Leuko - Blind to the Sunlight

Chapter 6: The Zenith Only Burn

"Get out!"

"Move out of my way!"

"Do you know who I am?"

"A loser!"

"What did you say plebian!?"

Gone was the charade of nobility, in these stairs, their true self revealed themself with what human does best.

Violence.

The wild pokemon didn't even arrive, yet the candidates already fought with each other.

Despite each stair being more than long and large enough to put a whole horde of Pachyradjahs without any problem, they still fought for a place to stand on.

Alright, that's enough, Vulpix, burn him!"

A kid ordered his pokemon, only for it to turn back to its master and throw an ember to its head.

"Aaaah! My face! MY FACE!!!"

"Vu vu!"

The youngster rolled on the ground, but it only caused him to be crushed by the step of other candidates.

But before any other harm could befall him, he suddenly disappeared from the stairs and appeared on the Aurora Outpost.

The kid didn't feel his injury anymore, but he still remembered it and immediately run toward his father. "Waaah-nuh-uh-uh! Daddy!"

He wasn't the only one in these scenes, in only five minutes since the start of the exam, more than 249 candidates were already eliminated by their own idiocies.

But the number of elimination only started to increase, as the pokemon that attacked their owner didn't return to the Aurora outpost, and instead chose to attack the remaining candidate.

'The wild pokemon didn't even arrive...what is happening...why are all of these candidates...so bad? They said they would only choose the best of the best...' Thought Geeta in dismay after noticing the situation. 'Then why are they all so immature?'

"This is rigged! There is no way my son could lose in less than five minutes!"

"Yeah! You put this test way too difficult!"

"I should have known that it would be rigged, we can't trust those from Paldea!"

Multiple of the adults threw a complaint at Geeta, but she wasn't listening to a single one of them, only looking in shock at the multiple screens diffusing behind her.

'Is...is this a joke?'

***

'Ah! '

There are so many people!'

Yellow tries to navigate in the wave of children who are all trying to get ahead of each other

"Get out of my way!"

Someone pushed me to the side making her fall on the ground, she turned back, only to see the previous purple-haired rich boy from before.

"Wait? You're still here!? You haven't learned about your place yet!"

"Wait! Everyone can get into this academy, there is no need to...

"Shut up you plebian! I refuse that a disgrace such as you join our elite rank!"

"Cater!" Her Caterpie didn't like the comment and hissed at the noble.

"Is this maggot dare raise it fang at me!? You have really no class!"

"Pie!" Kitty started to inflate a little.

"Wait, Kitty! Don't!"

But she didn't listen to the command and suddenly spat out a string right into the idiot's face.

"Ah! What is this It's sticky! How dare! How absolutely dare you! Nuzleaf! Make her pay!"

He throws out his pokemon right at Yellow and it appears in a blue flash.

The pokemon was an humanoid nut with a upper body made out of wood.

The pokemon raised one of his hands and leaves appeared right beside him, leaves that were sharp enough to be swords.

'I'm sorry uncle...it seems I will betray your expectation...I will make you a pie in exchange.'

Yellow took Kitty in her arms to protect her and closed her eyes.

This lead to the Nezleaf looking at her with surprise.

"Nuz?"

Yellow reopened her eyes just to look at the Nuzleaf who seemed confused. "Eh? Oh...I'm fine...don't worry...you can hit me..."

"Zleaf!"

The Nuzleaf switched sides and confronted the youngster who still tried to remove the string in his face, not noticing the change in the situation.

"Why is she still not screaming out of pain you useless pokemon! We didn't kidnap you just so you could do nothing!"

The pokemon didn't wait and immediately threw his leaf at the child, penetrating it harm and drawing out blood.

"AH!" The child could handle the pain and fell on the ground, only to disappear right after.

"Eh? Why did you do that?"

"Leaf nuz zleaf eaf!"

"They are bad people? And you think now is the best time to escape?"

"Nuz!"

"Oh...did they beat you too?"

"...nuz."

"I can see you're wounded here, let me help you." She pointed at his leg which suffered from a big cut, probably a result of the 'training' he was put under.She approached the wound and put her hand, then her hand shined in a yellow light, and when she removed her hand, the cut disappeared.

