Of course, most people had not noticed this anomaly. In fact, everyone thought it was perfectly normal. Only someone like him, who had transmigrated here, could sense how strange it was.
He even suspected that the people in the so-called Pokémon League were not from this world. They might have come from another Pokémon world.
He suspected this because so much of the world's current technology—Poké Balls, Potions, Pokédexes, Pokéblocks, spatial compression devices, and so on—was exactly the same as in the anime. It was not something Blue Star could have easily developed in just over three hundred years.
But for a student about to enter sophomore year, investigating this was far too early. He could only let his imagination run wild for now. What he needed to consider most was choosing his academic track.
After Pokémon descended upon reality, high school students had gained another option when choosing their track in sophomore year alongside the arts and sciences: Spirit Studies.
High school students who wanted to become Trainers in the future would choose Spirit Studies in sophomore year. There were no grade requirements; anyone who wanted to join could choose it.
After Pokémon descended, countless wars had broken out. But once those wars ended and Blue Star entered an age of peace, the Trainer profession rapidly developed.
Naturally, the existence of Trainers had been inevitable. After Pokémon descended, Blue Star expanded tenfold from its original size. Yet humanity's productivity had not kept pace with that expansion, and Pokémon had been far stronger than humans at the time.
As a result, humanity's territory had not grown much larger than in his previous life even now. Other regions, such as forests, plateaus, oceans, deserts, and basins, were occupied by Pokémon.
At the time, humans simply could not fight Pokémon. They only had muskets and cannons, leaving them at an absolute disadvantage against Pokémon.
Even the breaking of humanity's physical limits due to the world's changes had happened decades later.
If the Pokémon League had not taught the nations how to catch Pokémon, humanity's territory would have been even smaller than it was now.
After more than three hundred years of effort, humanity's territory had continued to expand. Especially over the past decade or so, the expansion had grown faster and faster, while the number of Trainers continued to rise.
Humanity was expanding its territory at an unimaginable speed.
As all sorts of random thoughts ran through his mind, a sudden movement caught his attention.
A fluffy brown head slowly poked out from the drawer of his deskmate's desk.
It was a wholly brown Pokémon, catlike in appearance, with a thick layer of fur around its neck like a scarf.
It had pointed ears and large, crystal-clear eyes.
"Eevee~"
Cheng Cheng said in a panic, "Eevee, why did you come out? Get back in there, quick. If the teacher sees you, I'll get scolded again."
"Eevee~"
Eevee shook its head. It had no intention of staying in that drawer any longer. It was far too stuffy.
With a single leap, it jumped out and landed in Jiang Jing's arms.
He immediately started petting it, stroking Eevee's head. Its fur was fluffy, even softer than Pachirisu's.
Eevee gave a comfortable little cry and refused to leave again. Clearly, Eevee was very familiar with Jiang Jing. Or rather, it liked him very much.
Cheng Cheng pouted beside them. "That Eevee only knows how to run over to you every day. It's practically forgotten that I'm its owner."
After finishing her food, she asked Jiang Jing, "Hey, have you really decided to go into Spirit Studies?"
Jiang Jing answered without hesitation, "Definitely. With my current grades, getting into a top-tier university would be too difficult. I might as well give Spirit Studies a try."
"And besides, who would give up the chance to become a Trainer?"
Cheng Cheng nodded in agreement. "Exactly. That's what I think too. My family supports me becoming a Trainer as well."
"Maybe we'll even end up in the same class next semester."
Jiang Jing looked at Cheng Cheng as she envisioned the future and sighed inwardly. Both of her parents worked in education.
Her father was the dean of studies at Rongcheng's best middle school, Rongcheng No. 1 High School. Her mother had once been a Trainer and was now a Spirit Studies teacher for senior year students at No. 8 High School.
Yet despite having two teachers as parents, her academic grades were still so "ordinary." It could only be said that she was completely unsuited to the National College Entrance Examination route and could only try Spirit Studies to see whether she had any talent.
Cheng Cheng continued, "I also heard that our homeroom teacher will talk about track selection this morning. I'll ask him how a Starter Pokémon should be raised."
"Our homeroom teacher used to be a Trainer too. I just don't know why he stopped being one and came here to teach us Chinese instead."
Jiang Jing was somewhat surprised. "Huh? You even know that?"
"But you really can't judge a book by its cover. I never would've guessed Old Lin used to be a Trainer with the way he looks."
Time slowly passed. For Grade 10 students in the middle of Final Exams, time went by quickly. They took exams, went over papers, and the morning was gone in the blink of an eye.
Soon, it was the final class of the day: their homeroom teacher's Chinese lesson. A thin man, about 182 centimeters tall and wearing black-framed glasses, walked in.
He was the homeroom teacher and Chinese teacher of Grade 10 Class 3—Lin Kai.
After class began, Teacher Lin did not start the lesson. Instead, he swept his gaze across the classroom, taking in every student's expression before beginning to speak about something else.
"Today, we won't be taking an exam or reviewing papers. We'll be talking about next semester's track selection."
"I believe all of you have considered whether you want to choose the arts, sciences, or Spirit Studies."
"Your parents have probably discussed it with you too. Each student should choose between the arts, sciences, and Spirit Studies based on their own circumstances—what subjects they are good at and what subjects they are not."
"If you can't properly determine which track suits you, come ask me after class."
"Also, the final exam is next week, so you need to make a decision about track selection as soon as possible. I'll hand out the selection forms this afternoon. Think carefully about it."
After hearing this, everyone's expressions became slightly tense and serious. The relaxed atmosphere from earlier completely vanished.
Teacher Lin Kai adjusted his glasses in satisfaction. "All right, I won't elaborate further on the arts and sciences. I'm sure you've heard plenty about them already."
"I'll mainly talk about Spirit Studies. Those of you who want to choose Spirit Studies should listen carefully in particular."
The moment he finished speaking, more than a dozen students in the classroom suddenly straightened their backs and listened intently.
Jiang Jing was one of them. He was definitely going into Spirit Studies. He had asked others about it before, but what he had heard was scattered and incomplete.
Teacher Lin Kai said, "After the Grade 10 final exam, students who choose to enter Spirit Studies can begin preparing their own Starter Pokémon."
"Most students have their parents prepare one for them, or buy one from a Breeding House."
"Or they can pay the school one thousand yuan and enter the school's Breeding Park to catch a Pokémon."
Before you continue