A sparring match

"Oh, sure!" Xiao Ran nodded and handed over his Pokédex. The mission details had been sent to it as soon as he accepted the task.

"It really is an E-rank mission: find the Pokémon stealing food. This was probably the work of a Ground-type, Ghost-type, or Flying-type Pokémon. If it has to steal food, it can't be very strong. You should be able to handle it without much danger," Qiu Yuxuan said, quickly assessing the situation.

"It should be fine. There have been similar incidents before, and the Pokémon caught were never very strong. You're lucky to have gotten this mission," Miao Yourou reassured them from beside her.

Hearing her words, Wei Gaojun and the students from Imperial Capital Pokémon University immediately grew envious. They had been sitting there eating for ages without finding a single E-rank mission, yet one had popped up as soon as Xiao Ran arrived...

"Instructor Wei, I've heard the students from Nancheng Pokémon University are all pretty strong. Could we go out back and have a sparring match?" The speaker was a red-haired boy from Imperial Capital Pokémon University.

Imperial Capital Pokémon University's team consisted of two boys and two girls. The red-haired boy was a typical Fire-type Awakened, and his starter Pokémon, Charmander, sat beside him.

They hadn't minded their instructor trying to chat up a beautiful woman; in fact, they had been happy to see it happen. But now the other team had landed an E-rank mission, and that stroke of luck had left them green with envy.

At that point, who cared whether the other side had beautiful girls? They could beat them first and worry about that later. Naturally, the hotheaded Fire-type Awakened was the first to speak up, and the prospect of a battle only made him more excited.

"Lin