There were still three days left before freshman training officially began.
Chen Ran wasn't idle at all.
He exercised every morning and explored the secret realm every afternoon, helping Charmander level up quickly and adapt to the wild environment—everything for that damn first place.
In just three days, Charmander's level jumped from Lv.10 to Lv.15.
This kind of leveling speed was extremely rare for a newly hatched Pokémon.
Five levels in three days.
Normally, only players who abused high-level Pokémon to power-level newborns could achieve something like that in such a short time.
But that method had obvious drawbacks.
Pokémon raised that way lacked real combat experience, their levels were hollow, and their actual fighting ability was poor.
When it really mattered, they tended to fall apart.
At 6 p.m. on September 30,
Chen Ran, exhausted from roaming the wilds for two or three days straight, finally returned to school, preparing for freshman training, which would begin tomorrow.
"Damn…"
"Boss, you're seriously grinding hard."
The horse gangster worked hard too, but compared to Chen Ran, the difference was obvious.
The same went for Chen Xiang and Wang Bo.
They trained in the mornings, then went out to chase girls and have fun in the afternoons.
They felt no urgency at all about the upcoming freshman training.
But Chen Ran understood them.
Competing with those rich second-generation students for a top-ten spot was basically impossible for them.
With Pokémon like Meowth, Machop, and Lotad, breaking through during freshman training would be incredibly difficult.
So giving up early became their rational choice.
As for Chen Ran—
After hatching Charmander, he finally had a real shot at the top ten.
That was exactly why the horse gangster, Chen Xiang, and Wang Bo fully supported him.
"Hurry up and wash up. I'll go buy food for you, Boss."
The horse gangster flipped off his bed, slipped on his shoes, and ran out after saying that.
Chen Ran quickly chased after him and shouted down the hallway:
"I want a large portion of braised chicken, plus a bottle of iced soda—and two tea eggs!"
"Got it~"
The reply echoed down the corridor.
"Jirachi, Charmander, you two rest well too."
Chen Ran gestured for Jirachi to lie down on his bed.
Charmander didn't get that privilege.
He was afraid the bedsheets might get burned.
"Jirachi wants a lollipop."
( ?﹃? )
Jirachi sneakily pulled out a strawberry-flavored lollipop from the drawer.
After tasting them, strawberry had become her absolute favorite.
Sweet and fragrant—perfect.
"Alright."
Chen Ran gently rubbed Jirachi's head.
Thankfully, no one else was in the dorm.
Otherwise, to stop his roommates from opening that drawer, he'd probably have to report a Ghost-type Pokémon living in the dormitory.
Soon, Chen Ran finished washing up.
The horse gangster returned with food in hand.
Chen Ran ate heartily, feeding Charmander some Energy Cubes on the side.
Night fell.
Wang Bo and Chen Xiang slipped out again.
Chen Ran didn't even need to think to know what they were up to.
"Take it easy, you two," he teased.
"College life isn't complete without dating."
"So funny—do I really need moderation?"
Wang Bo laughed carelessly.
He even cracked a joke.
Chen Xiang, on the other hand, rolled his eyes awkwardly.
"Good luck tomorrow, Boss."
"Yeah! Bring glory to Dorm 427!"
"That's right! Let those second-gen brats see what a real genius looks like!"
"…."
Tomorrow was October 1st.
But at Jiangnan Pokémon University, it was also the first day of freshman training.
As for the holiday—
That would come later.
After freshman training, there would be a seven-day break.
"Alright, get some rest."
Chen Ran was determined to take first place.
For that pseudo-legendary reward, he had to fight.
Before sleeping, Chen Ran reviewed the items he had refreshed over the past few days.
"Other than antidotes, panaceas, and common Energy Cubes, I haven't seen any truly rare items."
He felt a little disappointed.
Daily refresh chances rarely produced anything good.
Fortunately—
Once midnight passed and Monday arrived, the system would grant a Gym-level refresh, guaranteed to produce a blue-quality item.
But these past few days, Chen Ran had been running around nonstop.
Before midnight arrived, he fell into a deep sleep.
At 4:30 a.m. the next day, his biological clock woke him up.
The first thing Chen Ran did was check the flash-sale shelf.
"Ding! Every Monday, congratulations to the host on receiving a Gym-level refresh opportunity!"
"…."
Then he saw another surprise.
"Ding! Congratulations to the host on receiving a Legendary-level refresh opportunity!"
"…."
As expected of the system.
It really knew how to surprise him.
"Nice!"
Chen Ran loved surprises like this.
"One Gym-level refresh—guaranteed blue item. One Legendary-level refresh—guaranteed gold item. Let's use the Gym-level refresh first!"
On October 1st, Chen Ran's luck exploded.
The shelves flickered as animations played.
"Ding! Flash-sale shelf updated!"
Chen Ran leaned in to look.
"Whoa."
Good stuff.
This time, there were two blue items, one green item, and two white items.
"I hit the jackpot this time!"
He immediately checked the two blue items.
---
[Exploration Suit] (Blue)
Effect: Reduces injury risk during field exploration. Extremely durable, self-cleaning, and automatically adjusts fit.
Flash-sale price: ¥7.23
---
Perfect timing.
Freshman training involved deep secret-realm exploration over three consecutive days—a serious test for both Trainers and Pokémon.
This suit solved a major problem.
"Bought!"
Spending ¥7.23 to buy a suit worth over ¥100,000, Chen Ran happily moved on to the next item.
---
[Silver Whistle] (Blue)
Effect: Increases the chance of encountering wild Pokémon by 1.5× during exploration.
Flash-sale price: ¥6.78
---
"Buy it!"
"Buying everything!"
There were two ways to earn points during freshman training:
1. Defeat Pokémon
2. Capture Pokémon
More encounters meant faster point gains.
After purchasing the Silver Whistle, Chen Ran checked the green item—a Great Ball. Not top-tier, but better than standard Poké Balls. He decided to let Jirachi use it.
The two white items were Energy Cubes and Poké Balls.
"Now…"
"The highly anticipated Legendary Refresh is finally here!"
---------Author---------------
Thank you NARTER-501 and George Simon for supporting me!
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