"Leaf?" The Nuzleaf looked in confusion at its wound and touched it in surprise. "NUZ!"

"I'm glad you're alright."

"Nuz!"

"Oh me, I'm just trying to go to the top of the mountain."

"Leaf!"

"You don't have to worry about me, go out in the nature again...I will manage it myself."

"Nuzleaf!"

"Really? You really want to help me?"

"Nuz!"

"But...but you could...thanks!"

She hugged the Nuzleaf who seemed confused.

"Maybe with you, I have a chance to succeed."

"Cater!"

"Ah! Right, I could succeed with you too."

She put Kitty back on her shoulder before looking toward her, she could see that other youngsters getting eliminated by their own pokemon, and those that didn't were getting eliminated by those from the other.

'Why are there so many people who their pokemon hate? Why can't they just befriend each other?'

She climbed one stair, trying to avoid the other candidates who were battling between themselves. Until she noticed a Vulpix fighting alone with a Litleo and its trainer.

The trainer stood straight with an impassible expression, looking at the fight in an analytic manner, which contrasted with the folly of the other. Another particularity was his grey suit with white pelts on it colt, despite Yellow seeing a lot of expensive outfits in a short time, this one looked the most expensive. His demeanor and his ginger hair that stood tall in the hair showed that this money wasn't wasted on him.

Contrary to the other trainer, the Litleo listened perfectly to its trainer and was fighting the Vulpix with grace and ability.

'Oh, I guess not all hope is lost...wait what is he doing!'

The Litleo bitten the neck of the Vulpix on the order of its master.

"PIX!" The Vulpix tried to scream, but the bite shut him down. The Litleo rammed the body of the Vulpix on the ground, only to then throw him away.

The trainer didn't even bother looking at the body of the pokemon and simply walked forward, climbing the stairs once again.

'But...but...this is normal...this is how pokemon are treated.'

Yellow throws a look at the dying Vulpix, who tries its hardest to breathe.

'It's...fine... it's the way of life...'

She tried to advance, but her own body betrayed her and ran toward the Vulpix.

She crouched and holded the neck of the pokemon. "It's going to be alright, I will heal you"

'Why am I doing this? I only have one hour to climb the stairs, I can't waste my time healing everyone...'

"V...ul?"

"Keep calm, it might sting a bit but you will be healed right after."

Her hand shined on the neck wound, and slowly the wound started to close itself.

"Vul? PIX!"

The Vulpix immediately jumped away from Yellow and showed her fang.

"Ah, you're fine, that's a relief."

Yellow stood up from the stairs, only to see even more candidates battling with each other.

'I guess I will have to take a detour.'

She looked to her side until she saw another pokemon with a deep injury on its side. It was currently trying to make itself small on the bordure of the stairs.

'...it's hurt...'

Yellow looked one last time upstairs before closing her eyes and running toward the pokemon.

The Vulpix looked at her in confusion, then decided to follow behind her.

'I couldn't even reach the top even if I tried to, there no need to try...I may as well help those who need it.'

Yellow goes down the stairs, going in the opposite direction of everyone else.

"Corsola..." The pokemon looked at everything going on with fear, it would have loved to run away, at she knew that with her injury, she would get devoured by the local pokemon, so she stayed here in the hope that everything would go well.

Suddenly, she saw one of these humans approaching her.

"Corsola!"

She tried a last-ditch effort and threw a water jet on her face, in the hope to scare her, but it was interrupted by a Nuzleaf that took the blow with its hand.

"Nuz!"

"It alright Nuzleaf, he was just scared."

Yellow moved to face the Corsola and raised her hand slightly to pet him.

"Corso?"

"Yes, I can understand you, don't worry, I will help you make the pain go away."

She gently caressed the wound, before applying her light.

"Aren't feeling better now?"

"Corso!"

The Corsola looked at its wound then at Yellow, then jumped directly into Yellow hand.

"Hahaha, there's no need, stop it tickle."

"Caterpie!"

Trying to not get undone, Kitty also snuggled Yellow in the neck.

"Ha ha ha."

"GEO!"

Yellow looked back in surprise, just to see a giant pokemon slamming a Geodue on the ground.

"Good job Duralegon."

