"The champion of the eighth edition of the Rookie League Tournament!"
Leoric Vance, standing on the stage, stared at Ethan in utter shock.
That Ethan Black—the so-called "slacker" of the school—had actually become the strongest Rookie King in the entire League?
What kind of joke was that? It sounded absurd!
"Come on, send out your next Pokémon." Ethan's voice was calm. His lips curved slightly into a faint smile as he looked at Leoric, whose expression flickered between rage and frustration. Inside, Ethan was savoring every second of it.
"Damn it! Even if you're the rookie champion, that doesn't mean I'll lose to you!"
Leoric clenched his teeth hard. After glaring at Ethan for a few seconds, he threw another Pokéball. A Pokémon covered in brown feathers with a long, sharp beak appeared—it was Fearow, the predator of the skies.
"A Fearow, huh?"
Ethan smiled faintly. "Looks like you plan to use a moving target to dodge Kingdra's attacks."
Ethan's Kingdra lifted its head toward the sky, aiming with its long snout.
Whoosh!
A roar tore through the air.
A water projectile shot out like a bullet, heading straight for the airborne Fearow.
The bird barely had time to react. It tried to dodge, but the speed of that compressed attack was beyond human comprehension. With no other option, Fearow used Peck to try to counter it.
BOOM!
The clash between the water blast and the bird's attack thundered through the sky. Fearow was knocked back violently, wobbling before regaining balance with great effort.
"Impossible! How can it have that much power?"
"Fearow, use Sky Attack!"
Leoric, desperate, called out his final move. Fearow spiraled upward into the sky, wrapped in a glow that formed the silhouette of a luminous bird, before diving straight down.
"Kingdra, Hydro Pump—rapid fire!"
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Kingdra unleashed Hydro Pump repeatedly.
The compressed jets of water slammed one after another into the spiritual aura surrounding Fearow.
CRACK!
The glowing bird-shaped aura shattered into pieces, followed by a violent explosion.
Fearow plummeted from the sky like a comet, crashing into the ground.
"Holy crap, that's insane!"
"He even destroyed Sky Attack mid-flight! That's monstrous!"
The students watched with their jaws dropped. The power of that Kingdra surpassed anything they'd ever seen.
"Monstrous?" a senior student scoffed. "You guys clearly didn't watch the Rookie Tournament."
"Ethan only used four Pokémon in the entire tournament—Sandslash, Cacturne, Meltan, and Slowking. This Kingdra wasn't even one of his main team!"
"What?" Everyone held their breath.
If that Kingdra wasn't part of his core lineup... then just how strong were his real Pokémon?
Within minutes, the few who still doubted him surrendered. Ethan's former critics turned into his most devoted admirers.
"Fearow is unable to battle! Kingdra wins!"
The referee raised the flag while looking at the unconscious bird.
"Damn it..."
Leoric lowered his head, speechless.
Suddenly, all the past moments flashed through his mind: their first encounter, his arrogant words, the talk in the principal's office, his speech at the ceremony... Just remembering them made his face burn.
All this time, he had been the fool. The one who should've shown restraint wasn't Ethan—it was him! The "favor" the principal mentioned wasn't for Leoric... it was for Ethan!
Ethan must have been laughing inside from the very beginning.
"You still have one Pokémon left."
Ethan's serene voice rang in his ears like unbearable mockery.
Biting his lip, Leoric pulled out his final card—Jolteon. He relied on its speed to turn the battle around.
But to his horror, Kingdra also knew Agility. Its speed skyrocketed until it matched—or even surpassed—Jolteon's. And with one perfectly aimed Hydro Pump, the Electric-type went down without resistance.
One versus three.
A total victory.
"Is that all?" Ethan asked with a calm smile. "And to think I was being considerate by choosing Kingdra. I didn't expect you to be this weak."
His tone was even, but the mockery was clear. The pleasure of seeing the "model student" crushed by the former "failure" was indescribable.
"You...!"
Leoric trembled with rage, unable to form words.
Never in his life had he been humiliated like this.
"Amazing!"
"This is real strength!"
"The strongest Rookie King has no rivals!"
"Incredible! An average student surpassing a genius! Ethan, you're my idol!"
"Yeah! You taught us something important! Even if you're mediocre, if you work hard, you can conquer the world!"
"I'm so pumped I want to start training right now!"
The entire stadium erupted in cheers. The excitement and adrenaline were electric.
Ethan smiled.
"And that..." he said firmly, "was the lecture I came to give you."
With those words, the past was left behind. He had completely closed the chapter of his former life.
...
Originally, the battle between Ethan and Leoric was supposed to be simple—a small exhibition match, nothing too significant.
But the appearance of Kingdra, a completely unknown Pokémon until then, changed everything.
So, right after finishing his graduation speech, Ethan found himself surrounded by a swarm of reporters at the school gates, all desperate to ask about the mysterious Pokémon.
Ethan didn't hide any of Kingdra's basic data, though he was careful not to reveal its evolution method. That information was his bargaining chip, and he had no intention of giving it away until someone offered a price worthy of it.
He knew that, sooner or later, Dragon Valley would learn of Kingdra's existence. And when that happened... all he had to do was sit back and wait for the big fish to bite the hook.
(End of chapter)