"Teacher Frank"

  Julian answered the call. He knew his teacher well—Frank rarely made calls unless it was something urgent. For casual matters, he'd usually just send a text.

  "When will you return to the uy?"

  Frank's voice came through clearly, and Julian couldn't detey unusual emotion in his tone.

  "I'll be back soon," Julian replied.

  "Good. e straight to my office when you get here"

  Frank instructed before abruptly hanging up.

  Julian slipped his phone bato his pocket, losing i in browsing the Mission Zone. Without wasting any time, he left the Trainers' Association and made his way out.

  Riding o took him just over ten mio arrive at Imperial Uy.

  Frank's office was located ieag building adjat to the Special Recruitment Css.

  Knock, knock.

  "e in"

  As ae Trainer himself, Frank had his own private office.

  Julian stepped inside, and Frank greeted him with a slight smile. "Well done, kid. You've already made it to Elite Traiatus. Looks like that Dragon's Den helped you a lot."

  Julian wasn't surprised that Frank already knew about his rank update. After Julian's profile dated, the information became accessible to other Elite Trainers.

  Unbeknownst to him, news of his promotion had already nded iop five trending topi the Hot Search leaderboard, with its popurity rapidly climbing. It wouldn't be long before it hit number one.

  "The gains were det."

  Julian said with a nod, remaining calm despite Frank's praise.

  "So, what's the reason you called me over, sir?" Julian asked.

  Frank's expression turned serious as he began to expin. "Luis, Shen, and Dalton took on a missioly. They've been out of tact for five days, and there's been no word from them."

  For freshman's at Imperial Uy, the mission workload was usually light. pleting uy-assigasks was enough, though students were free to take on additional missions if they wanted.

  "What mission did they take?" Julian asked.

  The three of them were petent trainers. Shen, while not as strong, had awakened her Heart's Eye ability. With the three of them w together, it was surprising—and troubling—that they had been unreachable for five days.

  "It was an esission—to apany a ten-person research team to the e of the White Mountains."

  "If it's just the e, their strength should have been suffit."

  The White Mountains spanned several provinces in Drakoria and were home te popution of wild Pokémon. The area was also one of the try's most notorious forbidden zones.

  However, the "forbidden zone" primarily referred to its tral regions. The outskirts and mid-range areas were far less dangerous.

  That said, for trainers with insuffit strength, eveskirts could be perilous.

  "Exactly. I thought the same. But now, it's not just the three of them. Eveen-person research team has lost tact."

  Frank's face revealed a hint of frustration.

  It wasn't that he was overly ed about the fate of the research team—their survival meant little to him. What he cared about were Luis, Shen, and Dalton.

  The students in the Special Recruitment Css had bright futures. If they could grow steadily, their ces of beie Trainers were practically guaranteed.

  "What was the research team iigating?" Julian asked.

  The trio's disappearance might have something to do with the research team's mission.

  "The team was tasked with studying the Pokémon poputioy iskirts of the White Mountains. The guidebook for the area is being updated, so they sent the team to gather fresh data."

  On the surface, it seemed like a straightforward mission. The research was fio the outskirts, which were retively safe. Yet, all thirteen people had vanished.

  If the worst-case sario was true, it ossible that none of them had survived.

  "So, how should I go about finding them?" Julian asked.

  The White Mountains spanned several provinces, and eveskirts were vast. Searg blindly would be a near-impossible task.

  "The leader of the research team was carrying a tracker, here, take this. As long as you're within fifty kilometers of the tracker, this device will pick up its signal."

  Frank said, pulling out a palm-sized device. The s was lit, but currently bnk.

  Julian nodded.

  "Even if Luis and the others are dead, it's best to recover their bodies," Frank added, his tone heavy.

  Luis and Dalton came from promi families, and although Shen's family wasn't as iial, she was still a student of the Special Recruitment Css.

  If something happeo them, Frank, as their homeroom teacher, would bear some responsibility.

  Additionally, Luis and Shen were gifted with special abilities, making their losses even more signifit.

  Frank's meaning was clear; Find them, dead or alive.

  If they were dead, it would ultimately be due to their own ck of strength. From the moment one became a professional trainer, danger ah were stant panions.

  "Time is of the essence. You should leave immediately," Frank said.

  He hadn't inally po involve Julian. However, upon learning that Julian had retly advao Elite Traiatus, Frank immediately ged his mind.

  Asking someone else for help wouldn't be as reliable as asking one of his own students.

  Moreover, Frank had great fiden Julian's abilities.

  Even before reag Elite Trainer rank, Julian had been capable of defeating other Elites. Now that he had officially reached that level, he could likely overpower most ordinary Elites with ease.

  After leaving Frank's office, Julian wasted no time. He hopped ontonite and took off toward the White Mountains.

  Shen was an old high school cssmate, while Luis and Dalton both called him "Brother" with unwavering respect. The bonds they shared weren't ordinary.

  Although Julian's face remained calm, his heart was heavy with worry for the three of them.

  ---

  The White Mountains has five mairances oskirts of the Imperial Capital.

  Acc to the information Frank provided, the research team, along with Luis and his group, had ehrough Entrance Five.

  This entrance was located on the western edge of the city and was the most remote of the five.

  Despite its isoted locatiorance Five saw the rgest number of trainers passing through daily.

  This was because the area nearby housed seven to eight distinon ies, far more thawo or three typically found around the other entrances.

  To ensure safety, eatrance was heavily fortified, with a mix of trainers, advanced onry, and military forces statiohere.

  Over time, due to the thousands of people entering the White Mountains daily, a trading hub had naturally formed he entrances.

  Julian didn't linger. After about thirty minutes, he reached the westerrance Five. Dragourned into a streak of light as it soared into the outskirts of the White Mountains.

  This was Julian's first time venturing into a forbidden area.

  Onside, Dragonite instinctively slowed down.

  The outskirts of the White Mountains were vast, and although Juliahe research team and Luis's group had ehrough Entrance Five, too much time had passed.

  It had beeen days siheir st known location, and they could have gone in any dire.

  There was even a possibility that they were no longer ier area.

  Thus, while Julian had a tracker capable of deteg the research team's signal within a fifty-kilometer radius, outside of that rahe device was useless.

  Adding to the challenge was the powerful magic field that bhe White Mountains, interfering with le trag. Without that interferehe device could have pinpoiheir location no matter how far away they were.

  *****

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