A few days later, on the battle field at Jindu Academy, James once again sent out his Scyther to challenge Gabriel's Dratini .
"Scyther, dodge—quick!"
"Too late! Dratini, use Extreme Speed!"
In a flash, the Dratini—blurred across the battlefield like a shadow. Even a swift Pokémon like Scyther couldn't keep up with the streaking movement. All it could do was brace itself, raising its twin scythes in defense.
On the sidelines, James sighed helplessly as he watched Dratini dart across the field. Is it just me, or has Dratini gotten even stronger? In their previous battles, Scyther had at least been able to hold its own for a while. But now? Once Dratini unleashed Extreme Speed, Scyther was completely overwhelmed.
In a blink, Dratini looped behind Scyther and delivered a brutal Headbutt straight to its back. Scyther collapsed, completely incapacitated.
Dratini raised its head proudly, eyes gleaming. See? I told you I'm amazing!
Gabriel patted Dratini affectionately on the head, smiling.
"Not bad. Your power's really shot up over the past few days."
he had to admit—Everette lived up to his reputation as a Gym Leader. His research into Dynamax was truly thorough. Gabriel had been using his notes to train Dratini, and the results spoke for themselves. In just a few days, Dratini had improved dramatically. At this point, she believed Dratini could beat Pat's Scyther without even needing to Dynamax.
On the spectator bench, King looked utterly defeated. Is this guy really the same age as me? No matter how hard he tried, it felt like Gabriel was always two steps ahead.
As the battle ended, Gabriel walked over and gave James a friendly pat on the shoulder.
"That was a great fight—your Scyther's grown a lot stronger."
James forced a bitter smile.
"Cut the modesty. Your Dratini is a monster!"
He looked at Gabriel, a mix of admiration and frustration on his face.
"Seriously though—how the heck do you train your Dratini? Could you maybe help me out?"
Gabriel just shrugged, a little helplessly.
"My Dratini only got this strong thanks to Dynamax energy. You know this already. Research on it is still mostly unexplored. Dratini's growth is kind of a one-of-a-kind case."
Even James, who was normally easygoing, rolled his eyes at that.
"I swear, I wanna punch you sometimes. Do you ever not show off?"
Gabriel gave a sheepish wave. These days, it seemed like no matter what he said, he was bound to upset someone.
But hey, he thought, if no one's jealous, I must be doing something wrong, right?
King had already calmed himself down somewhat, though being at the same school as Gabriel was still tough to deal with. King considered himself a prodigy—but next to Gabriel, that so-called "talent" of his felt laughable.
James clearly shared the same sentiment. He'd been pestering Gabriel nonstop the past few days—clearly unwilling to accept the growing gap between them.
But whatever, King thought. Just look at James's face—you can tell he's already accepted it. He's no longer treating Gabriel as a rival. That kind of opponent only deepens your own sense of helplessness.
Maybe it's time for me to let go, too. Maybe... Gabriel and I are just from two different worlds.
With that realization, King felt like a heavy weight had been lifted off his shoulders. The frustration that had been bottling up vanished, leaving behind a sharper focus. He turned to glance at James, a newfound competitiveness in his gaze.
So I can't beat Gabriel—fine. But I'll definitely beat you! I made it to the top 16, after all!
Of course, all of this remained unsaid. Outwardly, the three boys were still classmates—and good friends.
King approached Gabriel, looking both amused and a bit exasperated.
"You got stronger. Again."
"Just lucky, I guess," Gabriel replied with a grin, brushing it off.
King didn't press. The more they talked about it, the more he'd just end up hurting his own pride.
"Your strength's grown enough that I think you're ready to take the Battle Society's assessment."
"The assessment? Aren't we already part of the Battle Society? I never heard anything about an exam."
Gabriel tilted his head, confused. He wasn't the clueless freshman he'd once been—he now knew his way around the academy pretty well. Back when he first enrolled, he'd had to ask James and King for everything. Just thinking about those awkward days made him want to disappear.
But despite all he'd learned, this was the first he'd heard of an assessment.
"Of course you wouldn't know. The teachers won't bring it up until a few months later. Right now, we're still provisional members. If you want to become an official member, you have to pass the test given by the president and vice-president. The reason the teachers haven't mentioned it is because they don't think you're strong enough yet. But I've seen the assessments before—and I think you're ready."
Gabriel nodded, taking King's words seriously. After all, the club president was King's older brother. If there really was a test, passing it would be a good indicator of how far he'd come.
"So, what kind of perks do official members get?" Gabriel asked, curiosity piqued. If there were no real benefits, he wasn't sure it was worth the effort.
"Plenty," King said with a smirk. "Becoming an official member means you're now a reserve for the academy's battle team. And that's a huge deal. On the surface, the annual academy battle league looks like a competition for school rankings—but in reality, it's a contest to determine how much funding and resources each academy gets."
"Every time our ranking goes up, we not only gain more prestige, but we also get more resources allocated to us. The academy pours everything into building that team—official members and even the reserves get tons of support."
Sounded impressive. Being a reserve member for Jindu Academy's elite battle team, and facing top trainers from other schools, could be an amazing learning experience. Maybe it was time to give that assessment a shot.
"So what are the requirements to take the test?"
"Simple," King said. "Use three of your Beast to defeat the examiner's one."
"Three against one?" Gabriel raised an eyebrow.
"Don't underestimate the examiner," King replied. "That examiner is the top trainer at Jindu Academy—the core of our battle team. My brother, June."
Ah, Gabriel thought. That scary-looking older brother. He was the one who'd initially recommended Gabriel as a provisional member.
"How strong is your brother, exactly?" Gabriel asked.
"Very strong."
"Elite-tier Trainer or Professional-tier Trainer?"
Gabriel himself was still just a regular Pokémon Trainer. The next tier up required passing the Professional Trainer's exam, followed by the Elite tier.
King thought for a moment.
"If he went all out, my brother could probably qualify as a Gym Leader. But he hasn't graduated yet."
Gabriel's eyes widened. A Gym Leader...?!
Looks like he'd better start preparing—seriously.