Jacob was unfazed by the sudden appearance of the task. Based on the system’s nature, such tasks typically offered excellent rewards. He needed to participate in the competition and achieve the best ranking possible. However, time was extremely limited—only half a year remained before the competition, which left him with precious little preparation time.

It’s worth noting that many trainers had been raising Pokémon since childhood, and their starter Pokémon may have already reached Lord-level or even Overlord-level combat power.

As for Jacob’s two Pokémon, Noibat was only at an ordinary level. Despite having the blessing of a Dragon Scale item and growing rapidly—nearly breaking through to the Rare level—its progress was still too slow. His Grovyle had just completed its evolution and was still consolidating its strength, remaining far from breaking through to the Elite level.

After the Elite level comes the Lord level. It would be difficult, if not impossible, for Grovyle to reach Lord level with normal training in just half a year. The minimum requirement of the mission was to reach the top four in the preliminaries—essentially the top four in Starlight City. This challenge wasn’t particularly daunting. Starlight City ranked last among the 18 cities in the entire Frosthollow Province, and the younger generation’s combat abilities were generally not impressive. Last year’s top four competitors mostly had Pokémon at Elite and Lord levels.

If Jacob’s Grovyle could break through to the Elite level, with its championship potential, there was a strong chance of making it into the top four. But the top four in the qualifiers wasn’t Jacob’s ultimate goal.

He aimed to reach the top two in the main competition, which dramatically increased the difficulty. The Pokémon of the top two trainers in Frosthollow Province over the past five years were all at Lord level, with occasional Overlord-level Pokémon making appearances.

Even with their incredible potential, his Noibat and Grovyle would need to reach at least Lord-level strength.

Lord level was non-negotiable!

Jacob spent the entire afternoon contemplating the competition, his study efficiency noticeably declining. By the time school ended, he still hadn’t formulated a viable strategy.

After afternoon classes, evening self-study sessions followed. However, since many students were preparing for the trainer examination, the management of evening self-study was quite relaxed. Students could go home to train their Pokémon independently or visit the gym or special training classes. Only students without Pokémon attended evening self-study in the classroom.

Previously, Jacob had been part of the evening self-study group, but he definitely wouldn’t continue studying in the classroom now. Two Pokémon were waiting for him at home. He packed his belongings and prepared to leave with Kyle.

The two had just exited the classroom when they encountered Amelia, who had also packed up and was about to head home. Jacob remembered that Amelia usually had to attend evening self-study classes, so he was curious about her absence today.

“Aren’t you going to evening self-study?” Jacob asked with a furrowed brow.

“No, I have to help my brother with the stall,” Amelia responded. It was time for setting up barbecue stalls in the evening, and Jeremy naturally couldn’t manage it alone, so she had to assist him. Hiring someone else would be an unnecessary expense that she was reluctant to incur.

Upon hearing Amelia’s response, Jacob frowned slightly and asked, “Which university are you planning to apply to, and what major do you intend to study?”

“My first choice is definitely Capital University, majoring in Pokémon Training or Nursing.” Discussing her future momentarily allowed Amelia to forget her family’s circumstances, her eyes filled with yearning. Her grades were excellent, similar to Jacob’s, so she might still secure admission to Capital University.

“You help your brother with the stall every day—can you really get into Capital University?” Jacob said bluntly. Despite Amelia’s outstanding grades, setting up the stall until one or two in the morning every night would not only hinder her studies but also affect her rest and class performance the following day.

“I’ll try my best,” Amelia’s face showed disappointment, but more determination, as she whispered, “And thank you for yesterday.”

“It was nothing,” Jacob waved dismissively. He believed that with Amelia’s grades, she had a chance to get into a good university. It would be unfortunate if her family circumstances held her back. With this in mind, Jacob couldn’t help but ask, “How much are your father’s medical expenses?”

“Not… not much money,” Amelia gritted her teeth, seemingly reluctant to discuss it.

“Just tell me,” Jacob insisted with a frown, raising his voice, which startled Amelia.

“The doctor said the surgery will cost three hundred thousand Pokédollars,” Amelia replied quietly, hanging her head and blushing, unable to meet Jacob’s gaze.

Three hundred thousand was not an overwhelming amount for many families who could scrape it together with determination, but for a family like Amelia’s, it represented an enormous sum.

“Alright, I understand,” Jacob responded, departing with Kyle without further comment.

…

When Jacob arrived home, the housekeeper had already prepared dinner.

His older brother was lounging on the sofa, doing nothing. Ever since stepping down as the Gym Leader of Olivine City, he stayed at home daily, essentially doing nothing except training his Pokémon.

“Jacob, you’re back,” his parents greeted him enthusiastically.

“Yeah,” Jacob placed his bag on the sofa. After greeting his parents, he went to check on his two Pokémon, Noibat and Grovyle. Well, Grovyle was already quite large. After feeding them some energy cubes, he returned to the table to eat.

“Dad, Mom,” Jacob said, “I have something I’d like to discuss with you.”

“What is it?” Rory had been in high spirits recently, his mood excellent. The construction and development of the Secret Realm was progressing smoothly, expected to be completed and operational within two months. At that point, it would provide a continuous source of income. Just looking at the Flame Secret Realm demonstrated that with the Xia family holding a 20% stake, the annual income would be absolutely extraordinary and unimaginable.

“I want to register for this year’s High School U19 Pokémon Contest.”

“That’s great—participating will help you gain experience for future Gym Leader ranking competitions,” Rory supported the idea without hesitation.

Jacob continued, “Dad, I want to reach the top four in the qualifiers, or even the top two in the main tournament.”

When Rory heard his youngest son’s words, the smile on his face froze. After a pause, he said, “You have great ambition. Dad supports you.”

Despite his words, Rory didn’t believe his son could achieve a top-two finish in the main tournament. The College Cup U19 Pokémon Tournament had been held for nearly 30 years, and only one trainer from Starlight City had ever reached the top two in the main tournament—and that was twenty years ago.

In the past twenty years, Starlight City hadn’t produced a single trainer who made it to the top two in the main competition. If this wasn’t his own son, Rory would likely have dismissed such talk as foolish daydreaming.

Zoe, standing nearby, rolled her eyes at Rory, then turned to Jacob and said, “Mom supports you. Young people should be ambitious. Don’t be like your dad. He always ranks last in every Gym competition. How embarrassing!”

“I’m at a disadvantage because of my type specialization. If I were a Dragon-type Gym Leader, you’d see a different ranking,” Rory protested.

“Mom and Dad, I’ve thought about this seriously,” Jacob quickly interrupted his parents, bringing the conversation back to the point. “I’m not joking. I’ve researched the information. To reach the top two in Frosthollow Province, all Pokémon must have at least Lord-level strength, and some competitors even have Overlord-level Pokémon.”

“I currently have two Pokémon. Noibat is at the Ordinary level, and Grovyle is at the Rare level. If I continue training them as I have been, there’s absolutely no chance of raising their strength to Lord level. There’s no hope of making it to the top two, so I want to either participate in special training or spend half a year training outdoors to elevate my Pokémon to Lord level.”

“Absolutely not!” Zoe immediately rejected her youngest son’s proposal. “You cannot go out training alone—it’s far too dangerous.”

Rory also refused directly: “You can’t go out to train. There are many people eyeing our Secret Realm shares. You can’t risk training alone out there.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep