“Forgot to eat... I wonder if the school cafeteria will still be open during the college entrance exams.”

“Let’s go check…”

Ryan Ford tidied up a bit, then glanced at the time—it was almost two o’clock. The chances of there being food left in the cafeteria were slim, but he mainly wanted to buy some bread from the small shop inside the cafeteria, and hopefully grab a bottle of Nutritional Express.

But in reality, on a day like this, the shop lady had already left long ago—there was no one manning the counter.

After wandering around for nothing, the very helpless Ryan Ford had no choice but to leave the school and randomly pick a restaurant outside to order a rice bowl.

“Waiter, one shredded pork with garlic sauce rice bowl.”

“Coming right up,” the young man at the restaurant replied.

Wait a minute!

After sitting down in a cool spot near the air conditioner, Ryan Ford suddenly started to ponder.

Shredded pork with garlic sauce? What kind of meat is that?

Oh right, in his memory, this world was one where Pokémon and ordinary animals coexisted.

Although the appearance of secret realms had severely damaged local ecosystems at first, after decades of human intervention, the environment had gradually stabilized.

The price of maintaining ecological balance in the wild was that most ordinary animals could only live in zoos, farms, or designated protected areas—the wild had become a paradise for Pokémon.

How Pokémon and ordinary animals could harmoniously coexist in one ecosystem had always been one of the major challenges for humanity.

As it turned out, it was best not to put Pokémon and ordinary animals together. There was once a trainer who made the news for doing just that—he left his pet poodle Teddy and his fire-type Pokémon Growlithe alone at home, and when he came back that night, he found that Teddy had almost been burned alive…

“Pfft…” Remembering this, Ryan Ford couldn’t help but laugh. What a character. And that was one of the milder cases—ordinary animals becoming food for Pokémon wasn’t all that rare, since their combat abilities weren’t even on the same level.

Soon, the food arrived. Ryan Ford was truly starving, and finished the plate in just a few bites. He even grabbed a bottle of cold cola to drink, feeling quite satisfied.

“Scan to pay.” Looking at the empty plate, Ryan Ford wiped his mouth with a napkin, took out his phone, and turned to speak.

……

After leaving the restaurant, Ryan Ford thought for a moment, didn’t return to school, and instead went straight home.

From six in the morning until ten at night, there was no one else at Ryan Ford’s home. His dad was an electrician, his mom sold clothes at the mall, and both got off work very late.

At this moment, back at home, Ryan Ford had only one thing on his mind: what kind of beginner Pokémon would suit him?

Although there were still a few days before he could go to the breeding house to buy a Pokémon egg, it didn’t hurt to think ahead.

Hmm…

Suicune is pretty beautiful…

Articuno would do as well.

Or maybe… Diancie?

After a moment, Ryan Ford realized he was just daydreaming.

“For families that aren’t very well-off, grass-type Pokémon are definitely the first choice.”

“The homeroom teacher hinted at this, and Mr. Thompson also gave me some advice.”

After checking online, Ryan Ford found that the public breeding house in Pingcheng actually offered quite a few types of grass-type Pokémon eggs for sale: Bellsprout, Oddish, Hoppip, Sunkern, Paras…

But…

“No Bulbasaur… no Treecko… no Turtwig… not a single starter!”

Looking more closely, the sharp-eyed Ryan Ford noticed a reservation notice in the upper right corner of the webpage.

Clicking on the little question mark, he understood: if you wanted to buy some of the rarer Pokémon eggs, you had to submit a request to the breeding house in advance.

“Forget it, I probably couldn’t afford a rare Pokémon anyway.”

Ryan Ford did some calculations. He had a huge tuition fee to pay for his senior year, and everyone’s first time registering as a trainer required at least five years’ worth of taxes up front. On top of that, he’d have to set aside money for his Pokémon’s supplements and food for the year. Whatever was left would go toward buying a Pokémon egg—his budget was tight.

Everyone wanted to pick a rare and promising Pokémon as their starter, and Ryan Ford was no exception. But considering his family’s finances, he could only cough awkwardly.

“Easy to raise, great potential—those are the two labels to focus on. Looks like I’ll have to pick from the grass-types. Plus, grass-type Pokémon eggs seem to be the cheapest on average.”

When it came to being easy to raise, grass-types were definitely number one. Most grass-type Pokémon could survive just by basking in the sun. Of course, if anyone actually tried raising one like that for a year, its combat ability would definitely be terrible.

After looking for a while longer, Ryan Ford started to worry. He realized he was having trouble making a decision—every option seemed good.

“Isn’t there any other way?”

“Wait… there’s still that one.”

Ryan Ford’s eyes lit up. How could he have forgotten about the anime? Must have been rattled by that breeder’s exam question earlier.

The anime protagonist Little Jack’s long journeys across several regions definitely had some experiences that could inspire him.

“I remember there was a plot in the anime where Little Jack’s Grotle accidentally swallowed its own Energy Ball move, and then suddenly powered up, displaying incredible strength.”