There's Something Off About My Pokémon. [65]
Leo nodded in agreement, adding, "Wang Yingjie's constant digging strategy was quite inventive, but in the end, it came down to just one miscalculation."
"The winner: Lu Cheng!" the referee's announcement drained all the strength from Wang Yingjie. He stretched out his hand, recalling his unconscious Wartortle into its Poké Ball, and silently walked toward the players' tunnel without saying a word.
"Lu Cheng! That was awesome!" At the edge of the arena, A-Le was shouting with all his might, his face red from the effort. Beside him, Ding Chong stood with his younger siblings, smiling and nodding in Lu Cheng's direction. Lu Cheng's parents were also there, jumping up and down with joy, their Magmar spitting flames that startled the nearby audience.
Finally, it's over, Lu Cheng thought as he exhaled deeply in relief. I won.
"Ding—Task Complete: 'Street Brawler' Task Reward: +3 Physical Attack. TM 'Ice Punch' received."
"Ding—New task series unlocked. This task is optional and has no system penalties."
"Ding—New task discovered: 'Underground King of Fighters' Task Objective: Win any weight class championship belt in Jiangcheng's underground fighting competition. Task Reward: +5 Potential Points, Ability 'Iron Fist.'"
There was no time limit on the new task, so Lu Cheng could deal with it later. Right now, the only thing that mattered was enjoying the sweet taste of victory.
A big smile spread across his face as he waved excitedly at his family and friends. Grovyle, meanwhile, stood next to him with its eyes closed, acting as if none of this concerned it at all.
This guy, Lu Cheng thought with a wry grin. It's such a professional show-off!
---
After reaching the top eight, Lu Cheng's popularity skyrocketed, and now, walking through campus, his classmates often recognized him.
"Lu Cheng! Lu Cheng! Can I get your autograph?" A-Le, imitating the voice of the lower-year girl who had just spoken, squeezed his throat and teased.
"You wanna die?" Lu Cheng playfully raised a fist at him.
A-Le chuckled, waving his hands in surrender. "Hey now, you're a big star! How could you stoop to my level?"
"Big star, my foot." Lu Cheng sighed. "It's only the top eight. Who knows if I can even win the whole thing."
"No way!" A-Le waved dismissively. "I didn't think you could win the championship at first, but now that you've taken down the strongest, Wang Yingjie, the rest are just small fry—no sweat at all!"
Even Lu Cheng, thick-skinned as he was, couldn't help feeling embarrassed. He quickly waved off the compliment, saying it wasn't a big deal.
"Lu Cheng, can I speak to you for a moment?"
Just as they were laughing and joking around, Su Xiangrou suddenly appeared from around the corner. She adjusted her glasses and called out to him.
Lu Cheng's eyebrow twitched. Uh oh, is she here to call me out for dodging her last time?
"I just remembered, I haven't handed in my homework!" A-Le elbowed Lu Cheng and gave him a knowing look before hastily making his exit.
You don't understand a thing! Lu Cheng thought helplessly. Clearing his throat, he replied, "Of c-course!"
---
Jiangcheng No.1 High School. The rooftop. This was where Lu Cheng had once fought before. As soon as he stepped onto the roof, he felt an intense pressure weighing on his shoulders.
Suddenly, his brow furrowed as Su Xiangrou pulled something black out of her bag. Startled, he instinctively jumped back.
"You don't want it?" Su Xiangrou frowned, holding out the item. "I noticed you coughing earlier."
It was a box of Chinese herb tea.
"Oh, yes! I'll take it!" Lu Cheng scratched his nose awkwardly and stepped forward.
"By the way, what you mentioned to me last time—" Lu Cheng's guard immediately went up.
"That theory about a Pokémon's understanding of moves affecting its growth—" A cold sweat started to bead on Lu Cheng's forehead.
"I had my uncle conduct extensive data analysis, and it turns out you were right."
"Wait, what?"
Su Xiangrou took a deep breath and explained, "For example, Tyrogue can learn both kicking and punching moves, but trainers usually teach it based on its natural talents. A significant amount of data shows that Tyrogue, when mastering a lot of punching moves, often evolves into Hitmonchan."
"But when focusing on kicking moves, it usually evolves into Hitmonlee."
"Eh?!"
Lu Cheng was completely confused. Tyrogue evolves based on its Attack and Defense stats, doesn't it? Is she trying to confuse me?
"And that's why Hitmontop's evolution is so rare," Su Xiangrou continued, sighing. "My uncle thinks if we could develop moves like yoga-based techniques for Tyrogue, it might significantly increase the chances of it evolving into Hitmontop."
Wait… what?!
Lu Cheng was utterly baffled. There are mechanics like that in this world? But then again, this wasn't just a game—this was the real world. He couldn't apply game logic here.
"This is all thanks to you." Su Xiangrou smiled as she spoke. "My uncle is planning to write a paper on how Pokémon moves affect their growth. If you're interested, I could put your name as co-author."
"Oh no, I couldn't possibly!" Lu Cheng waved his hands in protest. "I didn't even do anything!"
"Sometimes, having the right direction is more valuable than spending hours on research," Su Xiangrou adjusted her glasses. "It's settled. If we manage to get it published in Pokémon Science, it will be a huge benefit for you."
Pokémon Science was a prestigious journal aimed at veteran Pokémon researchers, tackling cutting-edge topics across various fields. The academic weight of even a single paper published there was immense—it could easily meet the thesis requirements for a graduate degree at top universities.
What? I just mentioned something offhand, and now I'm getting published in a research journal?
Unaware of Lu Cheng's internal panic, Su Xiangrou continued seriously, "We owe it all to you. If you hadn't brought it up that day, I wouldn't have asked my uncle to conduct the data analysis."
"If this paper gets published, it could have a major impact on Pokémon move training."
What Lu Cheng didn't realize was that the relationship between moves and a Pokémon's growth had long been a gray area in research. Certain Pokémon could master powerful moves from birth, while others of the same species might specialize in entirely different attributes. Cracking this problem could potentially earn him a research assistant position at a Pokémon science institute. That's how crucial identifying the right direction in a research project could be.
"Also..." Su Xiangrou pulled out a stack of documents from her bag and handed them to Lu Cheng. "These data analyses might be of great help for your Vulpix."
"What do you mean?" Lu Cheng asked, surprised.
"Your Vulpix has already learned Flamethrower, hasn't it?" Su Xiangrou explained. "Based on several studies of Magmar and Growlithe, we've found that once a Pokémon masters Flamethrower, it significantly speeds up the process of learning Fire Spin."
"If you train it properly, your Vulpix should be able to learn Fire Spin before the finals!"
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