"Here!" The boy with tan skin and shoulder-length blue hair took a step forward and responded, clearly a little nervous under Lucas's gaze. After a pause, he took a deep breath and said, "My name is Aliquis. I want to become a powerful Pokémon Trainer like my brother. My starter partner is Sprigatito!"
"Hello, Aliquis." Lucas nodded with a smile, signaling with his eyes that Aliquis could step back. He then continued, "Ortega."
This time, the one who stepped forward was an elegant boy dressed in luxurious clothes with a pink bowl-cut hairstyle.
His expression seemed rather reluctant as if someone had dragged him here by force, and he was attending class unwillingly due to the other person's authority.
"Here…" Ortega responded weakly, his face full of indifference. "My starter Pokémon is Fidough~"
Lucas didn't say much and continued, "Eri."
"My name is Eri. My starter Pokémon is Mankey. I'm an athletic student, and I love fighting!"
As an athletic student, Eri was tall and every movement exuded unparalleled confidence.
"."
"My name is Giacomo. My starter Pokémon is Pawniard. I currently serve as the student council president."
The roll call took only five minutes. With just fifteen students, Lucas was able to connect each student's name and appearance in one go and memorize their starter Pokémon, mentally categorizing them.
He divided the students who chose the battle class into two groups.
The first group consisted of students who already had some trainer experience and had participated in many real battles—students like Giacomo and Eri, who were upperclassmen.
The second group obviously included those who had only received their starter Pokémon recently. It was clear at a glance that their trainer and battle experience was pitifully lacking—Nemona, Aliquis, and Ortega all fell into this category.
As for Arven, he was a little different. While Mabosstiff was his starter Pokémon, it had also grown up with Arven since childhood, so its strength, accumulated over many years, was definitely not weak. But paired with Arven, who knew nothing about battling, how much of that strength could actually be used was questionable.
So Lucas could only consider him as a special case.
Clearing his throat, Lucas said, "Let me say this first: My teaching style will focus more on giving you practical experience. I will regularly apply to the director to take you out of the campus to the wild, other cities, or even other regions to gain valuable battle experience."
"Although it might get tiring, I can guarantee that you'll definitely grow in my class. Do you all have confidence?"
"Yes~"
Some students, like Nemona, replied loudly and excitedly, while others, like Ortega, responded indifferently.
Different students require different teaching methods. Lucas wasn't in a hurry to get close to them on the very first class—these things take time and must be done step by step.
The lesson time wasn't long, just over an hour. After getting to know everyone and finishing his talk, Lucas got straight to the main point—actual combat.
First, he wanted the students to battle each other. Only by doing so could he figure out their strengths and weaknesses for targeted guidance.
"Nemona versus Aliquis, Giacomo versus Ortega, Eri versus Nicolu,… and as for Arvem, you'll battle me."
Amidst the responses, Arven's wail was the most prominent. Hugging his head, he looked at Lucas in despair and exclaimed, "Teacher Lucas, isn't there something a bit wrong with this arrangement?"
Lucas smiled, "There are only fifteen students here, and since you're a special case, naturally, I'm the only one who can battle you."
"How could this be..."
Arven suddenly regretted impulsively signing up for the battle class.
Many classmates had no idea how strong this new teacher Lucas was. Plus, at the opening ceremony, his speech had everyone thinking he was probably pretty strict. Since few people were signing up, Arven figured, based on his relationship with Lucas, he could at least get some easy credits, so he signed up.
He never expected the very first class would be this intense. While the others didn't know Lucas's real strength, Arven knew all too well.
He was definitely going to get crushed!
To make matters worse, that battle maniac Nemona from Class A was fanning the flames in his ear, acting jealous that Arven was chosen for a personal battle with Lucas. Arven almost shouted, "Why don't we switch opponents?"
But under Lucas's oppressive gaze, Arven could only shrink his neck and swallow his words, standing opposite Lucas with a sulky expression.
These past few days, Lucas had been thinking about how to teach. The students' strength was definitely not up to even a regular elite trainer, so using his main team was out of the question.
Instead, the other Pokémon he'd recently caught on the farm were perfect. They could act as opponents for the students, gain battle experience, and receive positive feedback—improving their strength, learning new moves, or even evolving.
The stronger they became, the more they could do on the farm in the future—a win-win scenario.
Lucas's gaze wandered over the students already battling, and he took a moment to say to Arven, "What are you scared of? I'm not going to use Luxray and the others against you."
"Relax, this guy just evolved recently. In terms of strength, it's actually a bit weaker than your Mabosstiff."
Lucas took a Poké Ball from his pocket and tossed it. With a flash of red light, Poliwhirl appeared in front of Arven.
Arven muttered under his breath, "Even so, this is still a hell difficulty for me..."
"What did you say?"
"Nothing!"
Arven, resigned, closed his eyes and tossed out Mabosstiff's Poké Ball. It's just getting beaten up, right? He believed Mabosstiff could hold its own.
"Poliwhirl, just battle Mabosstiff on your own. I'm going to check on the other students' matches."
Waving his hand, Lucas walked away toward the other battlefields, leaving Arven dumbfounded, clearly not planning to give any instructions.
Poliwhirl nodded calmly, its gaze turning serious as it looked at Arven and the Mabosstiff in front of him.
So this was the formidable enemy Lucas had arranged for it... Poliwhirl would not let Lucas down—it would take down this opponent beautifully!
Arven's face instantly turned red. Did Lucas mean that a newly evolved Poliwhirl could battle his Mabosstiff without his command?
He was really being underestimated!
Arven immediately commanded, "Mabosstiff, use Roar!"
Poliwhirl's eyes narrowed, and a white icy mist instantly enveloped it. Then, the shockwave of Roar arrived.
Poliwhirl took the hit head-on, then used Bubble Beam to obscure Mabosstiff's vision and disrupt it. Taking advantage of Mabosstiff dealing with Bubble Beam, it closed in and used the Fighting-type move Brick Break, which it had learned after evolving, directly on Mabosstiff.
Poliwhirl remembered Lucas once said that Fighting-type moves are super effective against Dark-types, right?