Chapter Twenty-Eight: Admitted to the School of Animal Husbandry

Today was the day of the school’s entrance examination. Early in the morning, Cheng Cheng arrived at the assessment site, which was located within the Pokémon Breeder School itself.

When Cheng Cheng got there, the grounds were already filled with people—by his estimate, there were several thousand candidates, giving the event the atmosphere of an academic entrance exam. This time, the school would only accept a hundred students, making the elimination rate quite high. Still, Cheng Cheng was confident. After all, his knowledge of Pokémon was extensive, and he had spent a considerable amount of time caring for them, accumulating valuable experience.

First, at the entrance, each candidate’s identity was checked. Participation was restricted to those who had previously registered and were officially on record. Unsurprisingly, a few imposters were caught trying to slip in.

Once identities were confirmed, everyone entered separate rooms, which they could choose themselves. The first phase was a written exam. Cheng Cheng quickly completed all the questions, overcoming a few minor difficulties but managing to finish in time.

The second phase tested their ability to identify various Pokémon-related items, such as berries and evolutionary stones. With the aid of his system, Cheng Cheng nearly achieved a perfect score, though the results were not immediately available.

Cheng Cheng then proceeded to the third phase—the interview. During this stage, the examiners posed several questions, most revolving around how to interact with and care for Pokémon. Cheng Cheng answered these with ease. However, one particular question gave him trouble, similar to a question he had faced during the written exam. It concerned the specific methods for caring for a certain kind of Pokémon. While these Pokémon were all quite common, they weren’t Psychic-types, so Cheng Cheng had little direct experience with them and could only provide general answers. He wasn’t sure how many points he would earn for those responses.

With all three exams complete, Cheng Cheng left the school and returned to the Pokémon Center, where he would simply wait for news.

In the following days, Cheng Cheng had little to occupy him. He transferred his previous Pokémon over and had them begin training, mindful of the three-month task he still needed to complete. Nearly a month had already passed, and he had yet to start nurturing his Pokémon.

On the seventh day after the assessment, Cheng Cheng received his acceptance notice. He had successfully entered Mauville City’s top breeder school, placing seventh from the bottom.

The very next morning, Cheng Cheng reported to the school. The breeder school operated on a fully residential, closed-campus basis, neatly resolving his accommodation issues.

This year, the school admitted 100 students, divided into three classes. One class housed the top 20 scorers, while the remaining 80 students were split between the other two classes. Cheng Cheng was placed in one of the 40-student classes.

He first went to his dormitory. Each room was spacious, containing four beds, a balcony, and a bathroom. Cheng Cheng would now be sharing this space with three others, who, he presumed, would all be male.

He was the first to arrive, and finding the room somewhat untidy, decided to clean up a bit. Unfortunately, he hadn’t brought his Super Broom, which would have made things much easier.

He delegated the task to his Mr. Mime. Originally, he’d thought only Ash’s Mr. Mime enjoyed doing housework, but it seemed his own shared the same passion. Perhaps it was a common trait among Mr. Mime. Thus, Cheng Cheng left the cleaning in its capable hands.

After a while, his roommates arrived, shattering his brief solitude. They exchanged polite introductions. When his roommates saw Mr. Mime, they were all rather astonished. While they each owned Pokémon, Mr. Mime, being native to Kanto, was exceedingly rare in the Hoenn region.

Two days later, the breeder school officially began. Cheng Cheng entered his classroom and chose a seat. The room gradually filled up. His desk-mate was an unremarkable-looking boy, seemingly younger than himself—Cheng Cheng suspected he might be the oldest student in the school.

Soon, a tall woman entered from outside, clearly the teacher.

“Hello, everyone. I am your instructor and advisor. My name is Hanako Haneda. Welcome to the Breeder School. Our school is the finest in Mauville City and among the best in all of Hoenn. Each year, we admit only a hundred students, and graduation requires passing the Junior Pokémon Breeder examination within three years. Every year, a dozen or two students fail to graduate, so I hope you’ll all study diligently.

“Now, let me introduce the subjects you’ll be studying. First is the Pokémon Encyclopedia. While you’re not required to memorize it in its entirety, you must be able to recite the characteristics of any Pokémon I mention. I’ll be teaching this course.

“In addition to the Pokémon Encyclopedia, there are six other courses: Pokémon Nutrition and Pokéblock Preparation, Pokémon Disease Treatment, Daily Pokémon Management, Pokémon Appearance and Personality Development, Pokémon Battle Studies, and Pokémon Communication. Seven courses in total.”

Cheng Cheng’s head spun at the thought of seven subjects—it was almost as if he were back in high school. Some of the courses seemed unnecessary to him, especially the Pokémon Encyclopedia. With his system, he could instantly access more data than the encyclopedia itself contained.

“Excuse me, teacher,” Cheng Cheng raised his hand.

“Yes, do you have a question?”

“I’d like to ask, how many subjects are there in the Junior Pokémon Breeder examination?”

“The exam covers the same seven subjects I just mentioned. To earn the Junior Pokémon Breeder qualification, you must score at least 70 in each subject. A score below that in any subject, and you fail.”

Hearing this, Cheng Cheng’s face darkened and his brow furrowed. He’d never intended to memorize the entire Pokémon Encyclopedia—it would take at least a year or two just to do that. Other than Pokémon Nutrition and Pokéblock Preparation, and perhaps Battle Studies, he had little confidence in passing the rest. Achieving his goal of becoming a Junior Pokémon Breeder quickly seemed daunting.

“Teacher, aside from scoring seventy in every subject, is there any other way to become a Junior Pokémon Breeder?”

“Well, there is another method, though I don’t recommend it. If you score above ninety in four of the seven subjects, you can also qualify.”

Above ninety in four subjects? Cheng Cheng considered carefully. With his system, he should be able to score above ninety in the Pokémon Encyclopedia. As for Nutrition and Pokéblock Preparation, he was already proficient, especially when it came to food for Psychic-type Pokémon. He was also confident in Battle Studies—he had, after all, battled with ancient Legendary Pokémon.

That left one more subject. Which to choose? Pokémon Communication, perhaps. Although he didn’t understand Pokémon language, he did possess psychic powers. He’d previously managed to communicate with Lunatone and the Red Gyarados without issue. Given time, his psychic abilities might improve further, making communication with Pokémon entirely feasible.

Thus, Cheng Cheng decided to pursue the second path: scoring above ninety in four subjects.

“All right, everyone, let’s begin our first lesson. We’ll start with the Pokémon of the Hoenn region. Today, we’ll cover Pokémon numbers 001 to 003: Treecko, Grovyle, and Sceptile…”

Treecko and its evolutions—Cheng Cheng was very familiar with them. He recalled the time he’d been lost in the forest and was attacked by a group of Treecko, who eventually became his friends. He wondered how they were doing now.

Cheng Cheng had no intention of listening to the Pokémon Encyclopedia lesson. He closed his eyes and began to meditate, focusing on enhancing his psychic abilities.

Improving one’s psychic power was a difficult endeavor, especially for someone like Cheng Cheng, who had only begun training as an adult. Fortunately, he had the Mind Gem given to him by Slowking, which aided his progress considerably.

And so, Cheng Cheng’s journey as a breeder student began.