The campus forum server crashed for the third time in just three minutes due to massive traffic overload.
A bold, red pinned post was spreading like a virus:
"Breaking news! First-year student Kudo Shiba has captured a champion-potential Dratini!"
Every student who clicked in saw the same candid photo—Kudo Shiba standing tall with an elegant, noble Dratini resting on his shoulder, while Takai Yuko beside him smiled captivatingly, her eyes full of undisguised admiration and closeness.
A handsome boy, a beautiful girl, and a pseudo-legendary Pokémon.
The image perfectly matched the ultimate fantasy of every teenager whose heart had just begun to awaken.
Countless gazes—admiring, jealous, and reverent—converged from all directions. They pushed Kudo Shiba and Takai Yuko to the center of attention, forming a bright halo that no one could ignore.
But the brighter the light, the colder the shadow it cast.
Hidden in a corner not far away, Sunada Kaoru's entire world was collapsing.
He stared fixedly at that dazzling photo, as if a volcano were brewing in his chest, molten rage scorching every organ inside him.
That Dratini should have been his.
That girl with the perfect smile should have been his.
Yet now, everything had been taken away easily by that man—Kudo Shiba.
Jealousy and fury tangled together into a massive net that tightened around his sanity until it finally snapped.
"Why!"
"Why is it him again!"
These words screamed in his mind like a curse.
His fists clenched so hard that his nails pierced into his palms. Thin blood oozed out, the sharp pain stabbing through him—but it was nothing compared to the agony of his heart being torn apart.
When the distribution of Pokémon finally ended and everyone left with either satisfaction or regret, Sunada Kaoru stood alone, utterly devastated. In his hand remained only a cold Poké Ball.
Inside it was a Rattata whose potential had been evaluated as merely "ordinary."
From the clouds down into the mud.
From heaven straight into hell.
The immense contrast snapped the last thread of restraint in his mind.
He saw Kudo Shiba saying something to Takai Yuko as they prepared to leave together.
No.
He could not let them walk away.
A mad thought consumed his mind instantly.
He burst from the shadows like a beast driven into a corner, using his frail body to block Kudo Shiba's path.
"Kudo Shiba!"
His voice was twisted and hoarse from overwhelming rage, like an old bellows wheezing for air. Every word carried the stench of blood and madness.
The surrounding students, who had been about to disperse, all stopped at once. The air instantly thickened with gossip and anticipation.
Kudo Shiba halted. His brows twitched almost imperceptibly.
He turned his head slightly. The look he gave Sunada Kaoru carried a cold, unmistakable impatience from above.
"Not interested."
Three simple words—not even bothering to ask what the other wanted.
In his eyes, someone like Sunada Kaoru did not even have the right to be a stone on the roadside. Speaking a single word to him was a waste of valuable life energy.
This absolute contempt stabbed deeper than any insult.
"You are scared, aren't you?"
Sunada Kaoru's facial muscles twitched uncontrollably as he forced a grotesque, twisted smile.
"You are afraid your precious Dratini cannot defeat my Rattata, right?"
The surrounding students instantly looked at him as if he were an idiot.
Dratini, the young form of a pseudo-legendary, one of the pinnacles of Dragon types.
Rattata, a common, bottom-tier Normal type found everywhere.
The two species were separated by an unbridgeable gap.
Saying a Dratini would fear a Rattata was not just a joke—it was an insult to the basic intelligence of every Trainer.
But Sunada Kaoru ignored all their stares. He had already fallen into a delusional loop of his own making, his voice growing increasingly hysterical.
"Do not think I do not know anything! Your Dratini was just born! Its level is pathetically low! It has no battle strength at all!"
He pointed a trembling finger so close it almost touched Kudo Shiba's face.
"And my Rattata! It naturally knows the Normal-type move Hyper Fang! In terms of typing, it completely counters that useless little dragon of yours!"
"If you lose, you must give me your Dratini—AND Takai Yuko!"
His final words were nearly screamed.
At that moment, the smile on Takai Yuko's face vanished completely, replaced by frigid frost. For the first time, her beautiful eyes revealed raw, undisguised disgust.
Kudo Shiba's originally indifferent gaze also changed.
The impatience disappeared.
The laziness disappeared.
The casualness disappeared.
What replaced them was a pure, absolute coldness—an emotion stripped of all warmth, as if the world lost all color except for Sunada Kaoru's distorted face.
"Sunada Kaoru."
Kudo Shiba finally spoke. His voice was calm, without fluctuation, yet the air around them instantly chilled.
"Take back what you just said, and I will pretend I heard nothing."
It was a warning.
And a final act of mercy.
But Sunada Kaoru, already consumed by madness, could no longer understand anything. He took Kudo Shiba's calmness as fear and guilt.
"I REFUSE!"
He shrieked, spittle flying everywhere.
"Takai Yuko should have been my woman to begin with! Who do you think you are! You are nothing without your family's dirty money! Do you even dare accept my challenge?! Do you dare!?"
Kudo Shiba slowly raised his eyes.
They were no longer cold—they were utterly indifferent.
The kind of indifference reserved for dead things.
"Fine."
One word.
"I accept."
He normally would not waste a second on an ant like Sunada Kaoru.
But Sunada Kaoru made one unforgivable mistake: dragging the person next to him into this.
The moment he insulted Takai Yuko, the nature of this confrontation changed completely.
This was no longer petty jealousy.
This was a battle in which the opponent must be crushed utterly, reduced to dust, and shown their place.
Kudo Shiba accepted the challenge.
The news exploded across campus like a depth charge detonating in a lake.
"What?! They are really going to fight!?"
"Sunada Kaoru is insane—challenging Kudo Shiba?"
"All for Takai-senpai! This is a duel with pride and futures on the line!"
"Hurry! To the battle arena! Grab a front-row seat!"
The message spread with frightening speed across the entire school.
Students in class.
Students in the library.
Students training outside.
Even teachers who heard the commotion.
Like a flock of birds returning to their nests, everyone surged toward the largest battle arena in the center of campus.
In mere moments, the enormous platform was surrounded entirely, the crowd packed shoulder to shoulder. Conversations, gasps, and excited shouts merged into a deafening roar that nearly lifted the roof off the building.
Every gaze focused on the passage leading to the battlefield.
Focused on the two boys about to enter.
A battle deciding the school beauty's honor and the title of top first-year was about to begin.
(End of Chapter)
If I see that this fanfic has support, I will upload 20+ chapters to Patreon!!
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]