Chapter 115: New Home
Each student in the special recruitment class of Imperial University is assigned their own villa, around 300 square meters in size, complete with a small courtyard where their Pokémon can roam freely.
In contrast, students from regular classes stay in shared dormitories, typically four to a room.
However, as the top student in the special recruitment class, Ashborn's villa is five times larger, boasting a gym, swimming pool, and a Pokémon training room.
The yard is massive—about the size of one and a half football fields.
Ashborn was quite pleased with his new living arrangements. He didn't mind enduring discomfort himself, but he wouldn't allow his Pokémon to suffer.
A responsible trainer must have such noble awareness.
There are only four villas like his at Imperial University, each reserved for the top-ranked students of each year from freshman to senior.
The university's total land area is immense, spanning 300 square kilometers, making it larger than a typical district in the Xortros Region.
The Trainer Academy, occupying 100 square kilometers, is the largest part of the university, with thousands of battlefields scattered across the campus.
Relationships between students from different colleges were often considered "long-distance" due to the sheer size of the university.
After taking a quick look around his villa, Ashborn retrieved his luggage from the system space.
The place was cleaned regularly, saving him the trouble of hiring a cleaning Pokémon.
The yard had everything he could want: a pool, rock garden, ancient trees, and even a barbecue grill. The school had thought of everything.
He released his Pokémon from their Poké Balls: Metagross, Lucario, Meltan, Dragonair, Steelix, Slowking, and Aron. They looked around curiously, taking in their new environment.
"Do you guys like it?" Ashborn asked. "If not, I'll let the school know."
His Pokémon didn't have many demands when it came to living arrangements—their main need was a lot of space for moving around.
The others were still exploring, but Aron, with Meltan perched on its back, ran over to Ashborn eagerly.
"Always hungry, aren't you?" Ashborn chuckled, patting Aron's head.
Thanks to the power of Totem's soul, Aron had grown to an impressive one meter in height.
Normally, Aron would only grow to about 40 centimeters, 50 or 60 at most with good development, but one meter was unheard of.
However, the size increase also came with a much larger appetite.
Ashborn couldn't help but worry whether the hundreds of tons of raw diamonds he'd collected from a secret realm would be enough to feed Aron until it evolved into Aggron.
"Okay, okay, stop licking!" he said, picking up Meltan, who had been licking Aron's head non-stop.
Although Aron didn't have hair, the metal on its head gleamed brightly where Meltan's constant licking had polished it.
Meltan wriggled in Ashborn's arms, still wanting to snack on Aron's tough metallic shell.
Ashborn pulled out an aura stone from his system space, and Meltan immediately started eating it contentedly.
"I wonder if Meltan's personality will change after it evolves," Ashborn muttered.
He wasn't in any rush for Meltan to evolve, as it was enjoying its "baby phase."
Besides, once it evolved, its personality would likely mature, and Meltan would have to face the world more seriously.
"Metagross, come with me. Lucario, take care of things here. Make sure Meltan doesn't eat any other metal, and Steelix, no digging!" Ashborn instructed before heading out.
Lucario nodded in understanding. Once Ashborn left, Dragonair flew into the pool for a bath, while Steelix, feeling accused, sighed and said, "I wasn't planning to dig anyway."
Meltan sat contentedly on Aron's back, gnawing on its aura stone while Slowking took off his crown, pulled out a scarf from within, wrapped it around his neck, and strolled into the villa.
Lucario watched with mild surprise, realizing that the crown had other uses beyond just sitting on Slowking's head.
As Ashborn walked through the Trainer Academy, he noticed that nearly every student had a Pokémon by their side.
Those who attended the Trainer Academy were skilled; even the freshmen had first-tier level Pokémon, and by the second year, most Pokémon were on the verge of becoming pseudo-Elite.
By the third year, if a student's Pokémon wasn't at the pseudo-Elite level, they would be embarrassed to call themselves a student of the Trainer Academy.
Reaching the Elite level, however, depended on luck and opportunity.
Ashborn's eyes swept over the surrounding Pokémon, noting their potential. Most were of green potential, even at a top school like Imperial University.
Occasionally, he'd spot a few cyan-level potentials.
The academy was a melting pot of all kinds of Pokémon, even pseudo-legendaries.
As Ashborn walked, he saw a student holding a Gible, which attracted plenty of attention. Though pseudo-legendary cubs weren't unheard of, they were still rare enough to cause a stir.
But no one drew more attention than Ashborn himself.
The large, silver Metagross trailing behind him was like a spotlight, catching everyone's gaze. Students took out their phones to snap pictures, murmuring excitedly.
"A silver Metagross… incredible!" one student exclaimed.
"Yeah, must be another rich kid," someone muttered.
"Hey, don't talk so loud. I didn't even hear you standing right next to me," said another.
"I heard that Zovic Elite's grandson enrolled this year. Looks like it's true."
The rumor quickly spread as more students connected the dots. A silver Metagross was a rare and powerful Pokémon, and its owner was clearly someone important.
"Hey, Lavia, do you know him?" one girl asked, turning to her friend, the girl, who was holding the Gible.
"No," the girl, also called Lavia, replied.
"Zovic Elite never brought him to any of our gatherings."
As part of the elite trainer circles, Lavia attended regular social events where trainers would exchange rare items, Pokémon, or information.
Many elite trainers would bring their protégés to these gatherings to introduce them to others.
"Maybe Zovic Elite doesn't like his grandson?"
"It's not that. Zovic just said these parties were a waste of time, so his grandson never showed up."
"Honestly, with a powerful grandfather like that, people would just fawn over him at those parties anyway."
Stephanie just sighed.
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Adios