Its trainer caressed the side of the immense pokemon that looked like it was made entirely of metal. The man then ignored the Geodue and continued to advance, no a single one dared to stop him.

'Ah! The geodue, he's hurt!'

Yellow ignored him and immediately ran toward the defeated pokemon. She put herself on her knee to heal the Geodue injury.

"Geodue?"

The pokemon wakes up feeling relieved.

"Ah, you're fine, great!"

"Hey, what are doing?"

She turned back to see a girl with dirty pink hair looking at her in confusion.

However, her outfit was completely different, as she was wearing a pristine white outfit with a blue outline on the side. On the front was a logo of a golden man raising a torch. She also looked extremely tin under the outfit.

"I'm healing him."

"Is it your pokemon? Wait no, how are you even able to heal him? I don't see any healing item? Are you cheating?!"

"What?! No, I'm not cheating, I was just born with those powers. It allows me to communicate with pokemon and heal them."

"...oh, so all of these pokemon want to keep you safe is that it? Even if you just meet them, is that it?"

"Ah, yes."

A gentle smile appeared on her face. "Oh, I forgot to present myself, my name I Klara, happy to meet you..."

"Ah, Yellow! My name is Yellow."

"What a beautiful name Yellow, I hope we can become friends soon."

"Eh? Al...already?"

"Oh, I can understand that someone like me doesn't deserve to be friends with you!"

"Eh, why are you saying that?"

"Because I'm poor."

"Eh, but I'm poor too, you don't have to worry."

"Eh, really?" She appears extremely confused. "But with an ability like yours, would it be easy to have an excellent life? Filled with richness and power?"

"Well...maybe...I never really thought about it."

"I suppose we all start somewhere...but I don't think this will be it for me."

"Why are you saying this?"

"What I am supposed to do, with all of these challenger, I have no chance to win."

"Oh...well you can join me then! With two of us, it would be easier to climb!"

"Really? I wouldn't want to slow you down."

"No it's fine, we are friends after all, right?"

Klara grinned at Yellow answer. "Of course, how could I forget it, you're an amazing person you know that?"

"Eh...no...I'm not that great."

"Nuzleaf!" Nuzleaf suddenly positioned himself in between Yellow and looked with grave eye Klara, a gaze that Klara returned

"What is it Nuzleaf?"

"Leaf!" "Pix?"

"What are they saying?"

"I can't talk to the pokemon...but they said that they didn't trust you."

A cold glim appeared in her eye, but it disappeared right after. "I understand, I'm not trustworthy. Even after I try so hard to appear gentle, people will still assume I'm a horrible person." A tear appeared below her eye, but she turned back before anyone could confirm it. But it also showed the immense 881 written in black on her uniform. "I might as well simply quit, it's the only thing I'm good at after all!"

The pokemons looked at her in surprise, then at Yellow to know how to proceed.

"Wait, Klara... it's just they have difficulty trusting others as their previous owner were horrible people."

"What in tarnation did you say!?"

Another kid suddenly joined in the conversation, angry and making a Yellow comment, only to receive a string right into his face, which was immediately combusted by Vulpix.

Klara looked in shock at the altercation as the kid screamed in pain before being teleported.

"...I understand, but I swear I am not like them!"

"I believe you Klara...but they don't..."

Kalra made the sign to think, then she raised her finger. "...If I showed them my pokemon, would they trust me?"

"Oh, I'm sure it would work,"

Klara smiled before taking a pokeball out of her pocket and throwing it on the ground, revealing a slowpock with a yellow cask on its head. The pokemon looked around, only to immediately fall asleep.

"This is Slowsleeper! My Slowpock! I love him more than anything in the world!"

'Oh, he doesn't look harmed in anyways, and contrary to her, he seems to be well fed. It means she took great care of him!'

The other pokemon also reached the same conclusion as they lowered their guard toward her.

"Does that mean I pass the test?"

"Of course! I'm happy I can trust you, Klara."

"Yes, you can trust me."

"Follow me! Together, we will...

"Jiggly."

"Ah! There is another hurt pokemon, everyone! Follow me!"

"Eh, shouldn't we climb the stairs instead?"

"No time for that! We must rescue this pokemon!"

Klara frowned at Yellow, before immediately recovering her smile. "As expected from a kind person like you, not even the failure of your friend can stop you from helping others."

