Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

These are truly top students from a prestigious school!

Despite these feelings, Xia Chen's fighting spirit only intensified.

You grow by competing with experts; failure is always the best teacher.

The upperclassmen had a good impression of this famous junior who was very polite to them.

They rarely refuse when Xia Chen issues a challenge, especially the senior students.

Not only that, some of the senior students also enthusiastically trained with Xia Chen, teaching her their unique training methods.

Some things are useless to Xia Chen, while others are useful.

Xia Chen was like a highly absorbent sponge, frantically absorbing the wisdom of his senior classmates, learning from their strengths and combining them into a comprehensive understanding.

In the past two weeks, Xia Chen's training and development have become more systematic, and Senbu and Milos have also said that the improved training plan is much more efficient.

As for the senior students, although they always won more battles than they lost against Xia Chen, they did gain something from it.

Firstly, Xia Chen's occasional ingenious ideas during battles always provide them with some inspiration.

Secondly, Xia Chen is like the catfish in the catfish effect, spurring them to never slack off and to keep moving forward.

Every time I defeated Xia Chen, the thought that he was only a freshman would instantly wipe away the joy of victory, and I would become instantly emotional.

…………

In short, after a fulfilling summer break, the first day of school has finally arrived.

September 1st, a vibrant and energetic day.

This is also the day with the highest number of people on campus at Kyoto University throughout the year.

Xia Chen, who didn't have a rideable Pokémon, finally managed to squeeze into the large classroom of the Trainer's System.

All new trainers in the entire training line will report here and receive their items.

When Xia Chen arrived, the lecture hall, which could accommodate more than 300 people, was almost full.

I learned from Professor Lin Quan that the School of Trainers at Kyoto University admitted a total of 328 students this year.

The entire Trainer lineage, spanning all four grades, comprises approximately a thousand people.

It seems like a lot, but compared to the nearly 20,000 students at Kyoto University, it accounts for less than 10%.

The reason for this is that the admission requirements of Beijing University are very strict. This year's admission score even requires students to have a Pokémon that has reached the intermediate amateur level!

You should know that in the recruitment competition six months ago, many of the contestants' Pokémon were only amateur beginners.

There are more people in the fields of breeders and researchers, totaling more than three thousand.

The "Pokémon Battle and Research Academy," comprised of these three majors, is undoubtedly the largest college at Kyoto University.

The students who graduate from here will become the most outstanding elf-related professionals in the Donghuang region.

The school bell rang, and the teacher walked into the classroom.

Xia Chen snapped out of her thoughts and looked at the podium, only to find Lin Quan, the teacher who had been in charge of her communication these past few days.

On the podium, the rather young-looking teacher, Lin Quan, said, "From today onwards, your university life begins. I am your counselor, Lin Quan. If you have any questions about your studies or life, feel free to ask me."

Although Teacher Lin Quan's voice was indeed like the tinkling of a spring in the mountains, he was talking about the same old things, and soon Xia Chen was sleepy.

He returned to school a month early. While he might not have become a seasoned veteran, he was already very familiar with these campus survival rules, so there was really nothing good to hear about them.

Only the last sentence contained useful information.

"Finally, the intra-school ranking competition has begun. Those who reach the top fifty in points can participate in the school team selection competition."

Chapter 189 If you're from Donghuang, then say hello (Part 2)

The so-called intra-school ranking competition is a battle system set up by the school to encourage competition among students.

This system is not limited to students in the training family; nearly 20,000 students across the entire school can participate.

This is said to be Yu Chaohua's first major reform after taking office as principal, inspired by the ranking system of the Pokémon League, which he often played after retiring.

However, he didn't differentiate between bronze, silver, diamond, or king levels. There were only so many students participating, so there was no need for so many fancy distinctions.

Even so, the rewards at the end of each "season" are far more advanced and practical than any virtual borders in the game.

At the end of each semester, the school will credit points to students' campus cards based on their final rankings. These points can be used to purchase items in a designated points mall.

From ordinary Poké Balls and Power Cubes to rare Pokémon in the Kyoto University Nursery, everything can be redeemed using points.

Xia Chen browsed the points mall list and saw something like "Principal Yu's Weekly Guidance" at the very top.

Points required: 2000000; Number of redemptions:

Xia Chen was surprised. Such an expensive item could be redeemed sixteen times?

Two million points is a lot; the top player on the ladder at the end of the season only has one million points.

In other words, a single guidance from the principal requires being ranked first on the ladder for at least a whole year, or in the top five for two years, to barely redeem it.

The only item in the store more expensive than the one the principal instructed was a newborn baby Gilas whose parents were both Elite Four level.

