Trainer Classifications

September 1, 2016, Pokémon League Calendar—the first day of school at No. 8 High School.

By tradition, everyone had to gather on the field for the opening ceremony. It was the same old routine.

It was also Jiang Jing and the others' first time meeting every member of their class. They stood in neat lines, waiting for the principal's speech.

No. 8 High School's principal was a stout, rugged-looking middle-aged man. He was also quite tall, around 185 centimeters, and carried an imposing, forceful presence just by standing there. His name was Pang Tao.

It was said that he had once trained in boxing, though nobody knew why he later became a teacher and worked his way up to principal.

His strength was supposedly considerable, and he was skilled at management as well. Above all, he valued discipline.

No. 8 High School's academic results had risen year after year in recent years, and this year would probably be no exception.

However, its previous results in Spirit Studies had not been very good. Ever since the program was established, No. 8 High School had performed poorly in it. But after the current principal took office, he pushed through major reforms and stricter management, and their results began steadily improving.

After the opening ceremony ended, everyone returned to their classrooms for the class meeting. They would get to know their teacher and classmates, and mentally prepare themselves for what lay ahead.

The Spirit Studies classrooms were also located in the new teaching building. Since the entire building had been constructed less than three years ago, it looked fresh and high-tech from the outside, with an impressive air about it.

The entire building was square in shape and made from brand-new materials. Black glass had even been installed along the exterior walls, making it impossible to see inside.

Jiang Jing did not know much about it, but he had heard it could accommodate several thousand students at once.

When they entered the building, they first saw that its center was hollowed out. On the ground below stood a massive artificial rockery, covering an area with a radius of roughly seventy meters.

The huge rockery, waterfall, trees, flowers, and lawn looked lush and vibrant. They could even see Pokémon resting and playing inside.

Clefairy, Pidgey, Mankey, Burmy, Cherubi, Bonsly...

Looking at those Pokémon, Liu Bin said to Jiang Jing beside him, "I heard these Pokémon belong to the various teachers. Since the teachers have classes to teach, they leave their bored Pokémon here to play."

"Of course, only teachers can do that. Students can't."

Jiang Jing nodded. It was indeed a good idea—it gave their Pokémon somewhere to play so they would not get bored.

They took the stairs up, with their classroom on the second floor.

After reaching the second floor and passing several more classrooms, they arrived at Class 9. Looking inside, they saw newly painted walls, bright and clean, with wooden paneling installed all around at waist height.

The desks and chairs were new, though otherwise no different from before. There was a multimedia setup on the podium.

After Teacher Lin Kai entered the classroom, he said, "Find your own seats, everyone."

"It's similar to your previous classes—four rows, with two seats in each row."

Liu Bin immediately ran to a seat near the back and waved. "Brother Jing, sit with me."

After Jiang Jing sat down, Sun Le and Zhang Haocheng came over as well and sat beside them. Cheng Cheng also arrived, bringing a girl with her.

The girl Cheng Cheng had brought wore glasses and dressed androgynously. If she had not been holding Cheng Cheng's hand, it would have been hard to tell she was a girl.

Cheng Cheng chose the seat in front of Jiang Jing, then turned around, pursed her lips, and asked curiously, "Jiang Jing, what did you do during summer break?"

Jiang Jing smiled. "I was busy training my Pokémon. I don't want to fall behind at the starting line as soon as school begins."

Cheng Cheng said in surprise, "Then you were just like me. I couldn't even go out and have fun during summer break. My parents forced me to train Pokémon. I was exhausted."

Liu Bin complained from the side, "Hey, hey, Little Cheng, don't just ask Brother Jing about himself. Why don't you show me some concern too?"

Cheng Cheng rolled her eyes. "What is there to worry about with you? Who wants to worry about you?"

Liu Bin sighed dramatically at the sky. "Why is the gap between people so huge? This is too hard for me."

At that moment, Cheng Cheng pointed at her deskmate and said, "Let me introduce you. This is my friend, Wang Yichang."

Wang Yichang turned around as well, smiled, and waved. "Hi!"

Jiang Jing introduced himself too, then introduced Sun Le and Zhang Haocheng to her.

Jiang Jing also met Cheng Cheng's other two female roommates. Both were above average in looks.

Looking around Class 9, there were sixteen girls and twenty-four boys. Among them, Cheng Cheng was undoubtedly the prettiest. The other girls all fell slightly short in comparison. He thought so because an entire summer had passed.

Cheng Cheng had actually become prettier. Even in his previous life, Cheng Cheng's looks had improved somewhat later on, but the change had never been this dramatic. It truly was an unsolved mystery.

After entering the classroom, everyone looked for seats and chatted along the way. They had not seen one another all summer, so naturally they had plenty to talk about.

Ten minutes passed like that before Lin Kai turned on the multimedia system and clapped his hands, signaling everyone to quiet down.

Only then did the classroom fall silent. Lin Kai nodded and wrote on the blackboard: Opening Class Meeting. Then he began speaking.

"Hello, everyone. Let me introduce myself first. My name is Lin Kai, and from now on, I'll be Class 9's homeroom teacher."

"I'll also be teaching your Pokémon classes."

"If you want to know what kind of person I am, you can ask my former students. They'll tell you."

He then operated the multimedia system, opened a PPT presentation, and continued, "Everyone knows that by choosing Spirit Studies, your future goal is to become a Professional Trainer."

"Our goal is to become Professional Trainers, but becoming one isn't so easy."

"When the Trainer profession first emerged, there was no clear division of strength. A Trainer's ability could only be judged through their record or by fighting them directly."

"But as time passed, the number of Trainers increased, and it became necessary to make management easier and better understand Trainers."

"The Pokémon League created the Professional Trainer Ranking System, which is now known as Professional Trainer Certification."

"From lowest to highest, the ranks are: Unranked Trainer, Black Iron Rank, Bronze Rank, Silver Rank, Gold Rank, and finally Diamond-level Trainer."

"Unranked Trainers can only be considered Amateur Trainers or hobbyists. Even if they're strong, as long as they have not received Pokémon League certification, they remain Unranked."

"For us, our future goal is to become certified Trainers—in other words, Professional Trainers."

"Only after you receive the Black Iron Badge issued by the Pokémon League can you be considered a Professional Trainer." As he spoke, the PPT changed pages, displaying five Badges in different colors.

The black triangular one was the Black Iron Badge. The green, four-cornered square one was the Bronze Badge. The silver Silver Badge resembled two overlapping triangles. The golden Gold Badge resembled a crown, while the final blue Diamond Badge was hexagonal.

"These are the five Badges we will strive for in the future." As Lin Kai said this, he looked at the Gold Badge in the PPT with a regretful expression.