Chapter 35

Leon smiled and stared at the boy who locked eyes with him. Being an Aura Guardian for so long, Leon knew that it was just a mere fluke that the silver-haired boy was looking directly in his direction. Once someone becomes an Aura Guardian, all previous Guardians receive a certain signal that they could all feel resonating from their hearts. When two Guardians are in close proximity with each other, their heart would start to heat up and their heartrate would slightly elevate. Having been a Guardian for so long, Leon knew exactly what the boy was, although the boy just thought he was nervous from seeing Ally again after her bold display on Saturday.

'Mhm, he's so young but already has so much potential. I would love to bring him to the Battle Tower but he's still too inexperienced. I can still see the milk dripping from his lips.' Leon was excited at the sheer talent that Jax was displaying. He knew that there were quite a few potential aura masters in this school and more than one in this classroom but only one out of thirty students currently in here was able to perceive his existence. Shaking his head, Leon could only feel rushed to train these young trainers into the veterans they will be one day. If he was a Team Rocket member who infiltrated the school, everyone in this room would have been dead save for maybe one student, two if you counted the girl who has been looking around since the moment he entered the classroom.

Although it looked like the platinum-blonde girl knew about his existence, Leon didn't pick up any aura from her. Seeing the blue snake around her neck staring in his direction, he finally put the pieces together. 'Ah, so that little one felt threatened and notified his trainer. Mhm, dragon-type are usually more sensitive so that makes sense. Interesting. So young and already capable of earning a dragon's trust.'

Taking a quick look around the room, Leon only took notice of the five students who remained sitting. The boy who looked way too relaxed was also interesting. His aura was definitely stronger than the silver-haired boy's, but he didn't pick up on Leon's presence at all. The sleeping child also had an interesting power, although different from his own, so Leon couldn't help him at all.

Then, turning towards the bookworm, Leon had a soft smile on his mouth. Olivia McBeth. Leon knew her well since he was the one who rescued her during one of his missions. A young girl locked up in a cell with just enough water to survive until the next day, that was how Leon found her. After rescuing the young girl, he did his best to find her a loving family. The McBeths had been a long-time friend of Leon's since his days as the Galarian Champion and agreed to raise her as their own. Leon made them promise not to disclose anything about him to the young girl and when she woke up, it was as if she lost all her memories. Aside from her name, Olivia, she didn't remember anything else. That was already 3 years ago when she was only 2 years old and ever since, Leon has been keeping tabs on her. He was even the one who wrote her a recommendation letter and sponsored for her attendance in this academy.

'Mhm. Glad to see you doing well, too, Livy.' That was sort of a nickname Leon had given her without her permission after watching her grow up for so long. As the professor finished giving out her speech, Leon looked back at the only one who noticed him and then threw something their way before he abruptly disappeared from the spot like a ghost in the wind.

Noticing something flying towards his face, Jax reached out and grabbed the object that came from the monster's direction. Looking down at his palm, Jax noticed that it was actually a card that he had caught. Turning the card over and observing it in closer detail, there wasn't much to it besides the name of someplace from what Jax could tell. 'Battle Tower? Why does this name sound so familiar? Hmmm. Wait! Galar! There's a building with the same name in the Galar region built by their undefeated reigning champion, Leon! D-does that mean the monster who was just sitting there a moment ago was him? Headmaster Leon?' Filled with all sorts of questions, Jax could only brood over them since he had no one to ask.

"Alright, come up here based on your student ID number and draw a piece of paper from this box. The paper will tell you which bracket you will be in, either A, B, C, D, or E. As there are exactly 30 students in this class, each bracket will have six students fighting within their own bracket. As the student defeats their peers, they will move up the ladder until the semi-finals. The finals will happen tomorrow morning with the rest of the day reserved as free time!" Following Professor Uriel's instructions, the students went up to the box one by one and drew the paper that will decide their fate.

"Hey, I got placed in C, what about you?"

"Cool! We'll be in the same bracket!"

"What do you mean, cool!? That means we'll have to face off against each other! I'm going to say this in advance, but sorry, man, that diamond grade dragon is mine!"

As the students discussed which bracket they were in, it was finally Jax's turn. With light steps, Jax slowly but methodically made his way towards the front of the class the pick out the last slip of paper in the box. This was all a show carefully constructed by Jax to draw the most attention to himself. A true narcissist down to the very DNA that made up his cells. Taking a deep breath, Jax finally opened the paper, A. 'Mhm, guess I won't be facing off against anyone strong right off the bat.' As luck would have it, all five students who stayed seated were placed in a separate bracket.

"You ready for this, Buddy?"

"Psh, if I lose to these kids, I'll run around the city naked!"

"HAHAHA! Stupid! Aren't you already naked?"

Making light banter, the duo didn't even care to look at who else was in their bracket. No matter who stood in their way, as long as they weren't at the level the monster who was sitting in the back was, Jax and Vioarr felt like they had nothing to worry about.

"Jax looked so handsome walking up to the box, wouldn't you agree, Mewton?"

Looking at his trainer, Mewton could only shake his head. He knew the boy was bad luck ever since Saturday! 'My princess has been tainted! I'm going to kill those two, I swear!'