In front of the teaching building.
The first-year students gathered once again.
"Ethan, what do you think the entrance assessment is like?"
Geng Zhi whispered nervously as they walked.
"Do you think I can pass?"
He really was panicking.
After all, he was a sponsored student—his academic results weren't exactly impressive.
If he failed the assessment, wouldn't that donated building be for nothing?
Seeing Geng Zhi's anxiety, Ethan laughed.
"Relax. It's just an entrance assessment."
"It's mainly for the academy to evaluate students' abilities in Pokémon training and battle."
"From what I've heard, it's not that hard."
Originally, Ethan hadn't known much about Donghuang Academy's assessment either.
But thanks to Emily Stone, he had a clear picture now.
According to her, the process was fairly standardized:
Enter the forest and capture a Pokémon as a partner
Train that Pokémon for about half a month
Participate in an evaluation battle
Rankings would be based on battle performance
The top ten students would receive extremely generous rewards.
The difficulty wasn't high—but the rewards were very tempting.
Emily had even emphasized one thing:
The higher the ranking, the better.
Best of all—take first place.
Hearing this, Geng Zhi finally let out a sigh of relief.
As long as it wasn't too hard, he still had hope.
Otherwise, he really would've been exposed on day one.
Once everyone had assembled, the counselor's voice rang out.
"Now then," Lou Yixiao said calmly,
"the entrance assessment is very simple."
"Each of you will receive one academy-issued Poké Ball from me."
"After that, you'll enter the forest and capture a Pokémon you feel compatible with."
"For the next half month, you'll focus on training that Pokémon."
"After fifteen days, the academy will hold an assessment battle."
"The top ten scorers will receive substantial rewards from the academy."
Her explanation was almost identical to what Emily had told Ethan.
But just as Lou Yixiao finished speaking—
A series of system notifications rang out in Ethan's mind.
[Ding! Red-tier Opportunity detected: Entrance Assessment — First Place]
[Please obtain the opportunity as soon as possible]
[Ding! One Green-tier Opportunity detected in the forest]
[Ding! One Blue-tier Opportunity detected in the forest]
[Ding! One Purple-tier Opportunity detected in the forest]
[Please enter the forest immediately to obtain the opportunities]
The sudden flood of notifications stunned Ethan for a moment.
Three opportunities… all inside the forest?
Surprised—but delighted—Ethan felt a surge of excitement.
These opportunities were all huge advantages for him.
Without hesitation, Ethan stepped forward, the first among the students.
"Teacher, I'm here to collect my Poké Ball."
Lou Yixiao smiled.
"The Poké Balls are over there. Take one yourself."
"And remember—be careful once you enter the forest."
"Wild Pokémon aren't as friendly as those raised by humans."
The wilderness was dangerous.
And wild Pokémon were far more aggressive than domesticated ones.
Some desperate Pokémon might even attack humans outright.
Of course, the academy wouldn't actually throw new students into real danger.
This forest area had already been carefully cleared and secured by academy guards.
As long as students didn't do anything reckless, they would be safe.
As for Ethan?
There wasn't a single Pokémon in this forest that could threaten him.
After all—
What kind of freshman casually carried a Metagross?
Taking the academy-issued Poké Ball, Ethan turned around.
Not wanting to fall behind, Geng Zhi quickly grabbed one as well and followed him.
The two stepped into the forest together.
The moment they entered the forest, Ethan released two Poké Balls.
"Come out—Marshtomp, Tyrunt."
With a flash of light, the two Pokémon appeared beside him.
"Marsh—tomp~"
"Ty—runt~"
Both Pokémon were very attached to Ethan.
Especially Tyrunt, who immediately stuck close to him.
Having just left his mother not long ago, the little guy clearly hadn't adapted yet—
especially in an unfamiliar environment like this.
Seeing the two Pokémon at Ethan's side, Geng Zhi blinked in surprise.
"Wait—Ethan, you already have two Pokémon?"
"And one of them is a Marshtomp…"
"So you're one of those people who hides their true strength, huh?"
Geng Zhi came from a wealthy family, so he naturally recognized Marshtomp.
It was one of the starter Pokémon—extremely rare.
A single one could cost over a million, and it was almost never seen in the wild.
He had always thought Ethan came from an ordinary family.
Turns out… that wasn't the case at all.
And what confused him even more was Tyrunt.
He had never seen that Pokémon before.
Ethan smiled lightly.
"They're just partners I met by chance."
"By the way, Geng Zhi—where's your Pokémon?"
Hearing that, Geng Zhi grinned.
"I was waiting for you to ask!"
He pulled out a Poké Ball of his own.
Unlike Ethan's custom ball, this one was a Luxury Ball—
black and gold, screaming rich kid from every angle.
"Come out—Fuecoco!"
A small red crocodile Pokémon appeared in a flash.
Fuecoco—a Fire-type starter Pokémon.
Like Marshtomp, it belonged to the starter trio.
However, Fuecoco wasn't native to the Donghuang Alliance.
It originated from the Paldea region, under the Bullfighting League of the Unicorn Coalition.
Don't let its goofy appearance fool you—
this little guy could spew scorching flames with ease.
"Well?" Geng Zhi said proudly.
"My Fuecoco isn't bad, right?"
Fuecoco's personality was very similar to Geng Zhi's—loud and confident.
The little Pokémon even copied Geng Zhi, placing its short arms on its hips,
as if asking, Aren't I awesome?
Ethan laughed.
"Yeah, it's really good."
But just as the two were chatting—
Tyrunt suddenly sniffed the air.
As if sensing something, he took off, sprinting toward one side of the forest.
A moment later—
"TYRUNT!"
A joyful cry echoed through the trees.
Ethan froze.
"Tyrunt?"
Realizing Tyrunt had disappeared, Ethan and Geng Zhi hurried after him.
After running several dozen meters, they finally spotted the little guy.
"Tyrunt, why did you suddenly run over here?"
Tyrunt grinned proudly and pointed with his claw toward a tree.
Ethan followed his gaze—
And his eyes immediately locked onto several yellow berries growing on the branches.
At that instant, the system notification sounded.
[Ding! Green-tier Opportunity discovered: Sand-Scale Berry]
[Please obtain it immediately]
Ethan's lips curled upward.
Looks like the forest had already started paying off.
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