The usually quiet buzz of students was now an electric hum of excitement.
"Is it true he soloed a Yellow-tier dungeon?"
"No way! I heard he tamed a Pink-Talent Pokémon!"
Aiden stayed quiet, arms folded, but his sharp gaze stayed fixed on the auditorium door. He'd heard the name before — Ronan Sable, a licensed Dungeon Delver and independent explorer who rejected noble sponsorship.
A rebel with Talent.
Literally.
⸻
The Entrance
The doors creaked open — and in stepped a tall, bronze-skinned man in his thirties. One side of his face bore a long scar. He wore reinforced black travel gear, half cape burned at the edges. A worn Pokéball belt clinked with every step.
A Luxray walked beside him. Aiden immediately saw it: the beast radiated energy. He blinked. Green-level Talent, his aura whispered.
But there's something else under that…
"Students," said Instructor Melaine with a smile rare for her. "Meet Ronan Sable — Dungeon Delver, licensed Explorer, Talent theorist, and the man who survived a Blue-tier dungeon without backup."
⸻
The Lecture Begins
Dungeons," Ronan began, "don't care how rich you are. Don't care what family you're from. They care if you break, or if you endure."
He tossed a small crystal into the air. It spun slowly, glowing faintly.
"This?" he asked. "Found in the belly of a defeated dungeon boss. Yellow-tier. It gives a Pokémon a minor passive regeneration effect."
Gasps.
"But I've also seen trainers die for one like it."
Aiden's eyes didn't blink once.
⸻
Exploration Reality
Ronan outlined the core dangers:
• Mutated Pokémon that don't behave like wild ones.
• Shifting terrain, where one step wrong means falling into an abyss.
• Time anomalies, where an hour inside may be a day outside — or vice versa.
• Psychic Echoes, remnants of trainers who died in the dungeon — sometimes crying, sometimes laughing.
He passed around an item: a half-melted Pokéball fused with stone.
"This belonged to my first partner," he said quietly. "She died in a Yellow-tier dungeon. I left the core untouched so I'd never forget the risk."
The class went still. Even Blue looked away.
⸻
Questions
Red raised his hand. "Why go back if it's that dangerous?"
Ronan gave a bitter smile. "Because there's truth in there. And power. You don't tame the world by staying in safe towns."
Gary raised his hand. "Ever seen anything beyond Pink-tier?"
Ronan paused… then nodded once.
"I saw a Gold-Talent Pokémon once. Just its presence crushed the ground beneath it."
The room exploded with gasps.
"But I ran," Ronan added. "Because bravery without power is just suicide."
Aiden's heart raced. Gold-Talent Pokémon exist… He's seen one.
⸻
He Sees Aiden
As the talk ended and students filed out, Ronan's eyes caught Aiden's.
"You," he said. "What's your name?"
"Aiden."
"You've got eyes that don't belong in this classroom. You ever step into a dungeon?"
Aiden shook his head.
"You will." He gave him a crystal — barely glowing, cracked, but still alive. "This one's empty. For now. Fill it with your first real kill inside a dungeon. Not a battle. A survival."
And just like that, Ronan turned and walked out, Luxray silent beside him.