Roxanne's eyes lingered on Silas's sharp features, admiration shimmering in her gaze, tinged with something softer-something different.
From the corner, Felton saw it all. His chest tightened with jealousy, his face twisting in resentment.
That look. His goddess teacher-the one he would like to placed on a pedestal-was showing that expression to Silas.
He couldn't bear it.
Felton had despised Silas from the beginning. After being humiliated publicly in class, he'd become the laughingstock of the Academy.
Even if no one dared mock him to his face-his family's power saw to that but still everyone whispered behind his back.
The rumors grew exaggerated, and Felton could barely stand to leave his dorm.
For him, getting humilated while losing face like that was worse than death.
'If not for Teacher Roxanne's open lecture today,' he thought bitterly, 'I would have stayed hidden again.'
But things had only gotten worse. His family had scolded him for shaming their name-his father most of all. Resources had been cut, his monthly allowance halved. The humiliation still burned.
And the culprit of all of this was one person.
Silas.
Grinding his teeth, Felton rose to his feet, voice cracking through the crowd.
"Teacher Silas! If you're so great, do you dare face me in a simulated battle?"
Gasps rippled through the crowd. Students turned, whispering. Everyone knew of their grudge. Rumors always spread quickly and people always believed them.
Silas blinked once, then smirked. The fool had offered himself up.
"Simulated battle?" Silas replied coolly. "No problem. Teacher Roxanne, may I borrow the Academy's battle helmets?"
At his request, staff members quickly carried over the high-tech equipment. The simulated battle system-a helmet that projected lifelike Pokémon holograms-was a closely guarded tool of the League, rarely seen outside elite schools.
As Silas lowered the helmet onto his head, a sudden dizziness swept over him. A delicate fragrance brushed his senses, and he felt himself supported by slender hands.
Roxanne.
He realized instantly who it was but with the helmet on, he couldn't see the stir it caused. Roxanne, usually dignified and untouchable, had helped him gently in front of hundreds of students.
Her face flushed crimson, whispers rising around her like wildfire. She quickly set him down on the grass and slipped back into the crowd, but not before many hearts cracked in silent despair.
The battle began.
Two sets of blue holographic silhouettes formed, sharp and lifelike.
Excited murmurs swept the younger students-many had never used the technology before. The seniors, already familiar, scoffed.
'League's next generation looks hopeless,' Roxanne thought bitterly as she scanned their careless faces.
But her eyes soon snapped back to the battlefield.
"Interesting…" Silas muttered, navigating the system with ease. "You can even select Pokémon, items, Abilities… this is just like the games of my old world."
A grin tugged at his lips. He had more tactics sealed in his mind than any of these students could dream of.
Felton locked in his choices: Dragonite. Garchomp. Goodra.
A trio of pseudo-legends, overwhelming in raw power.
The students gasped in awe.
Silas chuckled and selected his team: Breloom. Gliscor. Durant.
Ordinary Pokémon by comparison-yet his eyes glimmered with confidence.
The battle began.
The three dragons surged forward, strength shaking the field. Felton sneered. "Crush him!"
"Gliscor, activate Toxic Orb!"
"Breloom, activate Toxic Orb!"
"Durant-Entrainment!"
Gasps filled the air. Purple poison spread across Silas's own team, Breloom and Gliscor wreathed in venom… only to recover instantly under their Ability-Poison Heal.
And then the real horror struck. Durant's Entrainment forced its Ability onto Felton's team. The dragons' power faltered, eyes dulling, movements sluggish.
Their new Ability: Truant.
The battle raged on.
Felton's Dragonite roared, wings beating furiously as it lunged forward-only to recoil midair, sluggish, its body unwilling to move. Garchomp snarled and shook its head, eyes hazy. Even Goodra's whip-like tail drooped, its movements dulled.
Felton's face turned red. "What the hell is this?! Fight properly!! Dragonite, Outrage-now!"
But Dragonite just stood there, breathing heavily, Truant chaining it down.
Meanwhile, Silas didn't even raise his voice. Calm, steady, almost bored, he gave his next command.
"Durant, set the Spikes. Breloom, spread the Toxic. Gliscor, prepare Stealth Rock."
A quiet chorus of movements answered him. Purple poison mist settled on the field, jagged stones burst from the ground, and sharp metallic spikes littered the terrain. Every time Felton tried to recall and send his Pokémon back out, they were greeted with a hail of damage and poison.
"What kind of cowardly tactics are these?!" Felton shouted, fists clenched on the controls. His voice cracked with panic.
Silas only tilted his head slightly, eyes half-lidded, expression unreadable. "Pokémon battles aren't about charging headlong until one side falls. They're about pressure. Endurance. Forcing your opponent into despair, one turn at a time."
Felton slammed a hand against the desk. "Damn you-DAMN YOU!"
The crowd of students had fallen silent, every eye wide. Watching three pseudo-legendaries-their dream Pokémon-reduced to sluggish, poisoned wrecks against an "ant and a mushroom" was nothing less than humiliating.
Felton's breath came ragged, his voice cracking. "This isn't real! This isn't a battle!"
Silas finally looked at him, gaze sharp and merciless. "No, Felton. This is battle. You just never understood it."
Meanwhile, Breloom began spamming Toxic on itself and Gliscor, stacking poison until their regeneration was near-limitless. With Poison Heal, every injury melted away.
Step by step, the dragons slowed… collapsed… and finally, fell.
The crowd was stunned silent.
Three pseudo-legendary Pokemon-dragged to defeat by three ordinary Pokémon.
Felton ripped his helmet off, panting, face red with rage. "This isn't battling-it's cheating! Using tricks isn't real strength!"
Silas arched a brow. "Tricks? Then come again."
And so they did.
For the entire afternoon, Felton fought, and Silas dismantled him.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Flinch-lock with King's Rock + Serene Grace.
Evasion abuse with Minimize + Mud-Slap + BrightPowder.
Hazard stacking with Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Toxic Spikes.
Every strategy, every 'cheap trick' Felton despised-Silas used flawlessly.
By the time the helmets were removed, Felton sat hollow-eyed, questioning his very existence.
Silas stood calmly, voice carrying across the stunned crowd.
"Pokémon battles are not as simple as you think. What you saw today-" he paused, gaze sweeping across their wide-eyed faces
"is only the tip of the iceberg."
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(End of chapter)