Faculty Office – Freshman Affairs Group
"How's your class shaping up, Qin Feng?"
The homeroom teacher of Grade Two, Class Four—Teacher Xiao, whose stern face earned her the nickname Abbess Miejue behind her back—swiveled in her chair.
She was a top graduate, highly accomplished. No one quite knew why she had chosen to teach here.
"Not bad," Qin Feng replied. "One boy has a Bulbasaur. A girl has a well-talented Eevee. There's a Charmander. And… a Dratini."
Even she found that last one strange.
Dratini wasn't something you could just buy on the open market—even with money.
Yet it was sitting in her class.
"Bulbasaur… Eevee… Charmander… Dratini?!" Teacher Xiao nearly jumped out of her seat when she heard that last name.
"I don't know either," Qin Feng shrugged helplessly. "Maybe some rich family's daughter decided to experience 'ordinary life.'"
Technically the girl was in her class, but she came and went like a mythical dragon—appearing without warning and disappearing just as quickly. Qin Feng had little say in the matter.
She waved her hand.
"Anyway, the buses are loading up. I need to head to the monitoring room."
Every freshman wilderness trial was livestream-monitored.
This year was no exception.
Even though the sparring Pokémon had been replaced with virtual constructs generated by Metagross and Zoroark, safety supervision remained strict.
After stepping off the school bus, Lin Yu looked toward the forest entrance.
This was the Green Maple Zone—formerly a large E-rank Secret Realm that had fully integrated into reality years ago.
Secret Realms were classified by size: Micro, Small, Medium, Large, and Super-Large.
And by difficulty: E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, SSS.
The first category referred to scale.
The second referred to the strength of the Pokémon inside.
An E-rank realm wouldn't contain anything beyond Standard-tier.
In contrast, an SS-rank icy mountain once produced Regice—one of the legendary titans.
In this world, Legendary Pokémon were divided into two types:
Pseudo-legendaries—powerful but without divine authority.
And Divine Legendaries—beings with godhood-level authority.
When Secret Realms first emerged, "The One Who Cannot Fly" and the "Big-Headed Fish" once clashed near the Sakura Isles.
The shockwaves nearly sank the island.
Only Rayquaza, the Sky God, stepping in prevented catastrophe.
That was the scale of divine authority.
This trial would be solo.
Students were deployed separately across different forest zones.
"Remember," a supervising teacher said on the bus, "the school has removed most safety hazards."
"Do not leave the designated area for any reason."
"If you're in danger, activate your wristband and hold out for one to two minutes. Rescue will arrive immediately."
Then—
The signal was given.
Students streamed into the forest.
In the monitoring room, Luo Xing rubbed his temples.
As head of the school team selection committee, he had reviewed all 400+ freshman profiles several times.
About fifty caught his eye—based on Pokémon strength alone.
But strength wasn't everything.
Performance mattered.
Even a Caterpie, in the right hands, could evolve into a Gym-tier Butterfree.
A Beedrill could even reach near-Champion status.
Still—
Some seedlings stood out.
"Let's start with Grade Two…"
He leaned forward.
"That Growlithe's impressive. Second Pokémon already? And it knows Flamethrower? Even if it's via TM, that's solid at this stage."
Growlithe was loyal by nature.
Once bonded, it never betrayed its Trainer.
On screen, the Growlithe blasted a virtual Oddish apart with Flamethrower.
Beside it stood a confident, proud young man.
If Lin Yu were here, he would recognize him.
They had met once before.
The raincoat guy.
"What the—Dratini?!"
The highlight feed auto-switched.
A blue serpentine Pokémon unleashed Dragon Rage, instantly defeating a Beedrill.
Luo Xing sat upright.
"Seed candidate. No question."
His attention shifted back to the freshmen.
"Oh? That Charmander… Ember used in advanced form? At this age?"
His eyes lit up.
"This batch… interesting."
Meanwhile—
Inside the Green Maple Zone.
"Charmander, how do you feel?"
Lin Yu looked at the fallen Level 9 Venonat.
One strike.
Clean knockout.
"Char!"
No pressure.
These low-tier "mobs" barely required effort.
A single claw swipe was enough.
It didn't even need Ember or Fire Punch.
Still—
Its move pool was limited.
If only it knew Flamethrower already.
Lin Yu sighed.
Money.
If he had more, he could just buy the Flamethrower TM.
Still—
Fifty points for defeating a near-Standard Oddish earlier had already pushed him into the top forty rankings.
Now—
Time to test Rosemary Incense.
He sprayed the scent lightly on himself.
Then walked deeper into the forest.
Minutes later—
Red compound eyes locked onto him.
A low buzzing filled the air.
Twin stingers like lances.
Tail raised high.
Lin Yu's eyes sharpened.
Then—
He smiled.
Level 13 Beedrill.
Now that was worth hunting.