In a large auditorium, more than a hundred students were seated. Everyone in the Trainer course, from the freshmen to the seniors, was here. And at the podium in front, there was a middle-aged man who was at the end of his speech.
"Mawile~"
"Hm, do you want to sleep, Mawile?"
On the seats reserved for first-year students, Shinobu stroked Mawile's large jaw as she held said Pokemon in her lap. Mawile was also very obedient, humming a sound of approval.
When she first met Dan's lover, Mawile quickly implemented the strategy Aunt Phanpy taught her- namely, the indirect offense.
According to Auntie, if you want to join an already established pack, make sure to first befriend the women of the family...or something along those lines.
Mawile didn't really remember the whole teaching, always falling asleep while Aunt Phanpy was in the middle of her speech. However, she was sure being close to Dan's first woman was part of the strategy. Probably.
On the seat beside Shinobu, Dante glanced at his suspiciously behaved Pokemon. Although he was glad she didn't attack Shinobu, or even become aggressive towards her, he couldn't help but feel that her current behavior would lead to something more troublesome.
At this time, the middle-aged man finally stepped down from the podium, making the students heave a sigh of relief. Soon after, the tension in the room began to rise as a stern-looking, black-haired man walked up to the podium.
"I don't think I need to introduce myself to the older students, but for the freshman, you can call me Professor or Coach Jomar. I'm the school team's head coach."
He briefly paused, staring at the section where the first-year students sat before continuing.
"I'll keep this brief. In the ranking battle, strength determines everything. I don't care whether you have a Pseudo-Legendary, were unlucky, or distracted. I don't want to hear excuses. If you lose, that means you weren't good enough. But…"
The coach's eyes narrowed and his voice deepened.
"If I caught you cheating or maliciously sabotaging your opponent outside of battle, then you better make sure to never step foot in my building. This school doesn't need any cheaters. That's all."
The students swallowed their saliva as the coach walked off the stage, his footsteps resounding through the quiet auditorium.
"Thank you for the inspiring words, Professor Jomar. And now…the ranking battle has officially begun! From now till the end of the week, you can access your terminal to issue challenges and improve your rankings. But take note, you can only challenge those that are within 10 ranks above or below you and..."
The staff member at the side announced the rules and regulations for the Ranking Battle. When they finally finished the students cheered. These rules were already posted on the school's website, reading them aloud like this is just a waste of time.
They were dismissed shortly after. For this whole week, there will be no classes for everyone in the Trainer course. This is so they can adjust themselves and their Pokemon for the constant battle ahead.
Dante had turned towards the girls to ask who they first wanted to fight. Suddenly, however, his phone vibrated. Taking a look, it seemed a senior student just issued a challenge.
"Hehe, come on Dan, accept it and defeat them quickly. I can't wait to watch your and Sister Mualani's match!"
Candice egged on from the side, her eyes blazing in anticipation.
"I didn't expect there would be someone brave enough to challenge you after all that you did. What's their name, Dan?"
Focalors' question aroused the same sentiment from the other girls. Looking at their inquiring faces, Dante scratched the back of his head and showed the screen to everyone.
"See for yourself. They even sent me a message."
On the screen, there was a portrait of a girl with a rank #91 beside their name. Below their basic information, there was a message saying. "I'm cheering for you, junior. Lead our school to championship!"
"Huh."
Shinobu and the others had a look of understanding when they saw the message. It turns out the seniors just planned to let him win?
But it's also understandable. Students ranked below the top 60 are mostly 2nd years who still only have one Pokemon. Not mentioning Dante's previous feats, just owning three Pokemon is enough to deter most of them.
After he accepted the challenge, the schedule and battle location were immediately set. Soon, however, he didn't have to worry about it as his opponent directly forfeited. And not long after, another challenge was sent, this time by the 83rd-ranked student.
