Pokemon: The Gameboy Effect-Chapter 217: A New Year with New Challenges

"John, let's go first, see you next year!" Chad waved to John.

"I'm leaving too!" Grace passed by John. Many friends around the students bid farewell. John also waved goodbye, then turned and walked toward Harbor.

The final exam was over, and the students had gone home for winter vacation, but John wasn't planning to go home. Since becoming an official breeder, he had been sending money to his family regularly—at least three or four million. His parents had paid back the money they owed to relatives and then decided to travel. Right now, they were abroad in the Marcellus Islands and had no plans to return for the New Year.

Since he wouldn't see his parents even if he went home, he figured he might as well spend the New Year at school. The years without family felt the same anywhere.

At least at eighteen, he wasn't alone.

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Compared to his previous life, in this one, he had Pokemon by his side.

Taking Flygon at Harbor, he flew back to the beach house and landed on the edge of the shore.

Out at sea, the red Gyarados was using Surf to create waves while Greninja rode a skateboard on the water, enjoying a real Surf experience.

Tyranitar and Aggron sat side by side, piling sand together. Tyranitar even had a small shovel in hand—where it got it from, John had no idea. Tyrantrum and Fraxure circled them, occasionally stirring up trouble.

Even though Tyrantrum had fully evolved and was now bigger than Aggron, he still had the personality of a mischievous kid.

Along the coastline, Blaziken dashed back and forth, flames burning beneath its feet as it practiced its signature move, Blaze Kick, with intense dedication. Among all the Pokemon, this one was the most hardworking.

Slakoth lay lazily under a Cheri tree, watching the others on the shore without any intention of joining in. Slowly, it opened its mouth.

Suddenly, a dark green vine knocked a fruit loose from the tree, sending it falling right into Slakoth's waiting mouth.

The vine belonged to Venusaur. Ever since it arrived at John's place, aside from normal training, it had taken on the role of a farmer, planting berry trees around the villa. Another vine held a Psyduck-shaped watering can, sprinkling a Revival Herb with care.

For some reason, Venusaur and Slakoth got along surprisingly well. Venusaur had only been here for a few days, yet from the level of intimacy, John suspected it liked Slakoth even more than him, its actual Trainer.

Seeing John approach, Slakoth lazily raised a hand in greeting, while Venusaur extended a vine to offer a Cheri Berry.

John reached out to give Slakoth a high-five, took the berry, and popped it into his mouth—only for Haunter to appear out of nowhere, coming in with a Lick.

After shaking off the paralysis and prying the clingy Haunter away, John headed inside.

Aerodactyl sat motionless at the entrance, pretending to be a stone gargoyle.

"I'll have to play Red Light, Green Light with you one day," John muttered.

Inside, Wobbuffet, Buneary, and Delibird were playing games together—or rather, Delibird was watching as Wobbuffet and Buneary played. With the school cafeteria closed for winter break, Delibird had been given a vacation as well.

"Dei-li!" Delibird greeted without looking up.

"What's that smell?" John sniffed the air as a familiar scent wafted through the house.

Gardevoir emerged from the kitchen carrying a plate of dumplings—it turned out that Hariyama was cooking today. On the menu? Pork and cabbage dumplings.

With a slap, one of the Pokeballs on John's waist popped open, and Garchomp appeared. It had accompanied John to class earlier and immediately rushed forward, taking a huge bite.

If Gardevoir hadn't been quick, both the dumplings and the plate might have ended up in Garchomp's stomach. Even after evolving, this guy was still just as greedy.

Near the window, Steelix's massive head poked out from its cave, staring at John eagerly. It wanted dumplings too.

John sighed and fetched another plate, feeding the entire portion to Steelix.

Soon, everyone gathered around the table for lunch. John distributed Pokeblocks, and they all ate together. Afterward, they lounged on the sofa in the living room, watching TV.

Looking around at his Pokemon, John felt a rare sense of peace.

Maybe staying like this forever wouldn't be so bad.

Just then, his phone rang.

Who the hell was disturbing his rare moment of relaxation?

Glancing at the caller ID...

Oh. It was Saul Badman.

Well, that was fine then.

"Hello, Teacher. I'm here."

Saul's voice came through the speaker. "I heard you're planning to take on the Gym Challenge?"

John was caught off guard. That suggestion had come from Scarlett, and Azure knew about it because they'd talked about it in passing. But how had Saul found out?

Although he had planned to ask Saul for a recommendation, the competition wasn't until after the New Year, so he hadn't mentioned it yet.

Scarlett wasn't around anymore, so the only person who could have told him was Azure.

That little punk actually managed to strike up a conversation with my teacher? Guess I underestimated him a bit.

"Yeah, that's the plan," John admitted.

"Are you still on campus?" Saul asked.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"Come to the battle area. Let me see how much you've improved."

"Alright," John agreed without hesitation.

Recalling his main Pokemon into their Pokeballs, he headed out, took Flygon back to school, then rode a sonic bike from Harbor to the battle area.

As usual, it was Field 40.

This time, John arrived first. A moment later, Principal Saul teleported in.

Seeing this, John suddenly felt a little dumb.

My Gardevoir's Teleport can take me from home straight to the battle area. Why did I bother flying to Harbor and then biking the rest of the way?

I'm using Teleport next time.

Noticing John's stare, Saul reminded him, "Within campus grounds, if your Pokemon attempts long-distance Teleport, it gets interrupted by Psychic interference devices."

"Huh..." John sighed. He hadn't even heard of a Psychic interference system before. "Does the interference cover the islands too? Like if I Teleport from Harbor to another island?"

"It only covers the main campus. The islands aren't included, so you can Teleport directly from Harbor to an island."

"That's not too bad, then," John nodded. At least he could still enjoy a bit of flying before using Teleport.

"Alright, show me the main Pokemon you'll be using for the Gym Challenge," Saul said, getting down to business.