Pokemon School

"Your dad was an incredibly brave man. Back in the day, on the battlefield, he risked his life deep behind enemy lines to save a group of captured soldiers."

"They managed to rescue the people, but he never made it out of there, and I was one of those soldiers."

Gus sighed softly and continued, "It's also a way to repay the debt of his life-saving grace. After his death, I found your mom. At that time, Flower hadn't been born yet."

"After hearing the news of your dad's sacrifice, your mom was overwhelmed with grief and passed away shortly after giving birth to Flower."

The subsequent events were easy to imagine.

Gus couldn't bear to see two children who had just lost their parents being sent to an orphanage, so he bit the bullet and adopted them as their uncle.

From the Kanto region to the Hoenn region.

From a young man in his twenties to the middle-aged uncle he was today.

Chen Yue wasn't the real person, so he couldn't fully empathize, but he couldn't help feeling regretful for Gus.

The reason he wanted to clarify this identity was merely to increase his exploration level for the instance, in order to boost the rewards at the settlement.

Although Flower didn't quite understand the meaning behind these words, it didn't stop her from sensing Gus's sadness. So, she comforted him, saying, "Uncle Gus, it's okay, don't be sad!"

Gus smiled and ruffled Flower's head, saying, "Uncle is not sad, Uncle is just feeling that time passes too quickly."

Suddenly, the atmosphere became quiet.

After a while, Gus looked at Chen Yue and said, "So, how about it? Do you want to go to Pokemon School for further studies? I heard from Peter about your recent achievements. You single-handedly defeated all the rookie trainers this year; that's impressive!"

Chen Yue pretended to contemplate but actually glanced at his points panel.

Over the past few days, the number of points he had gained from the rookies had reached 308, still far from 999.

After some thought, Chen Yue asked, "Where is the school located?"

"Slateport City. The Pokemon School is starting in half a month. If you decide now, I'll go ahead and book the S.S. Ticket to get there," Gus replied.

Half a month...

Should be enough!

Chen Yue decisively agreed, "Alright, thank you so much, Uncle Gus."

"Thank you, Uncle Gus!" Flower chimed in.

This rough man, Gus, heard two children speak to him in such a manner for the first time, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable all over. He rubbed his nose, gave a nod, and said, "Well, let's go with this decision for now. You two should get some rest. I'll go back and make arrangements for what you'll need at the school!"

...

The next day.

Chen Yue and Peter stood together on Route 101.

All the rookies who were planning to train on Routes 102 and 103 were stopped by Peter.

Chen Yue looked at them and asked, "How much did you earn in Poke Dollars yesterday?"

The rookies replied naively, "Not much. The kid over there in shorts is too stingy. He only gives out a hundred Poke Dollars for a win."

Chen Yue nodded and said, "In that case, I'll collect a hundred from each of you."

With that, he took out a Poke Ball, and a large green bird appeared in a bright flash of white light, spreading its wings and hovering beside Chen Yue.

The rookies were dumbfounded and asked, "Big bro, what are you doing?"

"It's simple, I'm here to make money!" Chen Yue replied innocently.

After two days of battles, most of the rookies' Pokemon had reached around level twenty, making them formidable in a beginner's town like Littleroot. However, they still couldn't overcome the hurdle that was Chen Yue.

In just one morning, dozens of rookie trainers were rotated back to Professor Birch's research lab, and the Poke Dollars they had earned the day before were instantly drained.

Several girls burst into tears, feeling wronged.

Chen Yue acted as if he hadn't seen anything.

By noon, his points had soared to 438.

Chen Yue glanced at the rookies and said, "Alright, I'll give you half a day off. We'll continue tomorrow morning!"

At that moment, this group of players finally realized that they had been treated like cash cows.

Some of them stood up in anger and accused, "You've gone too far! We're all players, how can you do this?"

Chen Yue raised an eyebrow and said seriously, "I kindly helped you level up so that you can later experience the satisfaction of an injury-free Gym challenge. I didn't expect you to think of me this way."

"Besides, haven't I been too excessive? If I really wanted to harm you, I could have just blocked your path, drained your Poke Dollars, and made you fail your mission."

Upon hearing this, the group fell silent.

They thought about Chen Yue's actions over the past two days.

Despite the intense training he put them through, they also learned a lot during battles and gained valuable information about the Infinity Space and dungeons from him.

"Actually, when you think about it, the big guy has been quite good to us," one player said, looking at his level 26 Swellow.

Another player nodded in agreement, "Yeah, I think the big guy must have his reasons. He didn't really need to waste time on us rookies."

"And blocking our path is probably his Main Quest. Nobody wants to fail their Main Quest, right? In different circumstances, he has done enough for us."

In the minds of these rookies, Chen Yue's image suddenly became more rounded.

Oh! So, the big guy is a reserved but kind-hearted, not good at expressing himself, and very strict person!

Chen Yue, who had been listening to the whole conversation, couldn't help but think:...

It had to be said that the imagination of these players was truly impressive.

***

In the following days, this group of rookies lived a life of pain and joy in Littleroot Town, the beginner's village.

Some lucky players even received special hidden missions.

This kind of life continued for half a month.

During this time, Littleroot Town and the surrounding maps near Oldale Town were completely plundered by the players who were as aggressive as wolves. Even the Youngster was chased away several times.

Chen Yue glanced at the extra points on the scoreboard, which had soared to 1082.

Very satisfied, he said to the group of rookies in front of him, "Come on!"

The enthusiastic players were eager to try.

However, after just one battle, they looked at the Mimikyu lying on the ground, clearly pretending to be "Unable to battle," and were stunned.

The victorious player had an unbelieving expression on his face. "Did I pass?"

Chen Yue cleared his throat and said, "Alright, young man, get ready to start a new journey!"

Actually, what he wanted to say was, "Move aside, next!"

The first player to pass had teary eyes. "Big guy, I can't bear to leave you. Can we meet again in the future?"

Chen Yue: ... He had strong suspicions that these guys were addicted to being tortured.

And so, this group of newcomers who had set foot in the Pokemon world for the first time left the city that they both loved and hated.

With their now highly trained Pokemon, they headed to Rustboro City to challenge their first Gym in the Pokemon world.