"Yo, Sprigatito, you're awake?"
Noticing the movement, Aarav spun his chair around and said with a wicked grin,
"The surgery was a complete success. You're no longer a girl."
Sprigatito froze.
It instinctively lifted a leg and checked itself, making sure nothing strange had grown out of nowhere.
After confirming everything was normal, it flushed with embarrassment and started meowing angrily at Aarav.
"Spriga!"
Give back my emotions from just now!
Aarav coughed lightly and changed the subject.
"Relax, it was just a joke. But seriously—don't you feel any changes in your body?"
Logically speaking, the impact of becoming a Chosen Pokémon shouldn't be small.
After the "system update," Sprigatito should have felt something.
Seeing how serious Aarav looked, Sprigatito tried jumping around on the bed and threw a few clumsy little paw punches.
Then it realized—he was right.
Its strength and speed had clearly improved.
Sprigatito knew this kind of change couldn't happen for no reason.
It turned its head toward Aarav in confusion.
"Spriga?"
What exactly did you do to me?
Aarav replied calmly,
"Just a welcome gift. Don't worry—stick with me and you won't lose out."
Sprigatito rolled its eyes.
"Spriga…"
You mean I won't lose out, right?
Even so, warmth slowly spread through its heart.
Its previous Trainer had been strict, but never stingy with training resources.
In fact, they'd probably invested more into Sprigatito than most Trainers would.
So Sprigatito wasn't some clueless rookie.
It understood that such a massive improvement in such a short time wasn't something ordinary methods could achieve.
Aarav must have put in a lot of effort—maybe even paid a heavy price.
Sprigatito even started to suspect that Aarav had prepared those rare resources long before officially catching it.
Hmph… this guy acts careless on the surface, but he's just trying to hide it so I won't feel guilty, isn't he?
Aarav watched Sprigatito's cheeks grow redder and redder and twitched at the corner of his mouth.
Hey.
What exactly are you imagining?!
Tsundere cats are outdated, you know?!
The Next Morning
Shanghai University — Pokémon Center.
The receptionist handed Aarav his Trainer License with a sweet smile.
"Alright! From now on, you and your Pokémon are officially recognized as a legal Trainer–Pokémon pair!"
Aarav took the freshly issued license and flipped it open.
Under his handsome ID photo, Sprigatito's adorable smiling face was displayed neatly.
Aarav felt a surge of emotion.
He had been in the Pokémon world for three years.
And today, he finally had the qualification to say something like:
"My goal is to become a Pokémon Master."
If you used the logic of Donghuang-style parents—
He had already lost at the starting line.
Then again…
I don't even have parents.
With that thought, Aarav waved at his new family member at his feet.
"From now on, let's take care of each other."
Sprigatito lifted its head proudly.
"Spriga!"
Reality wasn't a game.
There wasn't some rival who jumped out immediately to challenge Aarav the moment he got his "starter Pokémon."
In fact, all the way to the classroom, barely anyone paid attention to them.
A Trainer walking around with a starter Pokémon was nothing special at Shanghai University, a top Pokémon academy.
Still, someone expressed surprise after they entered the classroom.
"You actually caught that Sprigatito, Aarav?"
The one asking was none other than Chen Zhenze, Aarav's newly adopted "son."
He teased with a grin,
"Nice! I knew it—every day you two were exchanging glances. So you finally made it official!"
Aarav chuckled.
"Watch your attitude when talking to your father."
Chen Zhenze was about to retort instinctively, but then remembered how Aarav had just helped him reach the Great Ball rank last night.
His confidence instantly evaporated.
"…Fine. But are you sure you want to catch it?"
He glanced at Sprigatito, which was staring straight at him, and leaned toward Aarav, lowering his voice.
"I told you about its past, right?"
Aarav glanced at Sprigatito, which was pretending to look around casually but had clearly perked up its pointed ears.
He nodded.
"You mean the part where it was abandoned by a cold, heartless Trainer who only treated Pokémon as battle tools?"
Chen Zhenze scratched his head anxiously.
"Not exactly! Lin Lango might be a bit cold, but she's seriously strong, okay? She's the biggest favorite to win this year's Shanghai Pokémon Cup."
[Ding~ Triggered Combat Round 2-1: Shanghai Pokémon Cup. Host may choose whether to participate.]
Aarav: "…"
Wait, what?
So my bro is just an NPC for triggering rounds now?
Isn't this setting a bit disrespectful?!
The system voice that suddenly echoed in his mind left Aarav speechless.
Of course he understood what a "round" meant.
It was the Teamfight Tactics-style progression system.
In the game, players fought each other with their assembled lineups.
Translated into reality…
Pokémon battles and competitions?
[Including, but not limited to battles and competitions.]
The system promptly clarified.
Aarav raised an eyebrow slightly.
Including but not limited to?
Then what else could count as a "round"?
"Aarav? What are you spacing out about?"
Seeing him drift off, Chen Zhenze waved his hand in front of Aarav's eyes.
"Nothing. Just thinking about something."
Aarav temporarily set aside his conversation with the system and returned to the topic.
"Well… whether Lin Lango is strong or not doesn't conflict with what I said."
Unlike many Pokémon fans who admired Paul's cold, rational training style—
To be honest, that mostly came from the fact that the Sinnoh anime had great production, strong storytelling, and… well, great character design.
Cough.
Anyway, Paul did have genuine growth and reflection.
Otherwise, Aarav felt he wasn't much better than that later successor named Goh.
In short—
Aarav preferred Trainers who valued emotional bonds with Pokémon rather than treating them as tools.
So naturally, he had zero goodwill toward Lin Lango, who had abandoned Sprigatito.
He waved his hand.
"Alright, stop worrying, Old Chen. Sprigatito and I are already registered."
Since his best friend had made up his mind, Chen Zhenze could only drop it.
At his feet, Sprigatito wore a faint, barely noticeable smile.
Opening the Round
After sitting down, Aarav finally had time to read the system message he had just received.
There was no doubt—the first round was definitely worth participating in, just to see how it worked.
In his mind, he said:
"Start the round."
The always-online system responded instantly.
[Round 2-1: Shanghai Pokémon Cup activated!
After the round ends, the system will evaluate the host's performance and grant rewards accordingly!]
Aarav's eyes lit up.
"What kind of rewards? Does it include Prism Orbs?"
The Prism Orb from the first Hextech reward had been insanely powerful.
If he could get another one…
Even if it meant catching Rayquaza and marrying Cynthia, he'd be willing!
But the system shattered his unrealistic fantasy immediately.
[This event is a small-scale round. The highest possible reward is a Gold-tier Orb.]
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