Vantora Second Senior High School.
Riiing, riiing, riiing…
"Time's up, everyone! Pens down. The students in the last row, please collect the papers," the invigilating teacher announced, sipping from her thermos.
"Hey, Auron, how'd it go? I wasn't sure about those last few questions," Jace leaned over, concern clear on his face.
"Not bad, actually. Felt pretty easy," Auron replied, stretching as he stood.
"Oh, come on. If I couldn't answer them, there's no way you did!" Jace scoffed, unconvinced. "Alright then, answer me this: which Pokémon isn't weak to any type?"
"Tynamo, Eelektrik, and Eelektross," Auron said calmly as he sat back down.
"Alright, fair. I knew that one too. What about the second one— the only Pokémon that changes its single type after evolving?"
"Eevee," Auron replied, slightly puzzled. In this world, all seven evolutions for Eevee—Jolteon, Vaporeon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon—had already been discovered, but the method for Sylveon's evolution was still a mystery.
"Not bad. Next one, the only dual-type Pokémon that becomes a single type after evolution?"
"Gloom evolving into Bellossom."
"Heh, alright then. The only ordinary Pokémon with a unique type combination?"
"Toxicroak—Poison and Fighting."
"Fifth question, then. Which Pokémon has the same ability for both its standard and hidden ability?"
"Ferroseed's evolution, Ferrothorn."
"Damn it, are you secretly studying behind my back or something? Why do you know all the ones I don't?" Jace was both frustrated and impressed, shaking Auron by the shoulders.
Auron thought to himself, If I told you I learned all this from binge-watching videos in my past life, would you even believe me?
"Alright, alright, let's get ready. Since we have the afternoon off, let's swing by my family's store and see if there are any good Pokémon eggs—I think it's about time I pick one," Auron suggested, getting to his feet and slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Sounds good. I'll call my aunt and ask her to reserve that Growlithe egg for me," Jace replied as they walked out together.
The two of them headed for the Pokémon Store, backpacks bouncing with each step.
Auron's father, Ashen Vale, was a doctorate in Pokémon Evolutionary Studies. He had discovered the conditions for Espeon's evolution, and later, with that knowledge, unraveled the method for Umbreon's as well. However, after an incident, he resigned from the national research institute and opened a private lab. Thanks to Auron's mother's connections, they bought the adjacent land and opened a small breeding center.
Inside, they kept mainly Eevee and Pikachu families, Feebas, and a handful of fostered or wild Pokémon. The front shop sold eggs, food, and all sorts of Pokémon goods.
"Wow, it's packed today," Auron commented.
"Well, yeah! The mock exam's over. Everyone can't wait to finally get their own Pokémon," Jace explained.
"Hey, it's your family's store—business is booming!"
"Come on, let's go find my mom," Auron said, dragging Jace toward the back. The staff recognized the boss's son, so they didn't stop them.
"Mom? You here? Moooom—"
"I'm here, I'm here! Why are you yelling like a banshee?" his mom called as she came out from the back room.
"All done with the exam? How'd it go?" she asked.
"Pretty well," Auron replied, trying to sound confident.
"Alright, I'll believe you—this time. Don't make me get another call from your teacher. Oh, Jace, you're here too."
"Hello, Auntie! Auron really did do fine this time," Jace said with a grin.
"Good boy! Come here, let Mom give you a hug," she said, instantly switching from strict to cheerful as she pulled Auron in and ruffled his hair.
"Mom!" Auron protested.
"What?" she teased.
"I want to pick a Pokémon egg."
"Of course! I knew business would be good today, so I called the main branch and got a thousand eggs delivered. They're not even on the shelves yet—you two can go pick first."
"Thanks, Mom."
"I'll pass. I already have mine," Jace said, hanging back.
"Come on, keep me company," Auron insisted, pulling him into the back room anyway.
Inside, rows of open crates lined the walls, each holding ten Pokémon eggs.
"Whoa, that's a lot of eggs," Jace gasped.
"Quit gawking and start picking! I need to put them on display soon," Auron's mom called from outside.
"Okay, got it," Auron replied, already reaching out to touch the nearest egg.
Finally, a dream from my last life coming true… He felt his eyes grow damp with excitement.
Ding! "Super Breeder System activated."
"Huh? System?" Auron's face didn't even twitch. After reading so many webnovels in his past life, he'd seen it all before. He silently asked in his mind, "System, what can you do?"
Ding! "Information display, Pokéblock creation, Pokémon food crafting."
"That's it? Nothing else?"
Ding! "Please explore on your own. Beginner tutorial complete. Goodbye."
With that, the mechanical voice faded. Auron realized he now knew the recipes for Pokéblocks and Pokémon food—plus how to make them. Nothing else popped up.
"Auron? Are you okay? Aren't you picking an egg?" Jace waved a hand in front of his eyes.
"Yeah, just… a bit too excited. I'm finally about to get my own Pokémon," Auron said, swatting Jace's hand away.
"Alright, let's pick already!"
"Yeah!" Auron nodded, focusing on the egg in his hand—suddenly, a little info panel appeared beside it.
Pokémon: Caterpie
Gender: Female
Type: Bug
Ability: Shield Dust (immune to additional move effects)
Quality: Green
Basic move: Tackle
Inherited moves: None
So this is what the information display does? This is broken! I can see the egg's quality and any inherited moves directly!
Suppressing his glee, Auron checked the next egg.
Normally, you couldn't see an egg's quality—just guess the species from the pattern. Quality, from lowest to highest, was White, Green, Blue, Purple, Orange, Red, and Gold.
These days, you could pay for a machine to check quality, but it was expensive.
And since the Pokémon Leagues of every country had long issued an international ban on abandoning Pokémon—with harsh punishments—hardly anyone ever gave up a Pokémon just because of its stats.
A researcher from Russia had even published a paper showing that in a level-30 contest between Green and Blue-quality Pokémon of the same species, with no commands, Blue would win by a hair. If one side had a good trainer, Green could win; if both trainers were equal, it was a draw—but the Blue Pokémon would recover first.
So the world had come to a consensus: improving your skills as a trainer was more effective than chasing better-quality Pokémon. If you're not good enough, don't blame your Pokémon.
Still, high-quality Pokémon were in demand—people just didn't abandon their old ones anymore.
"Auron, have you decided which Pokémon you want?" his mom called.
"Not yet, I'm still looking. Just want to find one that feels right," he replied, activating the info panel as he browsed.
Then—
Pokémon: Torkoal
Gender: Male
Type: Fire
Ability: Drought (sets Sunny Day when entering battle)
Quality: Purple
Basic move: Ember
Inherited moves: Haze, Flamethrower, Fissure
Holy crap, this one's a monster! Maybe I should build a Sun team too…
He barely resisted the urge to jump for joy. After so many Green and Blue-quality eggs, finally a Purple one—and with Drought and great inherited moves!
Auron bent down and gently picked up the egg, stroking it twice in disbelief.
"You sure about that one, Auron? Looks like a Torkoal egg to me," Jace commented.
"Yeah, it's a Torkoal. But I'm not totally sure yet—let me check a few more."
"Nice pick! If you use Torkoal for Sunny Day and I get Arcanine for offense, we'd make an unbeatable pair!" Jace said excitedly.
"I'll look a bit more—just in case something else catches my eye," Auron replied, half-listening as Jace continued to chatter.
Suddenly—
"No way!"
"What happened?" Jace asked.
"Nothing! I just… found the perfect egg, that's all," Auron said, eyes shining as he gazed at an egg with purple cloud markings.
"I've decided. This is the one."
(End of Chapter)
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