Talent (Please Bookmark and Vote)

"Of course, the simplest way to get a Pokémon is through your grades."

"According to national policy, every school offers subsidies for outstanding students. If students who choose Spirit Studies rank in the top twenty of their grade, the school will arrange Starter Pokémon for them to choose from."

"Of course, there are only a few people in our class capable of that, so just listen and don't take it too seriously."

Jiang Jing sighed to himself. His grades had always been around the middle of the class. Even if they had improved after his transmigration, he still would not make it into the top twenty of the grade. He probably would not get a Pokémon arranged by the school.

Their Class 3 ranked second overall in the entire first-year grade, yet only four students consistently ranked in the top twenty.

Three of them came from very well-off families. Only one had an average family background, but that person had no plans to enter Spirit Studies.

Of the three wealthy students, only one had chosen Spirit Studies. However, his family did not lack money, so the Pokémon they prepared would certainly be better than anything the school arranged.

So, their class likely had no one who could receive a free Pokémon.

Teacher Lin Kai continued from the podium, "I believe quite a few students have already had their families arrange Starter Pokémon for them."

"My advice regarding Starter Pokémon is that you should not train them right after they hatch."

"Even Pokémon like Caterpie and Weedle, which grow exceptionally fast, should not undergo any training during their first ten days."

"Let them move their bodies a little and give them sufficient nutrition. That will be enough."

"In the past, many students could not wait to start training their Starter Pokémon as soon as they obtained them."

"The result was severe damage to the Pokémon's bodies, along with a tremendous loss of their potential."

"So every student must remember this firmly."

"This is not only for students who wish to enter Spirit Studies. If any of you want to become Trainers in the future, you must remember this as well."

"However, I imagine some students' Starter Pokémon hatched quite a while ago, so there is no need to worry too much."

Lin Kai then covered a few more points that required attention. When he finished, he saw there was still some time left and told everyone to study on their own.

However, the students below were far from calm and began discussing things in low voices.

The classroom became a little noisy with chatter, but Lin Kai did not intervene. Instead, he opened a book and began reading.

"Ding-ding-ding-ding."

"Class is over!"

As the elegant female voice sounded over the broadcast, school was out. Everyone began packing their things and leaving the classroom.

"Jing, let's go!" Liu Bin and Chen Ze were already waiting at the classroom door.

"Chengzi, I'm off!"

Jiang Jing slung his backpack over his shoulder and followed them out. The six people from Room 404 headed to the cafeteria together.

Chen Ze asked curiously, "Binzi, Jing, have your Starter Pokémon been arranged yet?"

"I heard Yao Yuan's family already prepared a Starter Trio Pokémon Egg for him. It'll hatch with Two-Star Talent, and it should hatch in the next couple of days."

"If you don't hurry and make preparations, you'll definitely fall behind."

Liu Bin snorted disdainfully. "My family has already prepared one for me. They bought a Pokémon Egg from a Level-Three Breeding House in the city center."

"It cost a lot of money. I can start preparing for its hatching when I get home tonight."

"If that guy dares to come and Taunt me once we're in Spirit Studies, I'll smash his face in."

"Just talking about it makes my hands itch."

The Yao Yuan Liu Bin mentioned was the kind of especially annoying person every class seemed to have.

His family had some money, and he dressed fashionably, permed his hair, and some of his sort even liked smoking. He always looked at others as if they were country bumpkins.

He also loved showing off in front of girls, constantly mocking others for being poor and flaunting his status as a rich second-generation kid.

Relying on his rich second-generation status, Yao Yuan always had a few lackeys following him around.

His relationship with Jiang Jing's dorm was terrible. Whether there was a reason or not, he would always come over to Taunt them. Whenever something bad happened or someone started egging people on, his group was never absent.

Yao Yuan himself was somewhat handsome, but the most handsome boy in the class was not him—it was Jiang Jing.

All the girls had a vague fondness for Jiang Jing, and that made Yao Yuan deeply unhappy. He loved picking fights with Jiang Jing.

In Jiang Jing's previous life, their relationship had not been great either. Though they did not get along, it had not been this bad. After graduation, they never spoke again.

Later, Jiang Jing heard that Yao Yuan had gotten into a private undergraduate college and often went chasing girls. Once, he hit on a girl who already had a boyfriend and got beaten up by her boyfriend.

After being beaten, he wanted Payback, only to discover that the other guy was rich too—far richer than he was. In the end, he could only swallow the humiliation.

But Jiang Jing now utterly despised Yao Yuan. If they ended up in Spirit Studies together, Yao Yuan's family background meant he would definitely have more choices when it came to Pokémon. It would be quite troublesome if he came looking for trouble.

Still, Jiang Jing was not worried. His father had known that his son wanted to become a Trainer and had begun preparing long ago, so he did not need to worry about lacking a Starter Pokémon.

With that thought, he said, "My family has prepared one too, so don't worry."

Guo Yong nodded. "That's good. Your families aren't doing badly either. The Pokémon they prepared are probably much better than ordinary ones."

"Maybe they even have Two-Star Talent!"

Liu Bin shook his head. "That's too difficult. Pokémon with Two-Star Talent are outrageously expensive now."

"A couple of days ago, I checked the official websites of Breeding Houses all over Rongcheng. Even the cheapest Two-Star Pokémon cost one hundred thousand yuan."

"I'll be satisfied if mine has One-Star Talent."

Chen Ze widened his eyes in shock. "Damn, they're that expensive? Then screw buying one. I've never seen that much money in my entire life!"

"Spending one hundred thousand yuan on a Pokémon? That's insane."

The others also shook their heads, unable to accept it. Their families could never produce that much money to buy a Pokémon.

People were divided by talent, and Pokémon were no different. After more than three hundred years of development, people had divided Pokémon Aptitude into five tiers, distinguished by the number of stars.

The lowest Aptitude was one star, and the highest was five stars.

Pokémon commonly raised as pets were generally at the Unranked Aptitude level.

Trainers would choose Pokémon with at least One-Star Aptitude as their own. Otherwise, they had no value in cultivation, no matter how long they were trained.

The Pokémon used by ordinary Trainers generally only had One-Star Aptitude. Some would scrape together money to buy Pokémon with Two-Star Aptitude, while others could only try their luck in the wild and capture one.

Only rich second-generation kids whose families had money could afford Pokémon with Two-Star or Three-Star Aptitude.

As for Four-Star and Five-Star Pokémon, they were beyond the knowledge of ordinary people like them.

Moreover, Pokémon Aptitude required specialized equipment to test. Such equipment was generally only found in places like research institutes, Breeding Houses, and schools.

Ordinary people could only make a rough judgment based on a Pokémon's build, fur, skin condition, and similar traits.

Among their dorm mates, Liu Bin's family was probably the best off.

His family ran a barbecue business on the food street near Rongcheng University's college district.

They might only sell barbecue and seem as though they did not make much money, but the truth was the complete opposite—it was extremely profitable. Their net profit exceeded a million yuan every year.

However, it was hard-earned money. They worked day and night, barely taking any days off throughout the year, and Liu Bin's parents did not have much time to supervise him.

If Liu Bin had not been fairly sensible, he would have gone astray long ago. Even with his family's circumstances, buying a Pokémon with Two-Star Aptitude would still hurt badly.