Chapter 314: The School Team at Chūsei University
Hikaru had located the Gyarados on the 24th.
By the morning of the 25th, Professor Ayame had already informed him that the Gyarados had been successfully recaptured.
The speed of their response—
Unbelievable.
Well, at least that favor Hikaru owed her for selling his energy cubes was now fully repaid.
---
Waking up early, the first thing Hikaru did—habitually—was open his system and refresh his traits.
A flash of green light appeared:
> [Green Trait – Tracking Mark]
Leave a mark on a specific Pokémon. When paired with Aura, it allows you to track where that Pokémon has been.
It was a trait Hikaru remembered well.
Closing his eyes, he felt its function.
He couldn't help but chuckle.
Manaphy. That clingy little rascal that loved sticking close to Latias—
He wondered how it was doing these days.
This trait was pretty useful.
After refreshing the Trait Store again and completing his daily storytelling session (with Mew collecting Trait Tokens as usual), Hikaru checked his current token count:
4035 Trait Tokens.
Not bad.
Even though he had recently emptied out his tokens to purchase that Life Essence, he'd already racked up over four thousand again.
No doubt, as his Pokémon grew stronger, the rate at which he earned Trait Tokens had skyrocketed.
At this rate, even the Mega Stone for Rayquaza, which cost 100,000 Trait Tokens, didn't seem that far out of reach.
Knock knock knock!
Right at 8 a.m.
As always, Hikaru didn't even need to ask who it was.
He called out, "Coming, coming."
Opening the door—sure enough, it was Sakura.
The weather had cooled significantly. She wore a cozy white turtleneck sweater under a light gray trench coat, with a matching scarf wrapped around her neck.
Upon seeing Hikaru still in short sleeves, Sakura frowned.
"It's gotten cold these past few days. Why are you still dressed like that?"
Without giving him time to reply, she pulled him inside and marched straight to his wardrobe.
But as she rifled through the closet, her frown deepened.
Only short sleeves.
She searched top to bottom and couldn't find anything warm.
"…"
Hikaru gently pressed her head down to stop her rummaging.
"I'm a Master-level Trainer now. A little cold won't kill me…"
Based on his Pokémon's attributes and his own physical conditioning, even the weakest Master Trainers had endurance surpassing regular Pokémon.
"That doesn't mean you're immune to cold," Sakura said stubbornly, shaking off his hand.
She finally found a long-sleeved shirt and handed it to him, then wrapped her scarf around his neck.
Hikaru had no choice but to let her do as she pleased while she mumbled:
"You always nagged me to dress warmly when we were kids, and now look at you…"
"We'll go shopping soon, got it?"
Feeling the warmth of the scarf and the faint floral scent, Hikaru nodded obediently.
"Okay, okay."
Only then did Sakura nod with satisfaction.
"Let's go. Time to meet with Coach Gu."
They had agreed the night before to visit the Chūsei University battle team coach together and see if they could get a spot on the school team.
Outside, the wind howled through campus.
Where once the sidewalks bustled with students, now only a few couples remained.
Following the campus map, the two quickly found the team's training facility.
There were no guards at the door. Inside, the atmosphere was the opposite of the cold outside—
Energetic and lively.
It was the final week to apply for the university's battle team.
Naturally, the room was full.
Not just applicants, either. Many current team members were present as well.
Hikaru recognized several faces.
Senior Meiko, who he'd met during military training.
Qin Shou, who had once butted heads with him.
Even Hayashi Ten and Hayashi Ka were there.
In total, over ten team members had gathered.
Across from them stood a group of older students—evidently not current team members, but hopefuls applying for a slot.
Those familiar with Hikaru and Sakura greeted them warmly.
Even Qin Shou, who had clashed with Hikaru during the freshman training event, smiled at him now.
Hikaru was surprised.
This guy… is surprisingly chill?
But hey—when someone smiles at you, it's rude not to return it.
"Thanks for your help last time, senpai." Hikaru replied politely.
Qin Shou's smile stiffened instantly.
Hikaru… you really had to bring that up?
Back in the Changchun Secret Realm, when Hikaru had casually pulled out one Changchun Fruit after another, Qin Shou had been absolutely dumbfounded.
To make it worse, those fruits had been stored in his own bag.
Hilarious.
Turns out, giving a spatial backpack to a freshman was the best decision he ever made—just not for the reason he thought.
"As long as it helped…"
Qin Shou grit his teeth, managing a half-hearted reply before slumping into a chair.
Strangely, no one mocked him for it.
Instead, many team members gave him looks of sympathy—
And turned to glance curiously at the two newcomers: Hikaru and Sakura.
They had heard the rumors.
Qin Shou was a seasoned Master-level Trainer.
Among Master Trainers, he was one of the most experienced.
He had more than four Pokémon at the Master level.
He might have been arrogant, but he had the skills to back it up.
And yet—Hikaru and Sakura had taken his backpack right out from under him.
Which meant their strength…
Couldn't be ordinary.
But according to their records, both had entered Chūsei University via special admissions.
And during the High School League, their Pokémon were both at the Elite tier.
A far cry from Master level.
So then—
Why were they here?
They couldn't seriously be applying for the team, right?
Their confusion didn't last long.
Because just then—
"What are you two doing here?"
It was Meiko who spoke up, the senior with whom they had the closest connection.
She raised an eyebrow at Hikaru.
"Don't tell me… you're applying for the team?"
She had seen Hikaru's Latias before, and with her own Dragon Mastery, she could instantly tell—
That Latias was now Master-class.
He was absolutely eligible for the team.
But Sakura?
Her Pokémon weren't Master-class yet… were they?
Hikaru nodded.
"Yeah."
Sakura smiled brightly, grabbing Meiko's hand.
"Yup! My big bro said he wants to join the Youth League, so I came to support him!"
Ever since Sakura had "borrowed" Meiko's Dragon Island slot, the two girls—despite their age gap—had grown surprisingly close.
Sometimes, girls' friendships really were impossible to explain.
Meiko ruffled Sakura's hair affectionately.
"You're here to support him… but do you have a Master-class Pokémon yet?"
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