Chapter 135 I Hate the Most...

Although Hanamichi was a first-year student, the moment he saw Renji, he immediately started a quarrel. "Ayako, why are outsiders just walking in?"

"Oh, they're from the Sakuragi Research Institute. They wanted to watch everyone practice, and it seems there's some kind of collaborative project..."

Before Ayako could finish, Hanamichi curled his lip and said, "We still have poke-basketball practice. Who has the time for that? Just kick them out... along with those guys!" As he spoke, he glanced out the gymnasium windows at several girls peering inside.

It seemed... they were all "fans" of that other classmate, Kaede.

"What business is it of yours? In a minute, you and your Pokémon will also join the second group's passing drill so I can see if you've mastered the basics!" Akagi said impatiently, rapping Hanamichi on the head.

During the five-minute break, Coach Anzai took out another Poké Ball, and released a Mr. Mime from it.

"I'm counting on you," Anzai said to Mr. Mime.

The latter nodded upon hearing this. Judging by its movements, this Mr. Mime had also reached an advanced age.

Next, Mr. Mime slowly shaped a transparent "wall" with its hands—not through any specific move, but by utilizing its characteristic ability to create various "barriers," manufacturing a temporary barrier very similar in nature to the dividing line between the inner and outer courts of a poke-basketball pitch!

Despite looking somewhat elderly and unsuited for competitive battles, it was highly proficient at generating this specific type of barrier.

Otherwise, it would be far too dangerous for humans to catch a ball thrown at full force by a Pokémon, yet if the Pokémon intentionally held back, the training effectiveness would be compromised.

The barrier created by Coach Anzai's Mr. Mime actually wouldn't meet official competition standards. After all, a proper court not only had its own specialized facilities, but also featured multiple Pokémon putting in full effort—something a single elderly Mr. Mime could not simply replicate...

Fortunately, the Pokémon belonging to these high school students weren't particularly strong, so it barely sufficed for practice purposes!

Ever since Coach Anzai arrived at Kunan, the training quality of the poke-basketball club had improved dramatically. First was Coach Anzai's own expertise, and second was that his ball-target Rotom and Mr. Mime were ideally suited for training.

Once Mr. Mime finished its work, Akagi saw that the break was almost over and immediately clapped his hands. "Alright! Let's get energized and start passing drills!"

Aside from Sakuragi, the club members present each released two Pokémon. The ones released by Captain Akagi, remarkably, were a Passimian and an Oranguru...

"Pfft... cough, cough." Amu accidentally let out a laugh, then smoothly disguised it as a choking fit.

At that moment, Hanamichi chimed in quietly from the side, "Heh, they look a lot alike, right? I've been saying they're the Gorilla Trio..."

It wasn't until Hanamichi was enveloped by the shadow cast by Akagi under the lights that he finally behaved himself.

Right beside Hanamichi was his sole Pokémon partner—a Scrafty.

This was the evolved form of Scraggy. Considering that it required reaching Level 39 to evolve, this Scrafty was at least Level 39, and quite likely in its early forties. For a current student, this level was already quite high!

Most conspicuously, the red "hair" on its head, which resembled a rooster's comb, was subtly larger than that of ordinary Scrafty—among Scrafty, the larger the crest, the better the innate potential tended to be.

The other prominent pretty boy prompted shrieks of delight from the girls outside the gymnasium the moment he released his Pokémon.

Strikingly, they were a Lucario and a Gallade...

Clearly, this must be classmate Kaede.

"Tch..."

Both Amu and Hanamichi noticed the other person making the exact same sound.

"Damn it, I hate people who act all high and mighty," Hanamichi muttered under his breath.

"I feel like every time I see a Lucario, it belongs to a trainer who's showing off," Amu added.

Of course, only Hanamichi and Renji, who were standing nearby, heard this, and the latter merely offered an awkward smile.

Hanamichi's "antipathy" toward Amu—stemming from his suspected ties to the Sakuragi Research Institute—plummeted instantly, and his favorable impression began to rise instead.

