"Hey, hey~ David, we're here. Time to wake up."
Still half-asleep, David heard someone calling his name. He instinctively pulled off his headphones and eye mask, and when he opened his eyes, he saw it was Luke rousing him.
"Mmm~"
Stretching lazily, David got up and looked out the window. The bus had come to a stop, and everyone around him was gathering their things to get off.
"We're here already?"
"You've been asleep for almost two hours — of course we're here! Hurry up and get ready, it's time to go!"
Fully awake now, David tucked his headphones, eye mask, and other belongings back into his backpack. He scooped up Zorua, who was still fast asleep in his arms, and followed the others off the bus.
"Phew~"
Once outside, David took a deep breath of fresh air, and his mood picked up a little.
This was an old issue left over from before the timeline shifted. David had always struggled with motion sickness. Even now, with a body far stronger than it used to be, he no longer felt sick enough to throw up, but long rides still left him feeling drained and sluggish.
Of course, it was nothing more than a bit of lost energy — nowhere near as bad as certain famously fragile trainers he'd heard stories about.
After stepping off the bus, Dominic went to check in alongside the teachers from Tianlong Academy who'd come out to greet them, along with the officials from the Cloudspire Alliance overseeing the high school league.
David and the rest of the team lined up and followed the staff, led by Teacher Liu, toward the competition venue.
It was clear Dominic wouldn't be the only one supervising the team this time around. Several of the class battle teachers had come along, as had Vivian, whose reputation for strength preceded her — all of them sent along by Principal Lang.
"Their people don't look like much, but I'll admit the place is built pretty nicely."
"Well, it is a private school. Say no more."
Within the group, David and the others traded whispers.
"Oh, right — wasn't the guy who beat our class monitor during the rookie tournament from this school? We finally get a chance for payback."
"That's right, the one with the Jangmo-o. Though in the very next round, he ran into that Gastly trainer who came up right after David and got completely wrecked."
Clearly, David wasn't the only one who held a grudge against Heavenly Dragon Academy — the whole team felt the same. The school's reputation was genuinely poor, known as one of the worst among the high schools in the capital.
Listening to the chatter, David found himself thinking back to that Gastly trainer. Their match had been dubbed a "premature final" by the crowd watching the Rookie Cup that day, a result so lopsided and unexpected that people were still talking about it.
It had been the single most intense battle he'd ever fought against someone his own age. He'd gone all out in that fight, and the Gastly trainer was one of the very few peers who had ever pushed him hard enough to call on his Aura.
"I never did catch which school he was from. If I don't step in myself, I'd guess Old Luke is going to have a rough time against him. He might be the toughest opponent in this whole league."
David turned the thought over in his mind. His own strength was simply on another level from his peers, which was exactly why his usual role was to hang back as the team's ace, only stepping in when it truly mattered.
That approach gave the rest of the team room to shine — after all, winning the Champion title by doing nothing himself wouldn't mean much.
Even though the tournament had barely started, David already considered the Champion title as good as his. It wasn't arrogance talking.
Given how strong he already was, not having that kind of confidence would honestly be laughable. The high school league wasn't like the college cup — everyone competing was a new trainer from this same generation, and David had no doubt he could rise above all of them.
Still, that Psychic-type enhancement the Gastly trainer used really was formidable. Then again, maybe it wasn't the power itself that made the difference, but the trainer behind it — not every Aura user could reach the level David had.
"I'll take care of him myself when it comes down to it. Old Luke's Pokémon might not be weaker than his, but that Psychic boost is something he just can't handle on his own."
"Special-ability users need to be countered by special-ability users."
...Two hours earlier, while David and his team were still on the road to the venue, their opponents for the day were making their own final preparations.
"Was this bracket rigged somehow? Why do we get stuck facing Imperial Capital First High School right out of the gate? This is going to crush our morale before we even start."
Inside the conference room, the members of the Heavenly Dragon Academy team sat together, hashing out their plans.
One of them, a heavyset boy clearly a core member of the team judging by his seat, voiced his complaint. He was plainly unhappy about drawing First High School in the opening match, and though no one spoke up right away, several others in the room nodded quietly in agreement.
"So what if it's First High School? We fight them anyway. We're all rookie trainers here — who's afraid of who? Don't drag everyone's spirits down, Randolf."
A boy with dyed yellow hair nearby clearly didn't like that response and shot back immediately.
"Me, dragging things down?"
"Fight with what, exactly? It's easy for you to say, Hobson, but have you already forgotten what happened with that exchange group from the Sakura Alliance?"
"That Guigui Yuanichi got tossed around like a fish out of water by that guy on the other side. What are we supposed to fight with?"
"Even Rosa — as strong as she is — admitted she was no match for him…"
At the mention of Rosa, the boy the others called Randolf flinched slightly. That unmatched swordsman, Gallade, had left too deep a mark on him. His own ace Pokémon had folded like paper before that blade — four strikes, just four, and his Pokémon had already gone down.
Facing someone that even a monster like Rosa admitted defeat to, it was hard for him to summon any real fighting spirit.
It had to be said, once the Sakura exchange group finally left Imperial Capital First High School, life got noticeably easier for them. During their time there, they'd been thoroughly crushed by David and lost every ounce of their former confidence. Only after leaving did they start to feel like top-tier trainers of their generation again.
Without a monster like David around, their level of strength meant they had little to fear — Rosa or no Rosa.
"So what, then? You want to just roll over and surrender without even trying?"
Stung by the phrase "tossed around like a fish," the yellow-haired boy, Hobson, flushed and snapped back.
"I'm being realistic, not weak. If I already know I can't win, why waste the effort just to lose anyway?"
"If you ask me, we should just go through the motions. Losing this one match doesn't eliminate us. Better to save our strength for matches we can actually win."
"You…!"
With those two at the center of it, the argument spread through the rest of the Heavenly Dragon Academy team. Some pushed for simply going through the motions, while others wanted to fight seriously against a tough opponent regardless of the odds.
"Bang!"
The sharp crack of a hand slamming the table cut through the noise, and the room fell silent at once.
"Look at yourselves. The other team hasn't even shown up yet, and you're already tearing each other apart. Nicely done."
The person seated at the head of the table spoke, and everyone quieted down the moment they heard his voice.
If David and his team had been there, they would have recognized him at once — Josiah, the trainer they'd briefly crossed paths with during the Rookie Cup.
David's team didn't consider him especially strong, but he was, at the very least, a pseudo-legendary-class trainer. His Hakamo-o had managed to fight Guigui Yuanichi's Greninja to a draw against the Sakura Alliance exchange group, which had spared Heavenly Dragon Academy at least a little dignity.
Because of that, his standing within the team was beyond question. The moment he spoke, the room settled.
After a heavy pause, Josiah went on.
"Let's fight. Hobson's right — we can't just surrender before the match even starts. Don't worry too much about what Randolf said. Our next match isn't for three more days, so as long as we're careful today, we'll have time to recover."
"My guess is their strongest fighter, the one they call the 'Demon King,' will only show up near the very end — if he shows up at all. Let's just see exactly how big the gap between us really is."
No one argued further. With Josiah having set the tone, everyone accepted it without objection and turned their attention to planning out the match ahead…