In this world, the land covers roughly 30% of the planet, while the oceans make up the remaining 70%. As a result, the oceans hold the majority of the planet's resources.
Additionally, the number of secret realms and ruins discovered in the oceans far surpasses those found on land.
If a marine area falls under the jurisdiction of a specific country, any secret realm or ruin discovered there naturally belongs to that country—this is indisputable.
However, most of the ocean is unclaimed territory. If a new secret realm or ruin is discovered in these unclaimed waters, it attracts interest from numerous countries.
For beginner- or intermediate-level secret realms, powers like Drakoria or Celestria might not care much.
But for advanced or top-level secret realms, competition becomes inevitable.
And ruins? They are even rarer than secret realms.
Whenever a ruin appears in unclaimed waters, the major powers will absolutely get involved—without exception.
Secret realms enhance the strength of Pokémon, but ruins offer technological advancements that drive human progress.
Items like energy cubes, Pokémon transfer devices, and aptitude detectors were all discoveries from ruins.
If a country monopolizes a particular technology, the resulting benefits are immense.
To some extent, ruins are even more valuable than top-level secret realms.
Luis's chatter didn't concern Julian much. The fight for ruins was a matter far beyond the influence of a small Elite like him.
Everything depended on how Drakoria's government chose to handle the situation.
As snow continued to fall, Julian, Celebi, and Slowking spent the day indoors playing games, with Arcanine serving as a warm backdrop.
Another day slipped by, wasted in the virtual world.
---
Special Recruitment Class.
As the semester progressed, the Special Recruitment Class gained a few new faces. These were students who had successfully challenged their way up from the regular classes through the monthly trials.
Being one of the Big Five universities, Imperial University was a fiercely competitive environment, especially within the Special Recruitment Class.
Although students in the Special Recruitment Class enjoyed abundant resources from the university and were envied by the regular class, the internal pressure they faced was immense.
This was especially true for the bottom three students in the Special Recruitment Class rankings.
At the end of each month, they dreaded being challenged by regular class students. Winning was ideal, but losing meant being kicked out of the Special Recruitment Class—a humiliation hard to live down.
"Boss Walker, Shen got challenged again."
Dalton said gloating as he spotted Julian walking in.
Shen often ranked among the bottom three in the Special Recruitment Class and, as a female trainer, was a frequent target for challenges from the regular class.
But every time, Shen managed to defeat her challengers.
"Isn't Shen ranked 16th in the class?" Julian asked, puzzled.
Only the bottom three ranked students would be challenged, yet Shen was clearly ranked fourth from the bottom.
"Boss Walker, you remembered wrong. That ranking was from last month. This month, she's 17th," Dalton explained.
"Oh," Julian nodded.
The two continued their conversation without any regard for Shen, who was sitting right next to them. She glared at them, fists clenched, clearly tempted to punch both of them.
"Hmph, if my Mienshao wasn't on the verge of a breakthrough and unable to battle, I wouldn't be ranked 17th," Shen muttered in frustration.
"So, your Mienshao is a pseudo-Elite now?" Julian asked.
"Of course! Once it's ready, I'll teach that challenger a lesson they won't forget."
Shen declared, raising her fist with a fierce expression that seemed to say, 'Don't think you can bully me just because I'm a woman'
"Julian," called a clear, feminine voice from the doorway.
A beautiful girl appeared at the entrance. She was about 5'9", with fair skin, a stylish short haircut, and delicate features on a petite face. Though her down jacket concealed her figure, it was evident she was well-proportioned.
"Boss Walker, your admirer is here again," Dalton teased, winking.
Many of the boys in the class looked at Julian enviously. Being pursued by such a stunning woman? Was this the charm of the best young trainer in Drakoria?
Julian sighed and walked to the doorway. "You're persistent, I'll give you that."
The girl, Nicole, grinned playfully. "As a researcher, how could I give up when your Pokémon are so fascinating?"
Nicole was the granddaughter of Drakoria's strongest Champion, Duke.
Initially, her interactions with Julian were purely due to her grandfather's interest, but eventually, she became captivated by Julian's Pokémon.
As a student of the research academy, Nicole had never seen a single one of Julian's Pokémon that could be described as "ordinary." To her, they were perfect research subjects.
But Julian adamantly refused to let her study them, so she resorted to pestering him endlessly.
Julian: 'Even if I let you research them, you wouldn't discover anything. The system's existence isn't something you can figure out'
"If I don't agree, are you just going to keep pestering me?"
"Not constantly—I do have other things to do. But whenever I'm free, I'll come find you. Of course, you can also choose to ignore me," Nicole replied cheekily.
Her words carried the vibe of, 'My interest in you is my business; you don't need to concern yourself'
It was clear, though, that Nicole had no romantic feelings for Julian, and he felt the same about her. Her sole interest lay in studying his Pokémon.
As an outstanding scholar, she was far more drawn to the charm of Pokémon than to the opposite sex.
"Fine. If you're free, go to my villa. I'll let Slowking know ahead of time. Most of my Pokémon are there whenever I'm on campus," Julian conceded, waving her off.
Being constantly followed by one of Imperial University's top ten beauties wasn't something Julian considered a blessing.
The saying "a beauty that causes disasters" wasn't just empty talk.
"I'll head over right now," Nicole said with a bright smile before quickly leaving. Her steps became faster as she walked away.
Julian sighed, pulling out his phone to dial Slowking.
"SloW~"
Came the calm, familiar reply from the other end.
"Slowking, someone's coming to study you all. Let her in and cooperate a bit, but make sure Celebi doesn't show up, or it might end up in a lab dissected into pieces."
"Slow~"
Celebi: "I'm way too smart for that!"
Julian: "Eavesdropping on phone calls isn't exactly polite, you know."
Ending the call, Julian looked up just in time to see their class teacher, Frank, entering the room.
All twenty Special Recruitment Class students were present—a rare occurrence.
"The biannual assessment tasks are here. The teaching staff and I have assigned each of you different tasks based on your individual abilities."
"The details will be sent to your phones shortly."
"Remember, tasks must be completed independently. You are not allowed to seek help from others, not even your bodyguard Pokémon."
"If you're caught violating this rule, it will result in automatic task failure, and you'll lose your place in the Special Recruitment Class."
"Naturally, failure to complete the task, regardless of circumstances, will also cost you your spot."
"And don't forget—tasks must be completed within the set deadline. Exceeding the time limit will count as a failure."
The Special Recruitment Class had a rigorous assessment task every six months. Each task's difficulty was tailored to match the student's capabilities. Successfully completing the task meant passing the assessment, while failure meant expulsion from the elite group.
For the freshmen, this was their first assessment, and nervous energy filled the room. Many were constantly glancing at their phones, worried about the possibility of being assigned an overly difficult task.
*****
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