Time flowed by, and in the blink of an eye, a week had passed. Eichi spent the entire week staying at the school to train Beedrill and the others. There was progress, though it wasn't significant.
Actually, the training methods he learned from Muramasa were applicable to many Pokémon. However, they all relied on a waterfall. Consequently, Eichi spent the past few days searching the forest outside the academy, and to his surprise, he actually found one.
The waterfall before him flowed down from the mountaintop, standing 15 meters high—just like the one near Muramasa's dojo.
The water cascaded down, washing over the rocks in the lake and flowing into the depths. The surrounding area was filled with mist, making everything damp and lush. Trees grew densely and grass flourished around the lake, but a flat patch of dirt had been cleared out in this specific spot. On the nearby trees, there were clear fist prints and claw marks, suggesting someone had trained here before.
When Eichi first arrived, he thought someone was currently training here. Later, he discovered writing on a large marble slab next to the waterfall. It turned out this place originally belonged to a senior student for training. Now that he had graduated, he left a message to encourage any junior who found this spot.
Thus, Eichi trained here for a week. Since they were departing this morning, he packed his things and headed back to school. He had slept here last night instead of returning to the dormitory; now that it was the holidays, the regulations weren't as strict.
An hour later, Eichi appeared at the square by the school gate. About twenty people were already there. Most everyone had arrived, standing ready in the square. Some gathered in groups to chat. Eichi even spotted Matsumoto and Ishida; they weren't as arrogant as they had been before.
Eichi knew that after losing to him, they had challenged Sato and Konan, only to suffer a crushing blow and lose again. According to Tetsu, Sato and Konan had returned with several new, powerful Pokémon.
Eichi walked over and greeted Sato, who was standing to one side. "Morning, Sato!"
Sato nodded. He glanced at Eichi. Upon returning, he had heard the news of Matsumoto and Ishida challenging Eichi. According to his classmates, Eichi had defeated them easily using only a Scizor. The entire process took less than ten minutes. Since Matsumoto was relatively strong—and it had taken Sato a full ten minutes of hard work to beat him—this put a fair amount of pressure on Sato.
Next, Eichi went over to Tetsu and Kelly. Looking around, he saw nothing but familiar faces. There were three from his own class, plus Sato, Konan, Ishida, and Matsumoto. There was also Shinta. He didn't recognize the other two; one was a top-eight finisher from the Freshmen Tournament, and the other was a new face. The latter had likely stood out during the selection trials.
Besides them, Eichi saw Senior Yuli. She came over to greet him before heading off to chat with her own classmates. A total of thirty students from the three grades were going out for the field trials. Because of their differing strength levels, the three grades would naturally be going to different locations.
Checking the time, it was almost 9:00 AM. Three minutes later, the teachers arrived one after another. Among them was Teacher Joylin, along with teachers from other subjects. Wow, they really are all familiar faces, Eichi thought.
Director Yanagi took the lead. Looking across the group, there were over 30 teachers. Eichi was stunned. It's just a field trial. It's not like some of these students haven't been to the wilderness before. Is it really necessary to bring so many teachers to protect them?
The number of teachers exceeded the number of students. Director, just how cautious are you?
The other students also had strange expressions, and the other teachers looked somewhat helpless, but Director Yanagi didn't care at all. He scanned the area, did a head count, and seeing no one was missing, he coughed and said, "Since everyone is here, let us depart."
With that, he led the way out. He released his Pokémon, a Flygon. Eichi noted that this Flygon had an Excellent talent grade and was at the Gym Leader rank. It was likely just Director Yanagi's mode of transport.
Tsk tsk, the Director is so extravagant, using a Flygon for transportation.
By the way, it's worth mentioning that there was no public transportation for this trip. Everyone had to ride their own Pokémon; those without one had to hitch a ride with someone else. The other teachers also released their Pokémon.
In the air, there were Pidgeot, Fearow, Crobat, Altaria, Charizard, Staraptor, and more. Running on the ground were Rapidash, Arcanine, Dodrio, Onix, Rhyhorn, Tauros, Houndour, and others. It was a diverse array of species. The students also began releasing their Pokémon.
Most were from the Johto and Kanto regions, but there were also Pokémon from Hoenn and Sinnoh, and even one from the Unova region. Eichi saw Teacher Joylin mount an Arcanine. Sato, naturally, rode his Charizard. Konan released a Pokémon Eichi hadn't seen before—a Skarmory.
Kelly was riding a Swanna, while Tetsu mounted his Houndoom. This Houndoom was quite large, a full circle bigger than a normal one. Eichi was shocked when he looked closer; this Houndoom was actually at the Gym Leader rank.
Seeing Eichi staring at the Houndoom beneath him, Tetsu smiled and explained, "My mom gave me this one. I figured I needed a way to get around anyway, so I brought it along."
Eichi released Heracross and jumped onto its back. Thanks to his careful nurturing, its body was also a size larger than a normal Heracross, making it quite spacious to sit on.
And so, the group set off. The students didn't know the destination of their field trials; only the teachers knew. Everyone followed silently behind Director Yanagi and the others.
The weather today was clear with a pleasant temperature—a perfect day to head out. The weather in Johto and Kanto was often like this, with suitable climates all year round, neither too hot nor too cold. The breeze blowing against their faces was exceptionally refreshing.
After a while, they soon reached Silver Town. A large group of people riding Pokémon down the main road was quite a spectacular sight. Pedestrians on the road moved aside as they saw the Pokémon charging toward them, and a flurry of whispers broke out about what was happening.
This was Eichi's first time riding Heracross; previously, he had always ridden a bicycle. It was also Heracross's first time flying with a passenger, so it was a bit unaccustomed to it. When they first took off, Heracross flew unsteadily and looked extremely awkward, drawing a bout of laughter from Tetsu.
"Eichi, look at you! Pfft, I can't help it, haha! This is too funny! Eichi, this is the first time I've seen you like this!"
Fortunately, the lack of habit was only temporary. Heracross soon adjusted and began to fly steadily through the air.