"Eh...oh..."

Yellow looked with culpability at the spot where she heard the pokemon got hurt, then at Klara who gave her puppy eye.

"Just...just this one...please."

"Oh but save as many as you want, it's what makes me your friend in the first place. Please don't consider my dream, it's worthless toward your kindness.

"...right...sorry."

Yellow quickly moved downstair to save the pokemon, with Klara looking at her with a disgusted gaze. 'She better not fail me!'

***

Natural Harmonia calmly climbed the stairs, since his ascension, no one dared to stop him, all of them willingly got out of his way without even thinking about it. He also encountered wild pokemon on his way up, but they simply bowed and let him pass without causing him any trouble.

But as usual, he didn't even acknowledge them, yet for the pokemon, it was a signal as they all started to descend the stairs to add even more chaos than there already was.

He did not care about that, he simply rose closer to the sun, until finally he saw the top. He didn't show any expression of surprise or excitation, it happened as it should.

A green barrier enveloped the cohort, letting them ignore the crimson aura that was dispersed everywhere in the air. The hue sometimes collides against the barrier, but it only slides on it while making a very strident noise.

"Your majesty, is everything alright?"

One of Harmonia's maids asked him, the two of them were the only ones who had the right to follow him or to ask him questions, on the order of the wise Ghetis.

"There's no problem, the aura is indeed getting stronger, but as long as it doesn't target me specifically, I have no problem blocking it."

"My apologies then."

"Do not apologize Concordia, it doesn't matter."

"Very well my liege."

"Do you think this aura is from the heretic of before?"

"It looks like it Anthea, but it's not intentional."

"Should we dispose of him?"

"Impossible, his companion is too strong."

"To this point? We could ask the wise Ghetis."

"He would escape."

"I see, my apologies."

"Hmm? The aura is starting to turn black." Concordia noticed the change of color happening outside."

"It's because we are getting closer to the transmitter." Responded Naturia in a cold voice.

"I must say, this is a very strong aura, probably only comparable to yours my liege," Concordia said a comment that would probably get her executed on the spot in any other noble house, but the king of Unova simply agreed with her.

"Yes, even for me, it would be hard to emit this much aura constantly, I would have to be in a special mental state for that to happen."

"I wonder what kind of sin he to have an aura comparable to your blessing?"

"I ignore it, we should ask him directly."

"Good idea."

The group continued to climb the stairs, the aura of Luciel growing stronger and stronger with each step they took, but it never made them slow down.

Finally, they reached the last march, they could see the whole academy, and less to say, it was magnificent.

Even the castle Naturia had lived in paled in comparison to the grandeur of the Zenith Academy. The school was encircled by a towering white brick wall that crowned the entire mountaintop. In front stood an immense gate made of red ore, a material so rare that even Naturia hadn't known of its existence until now. At its center was the emblem of the Zenith Academy, a golden Pokéball set within a radiant sun.

Beyond the gate lay what could only be described as a fortress of black stone and crystal. Twelve towering spires flanked on both side, each larger and richer than a five-star hotel, yet they added an undeniable sense of majesty to the place.

At the heart of the academy stood the central structure, a massive citadel that seemed to defy gravity. Its glass-like domes and arches glistened in the sunlight, creating the illusion of an ethereal palace suspended between earth and sky. Wide stone pathways stretched out from the gate, flanked by rows of statues carved from gleaming marble, each one depicting legendary figures and heroes of war that had shaped the academy's prestigious history. Yet, all of these statues were decapitated, as to show that they should not be remembered with glory

Surrounding the main structure were lush gardens, where vibrant flowers bloomed in every imaginable color, and small streams flowed, creating an atmosphere of serene beauty in contrast to the imposing majesty of the academy itself.

But despite this beauty, the only thing that caught the gaze of everyone was of a poor child suffering in his own blood.

"Please...don't go away...Pandora...come back...I'm not sad...I'm not sad...no...not...the white...I need you...I don't wanna die...it cold..."

His voice was barely audible after screaming for 17 minutes straight, but he still searched to make himself heard. He tried to move, but his bone was broken and his muscle was torn.

The whole body of Luciel was covered in crimson after being soiled with his blood, his previously white kimono shared the same fate. His pristine hair was also drenched in red. Yet, there was still one thing remaining pristine, his blindfold.

