At noon, the students of Class 1, thoroughly exhausted from their morning lessons, simply ate their meals in the cafeteria. One by one, they quickly returned to their classroom and took naps while leaning back in their chairs.
Many of the boarding students were too tired to even make the trek back to their dormitories, so they simply lay down in the classroom. Before long, snores began echoing throughout Class 1's classroom.
David, however, was in no particular hurry. He ate his lunch at a leisurely pace alongside his two Pokémon. This was the first time Zorua and Riolu had eaten at the school, and they looked around with evident curiosity.
Clearly, they were quite fascinated by a place where so many people gathered to eat together.
To accommodate Pokémon dining alongside their Trainers, Imperial Capital No. 1 High School's cafeteria naturally had a dedicated Trainer dining area. However, it wasn't completely separated from the regular cafeteria by walls. Zorua was particularly interested in the sight of thousands of people eating together in one massive space.
Riolu, on the other hand, lost interest after just a few glances. Watching him sit upright and quietly await his meal, David couldn't help but notice that even though Riolu was still young, he already displayed glimpses of the dignified bearing expected of a future Aura user.
As a top-tier prestigious school, Imperial Capital No. 1 High School's cafeteria naturally offered far more than just passable food. All the dishes were prepared by professional chefs, and with substantial subsidies from the League, the meals were excellent quality and remarkably cost-effective.
Not only were the regular student meals outstanding, but the Pokémon meals were also carefully prepared by professional Pokémon nutritionists.
David ordered a Ghost-type meal set and a Fighting-type meal set for his two partners, then took out the pre-prepared high-grade Pokéblocks and sliced Salac Berries he had brought along.
With this combination, a nutritious meal was ready, and the two Pokémon ate with great satisfaction.
After lunch, David took his two Pokémon for a leisurely stroll around the school grounds. Zorua had accompanied David to the school several times before, but this was Riolu's first proper visit since hatching. In a way, the school could be considered half of Riolu's home!
After all, he had spent an unknown amount of time here during his Pokémon Egg stage, waiting to hatch.
So, taking advantage of the free time, David also brought Riolu to the breeding center to see the place where he had stayed before being born.
Leisurely time always seemed to pass quickly, and soon the afternoon classes were about to begin.
The teacher for the afternoon's Pokémon knowledge class was still the same instructor from last semester—there had been no change in assignment. At the very front of the classroom, a familiar figure was already standing at the podium.
The beautiful teacher standing at the podium with long, wine-red hair was named Vivian. She had been responsible for teaching Pokémon knowledge to Class 1 since their second year of high school.
Teacher Vivian looked remarkably young, as if she had graduated from university only recently. Because of her youthful beauty and gentle demeanor, she was extremely popular among the students. Especially after enduring the rigorous training under the demanding new Teacher Dominic during the morning session, the students of Class 1 felt an even greater sense of warmth and familiarity when they saw Vivian.
However, David's reason for paying close attention to her went beyond just her popularity. He had heard previously that Teacher Vivian was once a top student in the Pokémon Research major at Magic City University, and it was rumored that she had also minored in Pokémon Battle Studies.
According to the rumors, her battling strength was quite outstanding, but he didn't understand why she had ended up working as an ordinary Pokémon knowledge teacher at Imperial Capital No. 1 High School.
At the time, David had assumed it was merely gossip, but during the holidays, he had inadvertently confirmed this fact during a casual conversation with his older sister. So now, he paid even more attention to Teacher Vivian.
Speaking of which, he had never actually seen this teacher's Pokémon before. Since she was his older sister's senior and had earned her genuine praise, her strength must be considerable indeed. This made him very curious about what kind of Pokémon this teacher trained.
Just like this morning, he was also deeply interested in learning about the new Teacher Dominic's Pokémon team.
"It's been quite a holiday since we last met. Did you all miss me?"
Vivian checked the time and saw it was almost time for class to begin. Noticing that everyone seated below still looked thoroughly exhausted, she spoke with a lighthearted joke to brighten the atmosphere.
