Jacob stepped out through the main entrance of the Pokémon Association building, and a wall of heat met him immediately.
Even in October, Imperial City held onto its warmth stubbornly. The sun bore down without mercy, and heat rose from the pavement in shimmering waves, blurring the street ahead of him.
He paused and looked back at the building for a moment, a quiet smile on his face, then turned and made his way toward the university.
Back inside the auditorium conference hall, the researchers had already filtered out. Only the senior officials of the Pokémon Association and the regional delegates remained, still working through the details of Jacob's proposal and settling on a final candidate for Chief Commander.
That evening, Jacob received a call from Raya.
"The Chief Commander selection isn't fully confirmed yet, but the Association has agreed to your proposal. Two separate research teams. You'll be heading one of them."
"There is one condition, though," she continued. "The Pokémon Association wants a fifty percent stake in your research team. They won't interfere with the actual experiments, but in exchange, they'll provide full support — research funding, personnel, and the rewards they announced today will still apply."
"Understood," Jacob said. He had expected something along those lines. "I'll work out the details directly with the Association."
"You're going to have a busy few days starting tomorrow," Raya said, and he could hear the smile in her voice. "Word travels fast. Plenty of people will want in on your team."
"I figured as much." Jacob glanced up at the full moon hanging in the night sky. "Did your meeting just wrap up? Have you eaten?"
"I have. I'm heading back to Aurora City tonight." A pause, then warmly: "I had your birthday present sent to Purple Mountain Villa."
"Thank you. Really." Jacob said. "Be careful on the road."
"You too. Get some rest — and don't push yourself too hard. You're young. There's time." Her voice was quiet but genuine.
"I know. Take care of yourself."
"Okay. Bye."
The following day, the gift from Raya arrived.
Jacob opened the box and found an S-rank Eviolite resting inside, surrounded by a set of finely crafted Pokémon figurines. Sceptile, Charizard, Indeedee, Darkrai — each one a small, carefully made piece. Every Pokémon in his team had one.
For someone as occupied as Raya, the thought she had put into choosing something personal for each of his Pokémon was not lost on him.
Jacob felt a warmth settle in his chest. His gaze moved to the Eviolite.
Looking at it, his mind drifted to Pokémon like Chansey and Murkrow — both of whom made exceptional use of the item. He found himself quietly wishing he had a Chansey of his own.
Over the days that followed, Raya's prediction proved accurate. Jacob's phone rang constantly. Many people wanted to attach themselves to his project, eager for a foothold in whatever came out of Gigantamax research.
Most of them, however, had contradictory expectations. They wanted the upside without the risk — pushing for additional agreements and written guarantees before committing a single coin, hoping to protect their investment while still claiming a share of any future success.
Jacob turned them all down without hesitation.
That kind of arrangement didn't exist. No one gets to avoid the risk and still take the reward.
Others, of course, chose to place their confidence in Holden and Jorge instead, which was their right. The two research teams gave interested parties a genuine choice of where to put their support.
In the end, Jacob kept only the partners he already trusted — the Long, Xiao, Chi, and Shi families — and politely declined everyone else.
Time moved quickly. Before long, November had arrived, and Jacob's days were full.
On the research side, negotiations with the Pokémon Association had been finalized after more than a month of back and forth. Along with substantial funding, Jacob had also secured approval for a large plot of land in the outskirts of Imperial City.
If anything, it was the land he had worked hardest to obtain. The site covered an enormous area, with varied terrain — open grassland, dense forest, mountain ridges, and river channels running through it. Most importantly, it sat beside a large lake, which Jacob had specifically sought out. Gigantamax Lapras needed deep, open water, and this location would allow him to house and study one properly.
The moment the land was approved, construction on the Gigantamax Laboratory began.
On the academic side, Capital University's Trainer students reached their midterm evaluations.
Unlike the written exams in other departments, the Trainer program's midterm assessment was straightforward: Pokémon battles, nothing more. For most students, it was an intense and pressure-filled period.
For Jacob, it was barely a concern.
When the semester began, the university had ranked students according to their demonstrated strength. Jacob, having won the regional Champion title, held the top spot without dispute. Julia, the runner-up, sat just behind him in second.
The challenge system worked like this: students ranked first through tenth could issue one challenge per week, but only to the student ranked directly above them — no skipping. A win allowed them to continue challenging upward. Students ranked eleventh through one hundredth could also challenge once per week, targeting anyone within five ranks above them, and could keep going if they won. Students ranked below one hundredth followed the same rules, but could challenge up to ten ranks above them.
In the two months since the semester started, Jacob had not faced a single challenge. The main reason was simple: Julia stood between everyone else and him.
She understood how stretched Jacob was — between training his team, managing the Charizard Zero Project, and overseeing the new research initiative. So she never challenged him herself, but instead held firmly to second place, becoming an immovable barrier between Jacob and the rest of the year.
Anyone wanting to reach Jacob had to go through Julia first — and Julia's battling ability was not something most students were ready for. No one had broken through.
The top two positions for the freshman cohort had not shifted once since the semester began. Everything below them, however, was constant motion. Isaac and Ariana in particular traded places near the top of the rankings almost every week.
The result that surprised Jacob most, though, was Kyle. Over the past month, the guy had made a remarkable climb, jumping from well outside the top five hundred all the way past two hundred. Jacob hadn't expected that kind of drive from him.
Julia had mentioned more than once, with obvious exasperation, just how many challenges she had absorbed on Jacob's behalf over these two months.