Greatest Pokémon Trainer

June 9, 2016, summer.

The wind was gentle, the sun bright, and not a cloud in the sky.

But Fang Yuan, who was sound asleep in bed, abruptly felt a chill.

"I feel like I'm forgetting something..."

After opening his eyes, Fang Yuan looked up at the ceiling and rubbed his head.

That's it!

Today was the day of the college entrance exam, and it was the last day.

He reached for his phone to check the time and Fang Yuan was immediately startled, noon?!

"Didn't the alarm go off..."

In a panic, Fang Yuan set down his phone with a clunk in his heart, disaster had struck. Just yesterday, he had arranged with his schoolmate, who was taking the college entrance exam, to cheer each other on today... and now... now he had overslept?

Logically, he had gone to rest early last night, and even if the alarm hadn't gone off, he shouldn't have slept till noon.

Picking up his phone again, Fang Yuan's mood was dreadful as he contemplated how to apologize to his schoolmate.

However...

Ding!

Just then, a notification popped up.

Schoolmate: The battle examination this morning went really smoothly; the opponent's Pikachu was too weak.

"Haha, it seems like the result was good."

Fang Yuan was just about to reply with congratulations and take the opportunity to apologize when suddenly he felt that something was off.

Battle examination?

Pikachu?

You're supposed to be at the college entrance exam, do you think you're playing Pokémon?!

"I must still be half asleep."

At this moment... a deluge of notification boxes popped up, all from Penguin News.

The title of the first news article was utterly bizarre; Fang Yuan glanced at it and felt even more uneasy.

"Four Professional Trainers Explore the Secret Location of Liaoxi Grand Canyon, Encounter the Ferocious Fossil Wing Dragon Species from Ancient Times, Only One Survivor!"

Fang Yuan frowned and scrolled to the comments.

In the days to come: Wing Dragon? Dragon? Have they discovered a new Dragon Type Fairy again?

Chrysanthemum is the Key: Looks like the Liaoxi region is going to get lively, whoever tames this Fossil Pteranodon is going to make a name for themselves, but even four Professional Trainers couldn't handle it, this Fossil Pteranodon's strength must be extraordinary.

Mountains of Books, Pears of Pressure: What? A new species of Pokémon appeared again? Strong protest! Firmly against adding new Pokémon data to the textbooks!

At this moment, Fang Yuan's headache intensified. While Psyduck gains superpowers from headaches, he, on the contrary, had awakened a torrent of memories.

A few minutes later, Fang Yuan, who was in excruciating pain, showed a complicated expression.

He figured out what was happening.

"No wonder, I am still Fang Yuan..."

"But the history of this world..."

The Pikachu mentioned by the senior as well as the Fossil Wing Dragon species reported by Penguin News indeed did exist.

A century ago, countless special spaces known as "secret locations" suddenly appeared all over the world. Explorers from various countries discovered that each secret location was an independent new world, separate from Earth, inhabited by a variety of "demonic beasts" that possessed terrifying abilities surpassing those of cold and firearms.

Years later, the "Viridian Forest" secret location first merged with Earth's space, bringing demonic beasts to Earth for the first time. Among them were some highly aggressive species, but also others that were friendly to humans.

With more secret locations merging with Earth's space, the world witnessed the first war between humans and demonic beasts, known as the Demonic Beast War. This war led to rapid developments in human technology and a deeper understanding of demonic beasts.

After the first Demonic Beast War ended, an organization called the Pokémon Alliance was established at an opportune moment, consisting of various countries. With a leading role in the world, it was in this year that demonic beasts were officially referred to as "Pokemon" by humans.

Soon, the modern Poké Ball, used to capture Pokemon, was invented at Jade Rainbow University by Dr. Ron. At the same time, to guard against threats from secret locations and to prevent individuals from privately reaping the immense benefits possible from these locations, nations established the Trainer Association, and the profession of Trainer made its first appearance on the world stage.

By the 21st century, every country in the world hoped to train more Trainers, their reasoning being top state secrets. Therefore, our country carried out reforms in certain universities to ensure the quality of educational institutions and the wholesome development of aspiring Trainers, redefining the concept of key universities, implementing the 16-year-old Trainer law, increasing the sports weight in Pokemon-related subjects, and including Pokemon battling in the college entrance examination subjects.

"It really is Pokémon..."

Fang Yuan slapped his cheeks.

Upon waking up, the world had changed. The creatures from the "Pokemon" series had merged with the real world. Was there anything more absurd?

Fang Yuan quickly ran to the bathroom to splash some cold water on his face and reassess the situation, but his heart was still racing.

Fortunately, he was still a soon-to-be senior at Pingcheng No.1 Middle School. His parents and home address hadn't changed, and neither had his social relationships. What was different in this world was that Pingcheng No.1 Middle School was a key high school, one that trained Trainers; thus, unlike regular high schools, it mainly taught Pokemon-related knowledge during the senior year, and every student from key high schools received their own Pokemon and registered as a Trainer during the summer vacation of their junior year.

The difference between ordinary high schools and key high schools was not only the curriculum but also the tuition fees.

The key high schools aimed at training Trainers would invest a lot of resources in students. Just the tuition fee for the senior year was 200,000 yuan, excluding the costs of registering as a Trainer. Hence, finances became a major barrier for most people aspiring to become Trainers.

Fang Yuan would also register as a Trainer this summer vacation, preparing for the upcoming college entrance examination.

Thunder and Lightning, Flame, Water flow, Hurricane—the Pokemon initially referred to as "demonic beasts" wielded great power. Humans, as Trainers, would capture, train, and battle alongside Pokemon, cultivating them. A skilled Trainer could maximize a Pokemon's potential.

The extraordinary power possessed by Pokemon was like the hands and feet of a Trainer; it could replace the Trainer to accomplish many tasks that would be impossible with human strength alone.

This emerging profession had already become mainstream worldwide, closely connected to all industries.

However, Fang Yuan noticed something odd.

In this world, due to the emergence of secret locations, the "Pokemon" series had never come into existence, and human exploration of Pokemon species had halted at 702.

There was a huge gap compared to the 800+ species he remembered.

Abilities, moves, strategies, attributes, rare treasures—everything was still in the exploratory stage. Less than a hundred years was clearly not enough for humans to fully understand the creatures of Pokemon, lacking a comprehensive record found in an established series of works.

With a wry smile, Fang Yuan picked up his phone again, replied to the senior with a "Congratulations" and apologized for waking up late.

It was indeed a moment for congratulations. If a Study Tyrant from a key high school successfully entered the university, and continued to study hard for the next four years, there was a great chance of becoming a Professional Trainer in the future. A Professional Trainer, unlike an Ordinary Trainer where anyone with money could register, was both a profession and a class. With a Professional Trainer's license, you could use 95% of the public facilities for free in various countries, with top-notch benefits. This was also Fang Yuan's dream.