Kael read through the list carefully. The reasons given for expelling the students on it were all over the place.
"Damaging the ecosystem of the Coronet range, maliciously crippling someone else's Pokémon, talking back to a battle instructor... Does Coronet Academy really have that many students with this kind of character?"
He was starting to doubt whether the list was real at all.
"This list was submitted by the student council," Rowan said. "After checking it myself, I can say this much about its authenticity: it isn't just questionable. It's completely fabricated."
As he spoke, Rowan shook his head helplessly. "But I don't have the authority to send it back or revise it. In the end, it'll be handed over to Dean Sylas for processing."
"And Dean Sylas also happens to be the student council's faculty advisor. He was definitely involved in drawing it up in the first place. For him, it's just a matter of passing it from one hand to the other. The only reason it even makes it to me is to go through the motions."
"So this dean can expel whoever he wants?" Kael asked, frowning. "And the academy leadership just ignores it? They let him and the student council do whatever they want around campus?"
Rowan said, "The students on this list all have one thing in common. They ranked near the bottom in this round of battle exams. The dean and the student council have been pushing an aggressive elite-education system throughout the academy. But since the school has no rule allowing them to expel students for poor grades, they have to invent other reasons."
"The higher-ups don't care about any of that. They only care whether the academy's profits end up in their pockets intact. This twisted form of elite education actually benefits them."
Kael asked, "Then how come I never knew any of this when I was a student here?"
Rowan smiled. "Because you were the top student in the academy, for one. And besides, you barely spent any time here."
Kael suddenly understood. Back when he studied at Coronet Academy, most of his time had been spent training either in the Coronet range or elsewhere in Sinnoh. He had never actually stayed on campus very much, so he had never really known the academy that well.
"So that's the real reason you asked me to come teach here." Kael shot Rowan a resentful look. He finally understood what the old man had been after.
He wanted to use Kael's status as the former Champion to deal with the way Dean Sylas and the student council had been running wild at Coronet Academy.
"Heh..." Rowan let out an awkward dry laugh.
"I get it." Kael exhaled slowly, then said, "I'll look into it."
He was only the former League Champion, not the current one, and definitely not some king who could do whatever he pleased.
If he wanted to deal with Sylas, Coronet Academy's dean, he would first need to collect evidence of wrongdoing and submit it to the League.
"No hurry," Rowan said with a smile, pouring a cup of tea and pushing it toward Kael. "There's no rush. You're on Coronet range duty tomorrow, aren't you?"
"No thanks. Tea messes with my sleep."
Kael pushed the cup back, rose to his feet, and left Rowan's office.
He had come to Coronet Academy looking for an easy life, only to find himself dragged into trouble all over again.
Still, with the strength of a former League Champion, dealing with one academy dean should not be too difficult.
Stretching lazily, Kael left the main building and headed back toward his apartment.
---
Early the next morning, Aaron lay on his dorm bed, idly scrolling through Coronet Academy's task board on his phone.
[Bug-type Pokémon habitat on Side Peak E of the Coronet range has been severely compressed.
Mission objective: drive the Flying-type Pokémon out of the Bug-types' territory.
Reward: 1000 points.]
The moment he saw the task, he sat bolt upright.
He accepted it with practiced speed, threw on his clothes, packed the essentials into his field bag, clipped his Poké Balls to his belt, and got ready to head into the Coronet range.
He specialized in Bug-types and paid particular attention to the Bug Pokémon living in the mountains. Nearly every assignment involving Bug-types ended up being handled by him.
Most likely someone from the academy released Flying-type Pokémon into the area without thinking, Aaron guessed to himself. That's probably what caused the Bug-types' territory to shrink.
After hesitating for a moment, he grabbed two packs of bread from the table and stuffed them into his bag as trail food, then hurried out of the dorm.
When he reached the academy entrance, though, he unexpectedly ran into his battle instructor, Sylas.
Sylas also served as the academy's dean and was usually so busy that Aaron rarely saw him, and preferred it that way.
He wore a fiery red jacket with black pants, and his short red hair was clearly styled in imitation of Lance, the Champion of Johto.
"Aaron, where are you going?" Sylas frowned as soon as he spotted him, his tone instantly demanding. "Heading into Mt. Coronet again to look for those bugs?"
"I..." Faced with Sylas's aggressive tone, Aaron faltered and could not get the words out.
"I've told you plenty of times already. Give up on your Bug-type Pokémon while you still can," Sylas said impatiently. "Fire-types and Ground-types are much better choices."
Aaron lowered his head and said quietly, "Thank you, sir, but I want to stick to my own path."
"Stick to what?" Sylas's voice suddenly rose. "You ranked near the bottom in the last battle exam. Even if you are one of my students, that won't save you from getting expelled. You'd better think very carefully about that."
Aaron bit his lip, resentment rising in his chest. His expression turned strained, anger buried inside him, though he did not dare let it show.
For some reason, in that last battle exam, almost every opponent he faced had specialized in Flying-types or Fire-types.
He came from an ordinary family in Floaroma Town. He was deeply conflicted. He could not abandon Bug-type Pokémon, but he also did not want to be expelled from Coronet Academy.
When Sylas saw Aaron standing there with his head down and saying nothing, he waved him off impatiently. "Enough. Get going. I have things to do."
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
Aaron muttered it under his breath, then quickly fled from Coronet Academy.
---
The Coronet range rose steep and high, its altitude leaving it blanketed in snow all year round. Thick white layers covered the mountains from peak to peak.
Across that vast, endless snowfield, several tiny black dots moved slowly through the white, stark and easy to spot.
They were the students carrying out missions in the Coronet range.
They were the main force responsible for maintaining the ecological balance around Coronet Academy.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out from deep within the mountains, shaking snow loose from the trees. Several bird Pokémon burst into flight, sweeping frantically through the swirling curtain of snow.
At the site of the explosion stood two people and a Pokémon. On the ground lay an unconscious Glalie.
"Thank you, sir. If you hadn't shown up... I... I wouldn't have known what to do!"
One of them was a Coronet Academy student. He held an injured Weavile in his arms and spoke with tears in his voice.
The other was Kael, with Gallade standing at his side.
"No need to thank me. Just be more careful next time. Don't come this deep into the mountains again," Kael said. "Head back to the academy and get your Weavile treated."
"Right, right, I will!" The student nodded hard, then hurried away at once.
After watching the student disappear into the distance, Kael shook his head helplessly.
Every time he was on duty in the Coronet range, he ran into students like this. They always overestimated themselves, wandered too deep into the mountains, and ended up trespassing into the territory of some dominant wild Pokémon.
"Nice work."
After treating the injured Glalie, Kael gave Gallade a word of praise.
"Gallade!" Gallade nodded happily.
Once they had left the dominant Glalie's territory, Kael returned to the mountain trail, and from far off he spotted a familiar figure up ahead.
Green short hair. Half a piece of bread hanging from his mouth.
It was Aaron, who had entered the Coronet range not long ago.