Fortunately, he was still a prospective senior at Pingcheng No.1 High School, his parents hadn’t changed, his home address hadn’t changed, and his relationships hadn’t changed either. What was different, however, was that in this world, Pingcheng No.1 High School was a key high school, the kind that trained trainers. So unlike ordinary high schools, Pingcheng No.1’s senior year mainly taught knowledge about Pokémon, and during the summer vacation of junior year, every key high school student would get their own Pokémon and register to become a trainer.

The difference between ordinary and key high schools wasn’t just in the curriculum—an even bigger difference was the tuition.

Key high schools aimed at cultivating trainers invested a lot of resources in their students. Just the tuition for senior year alone was 200,000 yuan, not counting the cost of registering as a trainer, so finances were the main barrier for most people to become trainers.

Ryan Ford would also register as a trainer this summer, preparing for the upcoming college entrance exam.

Lightning, flames, flowing water, hurricanes—the Pokémon, initially called “magical beasts” by humans, possessed great power. Human trainers would capture Pokémon, train them, battle with them, and nurture them. An outstanding trainer could maximize a Pokémon’s potential.

The extraordinary powers of Pokémon were like an extension of the trainer’s own body, allowing them to accomplish many things that would be impossible by human effort alone.

This emerging profession had long since become mainstream worldwide, with all walks of life closely connected to it.

However, Ryan Ford also noticed something strange.

In this world, due to the appearance of secret realms, there were indeed no works like “Pokémon” series. Humanity’s exploration of Pokémon species had only reached 702.

There was a big gap compared to the 800-plus species he remembered.

Abilities, moves, tactics, types, rare treasures—all were still in the exploratory stage. In less than a hundred years, humans clearly hadn’t fully understood the Pokémon species, and there wasn’t a single comprehensive work that systematically recorded them.

With a wry smile, Ryan Ford picked up his phone again, replied “congratulations” to his senior, and apologized for getting up late.

He really should congratulate her. If a top student from a key high school successfully entered university and worked hard for the next four years, there was a good chance of becoming a professional trainer. A professional trainer, unlike an ordinary trainer that anyone with money could register as, was both a profession and a class. With a professional trainer’s license, one could use 95% of public facilities in any country for free, with top-notch benefits. This was also the dream of “Ryan Ford”.^

Chapter 2 Pingcheng No.1 High School Psychology Club

Pingcheng No.1 High School.

As the only key high school in Pingcheng, it boasted a strong faculty and excellent students. Although not many graduates ultimately became professional trainers, the number wasn’t small compared to others.

This year was no exception—Pingcheng No.1 High School was once again a college entrance exam site.

The battle exam was the last item in the key high school entrance exam, which meant the exam was now over.

After putting on his blue and white school uniform, Ryan Ford left home, wandered around outside for a while, and then headed to his school.

Along the way, he saw quite a few Pokémon, though most were things like Caterpie and Pidgey.

The rarer Pokémon all followed closely beside people, clearly already captured.

After entering Pingcheng No.1 High School, Ryan Ford went straight to Room 302 in the main building.

This was the activity room for a small club of only five people.

Ryan Ford was also a member of this club, called the “Pingcheng No.1 High School Psychology Club.”

Before the world changed, their job was to help students with excessive academic pressure deal with psychological issues, under the guidance of a teacher.

Of course, nowadays students all had strong self-esteem, and even if they were under some pressure, they wouldn’t be bored enough to come here for counseling, so the few of them had plenty of free time.

But according to his memory, things were a bit different now.

Their club was actually responsible for mediating relationship issues between students and their Pokémon...

And apparently, the weekly workload wasn’t small. If the teacher in charge didn’t handle most of the work, they probably wouldn’t even have time for class.

“Huh... Senior, you didn’t go home?”

Ryan Ford casually pushed the door and found it wasn’t locked. Looking inside, he immediately recognized the girl in blue denim shorts and a white T-shirt.

This was the senior he’d been chatting with earlier, the one who had brought him into the club and taught him a lot.

Next to her was a Persian yawning, looking very tired.

Because it was the day of the college entrance exam, she wasn’t wearing her school uniform, and looked even more attractive than usual.

“Ryan Ford?”

“No... Mr. Thompson brought over this year’s breeder exam materials at noon. I wanted to take them home and have a look,” Senior Grace Carter said.

“Breeder exam materials? The latest?!”

“Yeah, do you want to take a look?”

Pokémon breeder was another path for ordinary trainers.

Some trainers who didn’t like battling but enjoyed nurturing Pokémon would mostly choose to get a breeder’s license and specialize in raising Pokémon.