The moment they received their Poké Balls from Su Bai, Liu Yunlan and Murong Nan eagerly released their Pokémon once again.
As Chimchar reappeared full of life, bouncing and chirping energetically, Liu Yunlan scooped it up into her arms with a look of amazement.
"It's really healed already?!"
"That's incredible!"
"So Pokémon battles do increase experience without any cost? You weren't kidding?"
Murong Nan also reached out to gently touch Piplup's smooth, round body. The scratches left behind by Chimchar's earlier attacks had vanished completely, as if they were never there.
Su Bai smiled and nodded.
"That's right. Exactly as I said."
"So if your Pokémon ever gets hurt, just bring it back to me."
"First treatment's free—after that though, there's a fee.
Although the system of the Pokémon House hadn't actually set any pricing for Pokémon treatments, Su Bai saw no reason not to turn a profit. After all...
Who doesn't like a bit of extra cash, right?
Liu Yunlan rolled her eyes dramatically, but Murong Nan suddenly frowned as a thought crossed her mind.
"That's fine if we're in town, but what if we're out on an adventure and our Pokémon gets injured?"
"Can they use the same medical items as humans?"
Even though they hadn't graduated yet, as Awakened individuals, they were sometimes sent to clean up low-level feral beasts. If Piplup got hurt out in the field, not only would they lose a combat asset, but it would have to suffer in that injured state until they returned?
Liu Yunlan's eyes widened as she echoed the concern.
"Right! And what do Pokémon eat, anyway?"
"Can they eat human food?"
Seeing their flustered expressions, Su Bai put on a warm, very businesslike smile. He handed them their Pokédex devices and said:
"Healing sprays, status-curing potions, and Pokémon-specific nutritional supplements—ever heard of PokéBlocks?"
______________________________________
Later, in a dorm room at Haicheng No.1 High School…
Inside one of the girls' dorms, two beautiful young women, wrapped in towels after showering, were sitting cross-legged and chatting on their beds.
Liu Yunlan carefully held a PokéBlock in her hand, feeding it to Chimchar bit by bit.
"Seriously, not only are the Pokémon expensive… even the stuff they eat is pricey."
"Who would've thought Su Bai had such shady merchant potential?"
"You'd think—"
Before she could finish, Murong Nan swiftly stuffed a handful of snacks into her mouth, her cheeks flushing red.
"You talk too much! Stuff that chatter with food for once!"
Liu Yunlan chewed the snacks reluctantly, gulped them down, and then chuckled.
"Whatever. Honestly, this isn't so bad."
"I just didn't expect Su Bai to be selling such magical creatures."
"These little guys are way stronger than any normal contract beast!"
"Right, Chimchar?"
Chimchar was still happily munching its PokéBlock. At the sound of its name, it raised its tiny fists and flexed with a proud expression.
The two girls immediately burst into laughter.
Murong Nan gently cradled Piplup in her arms, running her fingers through its silky feathers.
"Still, raising Pokémon properly is going to be more complicated than I thought."
"All this talk about effort values and individual values—it's kind of overwhelming."
"Effort values… those are based on which attributes you focus on strengthening, right?"
"For Piplup, I think I'll focus on Special Attack, since it's a ranged attacker."
"Su Bai mentioned that your Chimchar is a dual-type—strong in both Physical Attack and Special Attack. Have you decided on a training path?"
Earlier, when they purchased healing sprays and PokéBlocks, Su Bai had taken the time to explain the different stats and growth mechanics.
And rightly so—because for Awakened individuals, a battle-ready Pokémon wasn't just a pet.
It was a vital piece of their combat power.
Even in their baby forms, these Pokémon were already impressively destructive.
And according to Su Bai, they could evolve—potentially becoming as powerful as B-rank or even A-rank Awakened!
That would be incredible!
Faced with such an important decision, Liu Yunlan—for once—grew serious.
She nodded thoughtfully.
"Even though Chimchar lost in today's match, I saw how much of a speed advantage it had."
"So I'm thinking of focusing on Physical Attack and Speed."
"That way, it might even turn the tables in type-disadvantaged battles."
Murong Nan agreed.
"That makes sense. You're a Swordsman-class, so physical combat training is your strength anyway."
Liu Yunlan clapped her hands.
"Alright then, it's settled!"
She hugged Chimchar tight and whispered to it fondly:
"Chimchar, when the evaluation test comes in a few days… you're going to blow everyone's minds!"
"Maybe we'll even move up in the rankings!"
Even though Haicheng No.1 High School charged exorbitant tuition, it also poured resources into cultivating elite students.
The ultimate goal of training Awakened was to resist the Death Beasts and reclaim humanity's lost territory.
This was a mission of survival—one that spanned generations.
And for students who ranked highly, the school offered immense rewards.
Some of those resources were so rare that even wealthy families couldn't get their hands on them.
Which meant even the children of powerful clans were obsessed with moving up the ranks.
Not just to uphold family pride…
But to ensure their own future as well.
Liu Yunlan and Murong Nan were currently ranked 15th and 13th, respectively.
That wasn't bad at all.
It was also worth noting that using contract beasts—or now, Pokémon—didn't disqualify students from ranking.
After all, in this world, it didn't matter whether a cat was black or white—
As long as it caught rats, it was a good cat.
Combat effectiveness was all that mattered.
The only catch?
If your contract beast went rogue… you'd better be ready to bear the consequences.