"Hmm... unless it involves a matter of principle, my mom generally doesn't interfere with my choices."
At thirteen, Koji had already traveled around Kanto with his Pokémon, staying in Fuchsia City, Pallet Town, Viridian City, and the Shallow Leaf Protected Area. His travels had been limited to a coastal stretch in southern Kanto, but that was already quite an achievement for a child his age.
Those children in the anime who set out at ten and physically withstood fire, water, thunder, and lightning... perhaps they existed... but they probably belonged to an extremely, extremely rare minority.
When he was moving from middle school to high school, Koji had become a fan of the driver Shen Qi and agreed with Pokémon High School's philosophy.
Without giving any advance notice, Ruri had personally taken a low-key look around Pokémon High School and felt it was a school born in barren soil yet possessed of noble qualities.
It didn't matter if the teaching quality was a little lacking. Ruri and the members of Kumquat Gym could tutor him in Pokémon Trainer knowledge and skills anyway, so Koji had smoothly enrolled in Pokémon High School, just as he wanted.
He was also one of the very few students from the Orange Islands to attend Pokémon High School.
"Oh!" Shen Qi suddenly remembered that before the Research Achievement press conference, public opinion concerning Pokémon High School and Shen Qi had been terrible. In particular, the lord of Shamouti Island had been spreading rumors locally too.
When he had contacted Xiao Chun, he had heard that Kumquat Island had actually stepped forward to support Pokémon High School, refuting some of the Shamouti Island lord's more excessive claims.
Shen Qi had been utterly puzzled at the time. Since when had Pokémon High School been on friendly terms