"Slakoth, use Scratch!"
Julian pointed forward at a Spearow blocking their path.
"Mochi!"
Slakoth's previously sluggish body suddenly burst forward with incredible speed, dashing straight toward Spearow. Its claws glowed as it slashed down fiercely!
"Chirp—!"
Before Spearow could even react, it was knocked unconscious and instantly lost the ability to battle.
Ding! Congratulations, Host. Your Pokémon Slakoth has won the battle.
Reward: Experience Points — 80 ×2 = 160
Your Pokémon Slakoth has leveled up to Lv.13.
The system notification flashed past.
Julian nodded in satisfaction.
Just as he had predicted, Slakoth—already possessing excellent potential—displayed combat power far beyond Pokémon of the same level after gaining the Huge Power Ability.
The Spearow earlier wasn't weak either; it was already Level 10.
Yet with the boost from Huge Power, it was instantly defeated by Slakoth's simple Scratch.
After dozens of battles, Slakoth had now reached Level 13.
Although it hadn't learned any new moves yet, its battle power was already over ten times stronger than when Julian had first obtained it.
"With this strength, tomorrow's battle exam shouldn't be a problem."
Julian rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
In the practical battle exam, most students' Pokémon were usually around Level 10.
With Slakoth now at Level 13, plus the Huge Power Ability, it had absolutely nothing to fear from opponents of the same level.
"That's enough training for today. You worked hard, Slakoth."
Julian nodded at him.
"Mochi~"
Slakoth waved his claws, looking slightly tired.
Although Julian had changed his Ability to Huge Power, removing the effects of Truant, constant battles still exhausted him.
"Go get some rest."
Julian returned him to his Poké Ball, then looked up at the Secret Realm map floating before him.
Starting from his original position, a small surrounding area had been revealed from the gray fog.
The revealed section not only displayed paths but also marked the locations of nearby wild Pokémon—like the Spearow they had just fought.
According to the system's explanation, once Julian exited and re-entered the Simulation Secret Realm, those Pokémon would have their stamina fully restored.
If he wanted to challenge them again later, he could simply follow their marked positions on the map.
Very convenient.
At the top of the interface, the exploration progress had also changed.
Exploration Progress: 9%
In other words, Julian had already explored about one-tenth of Evergreen Forest.
However, since Slakoth had only just adapted to battling after his Ability change, Julian had mainly searched for opponents in the outer areas.
Next time, they could venture deeper.
The Pokémon there would be stronger, and leveling would become much faster.
Thinking this, Julian spoke quietly in his mind.
"Exit Simulation Secret Realm."
In the next moment, he vanished from the virtual space.
Back in the dormitory, it was already evening.
Julian leaned against the headboard, grabbed a bag of bread, and settled for that as dinner.
While eating, he suddenly realized something.
Now that he had Pokémon, he was responsible for their daily care and diet.
For healthy growth, Pokémon couldn't eat human food.
They had to consume specialized Pokémon food or Energy Cubes.
But as mentioned earlier, Julian couldn't afford Energy Cubes right now.
Pokémon food, however—while still somewhat expensive—was manageable.
Julian immediately pulled out his phone and ordered three days' worth of Pokémon food online.
Half an hour later, a Pidgeot swooped down from the sky and hovered outside his dormitory window.
"Pidgeot!"
This Pidgeot had clearly been professionally trained and worked as a delivery courier.
Julian took the package from the pouch on its back.
"Thanks."
The Pidgeot cried out once before spreading its wings and flying away.
Julian opened the box, took out a portion of food, and released Slakoth.
"Hungry? Come eat."
"Mochi!"
Slakoth happily began eating.
But Julian frowned slightly.
One portion of Pokémon food was enough for a Pokémon with a normal appetite to eat for three days.
And it cost 500 yuan.
Tomorrow, Caterpie would hatch from its egg.
And Julian currently only had less than 2000 yuan left.
That amount clearly wouldn't last long.
As for making money…
The first thing Julian thought about was Basic Modification.
But his modification chances were already used up.
Worse yet, his Shock Points were still zero.