"Yes!" Everyone responded enthusiastically in unison, being very cooperative despite their fatigue.
"Really! I missed you all too."
"The new semester has officially begun, and now you're all third-year students. Since you've chosen the Trainer specialization, you must work hard and give it your all, understood?"
"Understood!"
"Alright then, let's begin today's class."
In this Pokémon knowledge session, Vivian taught about Pokémon Abilities.
During their second year of high school, basic content such as type matchups, type advantages and resistances, Pokémon natural habitats, and Pokémon behavioral patterns had already been covered in introductory lessons.
Now, for the first time, she was beginning to teach them about Pokémon Abilities in depth.
This should be considered an advanced course in Pokémon knowledge, as being able to effectively utilize Pokémon Abilities during battles already qualified someone as a competent Trainer.
Therefore, the school only introduced students to this more advanced content after they had officially chosen the Trainer specialization.
However, David found himself quite curious about something. In this Pokémon world, Pokémon had become incredibly common, and there were numerous excellent Pokémon Professors like Professor Oak, Professor Birch, and Professor Rowan conducting research.
Yet despite this wealth of knowledge and resources, not to mention being able to remember all the type matchups and resistances between different Pokémon types, why were there still so many people who couldn't even fully memorize the basic Pokémon type chart?
Let alone more advanced topics like the practical application of various Pokémon Abilities and Hidden Abilities in daily training routines and competitive battles.
Pokémon knowledge class was actually a general umbrella term. If broken down more specifically, it roughly included three main categories: Pokémon Battle Studies, which focused on type matchups, Ability application in combat situations, and Pokémon move analysis; Pokémon Research Studies, which focused on the ecological connection between Pokémon and their environments, the influence of Pokémon Abilities on ecosystems, Pokémon evolution mechanics, and the origins of different Pokémon species; and Pokémon Breeding Studies, which focused on Pokémon disease prevention and treatment, Pokémon physiological characteristics, Pokémon behavioral habits, and Pokémon food production methods.
Depending on which specialization the students had chosen, the depth and emphasis of explanation for each course category also varied significantly.
For Trainer majors like David and his classmates, the primary focus was naturally on Battle Studies, supplemented by practical Breeding Studies, with only a foundational level of understanding required for Research Studies.
As someone who had played Pokémon games extensively in his previous life, David's theoretical understanding of Pokémon Abilities was naturally incomparable to that of people native to this world. However, when Vivian began explaining Abilities in detail, he still listened with great attention and care.
After spending all these months in this world, he had already discovered that the real Pokémon world was far more complex and nuanced than the simplified game mechanics he remembered. So he wanted to see if there would be any significant differences in how Abilities functioned here.
Sure enough, after listening for a while, David was already very glad he had made that decision to pay close attention.
Since this was the first time Vivian was teaching about Abilities to this class, she used the most representative starter Pokémon as her primary examples.
Taking the three most common Abilities found among starter Pokémon—Overgrow, Torrent, and Blaze—as her examples, she explained that the effect of these three Abilities was that when a Pokémon's HP dropped to a certain critical threshold, they would automatically activate and significantly boost the power of moves corresponding to their respective types.
Many Trainers simply utilized this effect as a desperate last-resort comeback strategy during battles, but very few paid proper attention to the everyday practical role these Abilities played outside of combat.
Recent research had shown that Pokémon possessing these three Abilities demonstrated greater innate talent and affinity for their corresponding types. For example, a Squirtle with the Torrent Ability typically showed higher natural Water-type talent and potential than a Squirtle with the Rain Dish Ability.
Of course, in terms of environmental adaptability and recovery speed in rainy conditions, a Rain Dish Squirtle was decidedly more outstanding. In short, each Ability came with its own distinct advantages and strategic considerations.
Similar comparative examples included an Iron Fist Chimchar versus a Blaze Chimchar, or a Speed Boost Torchic versus a Blaze Torchic, and so forth.
This meant that if Trainers paid careful attention to this correlation during regular daily training sessions and made targeted adjustments to their training regimens accordingly, it could lead to significantly better overall training results and Pokémon development.