Three days later.
On the vast, boundless Pacific Ocean—
A colossal Wailord, its back fitted with a massive ship-like structure, slowly swam eastward.
Standing atop Wailord's back, Gao Bing looked at the hazy island in the distance, a faint smile appearing on his face.
"Children," he said,
"that island ahead is Sea Cliff Island."
As Gao Bing spoke, Ethan's gaze followed his line of sight.
From afar, Sea Cliff Island looked enormous—and tall.
Very tall.
But its structure was extremely strange.
One half of the island rose steeply, slanting upward to a height of three to four hundred meters.
Yet when the island reached its highest point at the center—
It abruptly ended, breaking off like a sheer cliff.
On the other side of that cliff, there was still land, but it was strikingly flat.
Visually, the entire island looked bizarre and unnatural.
"No wonder Sea Cliff Island is said to be the site of a legendary battle," Ethan muttered.
"Based on normal tectonic principles, it'd be nearly impossible for such a landform to form naturally."
From first sight to landing on the island, the journey took no more than fifteen or sixteen minutes.
Soon, Ethan and the others set foot on Sea Cliff Island.
At the island's entry point, Ethan saw all kinds of transportation methods.
There were Corviknight aerial taxis unique to the Kalos Alliance, massive Tropius that looked capable of hauling enormous cargo—
And even helicopters and yachts representing modern technology.
In an instant, what had seemed like a deserted island became lively and crowded.
"Principal," Qin Yingying asked curiously as she looked at the foreign students with vastly different skin tones and appearances,
"are these the people participating in the exchange conference with us?"
"Yes," Gao Bing nodded.
"Those are students from the Evergreen Academy of the Eagle Alliance."
"Over there are students from Oxford Academy of the John Alliance."
"And those are from Celadon Academy of the Sakura Alliance."
...
As Qin Yingying asked, Gao Bing naturally began introducing the various academies among the world's top twenty.
However, while Gao Bing was explaining—
Lines of text began flashing rapidly before Ethan's eyes.
[Green Opportunity]
[Target: Kawakami Anzai]
[Event: On Sea Cliff Island (0113, 0412), cliff area — discovers a Dragonfire Berry]
[Blue Opportunity]
[Target: Sakina Bennett]
[Event: On Sea Cliff Island (0003, 0111), coastal area — finds a Ground Gem]
[Purple Opportunity]
[Target: Yago Vladimir Chaisdrol]
[Event: On Sea Cliff Island (0432, 1455), forest interior — encounters a Shiny Gligar]
...
The moment Ethan arrived on Sea Cliff Island—
An overwhelming flood of information appeared before him.
The sheer volume made even Ethan momentarily dizzy.
These were, without exception, the opportunities that the students present were destined to obtain.
According to the system, a total of thirty-nine opportunities appeared in Ethan's vision.
21 Green Opportunities13 Blue Opportunities4 Purple OpportunitiesAnd even 1 Red Opportunity
Frankly speaking, it was as if the system was afraid Ethan wouldn't know where these opportunities were.
The instant he stepped onto the island, a complete Sea Cliff Island map appeared in his mind.
A 5000 × 5000 coordinate grid, covering nearly every corner of the island.
Every time the system highlighted an opportunity, it also provided precise coordinates.
Ethan's face remained calm—
But inside, he was already laughing uncontrollably.
He had known there would be many opportunities on Sea Cliff Island.
But he'd also assumed that actually finding them would be extremely difficult.
Yet now?
The moment he arrived, the system directly exposed every opportunity other people could obtain.
Ethan had thought finding opportunities would be like cooking—
you had to search for ingredients before making a dish.
Who would've thought the system handed him a buffet instead?
To that, Ethan silently praised—
Well done, system.
At the same time, he looked at the people around him with quiet apology.
Your opportunities are great…
But they're all mine now.
Ethan memorized every coordinate instantly.
Most of these opportunities might be useless to him.
But useless or not—
He would take everything.
Even if he didn't need them—
What if his future kid did?
Just as Ethan was eagerly anticipating a massive island-wide resource sweep—
A voice speaking slightly awkward Donghuang Mandarin reached his ears.
