"Ye Chuan, come out here for a moment." Teacher Jiang looked at Ye Chuan.
Ye Chuan nodded, "Okay."
After Ye Chuan followed Teacher Jiang out of the classroom, the other students looked at each other in confusion:
"That's Ye Chuan? I didn't expect him to actually be in our class."
"Hey, hey, should we go invite him for a battle and see if his strength is as rumored?"
"Spare me, I got my face all bruised up by the teacher's Pokémon."
Coming to the hallway outside the classroom, Ye Chuan looked at Teacher Jiang in front of him and asked curiously, "Did you need something from me, Teacher?"
"Regarding the freshman representative's speech, have you prepared it yet?" Teacher Jiang asked.
So that's what it was about. Ye Chuan smiled slightly. "I've prepared a draft, more or less."
The freshman representative was usually the top student with the best entrance exam scores, representing the peak strength of the new students. Because it was a Silver Mountain High School tradition, Ye Chuan couldn't refuse and had honestly prepared a draft.
"Giving a speech in front of so many people, it's your first time, right?" Teacher Jiang asked.
"Yeah, the first time."
"Don't be nervous, just do your best." Teacher Jiang reached out and patted Ye Chuan's shoulder before turning and leaving.
"Surprisingly good temper?" Watching his departing figure, Ye Chuan thought to himself.
The assembly bell rang, and everyone began to line up to go to the gymnasium for the opening ceremony. For some reason, Ye Chuan felt that everyone's gaze was intentionally or unintentionally looking towards him. Looking closely, he found that his class really did have more girls than boys, about twenty-odd girls and seven or eight boys.
After arriving at the gymnasium, the class positions were arranged according to the area divisions. Soon, the opening ceremony began.
After the host and teachers gave a few speeches in turn, they quickly said, "Next, please welcome our principal to the stage to speak."
A man in his fifties with half-white hair walked onto the stage. Looking at the many students below, he smiled and said, "Relax, it's not like you're going to the execution ground. Why is everyone so serious?"
"Hey, hey, that student, why are you sleeping? I didn't say relax to the point of sleeping."
A few words caused many students below the stage to laugh.
"Alright, I won't say too much extra. Silver Mountain High School has always been people-oriented. Simply put, as long as you don't violate school rules, you have a great deal of freedom. You can strive to develop in the direction you like. After all, we teachers are just your guides, not your decision-makers." The principal smiled and said:
"Enjoy your youth at Silver Mountain High School. I hope that when you look back many years later, you can be proud of your alma mater."
After the principal finished speaking and stepped down, the host said:
"This year, our school has admitted a total of 210 students in the academic department and 83 students in the Pokémon department. Among them, Ye Chuan from the Pokémon department entered with a perfect score. As the freshman representative, please welcome him to the stage to give a speech."
Finally, it was his turn. Ye Chuan took a breath and got up to walk onto the stage.
Looking at the dense crowd of students looking over, Ye Chuan's fingers even started to feel a bit stiff. Feeling nervous was inevitable, after all, he had never experienced such a scene before. However, when he opened the draft he had prepared, a small note on top caught Ye Chuan's attention—
[Don't be nervous, just imagine they're all Pumpkaboos!]
As if sensing something, Ye Chuan looked up towards a spot below the stage. At this moment, a black-haired girl was clenching her fists, looking like she was cheering him on. Her lively eyes also shone with a unique light in the dense crowd.
Ye Chuan smiled slightly, feeling his body relax. He looked at the speech稿 and began to speak.
There weren't many words. A few minutes later, as Ye Chuan's voice fell, applause rang out below the stage. Some teachers, seeing Ye Chuan's calm and composed demeanor, all showed approving expressions.
After the opening ceremony ended, everyone returned to their respective classes.
"You spoke very well, Ye Chuan." Gu Qi came to Ye Chuan's desk and said with a grin.
"Thanks. After the opening ceremony, do we go straight to class or what?" Ye Chuan asked curiously. Judging by everyone's expressions, it didn't seem like they were about to start class.
Hearing Ye Chuan's question, Gu Qi took out his phone and looked at it. "I remember... there are no classes today, and we can have free activities until noon dismissal. Tomorrow is the official start of school."
"But today we can first go take a look at the various clubs. After all, how can high school life lack clubs?"
"Clubs, huh." Ye Chuan thought for a moment. He didn't seem to have any particular hobbies. Besides his interests, what he liked most was Pokémon. Maybe he should join a Pokémon-related club?
"How about we go check out the various clubs?" Gu Qi suggested.
"Okay." Ye Chuan also had this intention.
The two left the classroom and came to the bulletin board in the first-floor corridor, which was covered with recruitment posters for various clubs.
"Friends Club, GJ Club, Psychic Club, Light Music Club..." Ye Chuan looked around and found that there were no clubs related to Pokémon battles. They were all clubs that seemed a bit strange.
"That's only natural. There aren't many people in the Pokémon department at Silver Mountain High School. Most of them are from the academic department," Gu Qi explained.
"Plus, because every trainer's Pokémon are different, their training methods are also different. Forming a club to train Pokémon together isn't very reliable."
Ye Chuan nodded. "Is that so? What a pity. I was hoping to find some people to battle with."
"You don't need to join a club to find people to battle. The battle fields over at the schoolyard are never short of people. Want to go take a look?" Gu Qi said.
Ye Chuan shook his head. "Not today. Let's check out the clubs first."
"Oh right, do you want to go take a look at the Silver Mountain Guild?" Gu Qi suddenly's eyes lit up and he said.
"Silver Mountain, Guild?" Ye Chuan was taken aback.
"Follow me."
Under Gu Qi's lead, Ye Chuan arrived at a building. There were many people going in and out, and they were all students.
After entering, Ye Chuan found that it was a large exhibition hall. There was also a bulletin board next to it, covered with various requests.
"This is?" Ye Chuan showed a curious look.
"This is a special feature of Silver Mountain High School. The school will collect some requests from nearby residents for the Pokémon department students to do as trials. Look at this..."
Gu Qi said, picking up a request, "For example, this request is to solve the problem of Rattata infestation on a farm in the suburbs. After we complete it, we can get points as a reward from the school, which can be used to exchange for some prizes, similar to TM learning devices, Pokémon Berries, items, and things like that."
"That's interesting." Ye Chuan showed an interested expression after hearing this.