CHAPTER 900: THE RISE OF ASHOKA

It was a large room with wooden tiles. There was a massive table with multiple chairs, a couple of windows, some paintings and decorations, including flowers on the table and near the window, and two cupboards on either side of the walls filled with files.

A young man with red hair was looking at a stack of papers and flipping through them. The young man doesn’t seem to be in a good mood. He was growling in anger.

"Oh, damn it!!! Why is it taking so long to make these things? It was to be completed by next week.", shouted the young man.

Of course, the young man was Lance.

Recently, Lance had taken the responsibility of handling the new school. The land had been bought, and teachers have been selected.

However, there were still many things that needed to be addressed. This was the first time Lance had taken on so much responsibility. He was overwhelmed by all the work and pressure.

In the meantime, Lance heard a knock on the door.

KNOCK.. KNOCKKK....

"Come in."

The door opened, and a beautiful girl, wearing a short, tight skirt, a formal shirt, and a coat, came into view. The girl had long green hair and was carrying a bag filled with books.

"Sir, the books have all been printed, and each of the teachers is satisfied with them. Here are their confirmations and here are the samples of the books.", said the girl.

"Oh, thank you, Gina. That is the only good news I have heard all day.", said Lance and started to look at the books. He went and scanned all the topics of the books.

Gina was the new secretary of Lance, the principal of the new school, and she had been an instant success. As the deadline drew closer, Lance was busy day and night.

They had to verify and confirm the course and the number of years of school learning. They had to make sure that all the buildings and facilities were completed. They also had to purchase all the resources needed for the students.

Many things were left to be completed.

"What about the new students?", asked Lance.

Admission for the new students started today, and Lance was expecting some new students.

"Except for Agnes Blaze, no students have arrived at the school.", said Gina.

It was not that Lance was expecting a lot of enrollments in the first year. Axel had explicitly said that the number of students for the first year should not exceed 10. Therefore, Lance had not actively advertised the school’s opening. He had only shared this information with his close family and friends, as well as with Cynthia and Steven’s family and friends.

Axel’s family and friends were already aware of the school’s opening, and the entire city of Hakone was also informed.

Yet, none of the students had come even though the whole city knew about it. The reason for it was simple.

Axel had placed harsh conditions for the admission.

###

"Sir, are you sure that you have not gone mad?", shouted one of the kids to a powerfully built man who was sitting on a chair.

This was the gate of the academy. In a month, they had completed some basic infrastructure, including a wall that covered the entire school building. Only a small part of the school building had been covered with the wall.

The land was too large to cover with a wall, as it would have been too costly.

The kids were just outside the gate, and the guard wouldn’t let them in. Yes, they had also hired a couple of guards. It was needed to manage such a big property.

The guard gave a long sigh at the question and took out a signed laminated document stating the same. He could only blame himself for this mess. Who told him to work under one of Axel’s corporations?

The guard, Bir Bahadur, had been a popular trainer in the past. He had a pseudo-king rank Pokemon and multiple elemental rank Pokemon. But one day, during the tide battle, he lost most of his elemental rank Pokemon and lost his job as a soldier.

He had earned a lot during that time and decided to retire, but due to numerous family problems, he had to take on a job. He was already 60 years old now. So, when he heard that the hero of the city, Mr. Axel Blaze, was opening a school for trainers, he applied for the guard’s position and got it.

He expected just to open the doors for the students and relax, but he had not expected a lot of outsiders to disturb his sleep.

"Kid, see over here. This is the signature of Mr. Axel Blaze himself. He says what he says. If you want to apply for the school, you must have a rare rank Pokemon when you are 12 years old, an elemental rank Pokemon when you are 13 years old, or a pseudo-king rank Pokémon when you are 14 years old. This is the basic requirement.

If you cannot prove it, then you cannot enter the school."

The kids could not believe it. How could one have a pseudo-king rank Pokemon when you are only 14 years old? That is just impossible.

But when the guard said that Axel had achieved it, and at that time, he had only started his journey at 13, all of them fell silent.

Everyone knew the heroic tale of Axel Blaze, how he came from a humble family with little to no resources and rose to be the most powerful trainer of his generation.

Some of the kids were excited to train themselves to the limit to get inside the school, while others had a sad face. Bir Bahadur chose not to care.

"Excuse me, did you say that I can enter if I have a rare rank Pokemon?", came a voice from behind.

There was a crowd of kids around the gate, making it difficult for the guard to see who spoke. A school with reasonable fees and headed by their hero, Axel Blaze, had gotten all the kids excited.

Bir Bahadur stood up from his chair, looked around, and asked, "Who is it?"

He could see a hand raised, and suddenly all the kids gave way for the little boy to come near him.