"Gao Bing-kun, Donghuang Academy brought students again this year for the international academic exchange?"
"Haha, our Celadon Academy really hopes we won't see Donghuang students leave like last year—empty-handed again."
Turning toward the voice, Ethan saw a short man with a stereotypical Sakura-style mustache, wearing a suit and round glasses.
To be honest, Ethan was usually very even-tempered.
But the moment this man spoke, irritation surged in his chest.
The man was Itabashi Yuta, vice principal of Celadon Academy from the Sakura Alliance.
"What do you mean by that?"
Gao Bing's face darkened instantly.
"Nothing much," Itabashi Yuta shrugged.
"Just stating facts."
That only made Gao Bing angrier.
Before he could explode, Itabashi Yuta suddenly changed expression.
"Oh! Principal Sheldon from Evergreen Academy is here."
"Gao Bing-kun, we'll talk another time."
With that, Itabashi Yuta hurried off, immediately putting on a flattering smile as he began ingratiating himself with a white-bearded old man.
Watching his retreating figure, Gao Bing cursed under his breath.
"Bastard."
As someone from the older generation, Gao Bing had always despised the Sakura Alliance.
Partly because of history.
Partly because of their habitual hypocrisy.
And the moment Itabashi Yuta mentioned last year's exchange conference—
Gao Bing's anger reignited.
Last year, Donghuang Academy students had actually found plenty of resources.
But right before leaving, students from Celadon Academy, Evergreen Academy, Oxford Academy, and others had surrounded them—
Forcing them to hand over everything.
Due to its massive population, the Donghuang Alliance enforced strict national exams for Trainer selection.
Other alliances, with smaller populations, had much looser standards.
Some allowed Trainer journeys at fourteen.
Some even at ten.
While these students lacked complete education, the capital-driven systems abroad meant—
Anyone who made it into a top academy was either rich or powerful.
And those selected for international exchanges were elites among elites.
Even if their future ceilings couldn't match Donghuang students—
Their current strength floor was terrifyingly high.
Commander-tier Pokémon at eighteen were far from rare.
In contrast, Donghuang Academy students had generally been weaker.
Incidents like last year hadn't happened just once.
Before, it had been scattered bullying.
Last year, it became collective oppression.
Gao Bing had been furious enough to take the issue straight to the International Academy Union.
Though compensation was given—
No academy ever apologized.
In his anger, Gao Bing had even considered withdrawing Donghuang Academy from this year's exchange entirely.
There was no reason for his students to suffer such humiliation.
But then—
Ethan appeared.
Looking at the representatives of the other academies in the distance, then at Ethan beside him—
Gao Bing spoke quietly.
"Come here, Xiao Yuan. I need to talk to you."
Ethan was surprised, but still walked over.
"Grandpa Gao, what is it?"
Since this was a private conversation, he used the familiar address.
"Xiao Yuan," Gao Bing asked seriously,
"tell me honestly—how confident are you against Commander-tier Pokémon?"
Ethan blinked.
Though unsure of Gao Bing's intent, he raised a single finger.
"Ten percent?" Gao Bing asked, startled.
Ethan sighed helplessly.
"No, Grandpa Gao. One hundred percent."
"Commander-tier Pokémon can't really threaten me."
One hundred percent?
Gao Bing froze.
He knew Ethan was strong—but this level of confidence still stunned him.
Then he remembered Ethan had a Metagross—
And everything made sense.
A mysterious smile spread across Gao Bing's face.
"If that's the case, Xiao Yuan…"
"I'll give you a mission."
Ethan nodded.
"Go ahead, Grandpa Gao."
"The task is simple."
"Evergreen Academy, Rose Academy, Celadon Academy…"
"When you encounter students from these academies—"
"Rob them."
Ethan was stunned.
He clearly hadn't expected such an order.
Having grown up as a model student, he genuinely didn't know what robbing was supposed to look like.
So he asked sincerely,
"Grandpa Gao… how exactly do I rob them?"
Gao Bing snorted coldly, staring at the other academies in the distance.
"How did the Eight-Nation Coalition rob us back then—"
"That's how you rob them now."
"Strip them clean."
"Even their underwear, if possible."
Ethan: (⊙_⊙)?
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