Starter Pokémon

"Let me briefly go over today's procedure and the points you need to keep in mind."

"First, every student may receive one Starter Pokémon for free."

"However, the order in which you enter will be determined by your final exam scores. For example, Classmate Su Hao from our class will be among the first batch to enter and make a selection."

"There is a time limit for choosing. If you fail to make your selection within the allotted time, a Starter Pokémon will be randomly assigned to you by the computer."

"Inside the prefabricated building are rooms for different types, each containing Pokémon of one of the eighteen types. There are even valuable Dragon-type and Psychic-type Pokémon."

"You are not allowed to release the Pokémon inside the Poké Balls stored in the rooms during the selection process. So what kind of Pokémon you end up choosing will depend entirely on your own luck."

"Finally, I must stress that the Pokémon League strictly cracks down on any abandonment of Pokémon. Even if you and your Starter Pokémon do not get along, you can turn it over to the Pokémon League for reclamation."

"Those are roughly the precautions. Does anyone still have any questions?" Ms. Liang, the homeroom teacher, asked.

The students of Class 1, Year 2 answered in unison, "No!"

"Very well. I'll begin calling names now. Once your name is called, you may go in and choose your Starter Pokémon. Remember, there is a time limit."

"Su Hao."

"Here!"

After stepping out of the line, Su Hao entered the room alongside the ten students from the neighboring ten classes whose names had been called in the first round.

"Beep. Student card!"

After swiping his student ID and passing security, a Pokémon League staff member beside him gave a brief reminder.

"You have ten minutes to make your choice. Be careful not to exceed the limit."

The moment he finished speaking, Su Hao and the people beside him headed toward the Dragon-type and Psychic-type rooms without prior agreement.

Su Hao first arrived at the room storing Dragon-type Pokémon. With a sweep from his Pokédex function, the information of the Pokémon inside the pitifully few five Poké Balls appeared in his mind, a stark contrast to the spacious room.

Pokémon: [Horsea] x2

Type: [Water-type]

Gender: [♂] [♀]

Ability: [Swift Swim]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Water Gun, Leer]

Pokémon: [Swablu] x2

Type: [Normal-type, Flying-type]

Gender: [♀]

Ability: [Natural Cure]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Growl, Peck, Mist] [Growl, Peck, Feather Dance]

The two repeated Pokémon alone occupied four slots, and just as Su Hao's Gym Leader father had said, they did not even possess the Dragon-type before evolving.

The only pure Dragon-type Pokémon was Applin.

Pokémon: [Applin]

Type: [Grass-type, Dragon-type]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Ripen]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Astonish, Withdraw, Recycle]

Since neither of Applin's two evolutions, Flapple and Appletun, were particularly powerful Dragon-type Pokémon.

Su Hao did not linger in the Dragon-type room.

As he thought, Su Hao's feet did not stop moving, and he quickly left the Dragon-type room.

Although the students from the other classes wondered why Su Hao had given up competing for Dragon-type Pokémon, having one less competitor only increased their own chances of getting a good draw. Wasn't that better?

Afterward, Su Hao visited the Fire-type, Fighting-type, Flying-type, and other rooms that had temporarily drawn no attention in the first round, and he did indeed find several excellent Starter Pokémon.

Pokémon: [Charmander]

Type: [Fire-type]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Blaze]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Scratch, Growl, Dragon Tail]

Pokémon: [Machop]

Type: [Fighting-type]

Gender: [♀]

Ability: [Guts]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Leer, Low Kick, Bullet Punch, Counter]

Pokémon: [Carbink]

Type: [Flying-type]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Keen Eye]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Leer, Peck, Tailwind, Sky Attack]

Charmander was Su Hao's backup choice if time was running out and he still had not found a better Pokémon.

As for Carbink and Machop, he had picked them out for Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng. Both had excellent grades, so after Su Hao told them the information, they still had a good chance of selecting them.

There are still the Psychic-type... Ghost-type... and Rock-type rooms I haven't checked, Su Hao thought as he quickened his pace.

Soon, Su Hao arrived at the Rock-type room.

After the system scan, the information on the Pokémon inside a long row of Poké Balls was laid bare before him.

Pokémon: [Geodude]

Type: [Rock-type, Ground-type]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Sturdy]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Tackle, Defense Curl]

Pokémon: [Rolycoly]

Type: [Rock-type]

Gender: [♂]

Ability: [Weak Armor]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Tackle, Rollout]

Most of the Pokémon were fairly ordinary, until the information of one special Pokémon appeared before Su Hao.

Pokémon: [Carbink] [Mutation 5%]

Type: [Rock-type, Fairy-type]

Gender: [None]

Ability: [Clear Body]

Level: [5]

Moves: [Tackle, Harden, Dazzling Gleam, Meteor Beam, Reflect, Light Screen, Ancient Power]

System Note: This is a special Carbink that was bathed in Xerneas's Fairy Aura by chance before birth. Perhaps it may become the Mythical Pokémon—the Diamond Princess Diancie—in the future?

Carbink x Diancie

Diancie!?

Before transmigrating, Su Hao had known most Pokémon, including the Rock-type and Fairy-type Mythical Pokémon from Generation VI's Kalos region—the Diamond Princess Diancie.

As a Mythical Pokémon, Diancie possessed formidable base stats. Even more incredible was that Diancie also had the ability to evolve further—Mega Evolution.

After Mega Evolution, Diancie possessed an astonishing 160 points in both offensive stats, along with 110 points in Defensive Stats and Speed. Its overall performance was exceptional, and those were only the game's numbers.

As a Pokémon that truly existed in reality, it surely possessed many other unknown strengths.

With such a treasure before him, Su Hao did not hesitate.

There was no time to lose. Having made his decision, Su Hao directly picked up Carbink's Poké Ball, left the Rock-type room, and went to register his Starter Pokémon with the Pokémon League staff.

"Place the Poké Ball and your identification beneath the machine together. That will complete the binding," the staff member explained to Su Hao.

Though Su Hao was extremely excited inside, his expression remained unchanged. After calmly following the instructions on the screen to complete the binding, Su Hao left the room feeling a little lightheaded.

When Su Hao returned to the class, Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng, who had been waiting, hurried over and asked excitedly, "So? What kind of Pokémon did you choose?"

"Carbink," Su Hao answered.

"Huh? You didn't choose a Dragon-type or Fire-type Pokémon?"

Upon hearing Su Hao's answer, the two were stunned.

Su Hao had actually not chosen one of the types his family specialized in, but had instead picked a Rock-type and Fairy-type Carbink?