A Trainer's Reflections

After taking the materials, the senior girl did not stay long. She said goodbye to him and went home, leaving Fang Yuan alone in the Clubroom Classroom.

Fang Yuan did not idle around either. He used the books here and his phone to look up information, digesting the memories he had just acquired.

But as he read, Fang Yuan suddenly patted his stomach.

Grrr...

His stomach let out an uncooperative growl.

"I forgot to eat. I wonder if the school cafeteria is still open during the college entrance exams."

"I'll go take a look..."

Fang Yuan packed up, then checked the time. It was almost two o'clock, so the chances of the cafeteria still having food were slim. Still, he mainly wanted to buy some bread from the small kiosk inside the cafeteria, preferably with a bottle of Nutrient Express.

But reality was that on a day like this, even Kiosk Auntie had already left. She was not there at all.

After making a wasted trip, Fang Yuan could only leave campus in resignation and find a restaurant outside, where he ordered a rice bowl.

"Waiter, a Yu Xiang Rou Si Rice Bowl."

"Coming right up," said the young man at the restaurant.

Wait a second!

After sitting down in a cool spot near the air conditioner, Fang Yuan suddenly fell into thought.

Yu Xiang Rou Si? What kind of meat was that?

Right, in his memories, Pokémon and Ordinary Animals coexisted in this world.

Although the appearance of Secret Realms had severely damaged ecosystems everywhere at first, after decades of human intervention, the ecological environment had gradually stabilized.

The price of maintaining balance in the wild was that most Ordinary Animals could only live in zoos, Breeding Farms, and designated Protected Areas. The wilderness had become a paradise for Pokémon.

How Pokémon, Ordinary Animals, and a single ecosystem could coexist harmoniously had always been one of the major problems humanity was trying to solve.

Facts had proven that it was best not to keep Pokémon and Ordinary Animals together. One Trainer had made the news for doing exactly that. He left his pet Teddy and his Fire-type Pokémon Growlithe alone at home, only to return that night and discover that Teddy had nearly been burned alive...

"Pfft..." Fang Yuan laughed as he recalled that. What a genius. That was actually a relatively mild example. Ordinary Animals becoming Pokémon food was not uncommon at all, after all. Their Combat Power was not even on the same level.

Soon, the food arrived. Fang Yuan was truly starving, and he finished the entire plate in just a few bites. Then he grabbed a bottle of Iced Cola, thoroughly satisfied.

"Check, scan the code." Looking at the empty plate, Fang Yuan wiped his mouth with a tissue, took out his phone, and turned around.

After leaving the restaurant, Fang Yuan thought it over. Instead of returning to school, he went straight home.

From six in the morning until ten at night, there was no one else at Fang Yuan's home. Father Fang was an electrician, while Mother Fang sold clothes at the Shopping Mall. Both got off work late.

At this moment, Fang Yuan had only one thought on his mind: what kind of Beginner Pokémon suited him?

Although there was still some time before he went to the Breeding House to buy a Pokémon Egg, there was nothing wrong with considering it in advance.

Hmm...

Suicune was quite beautiful...

Articuno was decent too.

Or perhaps... Diancie?

A moment later, Fang Yuan himself felt that his wishful thinking was unreliable.

"For a family that isn't particularly well-off, Grass-type Pokémon are definitely the first choice."

"My homeroom teacher hinted at that too, and Teacher Li gave me the same advice."

After checking online, Fang Yuan discovered that the public Breeding House in Flat City had quite a few varieties of Grass-type Pokémon Eggs openly available for sale: Bellsprout, Oddish, Hoppip, Sunkern, Paras...

But...

"No Bulbasaur... no Treecko... no Turtwig... not a single Starter Pokémon!"

After looking over it more carefully, sharp-eyed Fang Yuan spotted a reservation notice in the upper-right corner of the webpage.

After clicking the small question-mark icon, he understood. If someone wanted to buy Pokémon Eggs from rarer Pokémon, they had to submit a request to the Breeding House in advance.

"Forget it. I definitely can't afford rare Pokémon anyway."

Fang Yuan did the math. He had a huge senior-year tuition payment ahead of him. The first time someone registered as a Trainer, they had to pay at least five years' worth of taxes. Then he had to set aside money for a year's worth of Nutritional Products and food for his Pokémon. Whatever remained would be the budget for the Pokémon Egg. It was simply not enough.

Everyone wanted to choose a rare Pokémon with great potential as their Beginner Pokémon, and Fang Yuan was no exception. But considering his family's finances, he could only cough awkwardly and click the X.

"Easy to raise, high potential. I'll focus on those two labels. Looks like I still have to search among Grass-type Pokémon. Besides, Grass-type Pokémon Eggs seem to have the cheapest average price."

When it came to ease of raising, Grass-type Pokémon definitely ranked first. Most Grass-type Pokémon could survive just by basking in the sun. Of course, if some fool actually raised one like that for a year, its Combat Power would definitely be terrible.

After looking for a while longer, Fang Yuan grew troubled. He realized his indecisiveness had kicked in. Every option looked good to him.

"Is there no other way?"

"No... there's still that."

Fang Yuan's eyes lit up. How had he forgotten about the anime? It seemed the Breeder exam questions from earlier had dealt him too heavy a blow.

During the anime protagonist Ash's long journeys across several regions, there had to be some experience that could inspire him.

"I remember an episode where Ash's Grotle accidentally swallowed its own Energy Ball move, then suddenly had a power surge and displayed incredible strength."

Thinking of that, Fang Yuan quickly searched for information about Energy Ball. Unfortunately, there was pitifully little information. Online material only said that Energy Ball was a move containing tremendous energy and listed which Pokémon could learn it.

It did not matter if there was nothing online. He still had some other impressions of the move.

"Energy Ball... its principle is to fire Life Power gathered from nature. That's how it was described in the games, if I remember correctly. But what does that have to do with Grotle becoming much stronger after swallowing Energy Ball? And would this power-surge method work for Grass-type Pokémon other than Grotle... Never mind. I'll mark it down first. Energy Ball is a must-learn."

Fang Yuan grinned smugly, feeling that he had found a direction.

"Hmm, perhaps I can create my own training plan centered around the idea that 'swallowing Energy Ball greatly boosts strength'?"

"But it still feels a little unreliable. Wouldn't Energy Ball leave a Hidden Injury inside the body...?"

"Let's assume it causes a Hidden Injury. Then can the Hidden Injury be repaired?"

"Let me think. It needs to learn Synthesis, Giga Drain, Growth would be useful too, as well as Ingrain, Grassy Terrain..."

Fang Yuan took out a pen and notebook and began taking notes in earnest, quickly becoming absorbed.

His pen tip scratched across the paper. Looking at what the words described, Fang Yuan suddenly realized something. Never mind whether this concept was feasible, or whether he would really buy a Grass-type Pokémon Egg—he felt that he could not abandon this halfway through, because it was his first independent reflection as a Trainer.