My Homework Was Eaten by Munchlax

Homeroom teacher Yang Guanghui: "School starts tomorrow. Don't forget to bring your homework! @Everyone"

Xia Chen stared blankly at the message that had popped up in the class group chat, which had been silent for nearly two months.

Then he looked up at the bottom-right corner of his computer screen. 2022/08/31, 22:31.

Xia Chen fell into deep thought.

He really wanted to open the Psyduck Encyclopedia and look up a question: [Is it still possible to finish making up my homework if I start at ten-thirty on the night before school begins?]

From a scientific perspective, the answer depended on how much homework there was.

Obviously, with the soul of an overworked office drone living inside him, the word "homework" had long since vanished from his dictionary. Naturally, he had no idea what his summer homework even was.

He now had two choices. First, he could ask a soul-searching question in the group chat, in which case he might receive a question mark from Yang Guanghui—or perhaps a [You have been removed from the group chat].

Second, he could privately message his classmate Marnie. As the class president, perennial top student, and his childhood friend, Marnie would probably still lend him her homework to copy.

Xia Chen chose C: obtuse angle.

He pretended not to have seen the message, calmly went to the bathroom to wash up, then returned to bed and hugged Eevee to sleep.

Didn't turn in homework? Homeroom teacher looking for trouble?

Go ahead, call my parents in.

If you really did call them over, I'd have to thank you.

Even Aegislash would be ashamed of the thick skin possessed by an office-drone soul.

Without the slightest psychological burden, Xia Chen closed his eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.

Nothing happened that night.

The next morning.

The sunshine on the morning of September 1st was especially bright. Although Xia Chen had not done his homework, he was in a pretty good mood.

After finishing his usual morning run with Eevee and eating breakfast, Xia Chen greeted the Feebas in the aquarium.

"We're going to school today and won't be back until close to evening. Do you want to come along?"

Feebas did not care either way. The efficiency of absorbing Infinity Energy was no different wherever she was, and the environment inside the Dive Ball was decent too, so she immediately nodded.

After breakfast, Xia Chen recalled the deeply unwilling Eevee into her Poké Ball and headed out.

Although Xia Chen's home was shabby, it did have its advantages—for example, it was close to school. It only took five minutes by bicycle.

Along the way, Xia Chen ran into plenty of classmates he knew.

"Morning, Brother Chen!"

"Morning."

"Morning, Ah Chen~"

"Morning."

Xia Chen was fairly popular at school. The kind of popular where many people knew him, but he had no idea what their names were.

The reason was simple. In a place like school, where material things were not yet given much importance, having looks, social skills, or grades good enough to show off in any one area was enough to make friends.

As for Xia Chen, modestly speaking, he could score an A+ in all three categories. His popularity had always been solid.

Of course, after this semester began, another important criterion would be added to the evaluation: Pokémon strength.

Perhaps because people in this world had stronger physiques, school age began a little earlier.

Although they were already starting their senior year, most students had only recently turned sixteen and had obtained their starter Pokémon during the summer break or even earlier.

Xia Chen, who had only picked up Eevee in August, was practically among the last batch.

Gucheng High School, where Xia Chen studied, was one of the schools with the best Pokémon education resources in Zhijiang.

Students who aspired to enter Pokémon-related professions would learn foundational Pokémon knowledge during their first and second years of high school.

Beginning this semester, their senior year, the school would start teaching introductory practical applications in training and battling.

As soon as he entered the school grounds, Xia Chen saw many people releasing their Pokémon.

Not only was Gucheng High School a good school, its students also came from good backgrounds. Most students had carefully selected their starter Pokémon from breeding facilities, choosing Pokémon with strong growth potential. There were even quite a few rare regional starters among them.

Xia Chen was not the only one who had chosen Eevee as a starter Pokémon.

After all, Eevee was not particularly expensive, and the only crucial thing for its later training was an Evolution Stone.

Its various possible evolutions each had their own traits, enough to meet the needs of most Trainers.

Jolteon, Espeon, and Leafeon were known for speed and offensive power.

Vaporeon and Umbreon won through endurance.

Glaceon, with its balanced offense and defense and adorable appearance, was also beloved by many Trainers.

Wait, did that seem to leave out a certain evolution?

Well, Flareon was not entirely without merit.

At the very least, he kept you warm in winter.

In short, Eevee's many evolutions made it an excellent starter Pokémon. Aside from being somewhat soft-natured and perhaps not being very good at fighting before evolving.

After parking his bike, Xia Chen released Eevee from her Poké Ball.

"Eevee, this is where we'll be working hard and studying for the next year."

"Vee~"

Although Eevee was actually no less familiar with this campus than Xia Chen, she still put on an intensely dramatic expression of curious thirst for knowledge.

Then she strongly condemned Xia Chen for keeping her shut inside her Poké Ball for more than ten minutes.

Xia Chen could only helplessly promise to add a basket to the front of his bike. Only after securing treatment equal to what she had received in his previous life did Eevee snort twice and let the matter drop.

In a world with Pokémon, even schools were built especially large. It took Xia Chen nearly ten minutes to walk from the bike shed to the classroom.

Xia Chen had arrived fairly late. Perhaps because practical Pokémon Battle lessons would begin this semester, his classmates were all especially excited, chatting and bragging with their starter Pokémon.

"Your Psyduck looks way too dopey. Can it really battle? Hahahaha!"

"Hmph, plenty of Pokémon looked down on my Psyduck. Now the grass on their graves is already two yards tall!"

"It still can't beat my Grookey. Do you even understand type advantage?"

"What a joke. Since when does the Grass type counter the Psychic type?"

"?? Since when was Psyduck a Psychic type?"

From time to time, he heard conversations like these that were both ridiculous and amusing.

Only one person stood out. Hugging a stack of homework notebooks, she scurried between her classmates' desks like a diligent Combee gathering honey.

That unfortunate soul was Xia Chen's childhood friend and the class president, Marnie.

Yet her diligence received no corresponding reward. She had been collecting homework for several minutes, but the stack of notebooks had grown astonishingly slowly.

Sure enough, collecting summer homework was no different from chasing deadbeats for repayment.

Xia Chen shook his head and called over the bewildered girl.

"How's the summer homework collection going?" Xia Chen knowingly asked.

Marnie sighed like an old farmer unable to sell his Berries. "Barely over half."

Xia Chen grinned. "Let me guess, they all said they forgot to bring it or something?"

Marnie rolled her eyes. "Worse than that. Some said their Charmander burned it. Some said their Growlithe tore it up. Some said their Totodile got it wet. The worst were the ones who claimed their Munchlax ate it!"

Xia Chen froze. His classmates really were talented. They could even make their Pokémon take the blame for them. They had committed every evil imaginable!

Marnie changed the subject. "Enough about everyone else. Where's yours?"

Xia Chen coughed twice and looked down at Eevee, who was playing on her phone. "Uh... Eevee accidentally shattered it while practicing Swift?"

Eevee looked up, utterly speechless. "Vee? (My Swift automatically tracks targets. How could it damage your homework?)"

Xia Chen patted her head. "It's okay. Even though you caused me some trouble, I don't blame you."

Marnie laughed angrily. "So you used your summer homework as target practice?"

Xia Chen said indifferently, "It's just summer homework. It's no big deal. If you're worried, give me all the homework. I'll take it to Teacher Yang."

Marnie's eyes lit up. She had been worrying over how to hand this hot potato to the homeroom teacher.

Afraid Xia Chen would change his mind, Marnie hurriedly dumped the homework onto his desk and slipped away.