"If I say any more, it'll be a secret, so you should come explore it yourself in a few years," Yang Han said.
"Sure, I'm planning to take the Professional Trainer examination in my junior year of college, and maybe by then we can form a team and explore a secret location together."
Fang Yuan said with a grin, initially thinking the large secret realm soon to descend upon Su province had nothing to do with him.
But life is full of surprises. At first, merely trained as a reserve force for Su province's new generation of Trainers, Fang Yuan now had the qualifications to challenge for the status of a Professional Trainer.
The other new Trainers didn't know where to start their complaints.
"Junior year?" Yang Han and Zhuang Xin looked at Fang Yuan skeptically upon hearing his words.
Liu Le beside them also showed a look of surprise.
"Wait a minute... Junior year, that soon?" Liu Le exclaimed. It was the first time he had heard about Fang Yuan's plans...
Even though he knew Fang Yuan was already very strong, as a fellow Trainer from the same batch, Liu Le still felt a bit bitter.
He had just captured three Pokémon, with only Crabby being somewhat capable, while Fang Yuan... he was already starting to prepare to become a Professional Trainer?
Wasn't that just bullying? He had also spent a fair amount of money.
"The Professional Trainer examination is no joke!" After a moment, Yang Han said solemnly.
"You know the mortality rate of that examination, are you going to throw your life away?"
"Don't worry, I won't overestimate my abilities," Fang Yuan replied with a smile.
Before his junior year, he definitely had to experience the Professional Trainer examination at least once, regardless of whether he could pass.
Only by becoming a Professional Trainer would he qualify to participate in the selection for the World Sprite Alliance tournament... That's the threshold.
Was Fang Yuan serious?
Zhuang Xin wanted to say something but finally shook his head and said, "It seems that becoming an Official Researcher has broadened your horizons."
Common Trainers who became Professional Trainers in their senior year were a minority, even among the two famous schools. Zhuang Xin believed that Fang Yuan's bold claim came from his status as a Researcher.
With the title of Official Researcher, and at a place like Mo Da, Fang Yuan must have already encountered many secret locations and a considerable number of Professional Trainers.
No wonder Fang Yuan was ambitious.
Fang Yuan smiled... If these two knew that he had almost taken out a Master Level Trainer's secondary Pokémon a few days ago, they would surely be even more astonished.
Thump... Thump... Thump...
Liu Le, expressionless, rested his chubby cheeks on the table, trying to draw everyone's attention by clicking his teeth together.
He really shouldn't have come with Fang Yuan; he had completely lost his presence. Had Lin Jing decided to stay in school just to avoid Fang Yuan?
Looking at the plump Liu Le, Yang Han and Zhuang Xin couldn't help but smile wryly.
However... the topic quickly returned to Fang Yuan.
"Speaking of which, Brother Yang, are there any particularly special Trainers among the alumni who have returned this time?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Special Trainers?"
"Yeah, like Researchers. I've already decided to start forming my own research team, initially estimating 5 to 10 people. I was thinking, if there are any suitable senior brothers or sisters, I could go and talk with them..." Fang Yuan said, squinting his eyes.
The day when he would become a senior Researcher, have his own research institute, and lead a research team wasn't far off. Fang Yuan had to quickly pick out a batch of suitable team members now. Currently being a lone commander was seriously pitiful.
Alone... one can't explore secret locations.
"Not joining, but forming?" Yang Han stared at him.
"Uh…" Fang Yuan nodded.
Yang Han thought Fang Yuan must be drunk today. After a moment of thought, he shook his head; among the graduates from Pingcheng No.1 Middle School, there was no one suitable for joining a research team.
"No, there should be one," Zhuang Xin suddenly said. "It all depends on whether your research team needs that profession or not."
"What profession?" Fang Yuan asked.
Zhuang Xin answered, "Expert in esoteric scripts."
In some secret locations, there exist special inscriptions, especially in ancient ruins, most of which record various pieces of information.
Such information mostly pertains to Legendary Pokémon, and a small part accounts for the origins of these secret places.
The scripts found within these secret realms are strange and varied, mostly unlike any earthly language; a few resemble the English alphabet but are difficult to understand. In the past, Trainers could only rely on smart Pokémon that understood these inscriptions, but as time passed, scholars who specialized in studying these scripts emerged.
"Experts in the scripts of secret realms, huh…" Fang Yuan was taken aback.
In fact, Fang Yuan really wanted to complain—shouldn't the scripts in these secret realms be in Japanese?
Zhuang Xin's problem stumped Fang Yuan. Did his research team need an expert who could decrypt the scripts of secret realms?
He likely wouldn't have many chances to explore ruins of that sort, and even if he did, experts in esoteric scripts couldn't guarantee an understanding of every script—they seemed rather superfluous.
However, to say that this profession was useless was also an overstatement… In truth, much of the data on Legendary Pokémon was translated by these people.
"I need their contact information."
Even though such teammates might not be needed for now, Fang Yuan still got the contact information. There weren't many in this line of work; even if he couldn't recruit them into the research team, it was good to make a new friend and broaden his network.
Plus… Fang Yuan was quite interested in the origins of these secret realms; scholars of secret realm scripts might be those closest to the truth of their arrival.
Some secret realms, from what Fang Yuan could tell, had a layout and Pokémon habitats too similar to certain places in the Pokémon World.
The Cave Mystery that appeared on Tianxin Island bore a resemblance to the Stone Cave of Wudou Town in the Hoenn region.
Champion Mountain was once a secret realm too, and in Fang Yuan's view, its layout was indistinguishable from that of the Shinnoh Sky Crown Mountain.
What exactly was the relationship between secret realms and the Pokémon World?
These were not just what Fang Yuan wanted to figure out; the Pokémon Alliance was also keen to uncover the origins of the secret realms, which were clearly shards of another world. How and why did they come to Earth?
...
Fang Yuan and Liu Le didn't stay long with Yang Han and Zhuang Xin, the Professional Trainers; they had other duties for the school celebration.
After catching up with old friends, Fang Yuan and Liu Le left the classroom.
"Have you heard about the interactive battles at the end of the event? Are you interested in participating?" Liu Le nudged Fang Yuan and asked.
"No thanks…" Fang Yuan shook his head. After his experience at Champion Mountain, what his Pokémon lacked wasn't battle training but ample time to perfect their incomplete techniques. The only one who might need battling experience, Ugly Fish, wasn't yet suited for combat, so there wasn't much point in participating in alumni battles.
"What are your summer plans?" Fang Yuan asked.
"Uh, my dad signed me up for extra classes… um, to study at the dojo," Liu Le said, troubled.
"Okay then…" Fang Yuan laughed; contemplating, he thought he had a little over a month of summer left. He planned to use this time to travel to some special places to train his Pokémon. Compared to using training facilities, a gold-burning trip might bring greater improvements.
Who knows, he might even encounter some interesting people and Pokémon.