Theory class

Ding~ Ding~ Ding~

A familiar alarm woke Zhang Cheng from a deep sleep. The moment he heard it, he switched it off and burrowed back under the covers.

After a brief internal struggle, Zhang Cheng gritted his teeth and got up. Today was the first day of classes, and being late would be hard to justify.

Zhang Cheng had slept poorly the night before. Thoughts of Pokémon had kept him tossing and turning until he finally fell asleep late into the night.

When he got up that morning, Zhang Cheng had huge dark circles under his eyes. After a quick wash, he hurried to the classroom.

He arrived at exactly nine, timing it down to the second. He had barely entered the classroom and sat down when his instructor, Bai Yuling, stepped up to the lectern.

"Everyone, this is our first lesson of the new term. Today, we'll review some of the Pokémon knowledge you've already learned, then expand on it with some more advanced material."

As Bai Yuling began speaking, the day's Pokémon theory lessons got underway.

Naturally, Zhang Cheng couldn't bring himself to listen. As a transmigrator who loved Pokémon, he had already gained a broad understanding of them long before coming to this world.

When it came to theory, Zhang Cheng was confident he could easily clear the college entrance exam's passing score.

Every year, the college entrance exam was divided into a theory assessment and a practical Pokémon battle assessment. That was why students still had to spend so many class hours studying theory even after obtaining their Pokémon.

Simply put, everything was geared toward the college entrance exam. For the Trainer assessment, theory accounted for 40% of the overall score, while Pokémon battles accounted for 60%.

Aside from Trainers, this Pokémon world also had the profession of Breeder. In the Breeder college entrance exam, theory accounted for 80% of the overall score, while practical Pokémon battles made up only 20%.

Students with no talent for Pokémon battles could choose to take the Breeder assessment instead. After all, not everyone was suited to becoming a Pokémon Trainer.

There were so many Pokémon species and such a broad range of knowledge about them that learning it all required a great deal of time.

Moreover, the Pokémon League stipulated that no one could obtain a Pokémon before turning sixteen, which meant that all classes before the final year of high school covered theory alone.

It was worth mentioning that, in this Pokémon world, the age at which someone attended each grade was fixed. No one could start school early or late, so every student obtained their first Pokémon during the summer before their final year of high school.

"Your previous teachers should have explained the differences between the Nidoran and Nidorina families. Their sexes are determined by their species," Bai Yuling said, steadily working through the Pokémon material at the lectern.

Down below, Zhang Cheng couldn't muster the slightest interest. Bai Yuling's voice sounded like a sleep-inducing spell, and before long, he slumped over his desk and drifted off to dreamland.

As Bai Yuling explained the material, she glanced over the students in the classroom. Of course, her main purpose was to see what Zhang Cheng was doing.

What she saw nearly drove her mad. The class monitor was sleeping through the very first lesson of the term.

With that thought, Bai Yuling snapped the chalk in her hand and threw it at the sleeping Zhang Cheng.

Thud~

Zhang Cheng felt his head buzzing. He reached toward the spot that hurt and found a broken piece of chalk.

Immediately afterward, a voice tinged with anger rang out. "Our esteemed class monitor, sleeping on the very first day of lessons. Tell me, shouldn't I give you some special praise?"

The other students held back their laughter as they turned to look at Zhang Cheng in the back corner by the window.

"Sorry, miss. I didn't mean to. It won't happen again," Zhang Cheng said meekly once he came to his senses.

A real man knew when to stand tall and when to bend. Zhang Cheng understood perfectly well that when someone else held the reins, he had to lower his head.

Bai Yuling smiled at Zhang Cheng. "It's good that you're willing to admit your mistake and change, but I can't let you off that easily. I'll ask you a question. If you answer correctly, I won't pursue the matter of you sleeping in class."

"No problem," Zhang Cheng said with a nod. Theory had never scared him. With his knowledge of Pokémon, wouldn't this be a piece of cake?

The other students were curious when they heard Zhang Cheng agree so readily. Was he really that confident in his theoretical knowledge?

Wu Yueyue, who had been in his class before, was rather bewildered. As his former study representative, she naturally knew just how terrible Zhang Cheng's academic grades were.

Was he agreeing so readily because he knew he couldn't answer anyway and had simply given up?

"All right, here comes the question. Let's start with something simple." Bai Yuling smiled at Zhang Cheng. "What are Scyther's abilities, and what does each of them do?"

The other students began silently mourning for Zhang Cheng as soon as they heard the question. They hadn't studied Scyther's abilities before. That was new material Bai Yuling had just explained.

How could Zhang Cheng possibly answer a question like that when he had been fast asleep the whole time?

While his classmates silently mourned for him, Zhang Cheng began answering. "Scyther has three abilities: swarm, technician, and steadfast. Of those, steadfast is Scyther's hidden ability."

By this point, some of the students were starting to look surprised. They hadn't expected Zhang Cheng to give such a convincing answer.

"Mm-hmm. Go on, then. What does each of those abilities do?" Bai Yuling asked, sitting at the lectern with her chin resting in her hands.

Zhang Cheng answered at an unhurried pace. "Swarm increases the power of Bug-type moves to 1.5 times their original strength when a Bug-type Pokémon's HP falls below one-third."

"Technician allows weaker moves to deal 50% more damage."

"As for the hidden ability steadfast, Pokémon with that ability gain speed after flinching."

After hearing Zhang Cheng's answer, the students all found it hard to believe. They figured he had probably happened to learn about Scyther's abilities before, which was why he remembered them so clearly.

"A few of the boys, however, thought Zhang Cheng had deliberately pretended to sleep just to attract their beautiful instructor's attention."

With that thought, the boys all gave Zhang Cheng a thumbs-up. These guys certainly had some imaginative ideas.

Bai Yuling was also slightly surprised by Zhang Cheng's answer. From what she had observed, he had definitely been asleep, so there was no way he could have heard the lesson she had just given.

Thinking it over, Bai Yuling assumed Zhang Cheng must have learned about Scyther outside class, allowing him to answer smoothly. I'll give you a harder question next. Let's see if you don't fall into line then.