Dante watched his ranking climb from 101 to 83 to 69. It seems the other students also noticed his quick rise in position as a small commotion began in the auditorium. Among them, a group of seniors stared at the newcomer who was surrounded by beautiful women with complicated looks in their eyes.
Life is really unfair. Here they are, spending three to four years of their life training their Pokemon to achieve their current status. Meanwhile, others can reach the same, or even exceed their achievement not even a year into their Trainer career.
Even though they think so, there were not many who harbored negative sentiments towards Dante.
After all, it's human nature to make excuses for their inferiority.
When someone has surpassed them to the point they can't even think of catching up, to subconsciously preserve their sense of pride, humans would place this someone on a pedestal and subconsciously treat them as living in a different dimension than them.
In this way, they can comfort themselves with excuses such as "he's special", and preserve their ego.
After another opponent forfeited, Dante reached rank 31. At this point, he was beginning to think that he would only need to fight Mualani to obtain the number 1 position in the school.
And of course, that was when he got his first real challenger.
When he accepted the challenge of a rank 23 opponent, he waited for the usual ping that indicated they surrendered. However, a minute passed, then two, and the sound didn't come.
"It seems the challenger this time seriously wants to fight you."
Shinobu mused as she hugged Mawile closer to her chest.
"I guess so."
Looking at the phone, his opponent is a third-year student named Alab. His portrait showed a red-haired boy with a fierce expression.
Seeing that the match was scheduled 20 minutes later at the battle stadium, Dante stood up and stretched. Shinobu and the others also followed along, planning to watch the battle.
"Don't you four plan to issue a challenge of your own?"
Dante raised his eyebrows.
"Nah~ it's more interesting to watch your battle with sister Mualani. Besides, there are 4 more days before the Ranking Battle ends. I bet most of the other students planned to do the same."
Candice's words caused Dante to look around the auditorium. Just as she said, only a few seemed to have fighting intent. Most of them had an eager look in their eyes as they looked at him and Mualani while whispering to one another.
With his keen senses, Dante can even hear some of the students cursing Alab, his next opponent, for not forfeiting so they can finally determine who is the 1st rank in school.
"Let's go, then. I'll try to challenge her by today."
Their 5 man group headed towards the stadium while chatting. It was only a 5-minute walk, so they took their leisure time going there.
And when they left, most of the students followed suit. In the end, only Mualani and 9 other students were left in the auditorium.
"Captain, how confident are you in defeating Dante?"
A tall guy with green hair adjusted the lens of his glasses as he turned to ask Mualani in a serious voice.
"I'm not sure, but I'll definitely try my best!"
Mualani pumped her fist, her eyes brimming with excitement.
"*Sigh*, anyway, whether the captain can beat him or not, one of us will definitely get replaced."
A pessimistic voice came from a black-haired boy with deep eye bags. A Komala hung on his shoulder, sleeping soundly.
"Why should you be worried, Larry? You're the strongest just after the captain and vice-captain! It's us bottom feeders who should be worried!"
A green-haired girl placed her arms over the shoulder of the red-haired girl beside her while laughing. However, the red-haired girl slapped her hands away, her arms crossed in front of her flat chest as she condescendingly looked at the said girl.
"Ha! Speak for yourself, Liuai! I've trained harder than ever during the summer! Heh, if we fight again, you'll go down in no time!"
"Oh yeah, Isa? Then let's fight! My Torterra will be enough to take down all your three Pokemon!"
Liuai and Isa's foreheads clashed, sparks forming between them. The other team members began to egg them on.
"Enough. Just as the coach always says, strength speaks for itself. We'll know who really deserves to be part of the team after this Ranking Battle."
The green-haired guy interrupted the quarrel between the two, his stern voice silencing the other teammates. Isa and Liuai also stopped, staring at each other before clicking their tongues in unison and turning their heads away with a hmph.
Seeing this, the green-haired guy nodded in approval. He turned his head and stared in the direction of the battle stadium, his glasses glinting.