Under Alfred's guidance, Cole arrived at Fourth Middle School and met the enrollment teacher at reception — a tall, thin man wearing glasses.
After Cole handed over his admission letter, the teacher checked it carefully. Once he confirmed Cole's identity, his face lit up with a warm smile.
"So you're Cole Sage! I've heard about you, and now I finally get to meet you in person. Welcome, young man!"
Cole: (● ⋏ ●)?
He was puzzled — was he really that well-known?
The teacher explained with a smile, "You ranked first among all our new students this year!"
That explained it. Cole hadn't known this since the elementary school graduation exam only showed rankings within each school, not overall standings.
The teacher quickly completed the enrollment procedures and gave Cole his essentials: two sets of special school uniforms, a student ID card with identification number, and a new student handbook.
Due to Cole's special circumstances, the school provided his uniforms free of charge, while students from typical families would need to pay a fee.
The school also offered dormitory accommodation. New students wanting to live on campus would receive a dormitory key during enrollment, though room and board fees were charged separately.
Since the Blue Bird Orphanage wasn't far from Fourth Middle School, Cole, like Alfred, chose to commute from home.
After completing the paperwork, the teacher explained the school's structure.
Unlike elementary school's fixed curriculum, middle school used a credit system similar to universities in Cole's previous life. Students needed to earn enough credits each semester to advance, or they would have to repeat the year.
Required courses alone weren't enough to earn advancement credits, so students had to choose additional electives each semester based on their needs.
As for class assignments, middle school had more students than elementary school, resulting in more class sections per grade. Fourth Middle School used small-class teaching, with about 10-15 students per class.
The Pokémon Department offered two major specializations: Breeding and Battle. The Breeding track produced future breeders and Pokémon doctors, while the Battle track trained traditional trainers, coordinators, and performers.
Cole had enrolled in the Breeding specialization.
Middle schools kept these specializations broad. Only in high school would students choose more specific paths like Coordination, Breeding, or Pokémon Medicine.
After explaining all this, the teacher directed Cole to check his class assignment at the bulletin board.
With Alfred leading the way, Cole easily found the board and learned he had been assigned to Class 2 of the first-year Breeding specialization.
After checking the class assignment, Alfred said, "I'll take you to your classroom to report in, then head back to my own class. Will you be okay on your own after that?"
Cole nodded, "Don't worry, brother Alfred, I can handle it."
Fourth Middle School had quite a few teaching buildings, and it took them a while to find Class 2 of the first-year Breeding specialization.
Alfred was a student in the Regular Department and wasn't familiar with the Pokémon Department's classroom layout, so he couldn't offer much help. After dropping his brother off at the classroom door, he left.
Cole poked his head into Class 2. Seven or eight students were already seated — both boys and girls, all around ten years old, looking quite a bit younger than him.
A young teacher sat at the podium, reading a book.
His appearance caught the students' attention, and their murmuring caught the teacher's attention. She turned toward the door, and upon seeing a new boy, smiled and waved at him.
"Are you a new student? Come on in."
"Hello, teacher." Cole walked into the classroom and approached the teacher, greeting her politely.
"Hello, I'm the homeroom teacher for Class 2, Year 1. You can call me Teacher Sarah. What's your name?"
Sarah appeared to be in her twenties, petite, with a round baby face that looked very sweet when she smiled.
"I'm Cole Sage, Teacher Sarah."
"Ah, Cole Sage..."
Sarah looked down at her roll book, quickly found his name, and marked a check in the box next to it.
"All set!" She looked up again, "Find a seat for now. We'll hand out textbooks once everyone arrives."
"Okay." Cole nodded and walked down from the podium, choosing an empty seat at random.
Although Fourth Middle School used small-class teaching, the classrooms were actually quite spacious with many seats. Still, everyone chose to sit close together rather than scatter about.
Just as Cole sat down, he felt someone tap his shoulder twice. He turned around to see a boy with golden hair grinning at him.
"Hey, you're Cole, right? I'm Daniel. We're classmates from now on, nice to meet you!"
"H-hello, nice to meet you too." Cole nodded at him.
This golden-haired boy was very outgoing. After getting Cole's response, he smoothly slid from the back row to sit next to him, becoming his desk mate.
"Hey, Cole, do you want to be a breeder too? My goal is to raise my Furfrou to be the coolest Pokémon in the world!"
As he spoke, Daniel took out a Luxury Ball and released a Furfrou — notably with the La Reine trim.
"How about it? Isn't my Furfrou sexy?"
Cole: "..."
The Furfrou had a distinctly proud personality. Upon emerging, it gave its trainer a disdainful glance, lifted its chin, and lazily lay down on the floor.
Daniel, however, seemed thrilled by that glance. His face flushed as he exclaimed, "Ooh~ The feeling is coming! Perfect!"
Hen...hentai (pervert)?
Cole quickly scooted away, not wanting to be affected by this guy's peculiar enthusiasm.
Sarah noticed and said sternly, "Mr. Daniel, please put your Furfrou away. How many times must I tell you?"
So this wasn't the first time!
