In Locke, beast taming begins with a black pot.

"The Awakening Ritual officially begins!"

"First item: Contract Spirit Detection!"

"Please come up to the stage in class order and summon your Pokémon so that the official inspectors can register them!"

As soon as the words were spoken, four inspectors dressed in black uniforms with the official Beastmaster Association badge embroidered on their chests walked onto the stage, holding the latest model of Pokémon detectors, their expressions serious.

The entire playground fell silent instantly.

All eyes were on the podium.

The world's diversity was on full display at this moment.

Some people standing here have already secured a bright and smooth future.

Some people stand here simply to complete the final act of their lives.

"Class 1, Grade 12, first one, Li Mengmeng!"

A girl with a ponytail jogged onto the stage, nervously took out a Gulu Ball, and summoned a small white Rattata.

"drop……"

The detector's beam swept across.

【Pokémon: Rattata】

[Type: Normal]

[Quality: White]

[Level: 1]

[Test Result: Grade D]

Li Mengmeng, head down, holding the test report, ran off the stage with a blush on her face.

There was no discussion around.

Too ordinary.

It's so ordinary, like roadside weeds, that no one would give it a second glance.

The next few dozen people were mostly white-quality elves, and their test results were all D-grade.

Occasionally, one or two green-quality ones might elicit a small gasp and be rated as grade C.

"Next up, Wang Lei!"

Fatty Wang took a deep breath, his hands gripping the ball sweating profusely.

He turned to look at Chen Xun, his voice trembling, "Brother Xun, I'm nervous."

"What's there to be nervous about?"

Chen Xun patted him on the shoulder: "At worst, we can just stew it and eat it. Lazy white-haired man's stewed mushrooms, very nourishing."

Fatty Wang: "..."

He gritted his teeth, walked onto the stage, and threw the ball.

A flash of white light appeared, and a fluffy, white-haired lazy man appeared on the stage. He yawned, collapsed to the ground with a thud, and fell asleep on the spot.

The entire audience: "..."

The inspector's lips twitched, and he raised the detector.

"drop……"

[Elf: White-haired Lazy Person]

[Type: Normal]

[Quality: Green]

[Level: 1]

【Characteristic: Lazy】

[Test Result: Grade B]

……

Holy crap! Green quality!

"Wang Pangzi is pretty good! He's only B-level!"

"I'm so envious! A B-level graduation is enough to get a job in a state-owned enterprise!"

……

Fatty Wang's face flushed with excitement. He scooped up the still-sleeping white-haired lazybones, trotted off the stage, rushed to Chen Xun, and almost burst into tears:

"Brother Xun! I'm a B-rank now, I don't have to do manual labor anymore!"

"Next up, Zhao Yuxuan!"

Upon hearing this name, the entire audience fell silent instantly.

All eyes were on Zhao Yuxuan.

Zhao Yuxuan straightened his collar, walked onto the stage with his head held high, and looked as if he were there to receive an award, not for an inspection.

He slowly took out the blue Gulu Ball, waved it at the audience, and then tossed it gently.

A flash of blue light appeared, and a blue aquamarine appeared on the stage, blowing a bubble. It looked very cute.

"drop……"

The detector's beam swept across, emitting a sharp beep.

【Sprite: Water Blue】

【属性：water type】

[Quality: Blue]

[Level: 2]

【Characteristic: Torrent】

[Test Result: Grade A]

……

The entire venue erupted in chaos!

"Blue quality! It really is blue quality!"

"The first Grade A rating in the entire Jiangcheng this year!"

"Brother Xuan is awesome! He truly is the chosen one!"

……

On the podium, the principal smiled broadly and nodded repeatedly.

Even Yang Chao, who had been expressionless the whole time, glanced at Shui Lanlan and nodded slightly.

Zhao Yuxuan's smile grew even more smug. He put away Shui Lanlan and deliberately glanced in Chen Xun's direction.

see it?

This is the difference between you and me.

You'll never catch up to him in your entire life.

Chen Xun looked away expressionlessly.

That's it?

Is a single-attribute blue aquamarine worth showing off like this?

I'll show you what a dual-attribute ceiling really is in a bit.

"Next up, Chen Xun!"

It was finally his turn.

The entire room fell silent instantly.

All eyes turned to Chen Xun, some with sympathy, some with mockery, and some with schadenfreude.

"Finally, it's Chen Xun's turn. I'm curious to see what kind of spirit he can come up with."

"What else could it be? Probably a white-quality Rattata."

"I heard he can't even afford a Pokémon egg; maybe he picked up a dead egg and hatched it."

……

Zhao Yuxuan crossed his arms, a smirk playing on his lips as he watched the spectacle unfold.

He couldn't wait to see Chen Xun make a fool of himself.

Chen Xun slowly walked through the crowd and onto the stage.

He pulled a purple premium gulu ball from his pocket and tossed it casually.

A flash of black light.

A dark, black clay pot was placed steadily on the table.

The pot has a round body, two small handles, and a lid that gleams with an oily sheen in the sunlight.

The entire venue was deathly silent.

Three seconds later.

The burst of laughter literally blew the roof off the playground!

"Hahaha! Am I seeing things? A pot?"

"What kind of spirit is this? I've never seen one before!"

"Others tame beasts, he tames pots; others fight, he cooks! Is he a special recruit from New Oriental?"

"This is hilarious! A blue-quality Aquamarine versus a black pot? I can already tell how it will end."

"Graduating and going straight to Lanxiang Vocational School to learn culinary arts—that's a bright future!"

……

Zhao Yuxuan laughed so hard he almost cried: "I thought you could bring out something good, but it's just a broken pot? Chen Xun, are you here for an awakening ceremony or a cooking competition?"

On the podium, the principal's smile froze instantly, his lips twitched, and he didn't know what to say.

The inspectors looked at each other, completely bewildered.

After all these years of testing, this was the first time they had ever seen a pot-shaped elf.

"What... what kind of Pokémon is this? It's not in the Pokédex."

A young inspector said in a low voice.

"Whatever it is, let's test it first."

The lead inspector shook his head, raised the detector, and aimed it at the small black pot.

"drop……"

The detector's beam swept across the entire surface of the small black pot.

Several lines of text instantly appeared on the screen.

【Elf: Little Black Pot】

[Attribute: Earth]

[Quality: Blue]

[Level: 1]

【Special Feature: Mud Armor】

[Test Result: Grade A]

……

The laughter in the room stopped abruptly.

Everyone stared wide-eyed at the detector's screen, thinking they were seeing things.

"Blue...blue quality?"

"A pot that's only blue quality!"

"Holy crap! Kitchenware can be grade A now?"

Zhao Yuxuan's smile froze instantly, as if he had been slapped hard in the face, his face turning bright red: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could a broken pot be of blue quality? The detector must be broken!"

"The testing equipment will not malfunction."

The lead inspector gave him a cold look: "Earth-based blue quality, definitely Grade A."

Although it was rated A, everyone who looked at the black pot still had regret in their eyes.

"It's a pity that such good quality food turned out to be a pot."

"Earth-type Pokémon are inherently weak offensively, and this one is pot-shaped, so it probably doesn't even know how to use skills and can only serve as a meat shield."

"Having blue-quality items but lacking practical combat ability, what's the difference between that and being useless?"

"What good is talent if you're a useless elf?"

……

Zhao Yuxuan also realized what was happening and sneered, "So what if it's blue quality? It's just a pot. Can it boil your opponent to death? I advise you to give up now and go home to open a hot pot restaurant. Maybe that'll be more promising than being a beast tamer."