Exchange Match Between the Type Classes

Xia Chen felt that both Eevee and Feebas were unusually excited today.

Eevee was understandable. It had finally gotten its wish and signed up for the Piplup Cup, and as soon as breakfast was over, it eagerly ran into the yard to train on its own.

But Feebas's behavior was a little strange. After breakfast, it kept swimming beside the glass, its usually placid eyes gleaming brightly.

Was it... looking in a mirror?

Since when had Feebas become so vain?

Humans and fish did not share the same thoughts. Though Xia Chen found it odd, he did not pry further. He had plenty to do today.

Buying groceries, preparing ingredients, cooking, filming videos—the morning passed quickly. Being a part-time food content creator was incredibly draining.

Fortunately, Marnie was there to help. Otherwise, he truly would not have been able to handle everything himself.

After lunch, Marnie headed to Battle Park again. Xia Chen had to edit videos and did not have time, so he did not go with her.

Still, while other people trained their Pokémon through real battles, letting Eevee train independently would not put him too far behind.

After all, reality was not a game where one needed to gain experience and level up through battles.

But as Xia Chen sat before the computer editing footage, a serious problem suddenly occurred to him.

Marnie was helping him edit videos now, but what would he do once she was no longer around? Wouldn't he be stretched too thin?

It was as though a panel popped up before Xia Chen's eyes, displaying two options.

Option one: Keep Marnie by his side forever and solve the problem once and for all.

Wait. Setting aside whether that was even feasible, why did that sound a little yandere?

Besides, as one of the chosen protagonists Xia Chen had personally appointed, he did not think Marnie would obediently follow the ordinary academic path.

Pass on this option.

Then, option two: Find someone who could stay by his side for a long time.

Xia Chen did not like this option much either. He was used to being on his own, and hiring a professional assistant or something would only make him uncomfortable.

Wait, why did it have to be a person? This was the Pokémon World—Pokémon could do it too!

Eevee and Feebas were obviously unsuitable.

Even after evolving, those two little ones would have trouble even holding a camera. What if his third Pokémon were a long-armed humanoid Pokémon?

All the traits of long arms and a humanoid form seemed to point toward one Pokémon—the wife Pokémon people joked about in his previous life—

Shiny Female Machamp!

Just kidding. Of course, it would be Shiny Gardevoir.

But Psychic-type Pokémon were generally rather rare, not to mention Gardevoir, one of the most popular among them.

Conservatively speaking, a Ralts hatchling would cost no less than twenty steps. Well, twenty Eevees.

It belonged to the first price tier among late-blooming Pokémon.

Xia Chen could not afford one at all. He could only fantasize about it.

Besides, neither Eevee nor Feebas had any lead on their evolutions yet, so Xia Chen was in no hurry to look for a third Pokémon.

For one thing, he might not be able to afford it.

For another, catching Pokémon was sometimes a matter of fate.

Monday was a day that filled most students and office workers with despair, but Xia Chen was not among them.

He barely had any Monday blues, because compared with school days, weekends seemed even more tiring.

At Gucheng High School, third-year students generally had academic classes in the morning and practical classes in the afternoon.

The drowsy morning passed quickly. Before afternoon class began, the atmosphere in the classroom suddenly became lively.

Because this afternoon would be the first exchange match between the type classes.

"Who is your Water-type class fighting today?"

"I think it's the Ground-type class? Wow, type advantage. Nice. Why do you look so miserable?"

"Our Bug-type class is fighting the Flying-type class. Feels like we're going to prison."

"It's fine. My friend's Poison-type class is fighting the Steel-type class. Feel any better now?"

".That matchup is even more brutal."

"Exactly. What a tragedy!"

"Class rep, how did your Grass-type class get assigned?"

"I didn't pay attention. Let me check... We're fighting their Fire-type class."

"Wow, what terrible luck. That's way too hard."

"Hard? Easy! My Snivy doesn't even want to fight them! This afternoon, watch this type-disadvantage master teach those heretics who worship type matchups a lesson!"

The discussions kept ringing in Xia Chen's ears.

It seemed that every class had been paired with one that held a type advantage over it?

To confirm his guess, Xia Chen spoke to Yulong Tao, who was seated nearby. "Who is your class fighting? Fairy type? Or Ice type?"

Those two types were the dragons' unquestionable masters. There was no need to explain the former: this newly emerged type not only countered Dragon-type Pokémon, but was completely immune to Dragon-type moves.

As for the latter, the many Flying-and-Dragon type combinations were in for a world of pain whenever they saw an Ice-type move.

Yulong Tao gave a helpless, bitter smile. "Fairy type. What about you? Fighting type?"

Xia Chen shrugged. Aside from mutually being immune with Ghost type, Normal type did not counter a single type, and was only countered by Fighting type. It was hardly surprising that Yulong Tao had guessed it immediately.

Still, type advantages were just as Marnie had told someone during their conversation earlier—they mattered, but one could not rely on them completely.

After all, battles in the real world were not video games like Pokémon Battles, where everything came down to raw stats. There were far too many factors at play.

Right, Greninja? Even after using Golden Healing Water Shuriken, it still lost to Charizard.

Thinking about it, the school's decision was probably meant to temper the students' ability to handle unfavorable matchups.

The school would likely arrange type-countering classes to face each other again next round. Those with the advantage this round would probably be placed at a disadvantage then.

The people laughing and joking today probably would not be able to laugh then.

But that raised a question: Normal type did not counter any type, so how would the next round be arranged?

In any case, amid an atmosphere where some rejoiced while others worried, practical Pokémon Battle class officially began.

The Normal-type and Fighting-type classes held their lesson on the athletic field. These two types were relatively convenient and could start fighting anywhere.

Unlike Water type, which needed a place where aquatic Pokémon could battle.

The Fighting-type class had far fewer students than the Normal-type class, barely around twenty.

Just as there were many Normal-type students, Fighting-type Pokémon were usually physically robust and ate a lot, making them somewhat expensive to raise.

Naturally, there were fewer students.

But more people did not necessarily mean victory. Fists did.

There were not many Fighting-type students, but their overall strength ranked among the best of the eighteen type classes.

At the rookie Trainer stage, those Pokémon that commanded lightning, sprayed torrents, and breathed fire had yet to fully grow.

At most, they could shoot little Water Guns, spit small flames, or unleash electricity weaker than the 220 volts from household appliances, let alone Thunderbolt.

In such an environment, it was hardly strange that physically powerful Fighting-type Pokémon, which won through close combat, had greater combat ability.

At the moment, the teachers leading the two classes were discussing the battle rules because of the large difference in class sizes.

After thinking briefly, Teacher Tang proposed, "Teacher Wang, we have nearly twice as many students as you. No matter how we arrange this, it would be unfair. How about each side selects ten students to battle, while the rest observe and learn? What do you think?"

Teacher Wang was a bald, muscular man with a rather fierce-looking face, yet his tone was surprisingly gentle, creating a stark contrast.

He hesitated. "But that would deprive many students of the chance to train. How about a king-of-the-hill match instead? That way, every student will have a full chance to show what they can do."

(I'm posting an extra chapter, everyone keep reading—fair trade~)