"Is everyone here?"

  The voice rang out before the speaker even appeared. Moments ter, a middle-aged man strode into view, his presenanding immediate respect.

  Thea and the ht members of the school team immediately straightened up, adopting serious expressions. One of the shorter boys in the group spoke up, "Teacher Wade, the two rookies, Julian and Lucas, have arrived."

  Lucas, a sophomore and the top student in st year's special recruit css, had earned his position as representative of the sophomore css.

  Among the ten team members gathered, only Julian and Lucas were freshmen and sophomores; the ht were juniors(3rd-years) or seniors(4th-years).

  All from each grade's special recruit css.

  Reizing the man, Julian recalled hearing about him.

  This was Wade, a member of the Drake family—known as one of Drakoria's powerful Dragon-type families. He was also reted to Ian, who had mentioned before that Wade was his third uncle.

  Wade was highly respected in Drakoria, known for his formidable power at the peak of the Elite level.

  Though he hadn't attaihe position oe, it was widely uood that his skills rivaled or even surpassed half of Drakoria's eighteen type Elites.

  The only reason he wasn't the official Dragoe was due to the current Dragoe's extraordinary strength.

  Julian couldn't help but be surprised at Wade's presence. He knew Wade wasn't one of Imperial College's five elites, so it was remarkable to see him here.

  It really was an overkill for su Traio train them.

  As if sensing Julian's question, Thea leaned over and whispered.

  "Teacher Wade ecially invited by the dean."

  Julian nodded, uanding now.

  The dean, a respected figure among Trainers, was known to have mentored many top trainers in Drakoria, and it seemed Wade was one of his former students.

  Wade, who had already met the older students, focused his attention owo new recruits, Julian and Lucas.

  "Although we have ten people in the Hundred Schools League team, o will actually participate in the petition"

  Although the team taien trainers but that was only in name, o could actually pete iour, that's why the Uy allowed freshmen and sophomores to participate.

  Their role wasn't to pete but to gain valuable experience alongside more seasorainers. By the time they reached their third and fourth years, they would be primed to take on key roles in the petition.

  Now, the main team members were the eight juniors and seniors standing before Julian and Lucas.

  "But if either of you wants to earn a spot, it's possible," Wade added, pausing for a moment before pointing to the eight.

  "Defeat one of them, and you take their pce."

  The opportunity was clear—now it depended oher Julian or Lucas had the strength to cim it.

  "I'm giving you both a day to gather information on the eight of them," Wade tinued. "Tomorrow, at this same time, you decide if you want to challenge anyone."

  This approach was surprisingly siderate, giving them time to prepare and study their potential oppos.

  Of course, there was no way they could gather plete information on all eight in one night, so they would o focus on the key points.

  Lucas's gaze drifted toward the two female members, sizing up his options.

  It wasn't that he uimated them, but statistically, male trainers often outnumbered female trainers in top-level petitive circles. He figured challenging one of the girls might give him a better ce.

  Just as Lucas seemed to settle on a pn, Julian's voiterrupted his thoughts.

  "o wait. I'll challenge now"

  Lucas: (?_??)

  Suddenly, Julian heard a faint chime.

  "Ding!"

  "Daily Task: Obtain a spot."

  "Reward: 800 points."

  Even without this task, Julian would have challenged anyway. Without seg a spot, how else could he plete the Main task?

  Wade raised an eyebrow. "Fine. Who do you want to challenge?"

  Without aation, Julian poi Alex and said;

  "Him."

  Wade nodded, "Alex, a 3-vs-3 match with him. If you lose, you're out of the petition team, and this will be your only ce, Julian. Win, and you're in. Lose, and that's it."

  Alex nodded with a twisted face. He wasn't surprised that Julian had challenged him, but even if he knew, he was still irked at being chosen.

  It felt like, he was being uimated by Julian.

  With a restrained smirk, he thought about how he could use this match to teach Julian a lesson justifiably.

  "Julian, listen," Thea murmured as she stepped closer. "Alex may be annoying, but he's strong—a General-type trainer."

  "Generalist?, Jack of all trades but master of none," Julian said indifferently.

  He found it curious that Alex, despite his oner background, had taken on such a costly and resourteraining style. But then again, maybe that was just how things were meant to py out. After all, he mused, Alex was quite the protagonist-sounding name.

  Of course, if you wao stand out, you e a uh, not just follow the beaten track. That's how you could grow faster aronger.

  In Drakoria, there were General-type trainers, but most only took on additional types after reag Elite level.

  For those below Elite—especially without family resources—choosing multiple types was like digging their own grave.

  "Do you want to activate the protective barrier?" Wade asked, gng betweewo.

  "No need"

  Julian shook his head.

  Alex shook his head as well.

  Soon, both trainers stood ready at opposite ends of the field.

  A girl standio Thea leaned over and asked curiously, "Thea, is it wise for Julian to pick Alex? Alex's strength is sed only to the captain's—your cousin might have chosen the wrong Rival."

  She had heard of Julian, and his ret rise to fame in Imperial Uy.

  But his strength was mostly reized among freshmen and sophomores. In the school team, known for its high tration of pseudo-Elite and near-Elite trainers, he was fag an uphill battle.

  Of the eight main team members, all had their six Pokémon at the pseudo-Elite level, and their captain had five of his Pokémon at pseudo-Elite peak.

  Alex, currently also had two Pokémon at the pseudo-Elite peak.

  The differen bat strength between each level of pseudo-Elite wasn't massive, but it was enough to matter.

  Julian had only just reached pseudo-Elite level, while Alex was a seasohere was still a signifit gap between them.

  "How about a little bet? I'm putting my money on little Julia for the win"

  Thea didn't know how strong Julian was, but she knew Julian well, if he didn't have absolute certainty, he wouldn't have challenged Alex.

  "What are you betting?"

  As soon as she heard the word bet, the girl's eyes lit up.

  "I remember you have a Pokémon Oa, If you lose, hand it over. If I lose, I'll give you my Shiny Charm."

  For a true gambler, hesitation at this point wasn't an option.

  "Deal!"

  She nodded excitedly.

  After all, the Oa was a treasured item, especially for trainers who valued harmony with their Pokémon.