Hagrid, that big-hearted fellow, had brought both a cake and an owl for Harry. If Charles didn't show any response in return, it would feel a little rude. The problem was, he hadn't prepared anything beforehand.
After thinking it over, he finally decided to buy Harry a box enchanted with the Extension Charm.
Of course, the space inside couldn't compare to Newt's famous case, but it could easily hold several trunks' worth of luggage—and more importantly, it felt light as a feather when carried.
After that, Hagrid took Harry to buy a cauldron and his schoolbooks.
Earlier, Hagrid had told Harry that Charles was the teacher for the Pokémon Mastery Course, so the boy had assumed that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them was Charles's assigned textbook.
In truth, that book was used for Defense Against the Dark Arts.
Once they had bought everything, Charles and Hagrid escorted Harry back. Hagrid had only planned to see the boy off at the train station—but Charles directly Apparated him to the Dursleys' doorstep.
By the time the two of them returned to Hogwarts, night had already fallen. After parting ways with Hagrid, Charles went back to his office and began planning everything he needed to do in August.
First, he needed to complete the Pokémon Sanctuary, then raise the first batch of newly hatched Pokémon to serve as his assistants. He also had to finish writing the course materials.
Although all students from first to seventh year would be encountering Pokémon for the first time—and in theory, one textbook might suffice—in practice, their abilities and understanding varied too greatly for that to work.
While Pokémon generally had far better temperaments than most magical creatures, Charles certainly didn't intend to have first-years interact directly with something like a Charizard.
As for the sixth and seventh years, they only had a year or two left to take this class. Charles planned to give them a little more excitement. By then, not only would they see a Charizard up close—he was even considering arranging an actual battle against one.
Creating the teaching materials was relatively easy. Charles quickly replicated a Pokédex in book form, then used Revealing Potion to make the illustrations come alive.
The first edition of the Pokédex textbook only covered non-legendary and mythical Pokémon native to the Kanto region—a total of 146 species. Conveniently, once the textbook was completed, his system's own Kanto-region Pokédex entries for non-legendary Pokémon were fully unlocked as well.
[Current Task: Create a suitable first-year Pokémon curriculum (Completed).][Congratulations! You have unlocked the complete Kanto-region Pokédex (excluding Legendary and Mythical Pokémon).][Current Pokédex entries unlocked: 203.]
Seeing that, Charles couldn't help smiling. Previously, he'd unlocked only about 90 Pokémon entries. Some overlapped with Kanto species, but many were from other regions.
Now, his total had reached 203. During the rest of the summer, he could use the Breeding House to raise them, then release them into the Sanctuary.
But what truly excited him was the hidden reward system—every 50 new Pokédex entries unlocked earned him a mysterious bonus. The last time, he'd received several Technical Machines, and they weren't just for Pokémon—he could learn from them himself.
"I wonder what I'll get this time…"
Unable to wait, Charles opened the system's Pokédex interface and checked the rewards waiting for him. There were three unclaimed bonuses.
[Congratulations! You have received: A full set of Pokémon starters (up to Scarlet & Violet).][Congratulations! You have received: Ability – Technician.][Congratulations! You have received: A complete set of Evolution Stones (excluding Mega Stones).]
"Starters!?"
He grinned. That was a fantastic reward. Until now, he'd only had the original Kanto starters. With this bonus, he immediately unlocked 21 new Pokédex entries. Once he raised them all to their final evolutions, that would add up to 63 more—enough to trigger another reward cycle.
And of course, starter Pokémon had immense breeding and training potential in their own right.
The second reward delighted him even more.
Technician—an Ability that increased the power of moves with base damage under 60 by fifty percent. What amazed Charles was that it didn't just enhance Pokémon attacks—it worked on spells too!
He could clearly feel the difference. Even simple charms that usually seemed unimpressive now carried more punch, and his left-hand casting had grown noticeably smoother.
A spell as basic as Wingardium Leviosa, normally a first-year exercise, now felt sharper and more potent under the Ability's effect. His natural magical power and wand quality already boosted his spellcasting—but now his control and finesse had reached a new level.
Certain advanced wand movements and casting gestures even came to him instinctively, as if he'd practiced them for years.
Compared to that, the last reward—the full set of Evolution Stones—seemed rather ordinary. Still, Charles safely stored everything away. Fortunately, all those starter Pokémon could be kept inside Poké Balls; letting them all out at once would've caused utter chaos.
Once the first textbook was done, the rest was much simpler. He only needed to ask Dumbledore for educational funding, print a few hundred copies, and distribute them to the students.
Hogwarts' funding technically came from the pure-blood families serving as board members, but Dumbledore had full discretion over its use.
When Charles reached the stone gargoyles guarding the third-floor headmaster's office and went inside to make his request, Dumbledore gave him a slightly amused look.
"Charles," he said mildly, "I suspect that if you were willing to sell a few tufts of Pokémon fur—or other materials—there would be quite a few buyers willing to pay handsomely."
Indeed, magical creature materials fetched high prices due to their magical properties and usefulness in potion-making.
Whether Pokémon materials worked the same way was still uncertain—Charles had never been fond of Potions class back at school. He'd scored well, but it was never his passion.
Still, he had already confirmed that Pokémon materials could be used in wandcraft. Besides his Rainbow Wand, he now owned several others made from materials like Pikachu fur and Pidgeot feathers—each fully capable of channeling magic on par with ordinary wands.
If he sold such materials to Ollivander, the man would undoubtedly pay well.
Charles, however, just grinned."Maybe so—but if I can spend other people's money, why would I use my own? Besides, these textbooks are for the students."
"Fair enough," Dumbledore replied with a laugh. "And thank you, by the way, for accompanying Hagrid to fetch young Harry yesterday."
In the end, Charles's textbook came to be officially titled—
Pokémon Encyclopedia.
The name didn't sound particularly magical. In fact, it felt more like something out of The Ten Thousand Whys.
(End of Chapter)