c24: The Upcoming Trip
The calendar had turned to June. It had been more than a month since Chen Xiaoxiao officially acquired her Trainer license.
Although she longed to begin her journey immediately like the protagonists in stories, reality was more mundane her final high school courses remained unfinished. So she resisted the temptation. After all, a person ought to start things properly, and end them the same way. Closure mattered.
During this time, top academies like Beijing University and Shenzhen University had also sent representatives to recruit her. Their offers were polished, even reverent. But Chen Xiaoxiao remained calm. She never argued or debated just politely declined each time. She made it clear: she had no interest in entering university.
Eventually, word spread through unofficial channels leaks from regional testing offices and whispered reports from city league observers that Chen Xiaoxiao had already reached the threshold of an Elite-class Trainer. That news alone silenced all further invitations.
A sixteen-year-old Elite.
That was two years younger than the previous national record eighteen, set decades ago by an Indigo Plateau prodigy. Even the most prestigious universities in Huaxia struggled to graduate a single Elite-ranked student in any given year. And most Trainers still weren't Elite even by twenty-one. No academic institution could possibly offer anything that would attract someone like Chen Xiaoxiao now.
At that moment, inside Shencheng Pokémon High School, Class 1 of the fourth-year cohort:
The homeroom teacher stood at the podium, explaining college application procedures and admission quotas. But Chen Xiaoxiao sat by the window, completely disengaged. Since she had long decided not to apply to any school, her thoughts had already left the classroom.
Instead, she was quietly logged into the Huaxia Trainer Community via her Pokédex, casually browsing information feeds.
The Huaxia Trainer Community was an official, League-regulated BBS forum accessible only to licensed Trainers. Registration was done through Pokédex verification, and access levels were stratified by trainer class. The site included various sections: National Boards, Regional City Hubs, Trade Forums, Battle Logs, Equipment Reviews, and more.
Each Trainer could only enter sections equal to or below their certified rank.
But as an Elite Trainer, Chen Xiaoxiao had clearance to browse all levels—Novice, Intermediate, Advanced, and Elite-class.
She didn't head straight for the Elite section, however. Instead, she opened the National Primary Trainers Board first. With its low threshold—it required only a formal Trainer license it had the largest user base. Posts ranged from funny anecdotes and team-building tips to rare sightings and warnings. With so much activity, valuable intel occasionally surfaced there.
Today was the official graduation day for high schools across the country. The board was flooded with classic "first-time Trainer" posts ranging from bashful introductions to chaotic selfie threads.
One post with a high reply count caught her eye. It was titled:
"Looking for Travel Companions in Pearl River City New Trainer LFG (Pic Attached)"
The poster had uploaded a selfie he had slightly messy bangs, a confident smile, and stood with a Growlithe curled at his feet. Not bad-looking, Chen Xiaoxiao noted, slightly amused.
She scrolled down and read the replies:
Floor 1: "Is this my sofa?"
Floor 2: "Host looks decent. Maybe one-tenth as handsome as me."
Floor 3: "Landlord confirmed rich probably has a mine at home."
Floor 4: "Can a trap lead a travel group?"
Landlord replied to Floor 4: "GTFO, imposter!"
Floor 6 (Siloulou): "Don't mistake a trap for a mom!"
Landlord: "...."
Chen Xiaoxiao couldn't help chuckling softly. The humor was juvenile, but oddly endearing. She closed the thread and continued browsing for more serious content.
After a few more pages, a post caught her attention.
It wasn't flashy. No pictures. Just a plain thread titled:
"Strange Whisper in Shantou Forest Anyone Else Hear It?"
She opened it.
The post was written by a novice Trainer who had recently started his journey. He described traveling through the outskirts of Shantou City, entering a dense forest in search of a Pokémon he had been tracking likely a rare Bug or Grass-type native to the region.
But after chasing the wild Pokémon deeper into the woods, he became hopelessly lost.
The deeper areas of the Shantou forest were known to have poor reception there were no signal towers, and even Pokédex transmissions became spotty. Worse, the Trainer lacked a Flying-type Pokémon, so scouting or calling for help was impossible.
He was trapped for several days with no clear way out.
Then, just as despair was beginning to set in, he heard something strange a faint, lilting voice, like a child humming through the trees. The voice seemed to call his name and point a direction. Desperate and half-convinced it was a hallucination, he followed.
And somehow he emerged from the forest's edge an hour later, dazed but safe.
The post ended with a question:
"Has anyone else heard something like this in Shantou's forest area? Could it be a wild Kirlia? Or… something else?"
Chen Xiaoxiao's fingers froze on the screen.
A Kirlia?
