Meanwhile, at Pokémon Crown University, inside the president's office, Edmund was reviewing documents when the door suddenly flew open.
BANG!
A man rushed in, practically vibrating with excitement.
"President! Something happened!"
"Something huge!"
Edmund flinched hard enough that the pen in his hand nearly jumped. His face darkened at once.
"Can you try acting a little more mature?" he snapped. "You're an adult. Learn to stay calm under pressure."
The man froze.
Edmund picked up his cup, took a slow sip of water, and forced his expression back into composure.
"Now," he said calmly, "what happened?"
The man swallowed hard.
"Aaron..."
He could barely hold back his excitement.
"Aaron took first place on the Hidden Dragon Rankings!"
PFFT!
Water sprayed across the desk.
Edmund shot to his feet so fast that his chair skidded several meters behind him.
"What?!"
His composure vanished on the spot.
"Say that again!"
The man wiped water from his face, looked at the chair lying far behind the desk, and silently thought:
So that's what staying calm under pressure looks like?
Where exactly is your chair, President?
Still, he forced a smile and repeated himself.
"Aaron took first place. He pushed Braveon down to second."
Edmund's pupils contracted.
A second later, wild joy flashed through his eyes.
"Hahahaha!"
He threw his head back and laughed.
"Good job, Aaron! I knew I hadn't misjudged you."
The more he thought about it, the happier he became.
"First and second place are both from my school. I'd like to see what the other universities plan to use against us in this year's Hualis Freshman Tournament."
His grin widened.
"Marcus, you old bastard. You must be crying right now."
"Hahahaha!"
For a while, his laughter filled the office, loud enough to sound almost haunted from the hallway.
...
At Pokémon Elite Defense Academy, Marcus was going through freshmen files when his own office door was pushed open in a hurry.
BANG!
A middle-aged woman rushed in, her expression grim.
"President, this is bad! Something huge happened!"
He glanced at her without lifting his head for long.
"What happened?" he asked, still calm. "Look at you. You're too old to be panicking like this."
The woman ignored the jab and blurted out the news.
"Aaron, the exam top scorer, just took first place on the Hidden Dragon Rankings!"
Her resentment was almost strong enough to taste.
BOOM!
The news hit Marcus like a Hyper Beam from a Slaking.
He shot to his feet, shock flashing across his face. A moment later, his expression turned ugly enough to curdle milk.
"That damned Edmund..."
His teeth clenched.
"As if recruiting Braveon wasn't bad enough. Now Aaron went there too?"
The more he spoke, the angrier he became.
"The top two are both at Crown University. What are we supposed to do now?"
His chest heaved with frustration. Then he snapped his head toward the woman.
"Where is Aaron?"
"Inside the tower," she replied quickly.
Marcus slammed a hand onto the desk.
BANG!
"Prepare the car."
His eyes burned with determination.
"I'm going all in today. Even if I have to sweeten the deal with two marriage alliances, I'm dragging that boy to our academy."
"Yes, President!"
...
By then, Aaron's name had spread through the entire city.
Families large and small, including the upper ranks of the major clans, received the news almost immediately.
A student from an ordinary background had taken first place on the rankings.
He had pushed Braveon down.
No one could ignore that.
Before long, every clan, wealthy household, and powerful figure in Crown City was trying to dig up his information.
But the answer was always the same.
Your access level is insufficient. This file cannot be viewed.
That shocked them even more.
These were not ordinary people. Many of them had enough influence to move half the city with a phone call.
Yet they could not access the file of a student from a humble background?
What kind of joke was that?
From that moment on, Aaron truly entered the eyes of the city's powerful families.
...
Inside Edward's office, the old man sat behind his desk, white-haired and haggard, quietly reading the report in his hands.
For the first time in days, a faint smile softened the worry in his eyes.
"The Protector of Hualis was right about you."
His voice was low.
"Aaron... grow quickly."
He slowly looked toward the window.
"The time left for you..."
His gaze grew distant.
"The time left for Hualis... is running out."
A heavy silence settled over the office.
...
At the same time, inside an old European-style castle in Crown City, a figure in red armor stood before two men.
He was the Flame Knight of the mysterious organization known as the Primal Order.
His mission in Hualis was simple.
Capture Aaron's Infernape.
At that moment, the knight was cursing the two men in stiff, accented Hualisian.
"Useless," he said coldly. "It took you this long just to get me into Hualis?"
His tone sharpened.
"You wasted far too much of my time."
The two men lowered their heads, not daring to breathe too loudly.
One of them whispered, "My lord, Hualis' border controls are extremely strict. And because you are a Champion-class powerhouse, getting you in was even harder."
The Flame Knight snorted and cut him off.
"I don't want excuses."
His gaze turned cold.
"Did you find the boy?"
The two men stiffened.
His voice dropped.
"Where is he now?"
...