Opening ceremony

The university's training ground was enormous, divided into separate training areas across several levels. Pokémon could train here, and Pokémon battles could be held here as well.

Schools generally chose to hold their events here, too. The quality of a university's training ground largely reflected its standing—the more prestigious the university, the better its facilities.

At that moment, on a field roughly the size of two soccer pitches, the portly Principal Zhu was delivering an impassioned speech. Every major event had an opening ceremony, and the school's administrators always took the opportunity to speak at length. In truth, however, the audience cared about only one thing—the official start of the Freshman Challenge.

Once the administrators had finished their speeches, two hosts in formal attire walked onto the stage. Although nobody knew them personally, their details had already been released.

"Hello, everyone! Welcome to Nancheng University, freshmen. This will be the perfect home for you. I'm your senior, Zhao Yue Ling." The young woman introduced herself, wearing a long red evening gown, her long black hair flowing down her back.

"I'm your senior, Qin Ming." Nearly six foot three, the young man wore a sunny smile that made him practically every girl's Prince Charming.

"Qin Ming, this year's freshmen don't seem very energetic! Such a grand occasion, yet they're so quiet," Zhao Yue Ling joked.

"What should we do, then? How about you get everyone fired up?" Qin Ming asked with a smile.

"It would be my great honor to have that opportunity!" Snap!

Zhao Yue Ling snapped her fingers with a smile. Immediately afterward, a dragon's roar rang out from behind the stage.

"Roar!"

An enormous orange dragon appeared, its massive wings stirring gusts of air. A stream of flame burst from its mouth and exploded above the crowd into a beautiful cloud of fiery red. The scorching heat swept away the morning dew, and everyone felt warmth spreading from deep within them.

"Ah! Charizard! It's Charizard!" Shen Yue screamed, desperately hoisting the Charmander beside her into the air as she shouted uncontrollably toward the sky.

She was far from the only one. Every freshman on the field erupted with excitement at Charizard's appearance. Their deafening cheers resembled those greeting a celebrity. Nothing thrilled these novice Pokémon Trainers more than a high-level Pokémon.

"Heh, your Charizard really is getting stronger and stronger. You're putting quite a bit of pressure on me." Qin Ming smiled faintly as he watched the crowd instantly come alive. Yet the moment he finished speaking, a deep rumble of thunder sounded out of nowhere.

Boom!

The deafening thunder instantly silenced the field that had just been buzzing with excitement. Everyone's heart trembled. Dark clouds suddenly filled the previously clear sky, as though a torrential downpour were about to begin.

"What's going on? Is the weather changing?" Jiang Cheng asked Xiao Ran beside him in confusion.

"No. That's Thunder!" Xiao Ran said gravely. He had never expected to see such a powerful Electric-type move at a mere opening ceremony. It was one of the strongest Electric-type moves there was.

"Thunder? Can Thunder really be that terrifying?" Jiang Cheng exclaimed. Ever since choosing Magnemite as his starter Pokémon, he had learned a fair amount about Electric-type moves. He was certainly familiar with Thunder, but as far as he knew, it should not have been this powerful.

"Yes. I've even heard stronger ones at the Gym. But this is a university! I never expected to see such a powerful Thunder here," Shen Yue said, shaking her head, her pale face filled with shock.

"An ordinary Pokémon would naturally have trouble achieving that. But if it's that Pokémon..." Xiao Ran said in a low voice, looking up at the cloud-covered sky with a hint of anticipation.

"That Pokémon?" Jiang Cheng and Shen Yue looked puzzled. Even Ye Ling showed a trace of confusion.

"Here it comes!"

As Xiao Ran spoke, a pale blue serpent slowly poked its head out of the clouds. A blue, crystal-like orb hung at its neck, and it had a small horn and wing-shaped ears on its head. Though it had no wings, it soared freely through the air.

"That's...!" This time, it was not just Shen Yue. Everyone present stared wide-eyed, so excited they could barely breathe.

"A Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon—Dragonair!" Xiao Ran said slowly, voicing the name everyone wanted to say but could not get out.

"Oh my god, it's Dragonair! Isn't it supposed to be possible only for members of the Dragon Tamer Clan to have one? Could he be..." Jiang Cheng exclaimed.

"The Dragon Tamer Clan traces its origins to the ancient Xuan Yuan family. But as times change, a large clan inevitably develops countless branch families. Some survive, while many more are swallowed by the river of time and gradually fade away. Those few branches that survive also have the right to visit Dragon Valley and choose a Pokémon. I remember that one of those branches has the surname Qin!" Standing nearby, Xuan Yuan Nian explained as she watched the figure in the sky.

