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The Ignis City Fighting Dojo stretched across what felt like an entire district, less a gym and more a sprawling campus.
Dormitories lined one sector, training fields filled another, and natural habitats linked them like arteries.
To Kael, it looked uncannily like a human university from his past life except every "student" was a Pokémon.
From dawn to dusk, the dojo buzzed with activity.
Pokémon sparred, meditated, or trained with their mentors all pushing toward one goal: to reach battle readiness fast enough to defend humanity against the Nightmare Pokémon.
Even now, though the enemy's assaults had waned, the League hadn't slowed its regimen.
Speed and strength still ruled.
But with pressure easing, the dojo's atmosphere had shifted.
The gloom of wartime urgency was giving way to laughter, conversation, and the warm hum of life again.
---
Kael stepped outside his dorm, blinking in the sunlight.
A narrow stone path stretched ahead, framed by walls of thick bamboo and towering trees.
The air was fresh, alive, full of rustling leaves and faint battle cries in the distance.
His room was part of a long row of small private quarters, all surrounded by greenery so dense it nearly swallowed the buildings whole.
To a human, the pathways might've felt cramped.
To Pokémon, they were perfect wide enough for battles, close enough for community.
Kael smiled faintly. This is what a city of Pokémon looks like when left to its own devices.
---
All around him, life unfolded in chaotic harmony.
A Farfetch'd practiced sword swings with its leek like a seasoned samurai, feathers puffing proudly as it barked out sharp kiais between strikes.
Next door, a Medicham stormed out of its dorm, grumbling about being late, kicked the Farfetch'd clean off the path, then vanished in a flash of psychic light.
Above, several Aipom swung from branch to branch, chittering and tossing fruit between them.
Kael chuckled softly. "Guess even in this world, chaos is universal."
But he had a more pressing issue, He scratched his chin and frowned.
"Now… where exactly is the Verdant Bamboo Grove?"
Apparently, the path leading there was clearly marked with a wooden signpost near the gate.
The only problem?
Kael couldn't read a single word of the Pokémon world's written script.
"Great," he muttered. "Illiterate again."
Still, he wasn't worried.
If brains failed, looks would do.
After all, he was an exotic, shiny Machop with sleek black skin and sculpted muscle definition. Surely someone would be happy to help a Pokémon this handsome.
He smirked, flexed subtly, and stopped the first passerby a scowling Croagunk.
"Hey there," Kael said, voice smooth. "Mind telling me how to get to the Verdant Bamboo Grove?"
He added a confident half-smile, shoulders squared, posture perfect.
His aura screamed charm.
---
Unfortunately, Croagunk was having a terrible day.
Its last test had gone poorly; its mentor had yelled at it for hours.
And now, this random Machop had the gall to interrupt its brooding.
"Can't you read the—"
The words died in its throat.
Its golden eyes widened.
Kael stood there, muscles gleaming, veins tight under the jet-black skin, crimson eyes glowing faintly like smoldering embers.
That small grin on his face looked less friendly and more predatory.
Croagunk swallowed audibly.
"H-haha… the sign! Yeah, yeah, uh…" It pointed nervously down the path.
"Just, uh… keep going north and take the first left! Easy!"
Kael nodded, clapping Croagunk on the shoulder in thanks.
The frog Pokémon stiffened like stone, a shiver running down its spine.
"Thanks, pal."
"Y-yeah… n-no problem…"
Kael walked off humming, satisfied.
"Ha! Works every time. Guess good looks are universal."
Behind him, Croagunk dropped to its knees, sweating bullets.
"I'm alive…" it gasped. "I'm actually alive…"
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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