[Even in Six-Star Street, eight sheep ride on horseback~~~]
A loud singing voice rang out as a hand stretched out from under the blanket, fumbling around until it found the phone.
Jiang Xing, still groggy, turned off the alarm and glanced at the time.
Ten-thirty…
Still early. It was the weekend, no classes today. He could easily sleep until twelve and then worry about lunch after getting up.
He yawned, about to go back to sleep.
At that moment, his phone chimed, and a message popped up.
[Senior Su: How's your thesis coming along?]
Seeing the message, Jiang Xing rubbed his eyes.
He was only a sophomore—what thesis was he supposed to be writing?
He quickly sent back his question, and almost immediately, a pleasant voice message from Senior Su popped up.
"Jiang Xing, what are you talking about? It's almost the end of the term. After a whole year, you still haven't produced a single evolution paper on water-type pet beasts. Are you trying to end up like the others and get kicked out of the major?"
Water-type pet beasts? Kicked out of the major?
Jiang Xing was completely confused.
Since when did their "Aquaculture major" involve studying the "evolution of water-type pet beasts"? And what the hell even was a water-type pet beast? Had Senior Su been playing too many games and lost her mind?
And getting kicked out just because you didn't finish a paper… wasn't that a bit extreme?
Aquaculture was already a niche among niches. A quick online search was full of warnings telling people to avoid it. When Jiang Xing enrolled last year, there had only been four students in total—including him.
Two of them switched majors within a month.
The last one didn't even make it to the end of the semester.
Jiang Xing still remembered: after winter break, when he returned to school, his advisor had called him into the office and, with great sincerity, told him that from now on, he was the sole remaining student in the major.
As long as he didn't drop out, scholarships, credits—everything would be maxed out for him. If his grades were excellent over four years, he could even choose any postgraduate program he wanted…
With all those promises, how could the advisor possibly kick him out just for not finishing a single paper?
Just as Jiang Xing was about to ask more questions, suddenly—
A formless electric current surged through his brain, and countless streams of information rushed in all at once.
When he finished digesting it, he sat bolt upright.
'Holy shit. I transmigrated!'
But rather than transmigration, it felt more like a timeline shift from Steins;Gate.
Jiang Xing himself hadn't changed much—his parents, his advisor, Senior Su—they were all still the same people.
Only the world had changed.
From a world that revered science, where the internet and AI were rapidly advancing—
Into a "Beast-Taming Era," where magical creatures ran rampant, and people could form contracts with pet beasts and command them in battle!
According to the memories he had just synchronized—
Hundreds of years ago, a dimensional secret realm had descended upon this world.
It was like a fragment of another world—holding the ruins of a lost civilization, along with extraordinary creatures said to command the elements, much like those found in myth and legend.
At the time, it had even been regarded as a divine miracle.
And when it descended, it seemed to have brought with it some kind of mysterious factor.
Many native species on Earth underwent strange transformations, becoming entirely new magical creatures—and gaining the ability to evolve.
During this process, humans also awakened the ability to form contracts with these creatures and control them.
Those who contracted, tamed, and cultivated pet beasts came to be known as Beast Tamers.
Time returned to the present.
Several hundred years had passed since the primordial secret realm descended.
Pet beasts and Beast Tamers had fully integrated into human civilization, becoming one of its most important components.
Clothing, food, housing, transportation—everything in the world was closely tied to pet beasts, inseparable from them.
And because there were simply too many types of pet beasts, with all kinds of evolutionary forms—and even now, new secret realms continued to descend upon Earth, bringing entirely new things—
Knowledge related to pet beasts had become the primary focus of scholars.
'If it weren't for the fact that, in these synchronized memories, the names, forms, and abilities of pet beasts are vastly different from Pokémon…'
'This would basically feel like Pokémon fused with Earth.'
Jiang Xing sorted through his thoughts and finally understood the "thesis" Senior Su had mentioned—
With the shift in the worldline, the once-obscure "Aquaculture" major had transformed into the ultra-elite "Water-Type Pet Beast Research."
