After receiving the materials, Senior Sister Maya didn't stay long. After saying goodbye, she went home, leaving Kai alone in the club classroom.
Kai didn't idle around. Using the club's collection of books and searching for information on his phone, he digested the new memories he had acquired.
After some time, Kai suddenly patted his stomach.
Grrr…
It let out a desperate cry.
"Forgot to eat. I wonder if the school cafeteria is still open on exam day."
"Let's go check."
Kai tidied up and checked the time. It was almost two o'clock. It was unlikely hot food would still be available. He mainly wanted to check the cafeteria's internal store for a snack bar, and it would be great if they had a bottle of MooMoo Milk or a Fresh Water.
However, on a day like this, the store attendant had closed up long ago.
After wandering around, Kai had no choice but to leave the school and order a rice bowl at an outside restaurant.
"One sweet and sour shredded pork over rice, please."
"Sure thing," the server said.
Wait a minute!
After sitting down in a cool seat near the air conditioner, Kai suddenly thought.
Sweet and sour shredded pork? What kind of meat will they use?
He remembered that in this world, Pokémon and ordinary animals coexisted.
Although the ecosystem was severely damaged when the Secret Realms first appeared, decades of human intervention had gradually stabilized it.
The price of this balance was that ordinary animals could now only live in zoos, breeding farms, and specially protected areas, leaving the wilderness as a paradise for Pokémon.
Figuring out how to let ordinary animals and Pokémon coexist harmoniously remained one of humanity's biggest challenges.
It's probably better not to put Pokémon and ordinary animals together, he mused. A Trainer had once made the news for this. He left his pet Lillipup and his Fire-type Pokémon Growlithe home alone. The result? When the Trainer returned that night, he found the Lillipup had nearly been scorched.
"Pfft…" Recalling this, Kai laughed. What a talent. This was still a mild example; it wasn't rare for ordinary animals to become food for Pokémon, as their combat power was on completely different levels.
Soon, the meal arrived. Kai was starving. He ate two to three plates of rice, finished with a cold drink, and felt thoroughly satisfied.
"Check, please." Looking at the bare plates, Kai wiped his mouth with a tissue, took out his phone to pay, and got up.
.........
After leaving the restaurant, Kai pondered for a moment. Instead of returning to school, he went straight home.
Between six in the morning and ten at night, Kai's home was empty. His father was an electrician, and his mother sold clothes at the department store; they both got off work late.
At the moment, Kai had a single thought: What kind of Pokémon would suit him?
Although there was still time before he went to the Breeding House to receive his starter Pokémon, it didn't hurt to think about it in advance.
Hmm…
Suicune is quite majestic…
Articuno is also cool.
Or… Diancie?
For a moment, Kai realized his fantasies were getting out of hand.
"Our family's finances aren't great. A Grass-type Pokémon should be the first choice."
"The homeroom teacher hinted at this, and Professor Elm also gave me some advice."
After checking online, Kai found that the Viridian City Public Breeding House offered many kinds of Grass-type Pokémon, like Bellsprout, Oddish, Hoppip, Sunkern, Paras…
However…
"No Bulbasaur… no Treecko… no Turtwig… Not a single traditional starter!"
Looking more carefully, he found a reservation notice in the upper right corner of the webpage.
Clicking the small question mark, he realized that to request rarer Pokémon eggs, one had to submit an application to the Breeding House in advance.
"Forget it, I definitely can't afford a rare Pokémon."
Kai did the math. He had to pay the huge third-year tuition fees, every first-time Trainer registrant needed to pay taxes for at least five years, then he had to budget for Pokémon food and nutrients… The money left for the actual Pokémon egg was insufficient.
Everyone wanted to choose a rare, high-potential Pokémon as their starter, and Kai was no exception. But considering his finances, he had to let it go.
"Easy to raise and has great potential. I'll focus on these two points. It seems I still have to find a Grass-type. Besides, the average price for Grass-type eggs seems to be the cheapest."
When it came to easy raising, Grass-types absolutely ranked first. Most could survive just by basking in the sun. Of course, if a fool really raised one like that for a year, that Pokémon's battle prowess would definitely be the weakest.
After a while, Kai began to worry. He found it hard to choose and decided to go with whichever one felt right.
"Is there no other way?"
"No… there still is."
Kai's eyes lit up. How could he forget the anime? He must have been rattled by those Breeder assessment questions.
Throughout the long journey across several regions, the anime's protagonist, Ash, definitely had experiences that could offer some enlightenment.
"I remember one episode. Ash's Grotle accidentally swallowed its own Energy Ball and then suddenly displayed tremendous power."
Thinking of this, Kai quickly searched for information on Energy Ball. Unfortunately, there was very little. The only info online stated it was a powerful move and listed which Pokémon could learn it.
It didn't matter if it wasn't online; he had some impression of this move.
"Energy Ball. The principle is drawing life force from nature and firing it at a target. That's the game description. I shouldn't remember wrong. But what does that have to do with Grotle's power surge after swallowing it? Besides Grotle, would this method work for other Grass-types?… Whatever, note it down first. The Energy Ball move must be mastered."
Kai smiled with pride, feeling he had found his path.
"Well, maybe I can create a training plan centered on the 'swallowing Energy Ball boosts strength' idea."
"But it feels a little unreliable. Wouldn't an Energy Ball leave internal damage?…"
"Let's assume there is internal damage. Can it be healed?"
"I think Synthesis is useful. Giga Drain, and also Ingrain could work. Grassy Terrain…"
Kai took out his pen and notebook, carefully writing everything down.
As the pen moved across the paper and he looked at the content, Kai suddenly realized something. Regardless of whether this idea was feasible or if he would even get a Grass-type Pokémon, he couldn't give up on this line of thinking. This was his first independent thought process as a Trainer.