Even if he had enough points, a basic modification might not necessarily produce money.
Julian sank into thought.
Forget it.
He would worry about that after tomorrow's College Entrance Exam.
One night passed quickly.
The next morning, at a high school in the center of Golden City.
This location was one of the official venues for the Pokémon College Entrance Examination, and hundreds of students had gathered in the courtyard.
"Julian, have you finally come to your senses?"
A chubby boy squeezed through the crowd and slapped Julian on the shoulder.
This person was Julian's best friend—Henry.
"You scared me to death. I thought you really planned to give up… I didn't expect you to actually show up."
Julian smiled slightly.
"I suddenly decided I want to become a Trainer."
"Now that sounds more like you. So you got your Pokémon, right?"
Henry shook the Poké Ball in his hand.
"You already know my Munchlax. What about you? What Pokémon did you get?"
His tone was curious.
Henry's family was quite wealthy and had spent a considerable amount to prepare this Pokémon for him.
Most people simply couldn't start with such a good partner.
Julian replied calmly.
"I adopted a Slakoth from the breeding garden yesterday."
Henry froze.
"Bro… are you serious?!"
He never expected Julian to choose that Pokémon.
Slakoth was infamous for being difficult to raise.
A Pokémon that might literally fall asleep in the middle of battle!
Before Henry could say anything else, a mocking voice sounded nearby.
"Heh. I thought some people were too scared to even show up."
"And you actually chose Slakoth? That Pokémon really suits you."
The speaker was a tall, thin young man with long bangs and a black jacket.
Julian glanced at him.
According to his memory, this person was David, a classmate.
They didn't have any personal grudge, but David was notorious for being arrogant.
Because his father was the Deputy Mayor of Golden City, he had always acted domineering at school.
Many students disliked him but didn't dare say anything.
David didn't even bother lowering his voice.
People around them immediately looked over.
"Julian showed up?"
"I thought he'd already given up…"
"He chose Slakoth? Seriously?"
"Does he want to fail the exam that badly?"
Whispers quickly spread through the crowd.
Everyone knew Slakoth's reputation.
To them, Julian had practically sabotaged himself.
David smirked, then released the Pokémon from his Poké Ball.
A flash of white light appeared.
A green Pokémon with a large seed on its back stood proudly.
Bulbasaur.
"See this? My dad prepared it for me."
David spoke smugly.
"Bulbasaur."
The crowd gasped.
"That's a real starter Pokémon…"
"I heard they cost at least 400,000–500,000 yuan."
"Rich families really are different…"
Envy filled many students' eyes.
David clearly enjoyed the attention.
He looked toward Julian with a triumphant grin.
But he noticed something strange.
Julian wasn't even looking at him.
Instead, Julian was studying Bulbasaur's data.
He muttered quietly.
"Level 9… Gym Leader-tier potential… Individual Values are mediocre though. None above 20."
"It probably can't beat Slakoth."
David didn't catch the first half clearly.
But he heard the last sentence perfectly.
"Can't beat Slakoth?"
He froze, then grew irritated.
"Hey! What did you just say?"
Julian shrugged calmly.
"Oh, you heard me. I'm just telling the truth."
From the data alone, Slakoth would dominate this Bulbasaur.
But to everyone else—especially David—those words sounded completely ridiculous.
Slakoth beating Bulbasaur?
Impossible!
David suddenly laughed.
"Fine."
"Then during the practical exam later… how about we pair up?"
"I'll show you what a real gap looks like."
In the battle exam, two candidates would each send out a Pokémon and fight under the examiner's observation.
Performance determined the score.
Usually, students paired with opponents of similar strength.
If the gap was too big, one of them would inevitably receive a terrible evaluation.
David's proposal was clearly a challenge.
He was certain Julian wouldn't accept.
But Julian looked at him with a strange expression.
"Huh? You want to pair with me?"
"Sure. I have no objections."
He had actually been worried about not finding a suitable opponent.
An average opponent wouldn't showcase Slakoth's strength at all.
Julian was generally easygoing.
But for someone already irritating him…
He didn't mind teaching them a lesson.