This was one of the top majors at Yuzhong University, specifically designed to train researchers specializing in water-type pet beasts—graduates would go straight into institutions equivalent to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Because of this, the requirements for the major were extremely strict.
Fewer than five students were admitted each year.
If, by the end of the term, a student failed to produce sufficient results and a corresponding thesis, they would be eliminated and forcibly transferred to another major—such as the popular "Water-Type Pet Beast Battle Studies" or "Water-Type Pet Beast Breeding."
Senior Su's urgency came from concern that Jiang Xing hadn't completed his work and might lose this precious spot.
Luckily, Jiang Xing had just been half-asleep earlier.
After synchronizing his memories, he recalled—
He had already spent nearly half a year breeding a pool of water-type pet beasts.
All the necessary experimental data had long been recorded.
The thesis was already more than halfway done.
No need to worry about getting kicked out of the major right after transmigrating.
Thinking of this, Jiang Xing quickly sent a message back to Senior Su, explaining that he had just been groggy earlier and that the thesis was already prepared—no need to worry.
When he saw the [angry chubby fish] emoji she sent back, he smiled, then couldn't help but sigh.
The changes were too drastic.
In the original world, although Senior Su had been an outstanding student—producing several solid research results by her third year, publishing well-received academic papers, and receiving offers from well-known companies—she was still "just" a top-tier student.
But in this Beast-Taming world, she was on an entirely different level.
Before even graduating, she had already become a widely recognized Water-Type Pet Beast Researcher.
And through raising and training her own water-type pet beasts, she had become the youngest King-Class Beast Tamer in the nation.
She had won the National Youth Cup, explored multiple high-risk water-type secret realms on her own, and conducted research into the ruins of otherworldly civilizations.
A true all-round genius.
The brightest rising star among the nation's new generation.
That long list of achievements and titles practically blinded Jiang Xing.
Similarly, there was their teacher—the advisor of Water-Type Pet Beast Research—Dr. Xu, known as the "Doctor of Water Systems."
In this world, the title of "Doctor" carried far more weight than in his original world.
There were fewer than thirty doctors in the entire world, each specializing in different fields.
They were considered treasures of humanity, possessing unparalleled understanding of pet beasts.
Even legendary Beast Tamers, regarded as pillars of the nation, would respectfully address them as "Doctor."
This level of status transformation was even more exaggerated than Senior Su's.
As for Jiang Xing himself…
Well…
Just an ordinary college student, still far from the title of researcher, struggling just to complete his end-of-term thesis while teetering on the edge of being expelled by his advisor.
Well, that was normal.
Jiang Xing had enough self-awareness.
He had been a slacker before—naturally, switching worlds wouldn't magically change that.
That said, he wasn't entirely ordinary—
In this world, being able to pass Dr. Xu's screening, enter the Water-Type Pet Beast Research program, and persist until the end of his sophomore year already placed him above 99.99% of students.
After synchronizing his memories, he now possessed a solid foundation in pet beast research.
Even if he did disappoint his teacher and got kicked out of the major, he would still be considered top-tier talent in the future.
'All in all, this worldline shift… was a massive win!'
Thinking about this brand-new world and its countless magical pet beasts—
All his drowsiness vanished.
He eagerly jumped out of bed, got dressed, and rushed out of his room.
When he stepped outside the dormitory, a scene both strange and familiar unfolded before his eyes—
In the sky, bizarre birds spread their wings, wearing little yellow hats and carrying delivery boxes—apparently delivering takeout.
A few fluffy hamsters, sensing human presence, quietly darted into the grass.
Students walked along the paths accompanied by strange-looking creatures—cats, dogs, bears, and all sorts of rare and unusual animals that looked like they had stepped straight out of anime.
There were even ghost-like beings drifting through walls, secretly snatching hats off people's heads, then flying away while letting out mischievous laughter.
A fantastical scene.
Right before his eyes.
Jiang Xing's eyes welled up with tears.
Twenty years.
He had finally made it to this day!
…
After leaving the dormitory, Jiang Xing followed his memory and hurried to the university's laboratory building.
Opening the door, a crystal-clear indoor pool came into view.
