Kelly and Ami ran forward quickly, and Miss Lin hurried to meet them. The two girls threw themselves into Miss Lin's embrace.
"Miss Lin, I missed you so much!"
"Me too. It's so good to see you again."
"Alright, alright. You've both suffered," Miss Lin said gently.
After Eichi and Tetsu arrived, Director Yanagi said, "You two little rascals are quite fast, arriving today already!"
"It's all thanks to Eichi that we could arrive so quickly," Tetsu said with a laugh.
Just as he finished speaking, two Pidgeot darted out from the forest. As soon as the two teachers riding them dismounted, Eichi turned to Director Yanagi.
"Director Yanagi, these must be the teachers who were protecting us from the shadows, right?" Eichi asked.
"You even knew about that?" Director Yanagi replied.
Eichi smiled and said, "I guessed. I knew you wouldn't be completely at ease leaving us alone, Director, so you definitely had teachers protecting us in secret. Thank you, teachers."
At this, Tetsu, Kelly, and Ami all came over to thank the two teachers for their protection.
Teacher Yamashita and the other teacher looked a bit embarrassed and said, "It was nothing, really."
Teacher Yamashita then added, "Eichi, you did very well. I wanted to ask—during these past few days, I noticed you seemed to know exactly where danger was and bypassed it in advance. How did you know?"
"That? I judged it from the environment," Eichi explained. "Plus, I learned a bit of sensory training from Mr. Muramasa. I have a slight ability to sense danger now."
Teacher Yamashita nodded and said, "I see. That is quite impressive."
"Alright," Director Yanagi interrupted. "Only the four of you have arrived today. Everyone, get ready for dinner."
Eichi and his group were the fastest. No one else had arrived yet, and there was no telling what they were going through.
The next day, Eichi originally thought Matsumoto and Ishida would arrive first, but to his surprise, Sato's group arrived instead. Looking at the expressions of Sato and his two teammates, they were visibly exhausted. It seemed they were truly worn out.
When asked about their experience after splitting up, it turned out they hadn't encountered extreme danger. Because their group was small, their pace was relatively fast, but they lacked Eichi's sensing ability. Consequently, they ran into trouble and were attacked by several Pokémon groups. The teachers protecting them in the shadows almost had to intervene several times.
Fortunately, Sato and Konan had brought many Pokémon with good strength, allowing them to overcome the difficulties.
Shortly after Sato's group arrived, Matsumoto and Ishida finally appeared. They looked quite disheveled, and when they saw Eichi and the others, their expressions changed and became very unsightly. They hadn't expected Eichi's group to arrive before them—especially when they learned the four had arrived yesterday, their faces were a sight to behold.
Seeing their expressions, Tetsu even went up to ask about their journey. Predictably, Matsumoto and Ishida said nothing. However, Tetsu then ran to ask the teachers who had been protecting them to find out what had happened.
Although those two had traveled before and had some experience, this time was different; all the wild Pokémon were intentionally coming out to attack them. Consequently, they had a rough time. There were Pokémon everywhere, and they were frequently surrounded. While the two of them were strong, they weren't as well-equipped as Sato and Konan.
Most importantly, there were only two of them, whereas Sato's group had three. Even if Kosei's strength wasn't as high, she was still in the top ten of the grade and could help. At one point, the situation became so dangerous for Matsumoto and Ishida that the hidden teacher had to step in to save them.
Now almost everyone was accounted for, with only Shinta remaining. By nightfall, he still hadn't arrived. On the morning of the third day, he was still missing, and everyone began to worry.
Director Yanagi called the teacher protecting him. On the phone, the teacher informed the Director that Shinta was close. Everyone felt relieved, but even so, it took a long time. Shinta finally arrived in the evening.
He was a mess. Seeing everyone waiting for him, he looked ashamed and remained silent. This piqued everyone's curiosity. This time, Tetsu didn't ask Shinta but went straight to the teacher.
Shinta's story was almost comical. His strength wasn't as great as Eichi's, and he lacked Eichi's ability to sense his surroundings. Most importantly, he was alone. Encountering a single Pokémon was fine, but he couldn't handle groups. Sometimes he wouldn't even run, thinking his strength was enough to defeat them.
Then he suffered. He was chased the entire way. In the end, if the teacher hadn't rescued him, the others might never have seen Shinta again. He was constantly surrounded and constantly being saved by the teacher in a repeating cycle.
Finally, he had reached the finish line. The others looked at Shinta with strange expressions, but at least the whole team was finally together.
That night, by a river, Eichi was chatting with Sato again. Eichi picked up a stone and threw it into the water.
Splash.
The water kicked up a small spray. Watching Eichi, Sato instinctively picked up a stone and threw it into the river as well.
"How are you feeling after these past few days?" Eichi asked. "You look very tired."
"I am definitely tired," Sato admitted. "But it feels great. I've never felt as fulfilled as I have these past few days."
"Oh?" Eichi looked at him with curiosity.
Sato threw another stone and said, "To be honest, these past few days have been an experience unlike any I've had before. I found that I actually like this kind of life. Is this what traveling is like?"
"No," Eichi replied. "This is just one part of it. Traveling is even more exciting."
Sato looked at the river, a look of longing appearing in his eyes.
Early the next morning, after breakfast and packing their things, Director Yanagi called everyone together. They stood by a small river that flowed toward an unknown destination.
"It looks like everyone has rested enough," Director Yanagi began. "Next is the second trial. This one will be much more difficult."
Saying this, Director Yanagi took a colorful orb from his pocket. When Eichi saw it, his pupils constricted and his heart pounded wildly.
Is that...
A Key Stone!
Inside the orb, which looked like a glass marble, was a black leaf-like pattern with two marks drawn through the middle.
"Do you see the orb in my hand?" Director Yanagi continued. "I have hidden five of these orbs in the forest behind us. Your goal is to find them. I'm telling you now—the five people who find these orbs will receive a reward. There is a time limit; you only have seven days. Alright, get ready and set out!"
With that, everyone began to depart. Eichi walked up to Director Yanagi's side and asked, "Director Yanagi, what exactly are these orbs?"