Was I Really This Much of a Grinder?

Because Xia Chen was fairly tall, he sat in the back row, where there happened to be an empty seat beside him.

Yulong Tao sat there for the time being, waiting for the teacher's further arrangements.

Outside of class hours, the school did not restrict Pokémon from appearing in the classroom. Yulong Tao also let out the relatively small Axew to get some air.

Although Pokémon feedback suggested that Luxury Balls were quite comfortable to live in, no matter how comfortable they were, they were still enclosed spaces.

For some naturally lively Pokémon, staying in a Poké Ball too long was pure suffering. Eevee was a severe case of this condition.

Axew seemed to be the same. The moment he emerged from his ball, he was exceptionally active, looking left and right with intense curiosity toward everything in this new environment.

However, when he spotted Eevee playing on her phone nearby, that liveliness turned into irritability.

"Axew—"

When enemies met, their eyes turned red with hatred.

To Axew, being humiliated without getting revenge in battle was simply the greatest disgrace.

He immediately tried to jump from Yulong Tao's arms, ready to settle things with Eevee.

Yet Yulong Tao dissolved Axew's anger in an instant. He gently stroked Axew's head and said softly, "Don't make trouble here. If you want revenge, defeat Eevee fair and square on the battlefield. All right?"

No strange light flashed, yet Axew's reddened eyes gradually calmed. He still stared at Eevee with hostility, though.

Xia Chen watched the scene with raised brows. Was this the Dragon Tamer Clan's ability to communicate with Dragon-type Pokémon through their hearts?

In a sense, that made them Psychic power users too, didn't it?

As if only just noticing him, Eevee looked up and glanced at Axew. "Vee?"

Who knew what Eevee had said? One short sentence made the nearly calmed Axew start baring his fangs and flailing again.

Yulong Tao could only keep soothing him with a bitter smile, while Xia Chen lectured the rude Eevee.

"You two don't even have a grudge. Stop talking nonsense."

Eevee gave a couple of dismissive hums. How do you know we don't have a grudge? Doesn't a grudge from another timeline count?

Still, Eevee ultimately stopped Taunting Axew.

This little incident was nothing in a classroom full of Pokémon. Two Pidgey and a Spearow had nearly started fighting outright.

Even so, the two Pokémon kept noisily hurling insults at each other. If translated into human language, it would probably have been unbearable to hear.

Compared with them, Eevee and Axew could already be considered civilized.

The noise came to an abrupt halt the instant Teacher Yang entered the classroom. The homeroom teacher merely glared, and the students promptly recalled their Pokémon into their Poké Balls.

Only then did Teacher Yang nod in satisfaction. After sweeping his gaze around the room, he said, "I understand everyone's excitement after two months apart, but school has just started, so we need to make things clear. As you all know, starting this semester, we'll officially begin studying Pokémon breeding and battle practice."

"Unlike the previous two years, there won't be as many academic classes this year. In fact, there will be plenty of time when you won't even be at school. Be mentally prepared for that."

Though Teacher Yang looked like a tough guy, when he started nagging, he completely lived up to the average standard of homeroom teachers everywhere.

He rambled on about the start-of-term arrangements for half an hour. In summary, it all came down to a few things.

Grind. Keep grinding. Grind your damn selves to death!

Although this world was rich in resources and there was no real pressure to survive as long as one did not court death,

if one wanted to make a name for oneself on the fiercely competitive path of a Trainer, it was still like countless troops trying to cross a single-log bridge.

There were tens of millions of Trainers in the Donghuang Region, but only a few tens of thousands could participate in the Donghuang Conference each year.

And that was merely the starting point for professional Trainers: dozens of Gym Leaders, four Elite Four level Trainers each generation, and the one and only Champion!

To stand out from a base of tens of millions and become one of them was no different from a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate in the truest sense.

Xia Chen had understood this long after arriving in this world, but his peers around him, whose minds had yet to fully mature, still harbored unrealistic fantasies.

Xia Chen could find quite a few chuunibyou boys in his contacts whose social media bios read things like, "Climb that unreachable summit together with xxx."

