My name is Shintaro Yusa and I'm 10 years old and I'm a rookie trainer from Tokiwa City.

I was born into an ordinary family with ordinary parents, and I started my journey as a trainer on January 1st of this year. Now I am living an ordinary study life in a not-so-ordinary college.

...... Yes, I'm just an ordinary person.

I don't have any talent and I don't have good luck. It's really, really nice to be here and get to know all of you, but ...... Sure enough, I can't ask for more things that shouldn't belong to me.

But a mere mortal wants to be a great being or something...... Of course you'll be punished, right?

[May 4, 1000, 17:30 p.m., Sky and Land Red District, Teaching Building, Guanghui College]

“...... That's all for today's lesson, students who have questions can go to the training ground to find me, and it's no problem to fight if you want to. Let's get out of class. ”

The young teacher, who taught the technique of using the moves, pushed his glasses, and the end of his words was drowned out in the cacophony of the classroom.

The teenage girls couldn't wait for the bell to ring, and they were already arguing and inviting each other to eat in the cafeteria.

"Shintaro-san—" Nana's voice passed through half of the classroom, still causing some tinnitus from the brown-haired boy, "Do you want to go to the training ground together at night?

As a player who has reached the top four of the World League, this young man has always been the target of the students' concentrated challenge.

The boy smiled gently, "I'm not going." With my current strength, I can't learn much by fighting against an opponent as strong as my teacher. ”

"Uh, having said that......"

"Anyway, let's go eat first?" Shintaro looked at Nana with a smile in his eyes, "It's not okay to forget to eat just thinking about fighting." ”

“...... All right. ”

Shintaro followed the flow of people in the direction of the cafeteria. Nana, who was following him, sighed silently and lowered her gaze.

In fact, not only Nana, but also friends who are familiar with Shintaro can vaguely feel his change. Although he was still gentle and soft as usual, deep down in his heart, something harder and sharper seemed to have disappeared.

Nana felt that she could barely understand part of Shintaro's thoughts. Despite acting like nothing, it was clear that the incident a week ago had hit him hard - and it wasn't surprising that Nana would have been in pain if she had put her on the same footing.

As one of the parties involved, Nana explained to Shintaro many times that she didn't care about his mistakes, that she didn't have a fear of heights, and that she didn't care about falling off the bridge occasionally. It's a pity that these words were not accepted by Shintaro.

After eating dinner together and saying goodbye at the door of the cafeteria, Nana knocked the street tree on the side of the road twice in frustration.

"Ahh......h

Nana, who was at a loss, inadvertently looked up and suddenly saw a very dazzling tuft of red hair.

The girl was stunned for a moment, and her eyes lit up.

[May 4, 1000, 19:05 p.m., Empty Land Red Zone, Student Dormitory]

The flaming finch gave full play to the ferocity of its insect prey, and its powerful wings sliced the Kami turtle's water gun to pieces. The horned goldfish in the pond looked very sleepy, and they coped with the attack of the pangolin without a pair, which made the pangolin angry.

The trainer looked at his Pokémon and was a little distracted for a moment.

Although they mechanically maintained the habit of daily special training, the young trainers had long since lost the momentum and strength to do so. The cold voice of the transfer student that day seemed to still echo in his ears-

"Just roll the waste into a corner and stay there, don't come out and hurt people. ”

Shintaro shivered excitedly, and quickly shook his head, throwing the bad memories out of his mind. Then he noticed that the Kami turtle had stopped practicing and was looking at him with some concern.

The young man hurriedly reached out and touched the slippery head of the water-colored ghost, "I'm sorry, I was a little distracted just now." ”

He was about to say, "Let's keep training," but met Kami's eyes. Somehow, the words changed before they could be spoken.

“...... Kami turtle. ”

Shintaro lowered his head and didn't look at his original Pokémon's expression.

"You think, I ......"

Am I a very useless trainer?

Before he could finish speaking, the sound of the door being pushed open interrupted Shintaro's thoughts. The red hair of the visitor is still bright, and the smile on his face is still so energetic and uplifting, as if he is a superman who will never be discouraged.

"Xiao Zhen, I'm coming back to see you on vacation. In training?"

“......”

"What's that look like that? Kazuhiko laughed, "Don't you want to see me?"

