Asking for Help

Rather than bury himself in theoretical studies, Zhang Cheng preferred Pokémon battles, venturing out into the world to gain experience and see everything it had to offer.

Zhang Cheng first returned to the dorm to pick up his two Pokémon, planning to walk around campus and familiarize himself with its entire layout.

Zhang Cheng had not taken his Pokémon to his theory classes, leaving them to rest in the dorm instead.

Compared to staying inside Poké Balls, the Pokémon certainly preferred playing and resting in the outside world.

When Zhang Cheng returned to the dorm, he found Poliwag and Pidgey chattering away. Pidgey nodded in response as it listened, looking thoroughly aloof and proud.

Hearing Zhang Cheng return, both Pokémon ran over to him. Not seeing their Trainer for half the day had felt strange to them; they had already grown accustomed to spending their days with him.

Zhang Cheng took out some of his dwindling supply of Pokéblocks and fed the two Pokémon. He had prepared their Pokémon Food before leaving, but he kept the Pokéblocks stored separately.

If he put them all out, the Pokémon would never resist the temptation and would eat every last one in a single sitting.

Eating too many Pokéblocks at once could have adverse effects on a Pokémon's body. More importantly, Zhang Cheng no longer had enough Pokémon Coins to buy that many.

Once Poliwag and Pidgey finished their Pokéblocks, Zhang Cheng took them for a stroll around campus.

Some of the Regular Classes were having practical lessons at the Pokémon Training Ground, with their instructors guiding them and pointing out their Pokémon's shortcomings.

To ensure everyone had enough room to use the Training Ground, the school scheduled half the classes for theory lessons each day and the other half for practical instruction.

Of course, Jiangcheng No. 1 High School's Training Ground was spacious enough to accommodate all the senior-year classes at once, but that would leave each class with a little less room.

Having an experienced Trainer as an instructor was a great help in improving a Pokémon's strength.

After all, beginners who had only just become Trainers had no experience raising or training Pokémon.

An instructor's guidance could spare them plenty of unnecessary detours.

After watching the Regular Classes for a while, Zhang Cheng found little of interest and continued toward the other parts of the Training Ground.

After wandering around twice, Zhang Cheng began to feel bored. He simply found a spot near the Cafeteria where he could wait for Ye Tian to finish class so they could eat together.

Although being outside was rather boring, it was still better than sitting in a classroom. Zhang Cheng liked the feeling of freedom.

When the bell rang, the senior-year students streamed out of the classrooms and Training Ground and headed toward the Cafeteria.

Zhang Cheng searched the crowd for Ye Tian, but after looking for quite some time without finding him, he simply went to the Cafeteria to eat alone.

After getting his food, Zhang Cheng once again chose a seat near a corner. He preferred somewhere quiet where he could feel at ease.

Just as Zhang Cheng was digging into his meal, a clear female voice suddenly sounded beside him. "Class monitor, would you mind if I sat here?"

Zhang Cheng froze. Class monitor? Only after thinking for a moment did he remember that he was indeed Class One's monitor. He had only taken the position yesterday and still hadn't quite gotten used to it.

That meant the girl speaking to him must be one of his classmates. Zhang Cheng looked up and saw Wu Yueyue, the study representative from his former class.

Now that the new classes had been formed, there were fewer class officer positions. After becoming Trainers, everyone focused their energy on their Pokémon, and there were few other matters to handle. That saved a lot of trouble, and a single class monitor was enough.

"Of course. Have a seat." Though Zhang Cheng wondered why Wu Yueyue had suddenly approached him, he still answered politely.

The two sat facing each other. Zhang Cheng had no intention of starting a conversation and simply continued eating.

Wu Yueyue hesitated, then blushed as she said to Zhang Cheng, "Um, class monitor, there were some difficult questions on today's exam that I couldn't answer. Could I ask you for help?"

After speaking, Wu Yueyue lowered her head deeply. This was her first time approaching a boy for help, so she naturally felt terribly embarrassed.

Zhang Cheng considered it, then said, "Of course. As class monitor, I should offer a helping hand when someone in our class has trouble."

"Let's eat first. Afterward, we can go to the little grove behind the Training Ground. There are plenty of round tables there, so it's a good place to study," Zhang Cheng added.

Wu Yueyue felt as though something was a little off, but she couldn't put her finger on it. "All right, no problem," she replied.

Meanwhile, other students from Class One had already spotted Zhang Cheng and Wu Yueyue eating together, and they were all gritting their teeth over him.

First he had received special attention from their beautiful instructor, and now he was eating with a pretty girl from their class. Those adolescent boys were practically consumed with envy and jealousy.

After the meal, Zhang Cheng led Wu Yueyue to the little grove behind the Training Ground and found a clean stone bench to sit on.

"Just ask me about any questions you don't understand. If I know the answers, I'll explain them," Zhang Cheng said as soon as he sat down.

"Okay. Thank you, class monitor," Wu Yueyue said softly. "I wanted to ask about the question on Shedinja. It was a fill-in-the-blank question. Do you remember it?"

Zhang Cheng thought back carefully. Wu Yueyue was probably referring to the question about Shedinja's Ability.

After confirming the question, Zhang Cheng explained, "This question mainly tests your knowledge of the Ability of Shedinja, a special evolution of Nincada. This Pokémon has only one possible Ability."

"That Ability is called Wonder Guard. A Pokémon with this Ability can only be damaged by moves that are super effective against its typing."

"Shedinja is a Bug/Ghost-type Pokémon. There are five move types that can damage it: Fire-type, Ghost-type, Dark-type, Flying-type, and Rock-type," Zhang Cheng added.

"So that's how it works. This Pokémon's Ability is amazing. I'd barely heard anything about it before," Wu Yueyue said in surprise.

"This particular bit of knowledge is still fairly obscure, so it's perfectly normal not to know it. You rarely encounter this Pokémon under ordinary circumstances, either," Zhang Cheng said patiently.