"So, do you have a rare rank Pokemon? What is your age, boy?", asked Bir Bahadur.

"I am 12 years old and my Electabuzz just reached rare rank a couple of days ago.", said the boy.

The boy had small-medium hair and he was wearing half pants with half half-sleeved yellow t-shirt. It was pretty hot out here, as summer had just begun.

"Oh really? What is your name, boy?", asked Bir Bahadur.

"Ashoka."

"Alright, show me your Pokemon first.", said Bir Bahadur.

The young kid nodded his head and threw a Poke Ball.

"Come out, Electabuzz!!!"

ROOOARR

Electabuzz came out with a loud and excited roar.

"Hmm, you were not kidding, kid. It is a rare rank Pokemon.", said Bir Bahadur.

Being an experienced trainer, he could already tell that it was a rare rank Pokemon.

"Oh my GOD!!! That is a rare rank Pokemon."

"Who is this kid?"

"Don’t you know, he lives near Frank’s house? He recently moved into the city with his family. I think it has been around 2 years since he moved in."

"But why don’t I know him. I live near there."

"He doesn’t like to talk. I talked with him only 2-3 times, and I am a chatterbox."

Many kids were talking about Ashoka. He had instantly become famous. A 12-year-old having a rare rank Pokemon was extremely rare even in prominent families. How was his kid from a normal middle-class family able to do it?

Bir Bahadur stared at Ashoka for 10 full seconds. This might have been the most frightening experience of Ashoka’s entire life.

"Hmm, you do have a rare rank Pokemon, but did you get it from your parents, or did you raise it yourself?"

"I raise it myself, sir."

"Show me your birth certificate.", said the guard.

Ashoka had come prepared. He showed his birth certificate and he was 12 years old.

"Good. Now you can come inside and battle me with your Pokemon. I want to see how good of a trainer you are."

Ashoka agreed, and he was finally let inside the gate. Even though the gate was now closed, other kids could still see the battle because it was made from metal bars.

Bir Bahadur called out his Pokemon, Xatu. It was an elemental rank Pokemon.

"Show me everything you got, kid!!!", said Bir Bahadur.

"Electabuzz, use ’Thunder wave’....."

....

The battle was short, and it ended in a couple of minutes. The kids outside the gate were cheering for Ashoka, the underdog.

"Oh come on, Roll and dodge!!! Roll and dodge!!"

"You can do it, Electabuzz..."

This might be the first time for some of them to see such an existing battle. Of course, Ashoka lost the battle.

The reason for this battle was to verify if Ashoka had personally trained Electabuzz. There were many cases where children took their parents’ Pokémon for admission.

Bir Bahadur verified the birth date of Ashoka and said, "Congratulations!! You have passed the first admission test. You can now go inside and get the documents from Professor Kevin, and he will brief you about the second test."

"Huh? He passed? I cannot believe that a kid from our city can go to this school."

"Only the first test passed? So there are other tests?"

At that time, Bir Bahadur looked at the crowd again and said, "Yes, there are other tests too. And only those who passed the first test will know about it."

###

"Sir, someone passed the first test."

"Huh? Really? But none of my family and friends have sent their children yet.", said Lance.

"Sir, the kid is from the city itself."

"Really? Does such a kid exist here in the city? Quickly, look into the background of that kid and tell Kevin to get ready for the second test.", said Lance.

"Already done, sir. The background checks will be completed today, and I will give you the reports tomorrow."

"You are as efficient as they come, Gina."

###

Tring.. Tring.. Tring.. Tring..

Katchak!!

"Axel, we got our first student!!!"

Axel, who had just woken up from his bed, suddenly opened his eyes after hearing the news.

"Really? Who is it?"

"The Kid’s name is Ashoka. No last name, and he comes from Hakone city."

"Seriously? From my city?"

"Yes, 12 years old with a rare rank Electabuzz."

"Lance, get the.."

"Don’t worry, background checks are being done. What I want to ask is, since he is the first student of our school, shouldn’t we give him some sort of a reward?"

"Lance, first, it is an academy, not a school. We already discussed it, remember? If a principal is confused on such a simple matter, how can I trust you with it?"

The difference between a school and an academy was that an academy was typically funded and run by the government. Although this was stipulated in the law, since the concept of schools was just emerging in the world, the authorities didn’t care about the name, so they decided to call it an academy.

As per Axel, it had a certain gravitas compared to ’School’.

"Yes, yes. I understand. Now, about the reward."

"Oh, don’t worry about the reward; I have the perfect reward for that kid," said Axel with a smile.

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A/N: There are more than 60+ advanced Chapters in pa-treon along with two new side stories of the novel. If you are interested in reading more and getting ahead in the story, subscribe to my pa-treon channel.

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