"Ahem, Dean Aki, greetings. Sato from Shadownight Gym reporting in."
Sato stepped forward two paces and greeted the slightly unorthodox dean before him.
"Mm, no problem at all! Your registration and housing are all taken care of, don't worry. From now on, you're a part of our Trainer Academy. Be sure to love each other and help one another, okay~"
"…"
Getting such a textbook answer, Sato didn't even know how to respond. He finally understood what it meant to kill a conversation.
After a moment's thought, Sato took the initiative to ask, "Dean Aki, how will my lectures and class attendance be arranged?"
"That's an easy one. You're not the first instructor to suddenly pop up like this. The best setup for your type is to teach public lectures.
Public lectures don't have topic restrictions or time requirements. As long as the content isn't anti-human or anti-League, you can talk about whatever you like. Then, depending on how well each session is received, we'll decide whether to arrange another one.
Mm, as for your other time, you can attend any class you want. It's not limited to the Trainer Academy, if you're interested in finance or trade, go ahead and sit in. Whether or not you understand it is your own business."
Sato nodded. This kind of setup was quite nice. At least he wouldn't actually turn into a regular university student who had to check in and be marked present for classes every day.
"To be honest, I was struggling with what I should even talk about before coming here. But if it's an open-topic public lecture, I think I have enough to say."
"Mm! That's the confidence young people should have!" Aki gave Sato a firm slap on the shoulder but then added, "But keep in mind, our students at Celadon University are all elites among elites. Be careful, if your lecture's no good, they might roast you on the spot!"
Sato nodded to show he understood, thinking that if someone really tried to pick a fight with him, he'd just drag them to the training grounds and beat them into submission…
"Alright, I've got nothing else on my end. As for your public lecture, just find Erika. She'll get everything arranged for you, nice and clear. Right, Erika-chan~?"
"Ah, y-yes! I'll do my best!" Erika responded with a deep ninety-degree bow…
…Toward Sato.
With Aki's exaggerated laugh ringing behind them, Erika bowed her head and fled, while the "innocent" Sato could only shrug and silently follow her out.
---
Soon after, the two returned to Sato's office. After Erika helped him log in to a whole pile of official accounts, she didn't even take a sip of water before fleeing again.
With that, Sato had officially joined Celadon University. Beginning a brand new campus life!
Back in the room, Sato found that Umbreon and Absol had eaten all of their food clean, which put him in an even better mood.
Then, Sato released the rest of the Pokémon he'd brought along. Since he hadn't brought Tyranitar this time, the space was more than enough for them to move around.
---
Early the next morning, Sato appeared in a Breeder Academy lecture. The veteran professor giving the class was truly something; he could make dry and technical breeding knowledge sound lively and engaging with ease.
Sato listened intently, though that didn't mean the others could calm down and focus like he did.
Just yesterday, the news of Sato's arrival at Celadon University had already spread across the campus forums.
There were those who were excited!
…Those who were skeptical.
Those who confessed their love~
And even those who issued public challenges…
Of course, many students were just posting random nonsense, and in the end, the thread had completely derailed.
Sato naturally had a campus forum account too, and happily scrolled through posts until midnight. He couldn't help but sigh; college students really could stay up like no other.
'Oh wait, they called it "cultivating immortality".'
Cultivating immortality?
Sato nodded in agreement. He'd been sitting cross-legged through the night meditating, improving his Dark Energy… wasn't that basically cultivating immortality too?
---
Right now, the originally quiet classroom had become noisy, with a large crowd of students gathered at the entrance.
It was as if Sato had grown an extra head or limbs, and just catching a glimpse of him was enough to make them wildly excited.
'Hah~ So much for being elites. In the end, weren't they just fangirls and fanboys too?'
Sato's face remained expressionless, but deep down he was feeling quite pleased.
But after the old professor had to stop the lecture several times just to maintain order, Sato started to feel a little embarrassed.
It didn't take long for Sato to realize the best solution was to quickly hold a public lecture and satisfy everyone's curiosity.
So, after finishing the Breeder Academy class, instead of heading to the next one as planned, he went to find Erika.
"You're giving a lecture!? Okay, okay! I'll make arrangements right away!"
Watching Erika dash off like a storm, Sato quickly stopped her and asked, "When were you planning to schedule my public lecture?"
"When? Anytime is fine! I'm sure tons and tons of students would skip class just to come hear Teacher Sato!"
"…That's exactly the problem. It's too high-profile," Sato rejected repeatedly.
Offending students wasn't a big deal, but it'd be foolish to make the other teachers feel disrespected the moment he arrived.
Just imagine if he went to someone else's class, and the professor suddenly said:
"Last week, all my students went to hear your lecture… Now you're sitting in on my class? Looks like the tables have turned."
Tch, just thinking about it was awkward.
"Let's do it on the weekend. A lecture hall will do. Just testing the waters."
Judging by how the students had swarmed him earlier, Sato knew that even if he held it in the university auditorium, it would still be packed. But that felt too arrogant…
He was here to study. Keeping a low profile was the wiser path; and Sato understood that very clearly.
"Mm! Whatever you say, Teacher Sato!"
Once she heard Sato's explanation, Erika instantly felt it made so much sense, and immediately agreed with full flattery and zero hesitation.
---
It was Wednesday, and the weekend was still two days away. Sato didn't want to go out and disrupt other teachers' classes by being mobbed again, so he simply holed up in his room browsing the forums.
Oh wait… cultivating immortality!
Thursday and Friday flew by, and during that time Erika reliably took care of all the arrangements for the public lecture. Everything was ready, all that was left was for Sato to take the stage.
Saturday finally arrived.
The sky above Celadon City remained clear. Sato put on a casual suit, trying his best to look a little more mature and composed. '…'
To reduce unnecessary attention, Erika had arranged for him to wait in the lounge next to the lecture hall.
It wasn't until the bell rang that Sato walked into the classroom right on time.
And the moment he stepped in…
BOOOM!
The thunderous applause that almost lifted the roof made him suddenly tense up.
Turning to look, he saw that the lecture hall, which could hold two hundred people, was not only filled to capacity. Even the aisles were packed with tightly seated students.
…And at the very back of the classroom, two full rows of bald professors sat in neat formation.
All there to audit the class.
Sato gulped, thinking to himself: 'This… is a bit too much!'
.
.
150 PS - CH