After leaving the office, it was already dinnertime. Eichi ate in the cafeteria and returned to the dormitory, but just as he reached the ground floor, he heard someone calling his name.
"Eichi."
He turned his head to see Tetsu.
Tetsu got closer to him, his face full of curiosity. "So, did you pass?"
"What do you think?" Eichi replied.
Tetsu carefully examined Eichi's expression. "Hmm, it looks like you did. By the way, who was your opponent for the practical assessment?"
"It was Director Yanagi," Eichi said nonchalantly.
Tetsu's eyes widened in disbelief. "What! Director Yanagi? He personally tested you? And you passed the assessment after battling him? That means you defeated Director Yanagi."
Eichi pursed his lips and replied modestly, "It was okay. I only passed the assessment because Director Yanagi took it easy on me."
"I don't believe you for a second," Tetsu said, unconvinced. "But Eichi, you're really amazing! It's Director Yanagi we're talking about here!"
"Alright," Eichi said. "You must promise not to tell anyone about this!"
"I promise," Tetsu vowed confidently. "I can keep a secret; I definitely won't tell anyone."
Eichi nodded in satisfaction. "Also, I plan to leave the day after tomorrow."
"That fast!?" Tetsu asked in surprise. "Okay. My family has just arrived. I already spoke to them, and they agreed to help. Say, would you like to come meet them?"
Eichi wasn't particularly keen on going, but since Tetsu was offering to help, Eichi followed him to Silver Town. Tetsu had never mentioned his family before, but Eichi could guess from his daily life and conversations that his family was extremely wealthy.
Just how wealthy? His family was not staying at the school but had purchased a courtyard in Silver Town. Eichi was astonished when he entered. He had never seen a villa like this in his life; it was exactly like the ones in the anime. It was huge and lavishly decorated. Naturally, Eichi kept a poker face, not wanting anyone to think he was a country bumpkin.
The courtyard was even larger. They walked for several minutes before reaching the main villa. Eichi then met Tetsu's family, including a very beautiful and gentle woman who was Tetsu's mother.
She was extremely hospitable toward Eichi, almost overwhelmingly so. She instructed the chef to prepare a feast, but Eichi had already eaten, so he asked them not to make too much food. They verbally agreed to make only a little, but their actions proved otherwise.
Ultimately, a huge feast was still prepared. Although he had already eaten, Eichi found the food to be truly delicious. After getting their permission, Eichi released his three Pokémon to eat with him. Beedrill and Scizor found the food delicious but ate politely. However, Heracross was completely different; it wolfed down the food, which made Eichi feel embarrassed enough to want to hide in a hole.
After the meal, they wanted Eichi to stay and chat, but feeling uncomfortable, he said goodbye and went back. Once back, Eichi let Heracross out and immediately smacked it on the head, giving it a good talking-to.
***
Training Room, Night
The three Pokémon were currently training. Training was mandatory every day. Heracross was still being "abused" in the center of the four Robot Mannequins. However, it was progressing quickly.
Initially, it could only barely withstand the attacks from the four Robot Mannequins and struggled to find weak points. After a period of training, it could now find the weak points in the shortest possible time. However, Eichi had now attached a Weighted Vest to it, so Heracross was once again in for some tough training.
Heracross now knew many Moves; it had practically learned every Move it could. To summarize, the Moves it knew were: Tackle, Bullet Seed, Assurance, Struggle Bug, Leer, Horn Attack, Endure, Fury Attack, Aerial Ace, Counter, Brick Break, Pin Missile, Take Down, Reversal, Megahorn, Hidden Power (Water), Protect, Substitute, and Double Team.
Among these, the Moves Brick Break and Horn Attack had reached the Peak state during this training period. Most of the other Moves were at the Mastery level. Looking at the list, Heracross knew quite a few Moves.
Eichi ensured that all his Pokémon learned the survival moves Substitute and Protect. Heracross had an additional survival Move: Endure.
With his departure imminent, Eichi had to say goodbye to a few people. The day after the assessment, Eichi went to Joylin's office and explained his situation. Afterward, he spoke to the other teachers. Since Eichi was the class monitor, he was concerned Kelly might not be able to manage the class alone. Therefore, Eichi suggested to Joylin that Tetsu temporarily serve as the Vice Class Monitor to assist Kelly during his absence.
After calling Tetsu over and explaining the situation, Tetsu was momentarily bewildered and somewhat reluctant. Eichi then used his hidden skill, giving Tetsu a good session of ideological education. Finally, Tetsu agreed to temporarily act as Vice Class Monitor, while Kelly would temporarily take the position of Class Monitor.
The other students were not informed of this. Eichi asked Joylin not to say anything until after he had left. Finally, he went to visit Professor Kant, informing him of his leave. The old professor didn't say much, only reminding him not to neglect his Pokéblock crafting.
After taking care of all these matters, Eichi, for once, did not train in the evening. Instead, he stayed in his dorm room packing his things. Actually, he didn't have much to pack. Most of his belongings were already in his Compression Backpack. Besides a few books and some clothes, there was nothing else.
Sitting at his desk, Eichi looked at the books in front of him and suddenly had a thought. I seem to be missing something. What is it?
He turned the thought over in his mind, his thoughts drifting to an unknown place. Countless images appeared in his head. Scene after scene, and in them, there were always pictures. The people in the pictures were mostly laughing and happy.
He remembered. I seem to have never taken a photo. Since childhood, he had very few pictures, and after transmigrating, he hadn't taken any photos at all. The memory of Beedrill and Scizor when they were young remained only in his mind. He suddenly felt that he didn't have anything that truly proved his existence.
Consequently, Eichi left his dorm and went to an electronics store in Silver Town. Following the store owner's advice, he bought a very good Camera. Upon returning, he took a picture of himself and his three Pokémon. Looking at himself in the Camera, he suddenly felt a sense of peace.
Early the next morning, Eichi was ready, Compression Backpack strapped on, waiting at the manor gate. It was time to depart.