Ryan Ford shook his head helplessly, wiped its mouth, then unfolded the silk scarf, picked up the sleeping Ethan, placed it on the bed, and covered its body with the silk scarf.

In its sleep, Ethan seemed to be having a wonderful dream. It turned over, letting the silk scarf wrap itself up tightly, finally revealing a satisfied smile before continuing to sleep...

...

Ryan Ford swore that he was truly captivated by Ethan in an instant.

He was now extremely glad that he had chosen this little Ethan as his starter Pokémon.

With Ethan asleep, Ryan Ford watched over it for a long time before quietly sitting down at his desk.

At this moment, Ryan Ford was supposed to start studying seriously... but he just couldn't get Ethan's image out of his mind, eagerly waiting for the little one to wake up.

"How useless," he muttered to himself, then pulled out a recipe.

Right now, Ethan was in its newborn stage.

Three bowls of Miltank milk a day would suffice, which should last for about three days.

After that, some solid food could be added, and a week later, the recipe would need to be updated again.

Ryan Ford had prepared ingredients including fruits and vegetables, porridge, and even some meat...

This combination of foods, in theory, would allow Ethan to get through the newborn stage smoothly and lay a solid foundation. Ryan Ford had invested a lot of money preparing all this—his little savings were almost gone...

"I've never been this particular about feeding myself, and now I even have to cook personally..." Ryan Ford complained, contradicting himself.

Chapter 9: Chatting in Groups Brings You Joy

As for food, Ryan Ford had thought about it as much as he could for now.

He also knew he'd been spending a lot lately, but the newborn stage was extremely important for Pokémon, and nutrition had to be kept up.

Only then could Ethan grow up strong and healthy.

Ryan Ford dawdled for a while, then put down the recipe and took out his summer homework.

Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests.

Don't think that just because he's a trainer, he doesn't have to do homework.

The college entrance exams for Chinese, Math, English, Physics, Chemistry, and Biology were unavoidable. On top of that, students at key high schools had an extra written exam on Pokémon knowledge and a battle subject.

Not every trainer could have a smooth journey and make a living through Pokémon battles.

Most people didn't have a talent for battling. For them, the economic burden of being a trainer was actually a drag, and they would basically switch careers after graduating from university.

However, being a trainer also had its unique advantages, which came from their Pokémon partners.

Jugglers... magicians... workers... journalists... actors... nurses... doctors... researchers... firefighters, and so on—this advantage applied to all kinds of fields.

Just imagine, if a fire broke out somewhere, would it be faster to put it out with various fire extinguishers, or with the abilities of a Water-type Pokémon?

Most importantly, a qualified firefighter with a Water-type Pokémon could, to some extent, go directly into the fire scene and rescue victims as quickly as possible.

During the rescue, they could also use sand-throwing or fire-diverting moves; for example...

Doctors—those who treat people—if they had a Pokémon partner skilled in hypnosis or precise psychic abilities, they could undoubtedly better counsel patients or perform surgeries more perfectly.

These people still needed knowledge of physics, chemistry, biology, and even mathematics.

Although Ryan Ford wanted to become a more pure trainer, he also understood that these things were unavoidable.

Even though in recent years the country had introduced many policies favoring trainers, there was no reason to abandon traditional subjects—talent in other fields was just as important.

But what made Ryan Ford happy was that, when it came to the written exam on Pokémon knowledge, he felt he could score high even without much studying.

That was much easier than the breeder qualification tests.

Name the Pokémon from a picture.

Match moves to Pokémon.

Write out type advantages from memory.

And some legal analysis questions about trainers and Pokémon.

If he couldn't get a high score on these, he might as well bang his head against the wall.

...

By noon, since Ethan was still sleeping, Ryan Ford ordered takeout for himself.

He didn't rush to tell his parents, who were at work, about Ethan's birth, planning to surprise them in the evening.

But the silly Ryan Ford forgot that he had them as friends on social media. When Ryan Ford posted a screenshot of little Ethan sleeping to his Moments, he was already found out.

Mr. Ford: It hatched? Have you fed it?

Reply to Mr. Ford: Fed, fed.

Mrs. Ford: Just as cute as you were when you were little. Feels like we've raised another son.

Reply to Mrs. Ford: ???

I'll just take that as a compliment.

But, little Ethan seems to be female.

Meanwhile, the group chat for Class 12, Grade 11, was especially lively—or rather, the messages hadn't stopped since yesterday.

Every time a classmate's Pokémon egg hatched, a bunch of people would pop up and chat in the group for half a day.

Sure enough, after Ryan Ford finished eating and posted a photo of Ethan, the group exploded.

Someone said, "Damn, that's way too cute. I hope my Mankey can be this adorable."