When he saw the ten golden-striped carp swimming inside, his eyes lit up with joy.
These were "his pet beasts"—
In this Beast-Taming world, everyone possessed the ability to contract pet beasts.
But not everyone was a Beast Tamer.
Just like gun licenses in the modern world, only those with sufficient knowledge of feeding and cultivating pet beasts, adequate financial resources, and no history of mental illness could pass the assessment and become official Beast Tamers.
For ordinary people, at most they could keep a few pet-type beasts with gentle temperaments, just to satisfy their fondness for pet beasts.
Of the three conditions above, Jiang Xing met two of them, but lacked the most crucial one—money.
His family was poor. His parents were already doing everything they could just to support his schooling. There was simply no way they had any extra capacity to support him in contracting and raising a pet beast of his own.
As a result, Jiang Xing had never asked for a pet beast, and he did not even keep a pet.
Instead, he poured all of his love for pet beasts into knowledge, successfully got into Yuzhong University, and became one of Dr. Xu's students.
After receiving the scholarship and research funding provided by the school, he did not line his own pockets with it.
Instead, he used all of it to purchase experimental materials, as well as experimental subjects.
—The water-type pet beast Golden-Patterned Koi.
[Name: Golden-Patterned Koi]
[Attribute: Water]
[Talent: Moist]
[Species Tier: Low Extraordinary]
[Racial Moves: Water Leap, Tackle, Splash, Water Gun.]
[Description: A fish-type pet beast distributed across major rivers and freshwater lakes. Because of its beautiful golden-patterned scales and gentle temperament, it is raised as an ornamental fish.]
'Although I came to a beast-taming world and still didn't become a Beast Tamer, and I don't even have a pet beast of my own—so I can only satisfy myself a little by using experimental pet beasts... that is a bit of a pity...'
'But that may not necessarily be a bad thing.'
'Beast-taming battles in this world aren't the performance-style battles you see in Pokémon.'
'Even in official competitions, Beast Tamers have to fight alongside their pet beasts. If the Beast Tamer is defeated, that means the battle is lost...'
'And in that process, Beast Tamers can very easily suffer serious injuries!'
'As for wild fights in secret realms, there are even fewer rules. Beast Tamers can attack enemies however they want, and they themselves can also be singled out and killed by enemies... It's an extremely dangerous profession.'
'Compared to Pokémon battles, it's way too savage.'
Jiang Xing was not a Beast Tamer who had been trained from childhood. If he tried to switch paths halfway through, the risk would be even higher.
After all, he was not some super rookie like in anime—playing SM with hundred-thousand-volt shocks every day, carrying 999 kilograms on his shoulder without changing expression, and taking attacks from divine beasts to the face while still bouncing around afterward...
If he got killed, he would really die.
Compared with that, being a researcher was actually a pretty good choice.
He could still come into contact with a large number of pet beasts, and he could still contract pet beasts he liked. His status would also be high, and he would be respected by others.
The living environment was far better than that of an ordinary Beast Tamer.
'This time, I'm not going to be a Beast Tamer. I'll honestly just be a researcher.'
Jiang Xing picked up the fish feed at the side and scattered a handful into the pool.
In the fish pond, the Golden-Patterned Koi immediately swam over and swallowed the feed into their bellies.
Looking at these lively pet beasts, he recalled the relevant information.
There were an enormous number of pet beast species in this world. Just the number of pet beasts in their base forms alone exceeded one hundred thousand, and the number was still constantly increasing.
Among them, more than sixty percent of pet beasts possessed more than one evolution form and more than two evolution stages.
With such a rich variety of pet beasts and forms, along with all kinds of bizarre evolution requirements, pet beast evolution studies had become an extremely complex discipline.
In academia, there was even a widely accepted statement—
As of now, the pet beast forms humanity had discovered and mastered did not even amount to half of them!
And precisely because of that, the assignment Dr. Xu had given Jiang Xing for his sophomore year was a thesis related to the evolution of water-type pet beasts.
Whether he discovered an unrecorded evolution form of a water-type pet beast, or verified that a certain water-type pet beast had no additional forms...
