokémon's average level would need to be at least seventy. On top of that, he himself needed to improve as well.

He had seen quite a few academy-trained Pokémon Trainers at Tuo Nan's place. A girl in the highest grade of Pokémon School—sixth grade—was a year younger than him, and the strongest Pokémon she owned was only level fifty.

At that level, even passing the Veteran Trainer License exam could not be considered certain, much less taking first place at the League Conference—unless her commanding skills were exceptionally superb.

Speaking of Trainer rankings, the Pokémon League generally divided Trainers into four tiers.

Novice Trainer—Elite Trainer—Veteran Trainer—Top Trainer.

The requirement for the Elite Trainer Certificate was three Pokémon at level forty or above. The requirement for the Veteran Trainer License was three Pokémon at level fifty or above. Top Trainers needed three Pokémon at level sixty-five or above.

The three certificates came with different subsidies, and official employment could earn a person quite a few benefits.

The subsidies were 5,000, 10,000, and 20,000 respectively.

Why were the subsidies so high? Generally speaking, most Trainers could only receive the second subsidy. Fewer than one in a hundred could receive the third, and even Trainers qualified to enter the League Conference might not receive the Top Trainer subsidy.

"So hurry up and raise your level! At this rate, we won't even be able to afford food!" Heiduo grabbed Arbok's wildly swinging tail. This useless fellow had only risen five levels in an entire week! And that was after it had battled people. Heiduo was furious.

The other three were about the same. After reaching level twenty, the speed at which they leveled up had dropped drastically.

With a twist, Arbok wrapped Heiduo up. Its originally thick tongue narrowed into a long, thin one and licked across Heiduo's face. It had recently discovered this weakness of Heiduo's.

This guy hated having wet marks left on his face. Whenever Arbok did this, it always ended up getting beaten.

Of course, after being beaten, it felt pretty good. Whatever it wanted, it got.

Though the beating hurt a little, happiness arrived once the pain passed.

Sure enough, Heiduo broke free from Arbok's restraints with his twenty points of Strength and pinned it to the ground for a beating.

Be as cheeky as you like. I'll still treat you like a fool!

"Senior Heiduo!"

A figure arrived at Heiduo's side along with a light, gentle female voice.

Heiduo let go of Arbok, which had opened its mouth and was playing dead, then looked over.

"Sari? Don't you have class this afternoon?" Heiduo looked at the girl before him in confusion.

Sari was an adorable little girl with lead-gray twin ponytails, an exchange student from Unova, and the Trainer of the Scolipede whom Heiduo and Bugsy had met before.

She had gotten to know Heiduo through Bugsy, then gotten to know Shuangye through Heiduo.

Now, her relationship with Shuangye had become strangely close.

Sari stuck out her tongue and said cutely, "It's the weekend! Who has class on the weekend?"

That was the difference between academy-trained Trainers and traditional Trainers. Unless they chose to rest, traditional Trainers went all 365 days of the year without a break.

Heiduo was not criticizing or looking down on academy-trained Trainers. Balancing work and rest was perfectly normal, and even society opposed excessively long working hours. He himself did not stay tense every day either.

It was simply that, for someone as pressed for time as him, the relaxed pace of academy training was not very suitable.

"Where's Shuangye?" Sari looked around but did not spot Shuangye.

Heiduo's mouth twitched. "Her? She's sitting in the café."

As the two spent more time together, Shuangye had become increasingly unprofessional and lacking in work ethics. Whenever Heiduo went to class, she would sit in the café and slowly wait for him to finish, like a stalker.

The good Police officer who had once been inseparable from Heiduo, waiting outside even when he went to the restroom, was gone.

"Mi~"

A pink creature that looked somewhat like a cat and somewhat like a fox approached Heiduo and rubbed against his pant leg.

Sari cried out in delight, crouching down to stroke Espeon's head. But compared with Sari, Espeon clearly preferred being touched by Heiduo.

Obviously. Over the past few days, Shuangye's three Pokémon had not escaped Heiduo's "Poison" hands. Having experienced it, they looked forward to Heiduo's massages even more than his own Pokémon did.

Heiduo glanced to the side and saw Shuangye sitting on a bench, holding a cup of coffee with a straw between her cherry-red lips, gently sipping it.

He picked up Espeon. This Pokémon, modeled after a nekomata, had a body as soft as a marshmallow, and its short fur felt warm and comfortable.

It made Heiduo want to catch an Eevee too.

He remembered that Goldenrod Game Corner in Goldenrod City seemed to have Eevee available for exchange with game coins.

"Hiss—" Arbok let out a dissatisfied hiss. First come, first served! First come, first served!

Espeon cast Arbok a disdainful glance. "Mi~"

Sorry, being cute really did mean it could do whatever it wanted.

Arbok flew into a rage.

Heiduo, noticing the two of them acting like dramatic performers, let out a soft laugh. Things like this happened often enough and counted as a small diversion in his life.

Having spotted Shuangye, Sari abandoned Heiduo and scampered over.

The moment the two girls from the same hometown met, they seemed to have endless things to say. Heiduo noticed that only at times like these did Shuangye's expressions and movements resemble those of a younger girl.

He headed straight back to the Pokémon Center.

Compared with the Pokémon Center in Violet City, the one in Azalea Town was strikingly empty.

Of course, that was partly because Azalea Town itself had a smaller population.

Sitting on a sofa in the Pokémon Center lobby, Heiduo's attention was drawn to a program playing on a wall-mounted LCD television nearby.

"...According to rumors, the cross-continental criminal organization—the Mole Poaching Group—has entered Johto and has left traces in National Park.

"The Mole Poaching Group is a major criminal syndicate that poaches and captures rare Pokémon for illegal sale. Its leader, Ghetsis, originated from Team Plasma, a grassroots organization from Unova..."

A faint cracking sound caught Heiduo's attention.

Heiduo turned his head and discovered Shuangye clenching her fists tightly, her face twisted with gritted teeth.

Her eyes were slightly red, clearly because she had recalled some unpleasant memories.

"Shuangye, what's wrong?" Sari looked at Shuangye with concern. Her expression was truly frightening.

Shuangye coldly stared at Ghetsis's image displayed on the television. "Do you remember the Great Release Event?"

The Great Release Event in Unova referred to a world-shocking incident in which large numbers of Pokémon had been released by their Trainers during a major lobbying rally.