While undercurrents surged beneath the surface throughout Cloudspire, the Alliance's overwhelming strength kept those hidden struggles buried in the shadows, never once disturbing the calm on the surface.
The qualifying rounds of the High School League were in full swing across every province and city, and the Imperial Capital Area was no exception. Nearly a month had passed, and the area's qualifiers were already drawing to a close. Imperial Capital No. 1 High School, exactly as everyone expected, held onto first place by an overwhelming margin.
Over the past few weeks, David had finally come to know every member of his team, substitutes included. It wasn't that he had been careless enough to spend half the competition without learning his own teammates' names. What he'd gained now went far deeper than that surface-level familiarity. Through match after match, he had finally learned each teammate's abilities, habits, strengths, and everything in between—things that had, until recently, existed only as names on paper.
There was a reason it had taken this long. During training camp, his own Pokémon had proven almost too well-behaved, handling their battles without needing much from him, and his little fox had even taken over most of his Trainer duties on top of that. With all that free time, David had spent it mostly on brewing potions, while Willow and Luke quietly picked up the rest of his usual responsibilities. It was only natural, then, that he hadn't gotten to know everyone sooner.
The exceptions were the ones he already knew well. There was Aspen, the Rhyperior Trainer he always sent out first, whose solid strength and rudimentary Psychic ability—something close to telepathy—made him a natural fit for double battles. There were the sisters, Laurissa and Laurene, whose main Pokémon were a matched pair of Meowstic. There was Gu Tang, who'd come up through a Gym and specialized in Fire-types, his starter an odd creature everyone simply called the Big Spray Teacher—David still wasn't entirely sure what to make of that name. And there was Ning Hao, said to be the heir to some minor fighting style, who built his strategy around Fighting-types with a Machamp as his ace.
Those five, together with David, Willow, Emma, Luke, and Miles, made up the ten main members of the School Team.
Among the substitutes, David already recognized quite a few faces. Jackson, the Poochyena Trainer from the Novice Cup, was the only person on the School Team outside David's own circle of friends who had actually gone up against his little fox in battle. There was also Emery, who got along well with Willow and Emma, along with a handful of top students from the second and third classes—twenty-five members in all, rounding out the full roster.
This year's lineup was, without question, the strongest Imperial Capital No. 1 High School had fielded in decades. Setting aside David himself, who was practically playing by a different set of rules, his companions alone had raised the school's overall strength by a staggering amount. Every member of the main team had a Superior-level Pokémon leading their roster, and several had second or even third Pokémon closing in on that same tier. Even most of the substitutes' lead Pokémon had broken through to Superior level.
Growth typically only begins to slow once a Pokémon reaches the Professional level, which is what lets the ones lagging behind finally start catching up. But the climb from Superior to Professional is a slow one, and plenty of Trainers—lacking the talent, aptitude, or resources to push through—never manage to raise six or more Professional-level Pokémon by graduation, and so never truly earn the title of Professional Trainer.
David himself had only had his Pokémon for around nine months, and his little fox had spent at least five of those months sitting at Superior level already. Granted, that came with help: a steady diet of negative emotional energy drawn from the light stone, paid for again and again with David's own Aura Power. As for Salamence, that Pokémon's advantage was even harder to replicate—descended from two Champions, naturally dominant to begin with, and further shaped by two legendary resources tied to a first-tier deity. Anyone could match that, David thought dryly, if they happened to have the exact same resources lying around.
None of this posed any real problem for the rest of the School Team, though. Plenty of students at Imperial Capital No. 1 High School were already speculating that David might reach Professional level on his own before he even finished high school—maybe more than once, which would shatter Cloudspire's existing record.
It was no surprise, then, that the team he led was drawing so much attention. Even the legendary lineup from his sister Aria's era, the one that had carried Imperial Capital No. 1 High School to victory years ago, paled next to what David's team had assembled now.
"But the other schools aren't exactly pushovers either," David murmured to himself, turning the thought over.
Even accounting for how aggressively schools had been recruiting outside talent this year, it seemed like Cloudspire might genuinely be entering a golden age. This generation of new Trainers was shaping up to be remarkably strong—not just at the big-name schools, either. Even some of the smaller, less prestigious schools had Trainers sharp enough to catch David's eye. His steadily growing Aura Power had let him notice things most people would have missed entirely. Schools like Wyvern Academy, for instance, were clearly holding back their strongest cards, playing things close until the exact moment they needed to secure their spot.
"I've heard Trainers in other regions are seeing the same thing, and even rival Alliances are turning out plenty of talent this year."
"Feels like a good time to be starting out," David said, meaning every word.
If anyone had reason to be pleased about all this, it was David. The system's rewards for defeating an opponent meant nothing if the opponent wasn't worth defeating—only real strength on the other side of the battle produced anything worth having. And it wasn't just about the system. Every talented Trainer he came across was, in his eyes, one more resource he could use to grow stronger himself.
He'd been in an excellent mood lately, and it wasn't hard to see why—between his own steady progress and the system points piling up, things were going about as well as he could ask for. Watching that point total climb bit by bit on his panel never failed to put him in good spirits. He was close now, close enough that he'd almost certainly reach the long-awaited legendary ten-pull before the High School League wrapped up.
"Dong dong~"
The chime of his phone pulled him out of his thoughts—a notification tone he recognized instantly. Since Imperial Capital No. 1 High School had already wrapped up its schedule and locked in first place ahead of time, today had been a free day. Curious who might be looking for him, David picked up his phone.
It wasn't a message meant for him alone—it was the School Team's group chat lighting up.
[Luke: Hey guys, the four teams for the Imperial Capital Area's main qualifying tournament have been decided.]
[Emery: Already? Aren't there still three or four days left in the matches?]
[Luke: The spots were locked in early. Whatever happens in the remaining matches won't change the rankings now.]
[Emma: So who's in it with us? Beiling's got to be one of them, right?]
Beiling Middle School had long been Imperial Capital No. 1 High School's perennial runner-up, and this year's roster was no less formidable—Leonardo, the Ghost-type prodigy who'd given David his toughest fight back in the Novice Cup, came from that school. So did Layla, who still had a score to settle with David; her strength, both what she showed openly and what she kept hidden, put her a clear step above anything Wyvern Academy could offer.
[Luke: Of course. Beiling's in second place—they've only lost to us twice.]
[The four schools moving on this time, besides us, are North Ridge, Four Plains, and Heavenly Dragon Academy...]
[Willow: Heavenly Dragon? So Imperial Capital No. 2 High School got knocked out?]
[Luke: Yeah, apparently Heavenly Dragon Academy had two seriously strong outside recruits they kept hidden until the very end. Imperial Capital No. 2 got caught completely off guard and lost to Heavenly Dragon Academy by a hair, finishing one point behind Wyvern.]
[Dominic: Alright, everyone get some rest. We've still got training tomorrow, understood?]
...
David set his phone down, a faint smile crossing his face.
"Interesting. Let's see what surprises the other regions have waiting for the main tournament."