Based on this calculation, the value of a single instance of guidance from a principal is at least tens of millions.

Is it expensive?

This is a matter of opinion. Some students with money don't lack Pokémon, but they lack guidance from top-tier trainers.

Therefore, those sixteen exchanges are not surprising.

But whether it's the principal's guidance or the quasi-god cub, it's all too far away for Xia Chen right now. Even if he dominates the ladder from the first semester of his freshman year, he still won't be able to redeem it until at least his sophomore year.

What's important to Xia Chen is getting into the Beijing University team through this route.

…………

As Teacher Lin Quan said, at the end of each month, the top fifty students in the "University Ladder" ranking are eligible to participate in the school team's challenge.

To be precise, it's a positional exchange match.

After all, there are only so many spots available for the school team; it's impossible to only have spots added and not any left.

The competition in the school team is so fierce, naturally because there are many benefits.

Monthly training subsidies in the form of scholarships, larger and more spacious dormitories with better training conditions, more resources allocated to training, a more competitive environment, and most importantly—

Joining the school team is the only way to participate in regional and even international competitions.

The Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition, which Xia Chen wanted to participate in, is held every year, and even Beijing University only has ten spots available.

These ten spots were naturally selected from the school teams with the highest level of competition.

Therefore, Xia Chen needs to meet the following prerequisites if he wants to participate in the Youth Trainer Competition held at the end of the year.

To join the school team before the end of the year, you must compete for one of the ten spots in the school team selection competition, and then stand out from the preliminary rounds to enter the main competition.

Get busy!

There's no rush to determine the school's rankings, as the start of the school year is still ongoing.

After explaining the important rules of school life, Teacher Lin Quan guided the students to start selecting courses on the school's app.

Graduation requirements for the Trainer Department at Kyoto University are simple: pass the senior trainer exam and complete a certain number of credits.

If you can meet these two conditions, no one will care if you stay in your dorm all day and never go out.

There are only a few main sources of academic credits: taking courses, ranking within the school, and winning honors in major competitions outside the school.

…………

Generally speaking, the more difficult the path, the more credits you can earn.

Xia Chen focused his academic credit goals on the latter two, namely, obtaining them through battles. Therefore, he didn't consider credits when choosing courses, but rather relied entirely on his interests.

After careful consideration, he chose the courses "Advanced Training of Psychic-type Pokémon" and "Advanced Training of Ghost-type Pokémon".

The latter goes without saying. Although there is the Dorambaruto breeding manual of Dante, that information is more targeted and does not take into account many aspects of Zoroa.

The former was chosen not only for Kirullian, but also for Xia Chen's own sake.

After all, he can now be considered a humanoid psychic-type spirit.

Apart from these two courses, Xia Chen didn't choose any others, and most of the other students did the same, only choosing courses related to their major and minor.

Those who can stand out from hundreds of thousands of new trainees in Donghuang and be admitted to Beijing University are all exceptionally talented individuals, and no one wants to be confined to the classroom.

After selecting their courses, the first class meeting on the first day of school was almost over, and the students dispersed to their respective places.

Some went to training together, some went to challenge each other to battles after just meeting, and many more, like Xia Chen, went alone to check out the legendary intra-school rankings.

Although Xia Chen is now a celebrity to some extent, not many people actually try to chat him up.

After returning to Donghuang, Xia Chen remained silent for several months, rarely appearing in public, and the buzz surrounding him gradually cooled down.

Walking on campus, apart from being a bit handsome, he was no different from any other student.

When Xia Chen arrived at the Beijing University Arena, he found it already packed with people.

…………

The ranking system set up by Yu Chaohua is very popular.

People are competitive, especially trainers.

Principal Yu grasped this psychology of the students and brought it to the forefront.

It not only effectively promotes the competitive level among students, but also serves as a fair and just channel for the allocation of public resources, and is also extremely fun.

Sure enough, on the first day of school, quite a few students have already come to "climb the ranks in the new season".

Inside the arena lobby.

Looking at the densely packed "Ladder Rankings" and "Featured Matches" information on the big screen, Xia Chen clicked his tongue in amazement.

Principal Yu really knows how to handle students' competitive spirit perfectly.

Seeing that more and more people were arriving, Xia Chen stopped looking around, took his student card, and walked to an empty machine to register.

"Welcome Xia Chen, student ID 20230001, to the ladder tournament. Since you have not participated in any competitions before, the first ten matches will be placement matches. After completing these ten matches, you will be able to find out your ranking. We wish you the best of luck."

Hey, there are placement matches? That's a great way to climb the ranks!