Or perhaps...
Her eyes narrowed. That region was not known for having any Ralts-line families. But Shantou's forests had long been rumored in folklore to contain migratory Psychic-types during lunar alignment phases.
Could it have been a Tapu Lele fragment?
She saved the post to her notes.
It seemed her journey might start sooner than she thought.
Scrolling down, Chen Xiaoxiao read the replies with mild amusement. Some users claimed the original poster had encountered a ghost, others joked that it was one of life's "Four Great Illusions," and a few suggested it might be a kind-hearted Ghost-type Pokémon. But Chen Xiaoxiao's eyes sharpened with insight.
"Ghost-types can't produce structured human speech. This wasn't mimicry it was telepathy," she thought, frowning slightly. "Except for certain legendary Pokémon and species like Noivern using echolocation, almost all telepathy-capable Pokémon belong to the Psychic-type family."
She paused, then murmured in her heart, "Given the location Shantou City—there's a high probability of encountering migratory Psychic-types. It's also not far from Shencheng. This might make a perfect first destination for my journey."
Quietly, with resolve forming in her chest, Chen Xiaoxiao made her decision.
At that very moment, a round of applause broke out in the classroom, snapping her from her thoughts. She looked up and saw that the teacher was congratulating two students on the podium. They were being recognized for academic excellence and having received special admissions offers from prestigious universities.
One of them was her own deskmate, roommate, and closest friend He Xiaowen. She had earned a special recommendation from Shenzhen University.
Although He Xiaowen had reached the Elite Trainer level already, she came from a modest, working-class background. Her father, He Yong, a retired League officer, preferred that she pursue further education to solidify her future.
Despite her humble origins, He Xiaowen had another edge she was the daughter of one of Huaxia Region's current Elite Four members, a politically neutral and respected figure in the League. Naturally, this made her a hot target for university recruiters. Add to that her excellent theoretical scores and leadership in school events, and her admission was both a reward and a formality.
Why not Huaqing University or Beijing University? Though those were the top two overall in the nation, they were both inland institutions. Shenzhen University, however, had the strongest Water-type specialization curriculum in Huaxia. Given that He Xiaowen's main team leaned toward Water-types, her choice had been a strategic one.
The second student being praised was Ma Jun, nephew of the well-known entrepreneur known online as "Brother Penguin."
Ma Jun's theoretical scores were slightly below Chen Xiaoxiao's and He Xiaowen's, but he consistently ranked first in school Pokémon battles and internal trainer evaluations. That was, of course, only because Chen Xiaoxiao never participated. Even He Xiaowen had abstained, seeing that Chen Xiaoxiao wasn't competing.
In truth, not every student at Pokémon High School aspired to be a combat trainer. Some aimed to be Pokémon Breeders, others Researchers, and some even wanted to become Coordinators or Judges. Many of them never underwent combat testing or strength assessments, and Chen Xiaoxiao and He Xiaowen belonged to this quietly exceptional minority.
Yet Ma Jun, despite the praise, wore no joy on his face. As his classmates clapped, a bitter feeling churned in his heart.
The Penguin Group, one of the largest private investors in the Huaxia League, naturally had connections. Through their channels in Shencheng's public administration, they had caught wind of a certain sixteen-year-old who had quietly passed the Elite-level assessment. That person was none other than Chen Xiaoxiao Ma Jun's classmate.
When Ma Jun's uncle learned of it, he had casually asked, "That girl Chen Xiaoxiao, isn't she in your class?"
That's when Ma Jun first realized the truth.
"What... is this?"
Ma Jun asked himself silently.
He had always been the pride of his class. The teachers praised him. He had topped the Pokémon battle tournaments. He'd even been touted as "Shencheng's Number One Trainer of His Generation." And he used to believe it.
But reality had delivered a sharp slap across the face.
He turned to glance at Chen Xiaoxiao's seat.
There she was—calmly scrolling through her Pokédex, completely uninterested in the classroom applause.
"What... is this?" he asked himself again.
"Is this what contempt looks like? Or... is it just that what I've always valued was never even worth her attention?"
He clenched his fists under the desk.
The thought stung. But strangely, it didn't fill him with anger. Instead, Ma Jun felt something within him shift. The pride and arrogance he had always clung to began to crumble. And in their place, something cleaner settled—a strange humility. A kind of liberation.
He felt, for the first time, like his soul had been purified.
But of course, Chen Xiaoxiao had no interest in Ma Jun's internal monologue.
To her, this was just a routine end to a routine chapter of life. She tapped her Pokédex again, eyes half-lidded.
"All I want," she thought, "is for this boring graduation ceremony to be over."
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