Natural looked at Luciel with curiosity before approaching him.

"What was your sin?"

"I...want to live...I want to be happy...I want to....AAAAAAAA!!!"

"Mmh? This isn't a sin?"

"Don't bother, he doesn't hear anything, he's completely closed his mind, he suffers by himself right now."

Naturia looked up to see Volo standing right above the stairs. 

"A shame, I wanted to talk to him."

"You will be able to do that during the academy years, now, would you mind taking the last step?"

"Oh right, I almost forgot what I was doing."

He took a last glance at Luciel before climbing the last step to join the top.

"Congratulations Natural Harmonia Gropius, you were able to succeed in the entry test with flying colors."

Volo clapped his hand but showed no real joy in his eyes.

Natural barely acknowledged his praise and moved toward some tables that were placed for him to sit down at the end of the test.

His maids also climbed the last step, and they received the same phrase from Volo, that they also ignored.

'Well at least we will have two good students for this year, and two useless students, this isn't so bad. I'm sure Geeta as only praise for me down there.'

***

In front of Geeta were multiple screens that allowed others to see what happened to each candidate. These images were available with the help of the special agent on the terrain, she was also the one who took care of teleporting any kids who were too injured to continue.

Even if she didn't plan for so much injury.

As of now, more than half of the candidates were eliminated in less than 10 stairs, and there was a total of 100 in total.

In the original plan, each candidate would start to struggle only at the 30 stairs, then the more they advance, the stronger the pokemon would be, the first ten floors should only be used to distance to candidate, not eliminating, even less harming them.

'What is happening...they were supposed to help each other, as the pokemon in the last stair would be too strong for a normal kid, but they are fighting each other instead?'

She looked at different screens, hoping that it was only a big coincidence and that the rest were doing fine.

But except for some rare exceptions, every participant that was not eliminated was only still there because they ran away from their own pokemon.

'We supported friendship and collaboration, that we say when we convoked each investor...they were supposed to bring a kid that fit these criteria...I thought everything would be fine...so why is everything chaotic.'

She tried her hardest, constantly moving her head to each screen to find a good candidate, and finally ended up on the screen of the prince of Unova.

'Ah, at least he shows a good example, he's already to the top 90 stairs. Great, at least the royalty of the region take this seriously.'

She looked more discerningly at each screen, then she let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding in and released her tie.

'Interesting, It seems my judgment was hasty, I only panicked because too many were getting eliminated, but the candidate from Unova are all doing pretty well, it was only because of the initial chaos that made them lose, and those that are still there are communicating well with their pokemon. Galar is also doing well, their candidate is also the second group the highest, on stair 63, everything good...wait.'

She looked at the vision of those reaching the floor higher than 60, she could see that the majority of them climbed the stairs extremely slower since they reached this floor. But even more importantly, she saw no wild pokemon attacking them.

She looked at those who were still at level 50 and noticed that each of them was fighting extremely powerful wild pokemon, the type that should be on the highest floor.

Geeta put her gaze back at the king screen and realized that there was not a single pokemon fighting him. This is normal as his power makes every pokemon friendly toward him, but there should still be some in the area.

'What is happening, maybe a baron pokemon was able to introduce himself on the top floor and he scarred the other pokemon? I should contact Volo, he's at the top, he should know.'

But as she was getting ready to pick up her phone, she froze.

'Is...is that Luciel!?'

"LUCIEL!!!"

Just beside her, nurse Joy screamed in worry, she also saw the view of Natural that presented a weak boy drenched in blood and agonizing at the 99 stairs.

Without realizing it, Geeta's hand reached for her tie and held it tightly.

'What is happening!? Did his assailant really injure him that much? Why didn't Volo ask for help?'

She reached for her phone immediately but contacted someone else instead.

"Olympia! Teleport the injured boy here immediately! He needs help right now."

"I can't, I don't know why but my power has no effect on him."

She started to tighten her tie even must around her neck.

"Can you teleport Nurse Joy up there then?!"

"Yes, it should not be any problem."

In an instant, Nurse Joy disappeared from where she was standing and appeared right beside Luciel.

