The school year begins

After arriving home, Zhang Cheng first told his mother that he would be going to school tomorrow. Once she understood the situation, she was fully supportive.

Zhang Cheng was deeply touched. He had such an understanding mother, who quietly supported him in everything he did.

After dinner, Zhang Cheng began packing a change of clothes. Bedding would be provided by the school, so he did not need to bring any.

Once he finished packing, Zhang Cheng continued giving his two little Pokémon massages.

"Pidgey, you did really well today. You managed a draw against a Butterfree four levels higher than you in your very first battle," Zhang Cheng said encouragingly.

"Bobo! Bobo!"

Pidgey looked smug, as though saying, That was nothing. I haven't even shown my full strength yet.

Seeing Pidgey's smug expression, Zhang Cheng affectionately patted its head.

"Poliwag, Pidgey, we'll be moving to a new place tomorrow. There'll be plenty of challenges waiting for us there. Are you confident?"

"Poli! Poli! Poli!"

"Bobo!"

Both Pokémon nodded, indicating that they could handle it.

Seeing how eager his Pokémon were, Zhang Cheng looked forward to the school life ahead.

After finishing their massages, Zhang Cheng set an alarm for seven in the morning, then drifted off to sleep with the two little Pokémon in his arms.

Early the next morning, a ray of sunlight filtered through the branches and fell across Zhang Cheng's face.

With the familiar ringing of his alarm, Zhang Cheng began his first day of school.

Taking the clothes he had packed the night before, he said goodbye to his mother and caught a taxi to Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

He arrived at the gates of Jiangcheng No. 1 High School around nine. Above the teaching building stood a large sign: Jiangcheng No. 1 High School.

Zhang Cheng had not arrived particularly early. Quite a few students were already on campus, chatting with their friends with their Pokémon beside them.

Having obtained their first Pokémon over the summer, everyone was excited to see their classmates again, introducing their own Pokémon and learning about one another's.

After entering the school, Zhang Cheng first checked in at the registration desk, then left his clothes at the temporary storage area.

Following his memories, he entered the teaching building and reached the doorway of Class Five, Year Three. Half his classmates were already inside.

Ye Tian had also arrived early and was sitting at his desk. A message in the class group chat had said that their homeroom teacher would hold a class meeting at eleven, so everyone had come to the classroom early to wait.

Zhang Cheng went to his own seat, exchanged a few words with Ye Tian, then quietly waited for their homeroom teacher to arrive.

As eleven approached, their homeroom teacher arrived in the classroom right on time.

Their homeroom teacher was named Jin Haoxian. He was a tall, thin young man with white-framed glasses that gave him a refined appearance. He had only joined Jiangcheng No. 1 High School in the past few years as an academic-subject teacher.

"Everyone, I have some good news and some bad news for you today. Which would you like to hear first?" Their homeroom teacher dropped a bombshell as soon as he arrived.

"The good news, of course!" everyone replied in unison.

"The good news is that we'll be holding an intraclass tournament over the first two days of school. The top five students in each class will each receive twenty thousand Pokémon dollars. They'll also be admitted to the elite class for Year Three and receive focused training."

The students were thrilled to hear this. Twenty thousand Pokémon Coins was a substantial sum for high school students like them.

"Zhang Cheng, did you hear that? Twenty thousand Pokémon Coins! Holy crap, the school's really being generous this time!" Ye Tian said happily.

"You look like you've already got it in the bag. Are you really that confident?" Zhang Cheng asked, puzzled.

"I'm not just being overconfident," Ye Tian told Zhang Cheng quietly. "I know our class pretty well. Most people's Pokémon are still around level five or six. You could count the strong contenders on one hand."

After hearing Ye Tian's explanation, Zhang Cheng gained a rough idea of the class's strength.

There were forty students in the class, so his chances of winning a reward were indeed quite good.

Before long, however, some students noticed that something was off.

"Sir, do you mean we're about to be reassigned to different classes?" asked Wu Yueyue, the class's academic representative.

Hearing this, the other girls also began asking their homeroom teacher what was going on. He had been with them through two years of high school, and they had all grown attached to him to some degree.

The prospect of suddenly parting left everyone feeling down. Although the boys said nothing, their expressions made it clear that they liked their homeroom teacher too.

The calmest people in the class were probably Ye Tian and Zhang Cheng. Neither showed much of an emotional reaction.

Zhang Cheng had not interacted with this homeroom teacher since transmigrating here, so it was only natural that he felt little attachment.

Ye Tian, on the other hand, was being rather heartless. The moment he heard about the twenty-thousand-dollar reward, money became the only thing on his mind.

"Sir, was the bad news you mentioned that you'll be leaving us?" Wu Yueyue continued asking.

"Yes," their homeroom teacher said, looking crestfallen. "Don't be too upset, everyone. All good things must come to an end. I've been very happy during these two years with you. Watching you grow step by step and become Trainers has been deeply rewarding. You're my pride and joy."

Once their homeroom teacher confirmed that he would be leaving, the mood in the entire classroom sank.

"Don't be so discouraged, everyone. I'm sure our homeroom teacher wants us to stay positive before we part ways. We need to pull ourselves together and show him our best."

At that moment, the class president, Hao Chenggong, was the first to break the gloomy atmosphere.

"Your class president is right. Cheer up, everyone. Next, I need to explain the rules of the intraclass tournament."

Their homeroom teacher said gently, "I've already explained the rewards for the top five. Everyone ranked below fifth will be assigned to a corresponding class based on their placement. If you perform well in your new classes, you'll have opportunities to challenge students from the Elite Class. If you win, you can join the Elite Class too."

"Sir, when will the tournament start?" Ye Tian asked excitedly.

The other students all rolled their eyes at Ye Tian. At a time like this, that was still all he could think about.

Ye Tian had that thing people called social fearlessness. Faced with his classmates' eye rolls, he simply grinned, completely unfazed.

Zhang Cheng thought Ye Tian was more mature than others his age, which might have had something to do with his family.

Zhang Cheng liked having a friend like Ye Tian. After all, he had been an office worker before transmigrating, so his mental age was considerably higher than that of his classmates. A mature guy like Ye Tian was more his kind of person.