Chapter 4 – Talent
"Of course," Mr. Lin went on, "there's also the easiest way earn it through your grades."
"By national policy, each school rewards top-performing students who choose Pokémon Studies. If you rank in the top twenty of your year, the school will provide a selection of starter Pokémon for free."
"That said… there aren't many in our class who can make that cut."
Jason sighed inwardly. His grades had always been middle-of-the-pack. Even after crossing over, he hadn't improved enough to crack the top twenty so no free Pokémon for him.
Class 1-3 ranked second overall in Year 1, but only four students here had ever made the top twenty. Three came from wealthy families, and the one from a modest background wasn't even going into Pokémon Studies.
One of the wealthy ones was, but they could easily get a better starter than anything the school offered.
In short the free Pokémon probably wouldn't be going to anyone here.
Mr. Lin continued, "I'm sure most of your families have already arranged a starter for you. My advice: don't train it immediately after hatching."
"Even for fast-growers like Caterpie or Weedle, do not start training in the first ten days. Let them move around a little and get proper nutrition first."
"Too many students rush to train their Pokémon right after getting them only to cause serious injuries and permanently reduce their potential."
"So remember this. Not just for Pokémon Studies if any of you ever plan to become Trainers in the future, keep it in mind."
"Of course, some of you might already have starters that hatched a while ago then it's less of an issue."
After giving a few more pointers, Mr. Lin let them review quietly.
But the class wasn't exactly calm students whispered to each other in low voices.
Mr. Lin didn't intervene, simply opening a book and reading.
---
Ding-ding-ding…
"The school day is over!"
With the announcement over the PA, students began packing up to leave.
"Jay, let's go!" Ben Lewis and Charles Chang were already waiting at the door.
"See you later, Chloe."
Jason slung on his backpack and left with the Dorm 404 crew.
On the way to the cafeteria, Charles asked, "So, you guys got your starters ready yet?"
"I heard Adam Yates' family already got him a Kanto starter egg it's a two-star talent Pokémon, and it's about to hatch."
"If you guys don't hurry up, you're gonna fall behind."
Ben scoffed. "Please. My family's already bought me an egg from a Tier 3 breeding center downtown. Cost a fortune. I'm taking it home tonight to start incubation."
"If that jerk shows up in Pokémon Studies and tries to mess with me, I'll crush him. Honestly, my hands are itching already."
The Adam Yates in question was the kind of guy every class seemed to have wealthy, stylish, hair permed, maybe even smoked behind the gym. He looked down on others like they were country bumpkins.
Loved to show off in front of girls, mocking anyone poorer than him, flaunting his rich-kid status. Always surrounded by cronies, he had a habit of picking fights with Jason's group.
Worse still he was kind of good-looking, but not the best-looking guy in class. That title went to Jason. Most of the girls had at least a small crush on him, and Adam hated it.
In Jason's past life, they'd never gotten along, but their rivalry hadn't been as bitter. After graduation, they'd simply gone their separate ways. Jason had later heard Adam got into a private university and spent most of his time chasing girls until he hit on one with a boyfriend and got beaten up.
When he tried to get revenge, he discovered the other guy was even richer than him. Adam had to swallow his pride.
But in this life, Jason despised him even more. If they ended up in Pokémon Studies together, Adam's family wealth meant he'd have a better selection of Pokémon and probably try to cause trouble.
Still, Jason wasn't worried. His dad had known for a long time that his son wanted to be a Trainer and had been preparing well in advance. There was no chance Jason wouldn't have a starter Pokémon ready.
Thinking of this, Jason said, "My family's got it covered too. No worries."
George Young nodded. "Good. Your families aren't exactly struggling. Odds are your starters will be better than average."
"Who knows maybe even two-star potential."
Ben Lewis shook his head. "That's a long shot. Two-star Pokémon are insanely priced right now."
"I checked the official sites for all the breeding centers in Rowens City the other day. The cheapest two-star I saw was a hundred thousand credits."
"I'll be satisfied with a one-star, honestly."
Charles Chang's eyes widened. "Seriously? That expensive? Forget it then. I've never even seen that much money in my life."
"Spending a hundred grand on a single Pokémon? That's nuts."
Everyone else shook their heads as well. None of their families could casually drop that kind of money on a Pokémon.
Just like people, Pokémon had different levels of innate talent. After three centuries of development, society used a five-tier "star" system to rate a Pokémon's potential.
One-star was the lowest, five-star the highest.
Pokémon kept purely as pets were usually unrated no stars at all.
Any Trainer serious about battling would choose at least a one-star Pokémon. Otherwise, there was no real training value; no matter how long you worked, you'd hit a hard ceiling.
Most ordinary Trainers used one-star Pokémon. Some scraped together funds to buy a two-star, or tried their luck catching one in the wild.
Only the rich spoiled heirs and the well-connected could routinely acquire two- or three-star Pokémon.
As for four- or five-star Pokémon… those were far beyond what normal people even got to see.
And potential couldn't be eyeballed accurately. You needed specialized equipment to test it usually in research labs, breeding centers, or at school facilities.
Regular folks could only make rough guesses from size, coat condition, skin health, and other surface traits.
Among their dormmates, Ben Lewis's family was probably the best-off.
His parents ran a barbecue restaurant near Rowens City University's food street.
It sounded modest, but the profits were huge well over a million credits net a year.
It was all hard-earned, though. They worked late, slept little, and barely had time to hover over Ben.
If Ben weren't level-headed, he could've gone off the rails. Even so, dropping a hundred thousand credits on a two-star would still hurt badly.
---