The time shifted slightly forward. Standing in the third row, Eichi could see the stage quite clearly.
At first, there weren't many teachers, so everyone was noisy and didn't really listen to instructions. It took a while to organize them.
Gradually, more and more teachers appeared. Some even arrived riding Flying-type Pokémon.
Charizard, Pidgeot, Fearow, Noctowl, Skarmory… each of them exuded a strong presence that weighed down on everyone.
The once noisy environment instantly quieted, and commanding the students became much easier.
As more teachers gathered, the atmosphere grew solemn. Every teacher looked extremely serious.
Soon, the leaders began to arrive, all older people with extraordinary bearing.
As they took their seats, the entire field fell completely silent.
Among those who sat down, Eichi recognized one of them; it was the director who had given that speech at the Indigo Academy.
The moment he sat, Eichi could feel the man's gaze sweeping over him, studying the students one by one.
As Eichi observed, the director walked up to the microphone on the podium and began to speak.
"Ahem, hello everyone. I'm Yanagikawa, the director of the Battle Department. Today's opening ceremony will be hosted by me.
Now, I officially announce that the opening ceremony of Silver Academy has begun."
As soon as he finished speaking, applause broke out, accompanied by the sound of fireworks.
After the crackling noises faded, Director Yanagikawa began introducing the people seated on the stage.
The principal wasn't present today, so the highest-ranking person there was the vice principal, a very elderly man whose exact age was unknown.
Silver Academy had three departments. Director Yanagikawa headed the Battle Department. The director of the Breeding Department was a beautiful woman in her thirties, and the director of the Research Department was a refined-looking man in a white lab coat and glasses.
While Director Yanagikawa was making introductions, Tetsu leaned closer to chat with Eichi.
When Yanagikawa introduced an Officer Jenny in uniform and a Nurse Joy in work clothes, Eichi noticed that they were a little older than the Jennys and Joys he'd seen before.
According to the introduction, both of them were board members of Silver Academy.
Eichi didn't really understand what the board was, but Tetsu leaned closer and whispered, "Eichi, did you know that the Jenny and Joy families were among the academy's original founders?"
"Oh? So what?"
Seeing Eichi wasn't interested, Tetsu continued, "Hey, Eichi, do you know that after the opening ceremony, there's going to be class assignments? Do you know how they divide classes?"
That caught Eichi's curiosity, and he turned to face Tetsu.
Tetsu glanced around, making sure no one else was paying attention, then lowered his voice. "It's not exactly a secret. Any upperclassman could tell you. You probably don't know because you've been staying in your room the past few days.
In past years, classes were divided based on entrance exam results. Each class had both strong and weak students so that the overall strength was balanced. That way, competition would be fairer.
For the first to third years, it's always been like that. But when they reach the fourth year, they're reassigned by rank, from top to bottom."
After hearing that, Eichi nodded. It was similar to how class divisions worked in his previous life.
He then asked, "So how will they divide classes this time?"
Tetsu shook his head. "That I don't know. Before, they used a big screen in the conference hall. Every student's name was shown there, clear and easy to see.
But since this year's ceremony isn't in the hall, I don't know how they'll do it."
Eichi said, "We'll find out soon enough."
While Eichi was chatting below, a few people on the stage were also talking.
Nurse Joy smiled. "There are really a lot of students this year."
Officer Jenny replied, "Yeah, I hope they behave and that we see some promising talents."
The vice principal added, "Speaking of promising ones, quite a few people have sent their own relatives here. They're all quite good."
Another leader said, "Is that so? It seems the quality is quite high this year."
...
As time went on, the ceremony drew to a close. Director Yanagikawa spoke again. "Now I declare that the opening ceremony has successfully concluded."
After another round of applause, he continued, "Everyone, return to your dorms. Your belongings should already be there.
Your class assignments are inside as well."
Still keeping everyone in suspense, Director Yanagikawa made Tetsu a little impatient. "Let's go, Eichi," he said.
The two returned to the dormitory together. At their doors, each found a thick envelope hanging.
Opening it, they took out several sheets of paper and a card.
Ignoring the card for now, Eichi looked at the first sheet. It listed his personal information, including his name, age, and appearance. At the bottom line, he found his class: Silver Grade 2, Class 1.
The next sheets were the course schedule and the list of teachers for each subject.
Finally, there was the card with his photo, name, and date of birth. It was like a student ID card.
Just then, Tetsu walked over. "Eichi, which class are you in?"
"Class 1," Eichi replied.
"What a coincidence! I'm in Class 1 too. We really are fated to be together!"
Eichi was speechless. Why was it always him?
As they chatted, a message came from the dormitory broadcast: "Attention, Silver Grade 2 new students, please gather in your assigned classrooms for the homeroom meeting at 2:30 p.m."
The message repeated twice before stopping.
According to the schedule, each class had its own designated classroom for meetings, though not all lessons would be held there.
***
That afternoon, Eichi and Tetsu walked together toward the teaching buildings. Silver Academy's campus was huge, with many academic halls. It took them nearly ten minutes to reach their classroom.
By the time they arrived, the room was already filled with students. Earlier, Tetsu had mentioned that this year's freshman class had over a thousand students, about 150 in Research, more than 300 in Breeding, and the remaining 550 or so in the Battle Department.
The Battle Department was divided into 14 classes, each with around 40 students.
The classroom looked similar to those from Eichi's previous world: a podium, a blackboard, a projector, and desks. The only difference was that the podium was unusually large and spacious.
They quickly found two seats toward the back and sat down.
Since the teacher hadn't arrived yet, Eichi opened a book to read, while Tetsu kept observing the classmates around them, chatting with anyone who seemed friendly.