Chapter 34. The Whip of the Academy
"The eerie fog has vanished, and the Pokémon Research Academy has appeared, meow!"
"There must be a lot of rare Pokémon inside, meow!"
From afar, perched in a big tree, Meowth held a telescope and spoke in high spirits.
"What's wrong with you two, meow?"
Hearing no dreamy visions of the future from Jessie and James behind him, Meowth felt something was off and turned around to see their odd expressions.
"What's wrong with you two, meow?"
Meowth looked at them in puzzlement, only to see the same peculiar look surface on both their faces.
Meowth had only seen that expression on them when they were carsick.
"Are you feeling unwell?"
"No."
"Seeing this place stirred up some unpleasant memories."
"Dark."
"So dark!" James was in tears.
"Don't tell me you two used to be students here?"
Meowth suddenly understood.
"Yes, so how about we call off this mission?"
Jessie looked at Meowth solemnly.
"What are you saying, meow?"
"We're villains who do all sorts of bad things."
"How could we back off just because this is our alma mater!"
Meowth scolded them bitterly.
"That's not it, Meowth—urk!"
James spoke and mimed a dry heave.
"Pull yourselves together, meow!"
"Even if it wasn't a mission, don't you want to go back and see your alma mater!"
Meowth began to pep them up.
"Think about the wonderful school life you used to have, meow!"
"Morning runs at the academy always getting plowed over by Onix."
"Homework soaked by Poliwag and hung out to dry on Psyduck's head."
"Lunch bentos forever sticky with Snorlax drool…"
"Don't you want to go back to that wonderful life, meow!"
Meowth's voice swelled from sentimental to impassioned, and flames gradually lit in Jessie and James's eyes.
Only, those seemed like flames of anger.
"A life so suffocating… whoever wants to go back can go back!"
"Shut up, Meowth!"
"Bang!"
Each of them gave Meowth a flying kick, booting him into the tree's crown.
"Let's go, Jessie."
"I feel like if I look one more second, my stomach will explode."
"Me too—urk!"
Jessie and James supported each other as they put distance between themselves and the Pokémon Research Academy.
"Why, meow?"
"My speech was obviously very moving."
Meowth had never gone to school and assumed life inside was as beautiful as the books said.
Unwilling to give up, he lifted the telescope again.
One glance inside the campus and he saw a familiar figure on a teaching building.
"That researcher is here too! Jessie, James, wait for me, meow!"
Meowth shot up in fright, afraid Natsume would suddenly appear behind him like a ghost again.
"Achoo!"
Natsume rubbed his nose, thinking the Pokémon at Professor Oak's Laboratory must be missing him.
On the third floor of a teaching building, Natsume leaned on the railing, considering whether to borrow the school's printer to run off more business cards.
He hadn't even gone downstairs before deciding against it.
Mm… better not dance in Jim's minefields.
Natsume thought it over and decided that, as an honest man, he should follow the rules.
He glanced downstairs, saw Ash and the others, and moved to head over.
He had just set foot on the stairs when a figure blocked his way.
"You're Natsume, right?"
The Honora lifted her chin and looked at Natsume with haughty eyes.
"Little one, please step aside."
As he spoke, Natsume casually nudged her head to the side.
The Honora's expression froze for a split second, but quickly returned to normal.
"Who are you calling little!"
With that, the Honora flicked her student ID onto Natsume.
Natsume picked it up and glanced at it.
"You're this old and still haven't graduated?"
"I could've graduated three years ago."
"I was waiting for you!"
The Honora paused, realizing the double meaning, then snorted.
"Hmph!"
"The founder of the Whip of the Academy wouldn't be afraid of me, the Fourth President, would he?"
She deliberately raised her voice.
"What's that?"
Natsume looked at her, puzzled.
"What do you mean, what's that?"
The Honora stared back, equally puzzled.
The two of them stood there, eyes wide at each other.