Cole moved even further from the eccentric student.
Seeing this, Daniel hastily recalled his Furfrou into its Poké Ball.
A purple-haired girl sitting in front of Cole turned around and said, "Don't mind that weirdo. He's already shown off his Furfrou to six other classmates today."
Cole glanced around the classroom — there were now eight students including himself. Besides Daniel and the purple-haired girl, that meant six others. He'd gotten excited once for each new arrival.
Goodness, at this rate, kid, can your body handle it?
"Hey, Valerie, mind your own business! I didn't show it to you, so what's it to you?" Daniel protested.
"Hmph!" The girl called Valerie turned away with a dismissive sniff.
Bang~
A flash of red light revealed a Pichu on her desk.
"Pi~" — You're bullying my Valerie again!
Pichu glared at Daniel, its body glowing with a pale blue light as it gave him a "refreshing" electric therapy session.
"N-not again?" Daniel's golden hair instantly stood on end.
Since Pichu was young and weak, its electric current was quite mild and wouldn't harm him — it just left him feeling tingly.
Sarah noticed again and gave Valerie a warning look. "Miss Valerie, put your Pichu away. Can't you and Mr. Daniel stop causing trouble?"
Valerie calmly took out a Poké Ball and recalled her Pichu, her expression unchanged.
'So they're friendly rivals!' Cole thought to himself.
He later learned that Daniel and Valerie were childhood friends who had grown up together. However, the girl couldn't stand Daniel's peculiar personality, which had strained their relationship from the start.
Despite their conflicts, their families' close friendship meant frequent visits and interactions — which only intensified their rivalry.
The conflict between these two was just a brief episode for Cole. Soon, more classmates arrived one after another.
According to Sarah, Class 2 of Year 1 had 12 students in total, though only 11 had registered today. With time running short and one student still missing, she proceeded to distribute textbooks.
After handing out the materials, she had everyone do a round of self-introductions — standard procedure for new students, nothing remarkable.
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At noon, Cole explored Fourth Middle School's cafeteria instead of heading home.
The Pokémon Department had its own separate cafeteria, built more luxuriously to accommodate students and their Pokémon companions.
This luxury came at a price — studying in the Pokémon Department was notably expensive. Some students' monthly food expenses alone matched what regular department students spent in a year.
The cafeteria's window displayed an impressive variety of Pokémon foods — Pokéblocks, Pokémon cookies, Poké Puffs, and Pokémon buns. Each type came in basic, intermediate, and advanced grades, with prices rising accordingly.
Cole discovered a special window for custom orders where students could tailor both type and flavor of Pokémon food to their companions' preferences.
The prices were eye-watering.
They say an intermediate-level breeder runs that window!
While Cole practiced frugality in most areas, he never skimped on his Pokémon's food. He ordered one of each type, avoiding only the stranger-looking options.
There's a saying in the Pokémon world that good food is the shortcut to strength! While somewhat exaggerated, it makes sense — after all, how can you grow stronger without proper nutrition?
After collecting his order, Cole brought Daisy, Popplio, and Helioptile to a table. He laid out the feast, and they dove right in!
Originally, Cole hadn't wanted Daisy to come today, thinking school would be boring for her, but she had insisted.
"What kind of parent wouldn't see their child off on their first day of school!" She had declared.
Well... after she put it that way, how could he refuse? After all, she was his mom!
Being a Gardevoir — an extremely rare Pokémon — Daisy's appearance in the cafeteria immediately drew attention, with some students trying to discreetly learn Cole's identity.
Daisy ignored all the attention and, once the food was laid out, began eating heartily.
Cole had ordered many types of food in small portions, just enough for his Pokémon to eat their fill. The high prices were justified — while he couldn't taste his Pokémon's food, his own portion was definitely delicious.
Soon they had eaten until their bellies were round, with Helioptile sprawled on the table, stomach protruding.
"Hi!"
Someone patted Cole's back.
He turned around and exclaimed happily, "Big Sister Emely!"
Emely put on a mock stern face, "You're my junior now and you didn't even come say hello!"
Cole smiled, "Well, I just enrolled today, I haven't had the chance yet."
He didn't dare offend this big sister — after all, his mom and two babies' food supply was in her hands.
"You've already finished eating!" Emely said in surprise, looking at the empty dishes,"If I'd known, I would have come earlier. I was planning to treat my little junior to a meal."
Over these past two years, they had maintained a good relationship. He provided her with berries, and she made Pokéblocks for Daisy, Popplio, and Helioptile.
Though not a high-level breeder, Emely's Pokéblock-making skills were excellent. Combined with Cole's high-quality berries, her Pokéblocks were far superior to mass-produced products.
She customized the Pokéblocks for Daisy and the others based on their individual needs, which had helped maintain Cole's close relationship with her.
Since Emely had afternoon classes, she only chatted with him briefly before leaving.
✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲✲
In the afternoon, Cole returned to the classroom.
After all the students had returned, Sarah taught everyone how to select elective courses and what to consider when choosing them, and half a day passed just like that.
✲✲✲
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