"We have invested so much effort into this exchange event; we must secure a victory."
"Understood," Mizuki and the others replied. They knew the gravity of the situation and realized this was their final chance to win.
Ishigaki stepped forward and said, "I have communicated with Director Kimura and the academy leadership."
"After some discussion, we have decided that if you win this match, we will grant you extra rewards."
Indigo Academy functioned similarly to Silver Academy, dividing prizes into individual and team categories. Only those who won received rewards; those who lost or tied received nothing. In the previous round, only four of them were eligible for rewards, and even then, they were the lower-ranked students. Naturally, the rest of the group was dissatisfied, making them determined to win this round back.
Asen clenched his fists. He had just heard Director Kimura explain the rules for the next match. Defeating Pokémon within the Breeding Center and collecting badges sounded far too simple to him. During his time on Trial Island, he faced attacks from countless Pokémon every day. Without extensive combat experience, one wouldn't even know how they died. When it came to the speed of collecting badges, he dared to say that if he were second, no one could claim to be first.
After the meeting, everyone went back to prepare for tomorrow's match. Each person could only bring a maximum of four Pokémon, so they had to carefully consider which ones to take.
Once all the students had left, Director Yanagi sat in his seat, took a sip of water, and looked at the three shimmering badges on his desk. He suddenly recalled what had happened in the conference room yesterday.
Bang!
"I do not agree to let the first-years participate in the next match!" Director Kimura shouted, slamming his hand on the table as he stood up in a rage.
Director Yanagi replied with a look of disdain, "Oh? If we don't let the first-years participate, should we let the third-years do it instead?"
Director Kimura shamelessly said, "Exactly!"
Director Yanagi sneered, "In your dreams. Even if you're willing, we aren't."
"Do you think we don't know what you did earlier, Director Kimura?"
"Do you want me to list every single thing you've done?"
Director Kimura hadn't expected Director Yanagi to bring that up so suddenly. For a moment, he didn't know how to respond.
"This..." Director Kimura stammered. Feeling at a disadvantage, he slowly sat back down.
From that point on, Director Yanagi kept using that leverage to pressure Director Kimura into agreeing. Meanwhile, the other leaders chimed in to support Director Yanagi. Silver Academy had seven or eight leaders present, while Indigo Academy only had Kimura and Ishigaki. In terms of momentum alone, they were significantly outmatched. Ishigaki wanted to help Kimura, but no one listened to him; he had zero authority in the room.
Their arguing was exceptionally wild, looking nothing like leaders. If Eichi and the others had seen it, their jaws would have dropped, completely shattering the image of "leaders" in their minds.
After an hour of arguing, Director Kimura was ultimately no match for Director Yanagi. He finally caved and agreed to let the first-years participate. It was then that Director Yanagi proposed the format for the next match. Director Kimura, having reached his limit, could only agree. Finally, after a phone call to the top brass at Indigo Academy, both parties reached a consensus.
Coming back to the present, Director Yanagi was in a pretty good mood. Out of the three grades, the first-years were the ones he felt most confident about. The third-years weren't even worth mentioning; they were the shame of Silver Academy. In the second year, only Yuli was particularly outstanding, while the others were merely ordinary.
The first-years were different. Eichi, Sato, Konan, Matsumoto, Ishida, and Kelly were all very impressive. Especially Eichi; based on his understanding of the boy, Eichi would definitely choose the path of "quality" tomorrow.
Back during the White Iron Ore incident, Eichi had demonstrated strength capable of defeating Gym Leader-level opponents. Director Yanagi had been pinned down by Hiraoka at the time and hadn't noticed. He only found out after hearing the others talk about it later.
He was shocked when he heard the news. Defeating an opponent over a dozen levels higher was a bit exaggerated, but he didn't think it was impossible. Such things had happened before, even if they were rare.
Speaking of the White Iron Ore incident, he recently received news that Yakusho, who had been arrested, was broken out of prison. Several Captains were also freed, though no other Team Rocket members were taken. Only a few people within the League knew where Yakusho was being held. How did Team Rocket find out? And why go through the trouble of freeing him?
This was worth deep reflection. There was only one answer: there was a mole in the League, and a high-ranking one at that. Following this incident, the League conducted a series of internal "sweeps" and caught many rats. However, they were all low-level figures; very few were valuable big shots. They were hidden too deeply, and the League had yet to dig them out.
However, the gains this time were relatively large. Yakusho didn't have much value left; the League already knew everything he knew. Yet, for some reason, Team Rocket still spent such a huge price to rescue him. There must be something else they didn't know—a massive secret. It was a bit of a pity.
Eichi and the others wouldn't know that the incident would lead to so many developments. Furthermore, Director Yanagi didn't intend to tell them about these matters.
Before they knew it, another day had passed. When the alarm clock rang, Eichi got out of bed right on time.
He washed up, ate, and got everything ready. When he opened his door, a slight breeze blew in. The morning air was the freshest of the day; the breeze made him feel completely refreshed.
Right after he opened his door, Tetsu's door also opened. It was a rare day where Tetsu didn't sleep in.
"Morning."
"Morning."
"Let's go," Eichi said.
Tetsu said excitedly, "Let's head out! I can't wait."
When they arrived at the Breeding Center, many people had already gathered. Teachers like Joylin had arrived very early. Besides the teachers, many staff members were on-site to maintain order. Since the competition was happening today, the Breeding Center had suspended its normal operations for the day.
Aside from Eichi and Tetsu arriving this early, only one or two Indigo Academy students had reached the site. Eichi and his friend were an hour early; the others likely wouldn't show up for a while.
They happened to see Joylin, so Eichi took Tetsu over to greet her.
Joylin smiled and said, "You two arrived quite early."
Eichi said, "I'm used to arriving ahead of time."
Since there was nothing to do yet, Eichi and Tetsu chatted with Joylin. From her, they learned that the academy had specially cleared a section of the forest. The weak and young Pokémon inside had been temporarily moved elsewhere. Those remaining in the forest were all Pokémon with formidable combat power.