As for Gallade, it was a variant of the male Gardevoir—note that this did not refer to a male form of Gardevoir; Gardevoir itself could be male, but only unevolved members of the male "Gardevoir line" could evolve into Gallade. Unlike Gardevoir, which was Psychic/Fairy-type, Gallade was Psychic/Fighting-type.

"Fighting" was a common specialty type for poke-basketball players.

As for the other members' Pokémon...

They were all mere extras!

"These are newly purchased match balls. If anyone uses an unauthorized move and ruins one, you'll compensate me for the full price!" Akagi said, holding up a high-tech-looking "ball" while glaring at Hanamichi.

Hanamichi only offered an awkward chuckle, making it obvious that he was the one who had broken the match balls previously!

Amu was well aware that in poke-basketball matches, most moves were on the "prohibited list," and only a small fraction were permitted.

Akagi instructed everyone to divide into two groups of four teams using the "odds or evens" hand-reveal method, with three people per team. Since the court was not as large as a standard inner court, the human players and Pokémon players now had to occupy half-courts each. Not only was this completely different from the true inner and outer court division, but the space was also extremely cramped.

The main focus was to practice interactive passing between the inner and outer courts, as well as interceptions during these passes, practicing in two separate shifts.

Vice-captain Kogure, who wore glasses, saw that Hanamichi was on his team—both belonging to Team A of the second group—and said to Akagi of the first group, "Akagi, let's switch places."

This was because...

Hanamichi was the only player in the club with just a single Pokémon, while Akagi was the only one with three Pokémon. After all, this wasn't a specialized Pokémon academy, and they were all just students; having more than one Pokémon was usually the result of "catching up on lessons (taking a short journey)" during the holidays.

Since they had no intention of becoming professional trainers, didn't care about the "Rookie Tournament," and wouldn't wait until graduation to receive their Pokédexes...

Still, among the first-years, Hanamichi having only a single Pokémon was actually the most normal situation!

Akagi had already nodded in agreement. Indeed, unless he drafted other bench players as "ringers," he would have no choice but to team up with Hanamichi.

Right at that moment, Hanamichi felt as though Kaede had glanced at him with a look of utter disdain!

Of course, this was entirely a product of his own imagination; Kaede was merely looking left and right normally.

"Hey, kid, what's with that look?" Hanamichi decisively initiated confrontation.

"Hm?" Kaede merely returned an expressionless stare.

Seeing this, Hanamichi grew even more sullen. He looked around—Yohei and the others hadn't come today, otherwise, this would be the moment to "borrow" a backup Pokémon from Yohei.

Hanamichi looked left, looked right, skipped past Renji, and turned his gaze to Amu, asking warily, "Are you from the institute too?"

Just as Ayako was about to remind Hanamichi not to provoke the "visitors," Amu shook his head directly. "Not really. I just went there for a meal today, and afterwards... I'm just carrying his stuff." He gestured toward Renji as he spoke.

Faced with Amu's swift disassociation, Renji only managed an awkward smile, though Ayako's expression grew increasingly puzzled.

Seeing that Amu wasn't from the institute, and recalling their shared sentiment of "hating people who act all high and mighty," Hanamichi pulled him aside and told the others, "Never mind me, I'm borrowing a substitute from this friend!" Then he whispered to Amu, "By the way, you haven't been a debuting trainer for three years, have you?"

"I just received my Pokédex and started my journey this year..." Amu answered truthfully.

"Eh? Then you look a bit old for your age!" Hanamichi exclaimed in surprise.

"Ahem, Captain Akagi and I are probably around the same age; I just got my Pokédex rather late!" Amu guessed that Hanamichi must have taken him for a sixteen-year-old.

"I see..." Hanamichi muttered, then instinctively glanced at Akagi. "Now that you mention the captain... by comparison, you actually look quite youthful."

His remark was sharply picked up by Akagi, who turned his head to glare at him. Hanamichi hastily looked away with a guilty conscience.