In the Alliance, the debate over which universities were #1 and which were in the top three was fierce, with no official consensus to this day.
The fight for the top spot was mainly between National University and Capital University. These two institutions had the deepest foundations, and both were located in the Capital City. Their proximity had led to a complex saga of kindness, resentnt, love, and hate that could easily fill a million-word novel. National and Capital were the undisputed top two.
Then ca the battle for third place, primarily contested by Centralis University and Saffron University.
Although these two universities weren't in the sa city, they weren't far apart, and for years they had been constantly competing, both openly and behind the scenes.
In terms of history and foundation, Centralis University probably had a slight edge. But Saffron City was an international tropolis. Not only was it wealthy, but it was also always in sync with the global community. Its trainers frequently battled against international opponents, and their training philosophy was consistently at the forefront in the Alliance, leading to a fierce rise in prominence.
In recent years, Saffron University had shown signs of surpassing Centralis. Their competition had reached a white-hot state, just short of a complete falling out.
"Captain, we're having an exchange with Saffron University? What kind? When and where?"
At the ntion of a big battle, Blaze's eyes lit up again. As a battle maniac, he wouldn't miss any fight, especially against a rival like Saffron University.
"This is primarily a freshman exchange, not a full school team exchange. It has nothing to do with you," Bella explained, pursing her lips. "And for now, it's just a proposal. It was an idea I had with the Saffron University team captain. I still need to report it to the school administration for approval. But I'm confident they won't refuse."
Hearing this, Blaze's boiling blood instantly cooled, and his face was filled with disappointnt. But a mont later, he caught a different scent in the air. "Captain," he probed, "have you seen Saffron University's Konrad recently?"
Konrad, the captain of the Saffron University team, a Pro-level trainer specializing in Flying-types. His ace was the Dragon/Flying pseudo-legendary—Salance.
As the captains of the two strongest universities in the southern region of the Alliance, Konrad and Bella had long been a topic of great interest.
One's father was a Dragon Master; the other's was a Flying Master.
One's ace was Dragonite; the other's was Salance. Both were Dragon/Flying pseudo-legendaries.
One was the prized recruit of "The Celestials" club; the other was the prized recruit of the "Starlight" club. Both were top-tier professional league teams.
On top of all that, their universities were competing for the #3 spot in the national rankings. The drama was imnse.
Overall, public opinion slightly favored Konrad, because Salance could ga Evolve, while Dragonite could not.
But in terms of comrcial value, Bella was far ahead of Konrad, mainly because she was beautiful and had a lot of fans just for her looks.
"I saw him. We had a battle," Bella said, not trying to hide it. As old rivals from competing clubs, a battle between her and Konrad was always a big draw, so their respective club managers would intentionally arrange for them to fight.
They had already fought dozens of tis, with wins and losses on both sides, making them evenly matched. Their clubs had made a fortune on ticket sales and broadcast rights. The internet had even started shipping them, which annoyed Bella to no end.
The frustrating part was that she and Konrad were close in strength, and their school teams had also faced each other many tis with similar results. The outco often ca down to strategy and on-the-spot performance, with a large elent of luck.
And so, both of them had turned their attention to the new generation, as they represented the future.
"There will be five spots for this exchange match, chosen from the ten of you. We'll hold a selection tournant, a fair competition. Whoever is strongest gets to go. Any objections?" Bella scanned the faces of the freshn.
"No objections!"
Hearing this, the freshn all silently clenched their fists, preparing to train hard this week to try and qualify. This was an exchange match with Saffron, a great opportunity to see the world. And if they won, wouldn't the school reward them? Centralis University had a deep foundation and was always very generous to its talented students.
Ten spots, five will be chosen? No, wait.
It was more like nine people fighting for four spots. Everyone had already ntally conceded one spot to Basalt. After seeing what his Excadrill could do, none of them had the confidence to face him. They would just get crushed.
...
Returning to campus, Basalt resud the miserable life of a university student: classes during the day, training his Pokémon at night.
Fortunately, Bronzong was highly intelligent. Even when Basalt wasn't around, it could supervise Larvitar to ensure it completed its training tasks with both quality and quantity.
With a guarantee of sufficient nutrition and following the guidelines in the training manual, the little guy's strength grew very quickly. In just one month, it had shot up in height, reaching 0.7 ters—though 0.2 ters of that was its horn, which made him not know whether to laugh or cry.
Besides Larvitar, Excadrill also had a second growth spurt, growing another five or six centiters. The patches on its stomach had also beco a more vivid, bright red. Along with its growth in size, its attack and defense had also risen, and it now carried an imposing aura that made others wary.
As for the roster for the Saffron University exchange, that had been decided a week ago. The representatives were Basalt, Sylvie, Roman, Dante, and Lana. Besides Sylvie, the other four were all Rookie Kings. Clearly, that title still carried a lot of weight.
As for Shane, he had narrowly lost to Roman and didn't make the team.
"The exchange match with Saffron is set for next Monday, three days from now. You can choose to ride with in the team bus from the university, or you can travel to Saffron City on your own and do so sightseeing. As long as you et us at the Saffron University main gate at 9 AM on Monday, it's fine."
On Friday afternoon, Bella, as the team leader, announced the arrangents.
Without a mont's hesitation, Basalt chose to travel on his own.
"The Battle Tower in Saffron City... I've wanted to see it for a long ti. This is the perfect opportunity."
Basalt's eyebrow shot up, his eyes full of anticipation.
It may have been called Saffron City, but it was vastly different from the Shanghai of his old world. He had seen online that Saffron City was ho to the Alliance's largest and most advanced battle facility—the Battle Tower.
The Battle Tower gathered masters from all corners of the world. In other words, you didn't need to travel the globe to et and battle against powerful trainers from all over, gaining a wealth of experience.
A trainer and their Pokémon's strength relied on the support of countless battles. The rise of Saffron University in recent years was inextricably linked to the establishnt of the Battle Tower.
And Basalt had been coveting a chance to visit the Battle Tower for a long ti. Now that he had the opportunity, how could he possibly miss it?
"It's decided. I'll head out tomorrow morning and test the waters at the Battle Tower."
Basalt raised an eyebrow, his plan already made.
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