"No, no, how could it be. Shintaro hurriedly broke free from his stunned state, and shook his head violently, but his expression was a little complicated.

If it had been him a week ago, he would have been very excited about Kazuhiko's appearance at this time. Obviously, he used to want to see his respected predecessors so often, but now he only feels that he can't raise his head.

There is no way for me to respond to the expectations of my predecessors, and I will only disappoint my predecessors. There was a voice in the bottom of my heart that whispered like this.

"It seems that you still adhere to the habit of special training every day, which is very good. The red-haired boy, who was much taller than Shintaro, nodded and put his arm around Shintaro's shoulder affectionately, "Come on, have a fight, let me see how much you have improved." ”

Shintaro was almost half-pulled and half-forced to stand in the trainer's seat, and then lost without any suspense.

Losing to Kazuhiko is certainly not a strange thing - if you win, you need to run three laps around the Trials Forest to celebrate. However, Shintaro's performance in this battle was too bad. He's mentally unstable, almost like a novice at the mercy of others, and he hasn't even had a three-round stalemate.

Just like he did when he first came here.

When Shintaro was rummaging through the injured Kami turtle for injury medicine, Kazuhiko didn't say much, nor did he criticize Shintaro for his substandard performance, but just silently took out the burn medicine and helped Shintaro treat Kami turtle together.

Shintaro's mouth opened and closed a few times, and finally he took a sip as if he had admitted defeat.

"That...... Kazuhiko-senpai, can you talk to me?"

"Of course. ”

Although I listened to Nana narrate the general situation of the matter, when listening to the narration of another party, Kazuhiko still felt a familiar and helpless impact. The emaciated teenager stumbled and recounted the experiences that he was ashamed to talk about, even wanting to forget forever, but could no longer be muffled in his heart, and his voice, which had not yet changed his voice, with a slight tremor that was not yet visible, revealed the true emotions he wanted to try to hide.

"I'm sorry, Kazuhiko-senpai. Shintaro bowed his head quietly, "I'...... It's too weak for me to live up to your expectations. ”

Kazuhiko sighed and suddenly straightened his face.

"That's right, as you say. You are weak and stupid, not only can you not save others, but you almost become a murderer, and your image must be terrible in the eyes of your classmates. ”

Shintaro, who had never been blamed by Kazuhiko, froze suddenly, and Kazuhiko had already changed his tune.

"It's my fault. ”

“...... Huh?"

"It's me who is too reckless. I only know that I encourage you without thinking, want you to grow stronger, and I am immersed in the self-satisfaction of my good predecessors, and I don't notice your true mood. ”

The red-haired boy's expression softened.

"Xiao Zhen, have you ever thought so? I have changed, I have worked hard, and I have indeed continued to improve, and I have become a person who can take on something. ”

Seeing Shintaro's expression, Kazuhiko suddenly wanted to laugh out of place. Although he was a little speechless for a moment, Shintaro's expression was much more honest than his words.

"You know, you've only been a trainer for less than half a year. None of us are a rare genius like Inspector Abel Winfred, how can we become an infallible trainer in just half a year?"

"You're in too much of a hurry. Kazuhiko said simply.

As soon as these words came out, the tears that Shintaro had endured for a long time suddenly burst and overflowed from his light brown eyes.

"But......" his voice was already tinged with tears.

Of course, he knew he was in a hurry. It should be said that since Kazuhiko was promoted to the orange group, he has lost his previous stable mentality.

Shintaro will never forget the scene where his older brother Tatsuya returns home for the first time after his departure. When he ran out to meet his brother, he saw his brother who was talking happily with a strange boy of the same age he didn't know. The dark-haired boy smiled and introduced him to the people around him, saying, "They are my most important friends." ”

And after learning about the exploits of Tatsuya and his companions in just one year, Shintaro felt a strong sense of distance. His brother used to live under the same roof with him, and he spent time and night, but now his brother and his friends have traveled with his friends to places that Shintaro can't imagine, and he can't even understand what his brother and the others are chatting with.

Shintaro is indeed longing for his brother, so the panic is even stronger. He didn't say what was on his mind, but he did think so—

The person I longed for was no longer in the same world as me.

"Uh, don't you cry...... I can't stand this anymore. The red-haired boy immediately lost the unfathomable appearance of his predecessors, scratching his head helplessly, and for a moment he felt like a bully, and he felt uncomfortable.