"What is the Whip of the Academy?"
"Who came up with that name?"
"It sounds so tasteless."
Natsume waved a hand.
The Honora: "…"
Thrown off by his reaction, she pulled a photo from her pocket and kept comparing.
"It's you!"
After a long moment, she pointed at Natsume and declared:
"Founding President, I challenge you as the Fourth President of the Whip of the Academy!"
"Then explain what the Whip of the Academy even is first."
Natsume waved and looked down at his opponent.
To be honest, the name "Whip of the Academy" did ring a bell.
"It's… it's the…"
The Honora suddenly blushed, and her voice turned impossibly shy.
Natsume only looked more confused.
"It's that!"
Throwing caution to the wind, the Honora rattled off in a single breath:
"When rotten theory textbooks turn to pulp in Gyarados's Hydro Pump!"
"When the Poké Balls of cowards shatter under Tyranitar's Stone Edge—"
"We are the steel whip forged in the blaze!"
"Shatter the glass greenhouse dome!"
"Drive the grubs curled up in spreadsheets out onto the thunderstorm-split battlefield!"
With that, the Honora lowered her head, face red enough to drip blood, her body trembling with shame.
"Oh!"
"You mean that."
"I remember now."
"Three years ago I started a club here at your academy."
Natsume finally remembered.
On his first visit to the Kanto Pokémon Research Academy, he discovered a huge problem with its teaching model.
The academy placed extreme emphasis on theory and neglected practical battling.
Natsume knew why.
The students here were either wealthy or noble.
If something happened, the school could hardly take responsibility.
Over time, the teaching skewed toward theory so badly it became pathological.
So Natsume casually founded a club called the Whip of the Academy.
The club's ethos was to "bully" other students—forcing them into Pokémon battles.
As soon as the club was formed, it drew in many students hungry for strong opponents.
He never imagined that the fly-by-night club he started on a whim would gain the academy's recognition and be passed down to a Fourth President.
Natsume was genuinely surprised.
"So you're the Fourth President?"
He looked at the Honora, then suddenly changed the subject.
"But how did you even manage to say such a chūnibyō pledge out loud?"
"I didn't dare look at it when I wrote it."
The Honora: "…"
"It—it was your rule."
"You said every future president had to keep the pledge firmly in mind!"
Tears welled in the Honora's eyes as she glared at Natsume.
She had dutifully memorized the pledge, yet the founder couldn't even remember the club's name!
"Right, using something so chūnibyō as a pledge probably isn't great, huh?"
From behind came Brock's voice.
Turning around, Natsume discovered that Ash and the others had somehow appeared at his back.
Now all four of them were staring at Natsume, curiosity written across their faces.
Misty arched a brow and teased:
"Don't tell me you just wanted to make every president embarrass themselves."
"No way."
"Natsume isn't like that."
"He must have his reasons."
"Right, Natsume?"
Ash protested, then looked to Natsume.
"About that, here's the deal…"
Natsume scratched his head and began to explain.
He did, in fact, have his reasons.
He was afraid that once he was gone, the club would become a real bullying organization.
So he made the pledge, the initiation ritual, and all the trappings extremely chūnibyō.
Mm.
Chūnibyō types can't be that bad at heart.
Most importantly, they're easy to talk into things!
After Natsume's rough explanation, Ash and the others wore peculiar looks.
"Oh, no wonder those guys talked so weird."
Sean recalled the tone of the people who'd bullied him.
Beside him, Brock stroked his chin.
"Hmm."
"It sounds unreliable, but it seems extraordinarily effective."
"Ash, why have you been making a face like you need the bathroom since just now?"
"If you've got something to say, say it."
Misty noticed Ash's conflicted expression.
"Oh."
"What does chūnibyō mean?"
Ash asked, curious.
"Pika!"
Pikachu raised his paw to say "same."
Misty: "…"
He'd heard the word before but hadn't paid attention.