'Good, I will have to ask Volo what happened after, there must be a reason for this. For now, I should probably reassure the public, they might panic if I don't explain to them the problem.'

She looked back and took back her microphone in one hand and observed the expression of the public.

"HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN SUCH A DISGRACE IN THIS ESTABLISHMENT WE MASSIVELY INVESTED ON?!"

"WHY AREN'T YOU RESPONDING YOU USELESS WOMEN!!!"

"WHY ARE ALL OF OUR CHILDREN FELLING?! IS IT BECAUSE YOU ONLY SUPPORT THE CANDIDATE OF PALDEA?!!!"

'What...what are they saying? '

"OH! YOU'RE FINALLY LISTENING! SO PLEASE EXPLAIN TO US HOW SO MUCH KID GOT ELIMINATED SO QUICKLY!?"

'They...they saw a kid covered in blood...and they worry why we failed their kid? No, it must be because they are upset that their child got hurt, right, I can't blame them for caring more about their kid than an unknown one.'

"HOW DO YOU EXPLAIN SUCH A DIFFICULT EXAM!? DO YOU WANT NONE OF US TO ENTER IT!?"

"YOU BITCH!!!"

"YOU WORTHLESS WITCH!"

'...I see...it wasn't my fault...its theirs.'

"My apologies, it seems there is a misunderstanding, we planned that at least 600 students would be able to join, but apparently, few of them were even able to control their pokemon, which was one of the distinct criteria we asked you to prioritize during your selection. So I would say it is more a problem of yours than ours. In fact, I would even say that your irresponsibility to select a good candidate has engendered multiple promising seeds to grow and also caused multiple harms to innocent people.

So for the next years, we will make sure that each candidate is up to the task. Do I make myself clear?"

The room turned into silence, all of them looking shocked at Geeta.

"What do you mean!? It's your fault for not making sure our kids were properly taken care of."

Geeta gazed at the man who tried to bring a counterargument and frowned.

"I didn't expect such a comment from you, Mister Greenhill, as far as I know, you never took care of your child, always leaving it in the arms of your wife, if we can even call her that after all the time you cheated on her, sincerely I'm surprised you only bring two candidates with the number of bastard children you possess.

In fact, should you really have to try to invest in this academy, because you will need to have a lot of money to pay all the child support that will soon befall you?"

"What...what are you talking about? How do you know so much about me?"

"Well you are from Sinnoh, aren't you? They installed a new child support policy to take care of any window take got their husband or wife killed during the war, so they said they might as well add a law that prevents single mothers from taking care of a child even when their husband can take care of their."

"You're...you're lying..."

"Of course not, my job isn't to lie to you but to answer all of your problems. Ah, this reminds me you asked a question, my deepest apologies. Now, must I remind you that it is one of our personnel who has saved all of your children, she might make it seem effortless, but it is extremely taxing for her to teleport so many people. Also, we are the ones offering each of your injured children treatment from the most developed medical instrument. So as of now, we made every decision to keep your child safe, except you."

"You cannot talk to us like that! We invested our money in this academy! We demand fair treatment!"

"Oh, mister Suxilo. Very rich coming from someone whose money comes from stealing from the less fortunate by raising the price of food in your industry. I'm sure that laws are going to be made simply to restrict your greed in the future.

Coming back to your point, I have no respect to give to you."

"How...do you know so much?"

"Oh, basic information gathering, I made sure to know everything I can know about each single one of you. This is expected from someone of my position after all."

No more complaints were heard after that, and those who were near those that tried to complain immediately dispersed them.

"If there are no more questions, let me tell you that the situation is currently being dealt with, so you have no worries to have."

'...was I mad? I'm not usually that harsh on others...not good Geeta, you must be able to keep your calm for the rest of the years.'

She looked back at the screen to see if the situation got any better.

'Did this kid just launch his pokemon to run away from the wild pokemon? His name is Richard Bellvie from Kalos...I will make sure his action has the consequences he deserves.'

'Another one for the list I suppose...mmh?'

Her gaze paused on a particular screen, it presented Yellow, a simple orphan living with her uncle, and contrary to everyone else, she didn't try to climb the stairs, but found every single pokemon that was injured and healed them with their power.

'How admirable, but she will have to climb the stairs soon, or she won't pass.'