"Listen to me. He forcefully placed his hand on Shintaro's shoulder, making him look directly at him.

"Although I may not be qualified to preach as a 'no-responsibility pusher', I still want you to know. Kazuhiko's bright golden eyes met Shintaro's, "I understand that you've put in a lot of effort and you've made progress. But ah, hard work or faith, these are just the simplest things that everyone can do, and they should not be used as capital to boast about, let alone desperately hope for feedback. Rather than calculating how much time and sweat you have put in, it is better to recognize the fact that I am weak, and I will be weak in the next few years, or even ten years, and then work towards the ideal goal. ”

Facing Shintaro Kami's uneasy gaze, Kazuhiko patted him on the shoulder and laughed a little narcissistically, "Your role model is here, what else is there to be afraid of?"

Kazuhiko's last words struck a hard hit Shintaro's defenses. Letting go of Kamitoise's cold body, Shintaro wiped his face vigorously with his sleeve.

"You really ...... Won't you give up on me because I'm too useless and I'm progressing too slowly?"

"What do you say, you're thinking too beautifully. Kazuhiko made a straight face, "Don't think that you can be lazy if I go to the orange group." I'll check your grades once a month, and if I find out you're being lazy, I'll take a leave of absence and fly back and beat you up. ”

The brown-haired boy paused, and finally showed a broken smile, but the tears were even more turbulent.

He knew that his beloved senior had read all of his thoughts, which was why he gave such a firm and reassuring answer.

What could be more invigorating for a traveler than a bright, ever-disappearing beacon standing ahead?

"By the way. Kazuhiko continued without reading the air, "I've already seen your results this month. The part of the theory class is so-so, the actual combat performance is too bad, and the number of times is completely insufficient, and it is not qualified. ”

As he spoke, Kazuhiko clapped his hands and stood up, "Kami's injury is not serious, it should be almost recovered by now, right?" ”

“...... Huh?"

The thought circuit shifted from emotion and emotion to battle in a second, and Shintaro was a little overwhelmed for a while, and his face was suddenly confused.

"Fire Beast, are you ready?"

"Whoa, oh, oh, oh!"

“...... Now, now, now, now, ah, ah, wait!"

The brown-haired boy scrambled to his feet, nearly tripping over the Kami turtle. The flames of the fiery beast had already hit, and the Kami turtle hurriedly performed a water-based move, which prevented Shintaro from being roasted before exiting the arena.

It looked back at its trainer.

The boy looked a little flustered, tears still hanging in the corners of his eyes, and his eyes were washed clean.

Just like it did when it and Shintaro first met.

After a week, the water-colored little turtle finally showed its first reassuring smile. A hazy white light that reshapes the bones seeps out from the deepest part of the body, carrying the Pokémon and the human to begin the most important metamorphosis of their lives.

[May 5, 1000, 9:12 a.m., Air and Land Red Zone, Guanghui College Teaching Building]

"That's the way it is. Shintaro scratched his head embarrassedly, "I'm sorry for worrying everyone all this time." ”

"Finally figured it out? Really, you looked so bad the other day that you even refused my invitation to fight. Nana didn't gently put on an unhappy expression at all.

"Yes, I'm sorry...... Definitely won't say no today, definitely!"

"But...... Doesn't that sound familiar?" muttered Kasuke.

"'Hard work is just the basics of the basics, recognize your weaknesses before moving forward'?" Nana turned her notepad, "Of course it's familiar, isn't this a famous line of our academy." At that time, Kazuhiko's seniors were still immature first-year students, and the electrical engineer who was transferred from the class made Naru Kamijo fight helplessly, and even discouraged and wanted to quit the final exam. His childhood sweetheart, Hitoko Inoue, gave him a friendship punch and said this. ”

Nana said while also making a gesture of the so-called "friendship fist", "Many people saw this incident at the time, and now there are still posts on the forum at that time." ”

"Oh, I remembered!" Kasuke twitched his palm, "I did read this post before." ”

"Kazuhiko Senpai also had a time when he was young and cute. Nana shrugged.

The chatter of the friends gradually faded away, and Shintaro froze in place as if he had been slapped on the head with a mallet, blinking his eyes, and it took a long time to realize a fact.

"I ...... I actually drank second-hand chicken soup once??"