Hearing Natsume tease the Honora with it, he assumed it was an insult.
But after Natsume's explanation, he felt it was praise.
Yet everyone's reactions kept telling Ash it didn't seem like praise.
"Ash, you can think of chūnibyō as a different kind of hot-bloodedness."
Brock thought for a moment and offered an explanation.
"Oh, come on."
"Then why's everyone making that face, like it's some weird word!"
Enlightened, Ash turned, pulled out a Poké Ball, and aimed it at the Honora.
"I know you mean well, but I still want to have a chūnibyō showdown with you!"
"Why did you explain it to him."
Seeing Ash use a new word straight away, Misty covered her face.
"Move."
The Honora, deadpan, pushed Ash aside and walked straight up to Natsume.
"You can't play dumb anymore, can you, Founding President?"
She twirled a keychain with a Poké Ball tied to it.
Seeing her come right up, Natsume felt he should at least show something, so he gave her a big thumbs-up.
"Young one, you've done great!"
The Honora's expression stiffened, her already-cold eyes growing sharp enough to slice Natsume into ribbons.
"I said I'm challenging you!"
She stared straight at Natsume, a different kind of resolve glinting in her eyes.
"You can't beat me."
Natsume waved it off.
Unless there was a large level gap, his Poké Ball Rotom was nearly unbeatable in a straight one-on-one.
And in a six-on-six, he only had two Pokémon to his name.
"You!"
The Honora bristled as if humiliated, fury all but blazing from her eyes.
"I'll have you know, I spent two years to finish all courses by fourteen, and at fifteen I unified the entire Whip of the Academy."
"Now!"
Her gaze sank as she pointed a finger at Natsume.
"There's only you left!"
With that, she planted her fists on her hips and stared stubbornly at him.
After all that, she should be qualified now, right?
"Wow, you're amazing!"
Natsume gave her a big thumbs-up.
The moment the words fell, a crimson line visibly swept across her face, like she might explode any second.
"Pfft!"
Misty couldn't help laughing.
For some reason, seeing the Honora get mad didn't stir any sympathy—only amusement.
"Don't laugh."
"An elementary student equals two Gym Badges, an intermediate equals four, and an advanced equals six…"
Sean started explaining to the group.
Suddenly, his expression turned very serious.
"Someone like the Honora—finishing all courses in two years and flattening the entire Whip of the Academy—already has the strength to enter the Conference directly!"
"What kind of nonsense rank equivalence is that?"
"I don't buy it."
Ash snorted.
"Seriously."
"If so, what's the point of Gyms existing."
Brock nodded in agreement.
"Hold on."
"So, Sean, as an elementary student, you actually have the strength of two Badges like Ash."
Misty spotted the blind spot.
"Of course!"
Sean puffed out his chest with pride.
"Then this equivalence really isn't convincing."
Misty nodded in deep agreement.
Sean: "…"
"Who dares challenge our club's Fourth President!"
Rough voices sounded from not far away.
Looking up, they saw a dozen youths, each sporting a wildly exaggerated pompadour.
"You want to challenge the Fourth President?"
"Get through me, the Flame Whip, first!"
"With me, the Steel Whip, here—who dares…"
"The Founding President has returned!!!"
Some club veterans recognized Natsume.
"What?"
"That's the legendary Founding President!!"
The new members snapped to attention in an instant, their eyes turning respectful as they looked at Natsume.
Rumor had it this Founding President was terrifying.
When he appeared nearby, even a wisp of his presence could make every Pokémon in the forest tremble.
Enjoyed the story? Support me and get access to early chapters by joining my Patreon!
Find me at: Patr*eon*.com/Resium
Free members can read 10+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Paid member can read 150+ Chapters Ahead of Release
Stories Available
Honkai? No, This Is Daily Life
Hogwarts Pet Master
Pokémon: Who Let Him Leave Pallet Town!
Scrolling Yu-Gi-Oh! Shorts