As long as the thesis had real substance and the data was rigorous, it would count as passing.
'The thesis sounds pretty simple... but in fact, it places extremely strict demands on one's grasp of the ecology of water-type pet beasts and knowledge related to evolution...'
'A lot of Beast Tamers haven't even fully understood the existing evolutions of known pet beasts, let alone researching unknown evolutions.'
Fortunately, the Jiang Xing of this parallel world had a very solid foundation of knowledge.
The ten Golden-Patterned Koi before his eyes were already the tenth batch of Golden-Patterned Koi he had raised.
In the previous nine experiments, the Golden-Patterned Koi he bred had evolved respectively into Electric-Patterned Golden Koi and Big-Tailed Golden Koi.
Although both were already known evolution types, by adjusting the variables, he had still successfully verified that the Golden-Patterned Koi had no further evolution forms.
As long as this batch of Golden-Patterned Koi completed their evolution and filled in the final experimental data, then together with the already established evolution formulas, he would be able to complete the demonstration—
Namely: the Golden-Patterned Koi had two, and only two, first-stage evolution forms.
Once Dr. Xu approved it, his end-of-term assignment would count as completed.
After reviewing the experimental data one more time, Jiang Xing nodded in satisfaction.
Wasn't this pretty simple?
Jiang Xing returned to the side of the pool and reached his hand into the water. The ten large, beautifully patterned koi swam over, lifting their heads above the water as they brushed against his hand, letting out soft, dolphin-like chirps.
"No, you can't. You've already absorbed enough nutrients. If you eat any more, it'll affect your development."
Jiang Xing was all smiles. These pet beasts were so lively and expressive—really adorable.
And what he said was not just coaxing the little fishies.
Raising pet beasts was an extremely scientific matter. It wasn't something where you could just pile rare resources onto them and be done with it. Just as humans got fat from eating too much, pet beasts could also suffer from indigestion if they absorbed too much energy, causing them to regress instead of improve.
If the resources used to raise them were too complex, their properties could clash, causing internal harm and limiting the creature's potential.
There was also training methodology and many other factors involved—a complete and scientific theoretical system.
That also fell within the domain of Beast Tamers. Jiang Xing was not Senior Su. He was not that all-rounder, and there was still plenty he did not understand.
But he also knew clearly that these Golden-Patterned Koi—whose racial rank was merely Low Extraordinary, and which were classified as ornamental pets—could not casually absorb too much energy.
That was also why Jiang Xing had chosen them as the subjects of his thesis.
They were cheap.
And just as Jiang Xing was stroking the Golden-Patterned Koi and playing with the little fishies to keep them company—
His vision blurred for a moment, and a line of information suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[Welcome to the Pokémon world.]
[Your current identity has been detected. Super Researcher System loading successful.]
[This is a brand-new world where Pokémon and Earth have fused together. The Pokédex records only 151 Pokémon so far. Everything is only just beginning... As a rookie researcher, you will lead this world out of ignorance and toward a prosperous future!]
Jiang Xing blinked.
Was this his system?
A researcher system really did seem to fit what he wanted.
But...
What the hell was this Pokémon world?!
One hundred fifty-one Pokémon? Going by the number of pet beasts in Jiang Xing's memories, even adding three more zeros wouldn't be remotely enough!
Did this system identify the wrong world?
This wasn't a Pokémon fanfic. This was an original setting!
At that moment, one of the Golden-Patterned Koi nudged Jiang Xing's hand, and the panel changed again.
[Ding, ding! You discovered Magikarp!]
[In this Pokémon world that's only just getting started, people still haven't fully understood how Magikarp evolves... It's time to demonstrate its evolution and shock the world with Gyarados.]
[You have received a mission: Evolve one Magikarp into Gyarados.]
[Cheat Tip: In the real world, when Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, it not only needs to reach a high enough level—it also requires a fearless, unyielding will.]
[Reward: Technical Machine (Outrage), Macho Brace (Human).]
A giant question mark appeared over Jiang Xing's head.
Never mind whether the world would be shocked or not...
He was the one who got shocked first.
You call this thing Magikarp?!
System, answer me!!