She came from the main family of the Dragon Tamer Clan, so naturally she knew its internal affairs well. Still, even she could not possibly know the name of every younger member in every branch.

Ever since becoming a disciple that day, Xuan Yuan Nian had grown much closer to Xiao Ran and the others. She was standing beside the four of them with Lan Yanxi, so she had naturally heard Jiang Cheng's question and offered an explanation.

"Even within the Dragon Tamer Clan, only a few earn a Mystery Dragon's recognition. So either way, our senior Qin Ming is no ordinary Trainer!" Xiao Ran said calmly.

Perhaps because he had awakened the power of the moon, the appearance of his sworn enemy, a Dragon-type, did not excite him the way it did everyone else. Still, Dragonair's appearance was truly captivating, peaceful and serene. As Dragonair slowly descended, the dense clouds overhead gradually dispersed, and warm sunlight gently fell across the crowd. Unlike the scorching heat of Charizard's entrance, it left everyone feeling warm and comfortable.

"A weather move—Sunny Day!"

Xiao Ran had never expected to see so many rare Pokémon just after entering university. He was also astonished by the strength of these senior students. Even setting aside the exceptionally rare Dragonair, the Charizard from earlier was no ordinary Pokémon.

Charizard could evolve only after reaching an energy level of at least 36. That meant the female host, who did not look particularly old, already had the strength of at least an Intermediate Pokémon Trainer, perhaps even an Advanced Pokémon Trainer. As far as Xiao Ran was concerned, this opening ceremony had been well worth it!

Junior, Intermediate, and Advanced Pokémon Trainers were the three stages of Entry Class Pokémon Trainers, corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages of Entry Class. Each had strict requirements for Pokémon strength.

A Junior Pokémon Trainer needed only one early-stage Entry Class Pokémon. An Intermediate Pokémon Trainer needed two middle-stage Entry Class Pokémon, while an Advanced Pokémon Trainer needed at least four late-stage Entry Class Pokémon. To advance to Elite Class, all six Pokémon on a full team had to reach Elite Class.

After the two Pokémon left one after another, Zhao Yue Ling and Qin Ming began explaining the tournament rules. First and foremost, everyone could compete only with their registered starter Pokémon. This effectively ruled out Ye Ling's Weavile altogether. Still, that was a good thing, too—it meant Ye Ling would not lose her eligibility for having reached Entry Class.

Beyond that came the usual precautions: no lethal attacks, no deliberately inflicting severe injuries on or killing an opponent's Pokémon, no underhanded methods, and so on. They were much the same as the rules of other tournaments shown on television.

"All right, I'm sure you don't want to hear us ramble on any longer. Now, would all participating freshmen please head to the battlefields assigned to your groups and get ready?" Zhao Yue Ling said at last, after explaining all the tournament rules in detail.

The Freshman Challenge had plenty of entrants. More than half the entire freshman class had signed up. With hundreds of competitors and only three days to finish, there was naturally no time to take things slowly.

During the first day's preliminary rounds, each entrant would fight four battles. Losing even one of those four matches meant elimination. The vast majority would be knocked out on the first day alone, leaving fewer than a hundred competitors. Those remaining would be divided into sixteen groups for the second day's group stage, with two qualifying spots in each group. The third day would be the final rounds.

The schedule was packed, with at least four battles to fight every day. This would be an enormous test of the Pokémon's endurance. Even a particularly strong Pokémon might be unable to fight its remaining battles if an evenly matched opponent left it too badly injured.

"Endurance, tactics, luck. Two matches in the morning and two in the afternoon, with less than two hours to rest. The priority is conserving stamina and minimizing injuries. Beyond that, I can only wish everyone good luck," Xiao Ran said, quickly analyzing the situation.

"Hehe, don't worry! Whoever fails to make it past the preliminaries has to treat everyone tonight!" Jiang Cheng said, brimming with fighting spirit.

"Hmph! Then I'll be waiting for that feast you're buying me. I'm off!" Shen Yue smiled smugly, then turned and headed toward her battlefield.

Their group assignments were favorable. Across all nine battlefields, none of them had ended up in the same one; each had been assigned to a different training area. With enough luck, they all had a chance of making it past the preliminaries. Now they could only pray their luck was not so terrible that they ran into particularly strong opponents.

"Let's go, too. Good luck!" Xiao Ran raised a fist toward Ye Ling beside him, and the two headed off to their respective battlefields.