By comparison, Marnie, whose goal was to become the Donghuang Champion, did have a bit of that hot-blooded shonen protagonist vibe, but she still seemed fairly normal, right?

At the very least, Xia Chen had seen that she was willing to put in sweat and effort for it.

Though with that name, it would not be impossible if Marnie really were the chosen child of the world.

Xia Chen did not eat lunch at the school cafeteria.

Honestly, Gucheng High School's cafeteria food was pretty good, and its Pokémon meals were passably Pokémon-approved.

But compared with Chef Xia's cooking, it still fell far short. Eevee had already begun to develop a condition called [feeling unwell if she didn't eat food made by Xia Chen].

Marnie and Snivy still came over shamelessly to mooch a meal.

After returning home and preparing lunch, Xia Chen put Feebas back into the aquarium and placed his portion of lunch inside.

"So? Were you bored after spending the whole morning without coming out to move around?"

When Xia Chen watched the anime in his previous life, this question had always troubled him.

Pokémon spent most of their time inside Poké Balls. Wouldn't they really develop problems from being cooped up?

Feebas wore a baffled expression that said,

Huh? The whole morning had already passed?

Xia Chen was speechless. Were you related to Snorlax or something?

So you slept through the entire morning?

But aside from sleeping, there really did not seem to be much else to do inside a Poké Ball.

Thinking carefully, that really was the case. On top of that, Xia Chen had yet to establish a training plan for Feebas, so he had even less reason to blame him.

What Xia Chen did not know was that the Feebas who appeared to be doing nothing but sleeping had spent the entire morning tirelessly absorbing the Infinity Energy from those two beads.

Just like working out and training, Feebas had become addicted to his current state of "cultivation."

For the competitive Feebas, the sensation of feeling the energy within his body grow ever more abundant was an intoxicating poison, leaving him unable to break free.

Gucheng High School's lunch break lasted two hours. After eating and taking a half-hour nap, Xia Chen and Marnie returned to school for more classes.

There was a class Xia Chen was particularly interested in that afternoon, called "Understanding and Selecting Pokéblocks."

This was a foundational course in the Pokémon breeding track. As an important source through which Pokémon absorbed and replenished energy, Trainers did not necessarily need to know how to make Pokéblocks, but they absolutely had to know how to choose and feed them.

This course would not teach Pokéblock production, but it would explain the principles behind how Pokéblocks were created.

This was exactly the knowledge Xia Chen lacked. Trying to figure out Beauty Pokéblocks through blind experimentation alone would be no different from a blind cat stumbling across a dead mouse.

For academic research, he still needed to systematically learn some professional knowledge.

Yet after one class, Xia Chen was thoroughly disappointed. This foundational course was far too foundational—they could spend an entire lesson discussing the flavors and effects of Berries!

But seeing many of his classmates diligently taking notes, Xia Chen realized that the course was not too basic. He was simply a little ahead of the curriculum.

His dream might have been to become a laid-back Gym Leader, but was he really this much of a grinder?

After class, Xia Chen still refused to give up and asked the teacher for guidance. The teacher was delighted by Xia Chen's initiative, even a little flattered.

However, she still said that she did not understand questions such as "the influencing factors of various Berries during the formation of Pokéblocks."

Her answer was extremely tactful. "If I could answer that question, I should probably be working at the Donghuang Pokémon Breeding Science Research Institute."

Did that mean the Beauty Pokéblock project had to be shelved?

Late at night, Xia Chen sat in front of his computer after editing his video, thinking unwillingly.

This concerned research into allowing Feebas to evolve into Milotic without using a Prism Scale.

Not to mention that he had promised Feebas he would help him evolve into Milotic.

Forget it. He would deal with it tomorrow.

The night was already deep. Xia Chen temporarily set aside this troubling matter and drifted into sleep.

I advanced to the second round, so I'm keeping my promise and adding two extra chapters~

There will also be two regular updates tonight.

Shamelessly asking for votes!

Also, please support me next Tuesday too! (sticks out butt)

Lastly, let me recommend another book.