July 21, Tuesday.
Today, Teacher Lu was startled awake by a loud 'boom' from the living room.
Lu Ye shivered in fright, quickly rolling out of bed and rushing to the living room, where Haunter and Eevee were in the middle of a battle.
"Haaunterrr!" Haunter rubbed its palms together and sent a small Shadow Ball flying towards Eevee. Eevee shook its head, unharmed.
"Buiii!" Eevee snarled and dashed at Haunter, crashing right through it.
Haunter laughed heartily but suddenly froze when it saw Lu Ye standing in the corner, his face full of resentment.
Immunizing each other from attacks, and even using it to train moves...
You guys really know how to do it!
Looking up at the ceiling, which was shedding bits of plaster, Lu Ye muttered,
"This house... is probably going to be blown apart one day..."
He called in the maintenance workers. With a mouthful of bread, Lu Ye noted the '2,000 Pokedollars' bill and sighed in relief.
"Luckily, it's only 2,000 Pokedollars..."
He chuckled. After all, when you owe 5,000,000 Pokedollars, what's a little extra expense?
The repair work continued until the afternoon.
Before Lu Ye could even sink into the sorrow of "Cynthia's departure," he was rushing to sign for a package.
"Pelipper Logistics, please sign for your package!"
Pelipper's pouch is enormous, large enough to fit even a capsule machine, so the two small parcels had no problem fitting.
With Eevee and Haunter's eager eyes on him, Lu Ye ceremoniously unwrapped the package worth 5,000,000 Pokedollars.
"It's so expensive, but no freebies?" Lu Ye grimaced. "Negative review!"
"Huh... there really is something?"
Lu Ye pulled out a delicate card— a lifetime VIP card from the Wilds Group, where he'd ordered Eevee's training vest.
The company mainly specializes in custom Pokémon training equipment, including things like artificial exoskeletons for Pokémon and waterproof coatings for Rock-type Pokémon…
In this world of Pokémon, where even space technology is utilized, such "black tech" is practically nothing.
"I wonder what the principle behind Poké Balls really is," Lu Ye scratched his head.
"The power of science is truly amazing!"
"Buiii?" Eevee tilted its head in confusion, looking at the delicate light pink ankle protectors with a bow.
"I had this custom-made for you, isn't it cute?" Lu Ye grinned. "You'll look even better in them!"
From the system's scan, this item is geared towards enhancing Pokémon's speed EVs, though EVs are a vague concept in the real world.
According to Cynthia, this would improve Eevee's improper energy release and eliminate any potential issues during training.
Lu Ye grabbed Eevee by the scruff of its neck and, despite Eevee's struggles, placed the ankle protectors on its little legs.
Eevee blinked a few times and tried walking, looking a bit awkward.
"You'll get used to it," Lu Ye chuckled. "It was recommended by Cynthia, and... it looks good, right?"
"Buiii... (○｀ 3′○)"
Eevee puffed up its cheeks, reluctantly nodding.
"Haaunterrr!" Haunter's eyes lit up with excitement as it dug through the package.
Lu Ye took the parcel, opening the fine wooden box.
A cold aura instantly spread through the room.
"Haaunterrr! (′▽`〃)"
Just smelling it made Haunter go into a trance.
The wooden box, worth over 3,000,000 Pokedollars, had only two layers, each containing a matte, jet-black Dark Stone.
Lu Ye had seen these Dark Stones before, having traded 5000 BP for a small piece, so the rarity was obvious.
The Dark Stone is a type of Evolution Stone, and Red has three Neverending Evolution Stones for Fire, Water, and Electric types.
Suddenly, Lu Ye realized, "No wonder Red's so rich…"
"Those three Neverending Evolution Stones must be worth billions!"
Next to the box was a letter from the seller:
"I'm honored to share the wonders of minerals with you. If this piques your interest in stones, that would be fantastic. - Sincerely, Steven Stone."
"No wonder the quality of these Dark Stones is so high..." Lu Ye nodded thoughtfully.
"Seems like these are from that stone enthusiast's collection!"
Steven's collection wasn't meant to be sold, but at Cynthia's request, Steven had specially chosen two Dark Stones.
These would be perfect resources for Haunter's Shadow Ball training.
Lu Ye sighed tiredly.
"Training Shadow Ball... looks like we'll have to tear this house apart again..."
"Haaunterrr! (*⊙~⊙)"
Haunter's eyes widened as it eagerly stuck its red tongue out, licking the Dark Stones in a daze.
On the other side, Eevee, wearing its bow-tied ankle protectors and a silk scarf around its neck, hesitated in front of a mirror.
"Buiii!" Eevee bared its teeth at the mirror, then quickly backed away.
It glanced towards Lu Ye, and upon seeing him watching, its face turned red. Eevee quickly turned its head, pretending nothing had happened.
Lu Ye smiled faintly.
Forget it… as long as they're both happy, that's all that matters.
Lu Ye's ambitions weren't grand. He just wanted to live a peaceful life with his Pokémon.
But if Haunter and Eevee were willing to battle… Lu Ye was happy to go along with them.
This realization hit him after Cynthia left, and despite his slight regret, Lu Ye suddenly had this thought.
The bond formed between people and Pokémon, influencing each other's paths… That's probably the charm of the Pokémon world!
Of course, training was still up to Haunter.
Lu Ye silently thought, "Though I'm a training genius, I should focus on making money and supporting my family instead."
If possible, Lu Ye mused… Maybe it's not impossible to aim for a small goal, like supporting a Sinnoh Champion?
Lu Ye instinctively reached into his pocket and pulled out an IOU, his face changing in an instant.
"Anyway... I should probably focus on paying back this five million first…"
---
"Donghuang Region's Master Championship League Match, Winner: Cynthia!"
The blonde woman in a black trench coat subconsciously glanced at the VIP seats.
The silver-haired, green-eyed Karen, dressed in elegant white attire, clapped gracefully.
Cynthia smiled faintly and met Karen in the player's tunnel, exchanging a light hug.
"How's the travel in Donghuang Region?" Karen asked.
"Very nice," Cynthia replied with a smile.
"Didn't you say you didn't like traveling far?" Karen raised an eyebrow.
"But meeting different people, different Pokémon..."
Cynthia thought of Haunter and Eevee, her eyes curving into crescent moons. "It's also quite fun."
Karen nodded lightly, "Yeah, traveling can change your mood… but you'll be busy afterward..."
Thinking about the packed schedule for the second half of the year, Cynthia sighed helplessly.
As she put her hand in her pocket, her fingers brushed against a note.
Curiously, she unfolded it, revealing Lu Ye's bold handwriting.
One could almost imagine the look on his face as he wrote the IOU.
For some reason, Cynthia suddenly broke into a smile.