The blond student at the front of the group was Julian, the current president of Coronet Academy's student council. Behind him stood the rest of the council members.
The student council enforced discipline with absolute strictness. Whenever a student at Coronet Academy broke the rules, the council handed out punishment according to academy policy, without the slightest mercy.
Its president, Julian, also carried a great deal of authority among the students. No one wanted to get on his bad side.
"They're with the student council."
Aaron gave a small shrug, muttered the warning under his breath, and quietly slipped out of the café. He wanted nothing to do with the student council.
"We're from the student council! This place is being cleared out! Everyone outside!"
One of the short-haired council officers behind Julian stepped forward and shouted. The few customers in the café were badly rattled and hurried out at once.
President Julian walked straight up to the counter and demanded coldly of Kael, "Who gave you permission to open a café here!?"
For quite some time, he had been petitioning the academy to assign this part of the library as a student council activity space, but the request had never been approved.
And yet he had only been away from the academy for a single week, and now the area had already been taken over and turned into a café.
His face was icy, his eyes locked on Kael with open hostility.
When Kael said nothing, Julian's tone turned even sharper. "Do you even know this space belongs to the student council? And Coronet Academy has always been known for strict standards. A café like this is not allowed on campus!"
Bang!
The same officer who had been shouting earlier strode to the counter and slapped down a black-and-white notice.
"You've got one week. No, three days. Clean this place out and leave Coronet Academy. This academy isn't somewhere people like you belong!"
There was a reason Julian dared to act so arrogantly. At Coronet Academy, someone Kael's age was usually the sort who had gotten in through connections and coasted into an easy post without any real ability.
And people like that did not dare cross him.
Not just because he was the student council president, either. His uncle was one of the academy's vice principals.
Julian gave a cold snort. "If you haven't packed up and cleared out in three days, then the student council will remove you according to academy regulations..."
He was just about to say expel you, when his tongue suddenly twisted and the words would not come out. He tried to raise an arm, only to find it would not obey him. A powerful tingling sensation spread through his whole body, his legs buckled, and he collapsed hard onto the floor.
"President Julian!"
The officer behind him tried to rush forward and help, only to realize his own body had stopped responding. He crumpled to the floor as well.
One after another, the rest of the student council members dropped where they stood, unable to move.
"Rai, rai!"
While Julian and his officers had been throwing their weight around, the tiny Raichu had been using its size to its advantage, darting soundlessly around their feet and paralyzing them with carefully controlled bursts of electricity.
Naturally, those students could not withstand Raichu's current. One after another, they dropped to the ground and blacked out.
Still, the current had been very mild. When they woke up, they would not suffer any lasting harm.
"So," Kael finally said, smiling pleasantly at Julian sprawled on the floor, "what was it you were about to say? Why stop now?"
Even paralyzed, Julian had not passed out immediately. He glared at Kael with all the hatred in the world, but he could not force out a single word.
Kael removed the name tag from his chest and held it in front of Julian's eyes.
"Remember this. My name is Dylan. I'm Coronet Academy's newest battle instructor, and I'm also the owner of this café."
"As for this little incident, since it's your first offense, I'm willing to let it slide. But I'm afraid I'll have to ask all of you to stay here tonight and think about what you've done."
"You're welcome to come by for coffee next time."
With that, Kael pinned the name tag back onto his chest, then turned toward the kitchen in the back and called, "Gardenia! We're closed. You can head home."
Gardenia was the girl working part-time at the café, and also a second-year student at Coronet Academy. When the student council had stormed in earlier full of bluster, she had panicked and hidden in the back kitchen.
"Ah!" At the sound of Kael calling her name, Gardenia let out a startled yelp. She slowly peeked out from the kitchen, then crept forward on tiptoe.
The moment she saw the student council members sprawled all over the floor, her heart nearly leaped out of her chest.
"Don't panic, don't panic..."
She kept patting herself on the chest, barely stopping herself from shrieking.
Seeing how jumpy she looked, Kael could not help laughing. "All right, stop being so cautious and let's go."
Raichu climbed up Kael's leg and slipped into his backpack, while Espeon on his shoulder let out a lazy yawn. Kael led Gardenia past the fallen student council members and toward the café entrance.
Just as he was about to leave, his eyes caught sight of one more figure at the back of the collapsed line. A girl in student council uniform had not fully passed out yet and was still struggling to push herself up.
Even as Kael was surprised by her physical toughness, he also found her vaguely familiar.
She had short pink hair and a white strip across the bridge of her nose.
"Are you Maylene?" Kael asked.
Maylene, the future Gym Leader of Veilstone City, a specialist in Fighting-type Pokémon.
Maylene looked at him in confusion, then gave a difficult nod.
Kael felt a flicker of puzzlement. Given Maylene's personality, she should never have joined the student council, much less gotten involved in something like this.
Still, he turned and left the café without helping her up.
With her physical conditioning, she would probably shake off the effects of the current within an hour.
Kael pulled the café's double glass doors shut and fastened the chain lock.
Standing behind him, Gardenia could not help asking, "Mr. Dylan... what about those people?"
She meant the student council members lying all over the floor.
Kael answered, "Don't worry about them. I'm leaving them in there to reflect for the night."
"But we haven't even cleared the tables yet." She was talking about the unfinished cups of coffee still sitting where the customers had been driven out.
"No need to worry. Someone will take care of the cleanup for us."
"Oh."
Kael said, "By the way, take tomorrow off. You don't need to come in."
"Got it." Gardenia nodded.
Tomorrow was Kael's turn on mountain duty. He would be in the Coronet range all day, and the café would be closed for the day.
---
By the time they left the library, it was already six in the evening. Kael did not return to the apartment the academy had arranged for him. Instead, he headed for the main building of Coronet Academy, to the office of his former teacher, Professor Rowan.
Rowan was already fifty. He had spent half his life wearing himself out for the academy, and more than half his hair had turned white. When Kael pushed open the door and stepped inside, Rowan was wearing a pair of glasses and studying several documents spread across his desk.
Hearing him enter, Rowan looked up and frowned slightly. "Good timing," he said, sliding one of the black-and-white sheets across the desk toward Kael. "Take a look at this list."
"What's got you this worked up, Professor?"
Curious, Kael picked up the list, and the bold heading at the top came into view:
Coronet Academy Proposed Expulsion List