"You've been watching the show for quite some time now. Are you really going to leave without saying hello?"
"Hmm~"
David slowly stepped forward and addressed the nearby bushes.
"Whoosh~ whoosh~ whoosh~"
Other than the rustling of leaves in the wind, there was no response.
David smiled, an amused expression crossing his face.
"Alright, you brought this upon yourself. Don't blame me then. Zorua, use Flamethrower on those bushes."
Seeing that the hidden observer was ignoring him, David feigned anger and instructed Zorua to perform a "scorched earth" maneuver on the vegetation before them.
Zorua, in perfect sync with David as always, naturally cooperated seamlessly, immediately stepping forward and preparing to unleash Flamethrower.
"Wait, don't burn it! I'm coming out right now..."
The person concealed in the bushes finally couldn't maintain composure and quickly spoke up, urging David to stop.
As he called out, the bushes rustled, and then two figures emerged from within.
"Please, don't set it on fire! We can talk this through."
A figure wearing a school uniform, accompanied by a Pokémon, crawled out from the foliage.
David observed the school uniform the person wore, a knowing expression on his face. Well, well~ Someone from Private Wyvern Academy!
What a coincidence. He then examined the Pokémon beside the student.
Name: Houndour
Type: Dark/Fire
Gender: ♂
Potential: Blue-Purple
Level: 20 (Veteran)
Well, his strength isn't too shabby. It seems like not only have I reaped my intended rewards, but I've also caught an unexpected prize.
Being able to reach Veteran level within half a semester—this guy probably wasn't just anyone at his school.
This person was a student from Private Wyvern Academy.
Private Wyvern Academy, along with Imperial Capital No. 2 High, White Spirit High, and Falling River Middle School—these were the schools most eager to dethrone No. 1 High's supremacy, and they had been the primary advocates for this mid-term joint examination.
If David remembered correctly, the student who had used Jangmo-o to defeat Willow during the Rookie Cup had been an external recruit invited by this very academy.
Hmm, this qualified as both old grudges and new grievances.
"Listen, I really didn't mean anything by it. I just noticed some commotion over here and came to investigate. No other intentions whatsoever!"
The person who had emerged from the bushes looked up at David's scrutinizing gaze and hastily explained himself.
The guy before him was a formidable individual who could take down an Ursaring with just one Pokémon. He really shouldn't provoke him.
Who would've guessed that innocent-looking little fox was so powerful! If they actually fought, his Houndour would probably be obliterated instantly. Good grief, is this year's Rookie Cup Champion really that terrifying?
That's right—the moment he first spotted David, he had already identified him. After all, there was only one Zorua of this particular form in the entire world currently.
It could be said that Zorua had become David's signature; as long as someone saw the little fox, they would naturally recognize David's identity.
Seeing his opponent act so submissively, as if ready to surrender with just a single word from him, David didn't immediately respond. He simply curved his lips into a half-smile, pointed at the No. 1 High school emblem on his uniform, and said casually,
"You wouldn't think this is just going to slide, would you?"
"Students from Private Wyvern Academy—if I recall correctly, the relationship between your school and ours isn't exactly friendly~"
"Please, I really didn't intentionally follow you. I just saw some activity and came to check what was happening. Come on, you're clearly a reasonable person, just—"
Before the student could finish his plea, Ralts's figure suddenly materialized beside David, having teleported from her position. Moreover, two additional figures were brought along by her psychic power.
It was another student wearing a Wyvern Academy uniform, along with his Pokémon—a Level 19 Hawlucha.
As for why these two students only had one Pokémon deployed each, it was naturally because they'd been caught off-guard, and their other Pokémon hadn't even been released from their Poké Balls.
The one David had confronted directly had witnessed the entire battle between Zorua and Ursaring and had no intention of resisting. Meanwhile, the one Ralts had retrieved was simply too slow—directly immobilized by Ralts without even having time to reach for a Poké Ball.
"Ralts~ (David, as you requested, I've brought the targets back.)"
"Well done, Ralts."
David stepped forward to praise her, gently stroking her head.
"Zorua~"
Zorua, who had just defeated Ursaring, became visibly jealous at the sight and also approached. David could only appease both Pokémon simultaneously, one hand for each, not even glancing at the student who'd been speaking.
"Alright~ you both did exceptionally well..."
At this moment, the student who had been frantically trying to explain that he harbored no ill intentions and was merely drawn by the commotion finally gave up after clearly seeing the person Ralts had retrieved.
Even his own teammate had been captured, so what was the point of arguing further? It seemed David had probably detected them long ago.
That's right—the moment Ursaring began its assault, David's Aura had already detected the two hidden figures.
They had been trailing behind Ursaring. As for why David hadn't initially noticed Ursaring's approach, it was because the bear had fired Hyper Beam from dozens of meters away, which was nearly at the maximum detection range of David's current Aura capabilities.
So by the time David sensed the incoming attack, it was too late to dodge conventionally. Fortunately, with the help of his "Shiny partner Pokémon," he managed to evade that Hyper Beam.
Only someone like David could have survived; anyone else would probably have been eliminated from the assessment by now.
These two students had followed behind Ursaring, quietly approaching, and upon witnessing David and his Pokémon battling the territorial boss, they'd concealed themselves in nearby bushes to secretly observe the situation.
Their intentions didn't require much explanation. A series of idioms instantly flashed through David's mind: opportunistic profiteering, looting during chaos, taking advantage of misfortune, hoping for mutual destruction, and so forth.
When Zorua was about to defeat Ursaring, they'd chosen to have one person remain behind to continue monitoring while the other attempted to slip away. Quite an interesting strategy.
So after discovering them, David hadn't spoken immediately, pretending not to notice their presence. Covertly, he'd quietly directed Ralts to follow, and before the fleeing student could contact reinforcements, she'd brought him back directly.
Sure enough, there had been a worthwhile discovery.
Following that person's trail, Ralts had traced the path and located a small temporary camp not far away.
Including these two individuals, there were seven people in total.
After hearing Ralts's report, David was somewhat puzzled.
The League had randomly distributed all participants when deploying students, so how had these people managed to regroup?
"Explain! What's going on here?"
Turning his head with a "friendly" expression, David inquired.