There's Something Off About My Pokémon. [16]

Bang!

Just as everyone was deep in discussion, Hu Sheng, who had been quiet for a while, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and stood up. He glared furiously at Lu Cheng and shouted, "Lu Cheng, if you've got guts, compete against me!"

Hu Sheng felt wronged. As the only son of Hu Biao, the chairman of Hu's Food Co., Ltd., he had been pampered since childhood. His family spoiled him, which led to his arrogant and unruly nature. Despite this, money had always been able to solve his problems. Hu Biao not only donated a large sum to get his son into a prestigious high school, but he also bought him a Charmander as his starter Pokémon. In a way, Hu Sheng's life had been smooth sailing up until now.

But after his conflict with Lu Cheng, his eyebrows were burned off, and when he complained to his father, Hu Biao actually slapped him! In that moment, Hu Biao's eyes were bloodshot as he yelled at Hu Sheng, forbidding him from causing any more trouble for Lu Cheng. Hu Sheng couldn't understand why his father's attitude had suddenly changed, but he had never felt so humiliated! Without his father's protection, he felt like a fledgling bird without wings. Although he wanted revenge, he didn't dare confront Lu Cheng directly. After much thought, he realized that the only way to settle this was through a Pokémon battle.

The upcoming U20 tournament was the perfect opportunity for him to defeat Lu Cheng and prove himself.

"If you've got the guts, we'll see each other at the U20! Watch how my Charmander wipes the floor with you!" Hu Sheng gritted his teeth. With his now eyebrow-less face, his expression was almost comical, but no one in the class dared to laugh.

Lu Cheng blinked, stunned. Dude, if you had said something earlier, I wouldn't have canceled the task!

He nodded in response, but Hu Sheng misinterpreted the gesture as fear, thinking Lu Cheng was too scared to speak. Feeling smug, Hu Sheng sat back down.

"Alright, then we'll reserve the class spots for Hu Sheng and Lu Cheng," homeroom teacher Old Chen said, trying to smooth things over. He scanned the classroom and asked, "Anyone else want to take one of the spots?"

The room fell silent. Many students were tempted to participate, but they were too afraid to raise their hands. After all, compared to the wealthy students, their chances of winning seemed too slim.

At that moment, a pale arm went up—it was none other than the class genius, Su Xiangrou. This was no surprise, as the three of them were the only students in the class applying for the Pokémon Trainer program. Old Chen nodded, thinking to himself, Maybe one of these three might actually win a guaranteed spot at Jiangnan University for me!

---

To allow students to prepare for the U20 tournament, the school let them out half a day early. Lu Cheng brought his Vulpix to their usual training spot at the construction site, all the while calculating how to improve his strength before the tournament.

There was no doubt that this year's tournament would be full of hidden talents—trainers from all over Zhejiang Province would be competing, including many prodigies and wealthy trainers. Although the law required trainers to be 18 to officially own a Pokémon, this tournament had a loophole, allowing "semi-trainers" aged 13 and up to participate. This indirectly raised the difficulty of the competition.

A "semi-trainer" refers to minors over the age of 13 who cannot officially register as trainers but are allowed to own Pokémon under the supervision of a guardian. Many elite trainers' children grow up alongside powerful Pokémon obtained as eggs, forming naturally deep bonds.

Lu Cheng's Vulpix, on the other hand, had only hatched a month ago. Winning the championship was going to be a huge challenge. However, the Evolutionary Stone for the champion was an item that Lu Cheng absolutely had to get. Without it, who knew how long it would take for his Vulpix to evolve?

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Lu Cheng reminded himself to focus on the present.

"Vulpix, use Return!" Lu Cheng commanded. The move Return came from the skill disc he had won in his battle against his senior. Lu Cheng had already taught Vulpix how to use it.

The skill disc resembled a USB drive. After inserting it into the slot at the back of a Poké Ball, it allowed a Pokémon to learn the corresponding move. It was worth noting that from his victory over his senior, Lu Cheng had also gained three points of Defense and 10,000 yuan in cash. The cash wasn't a big deal, but those three Defense points were crucial.

Ding—The system's awarded stat bonuses are not included in potential points and are directly applied to your Pokémon's attributes!

In other words, those three Defense points were immediately added to Vulpix's stats, enhancing its durability in battle.

Back to the skill disc, Return is a physical move that grows more powerful the higher the Pokémon's affection, which can compensate for Vulpix's lack of physical attacks apart from Tackle. However, any move needs training to be used skillfully, so Lu Cheng continued his special training with Vulpix.

Vulpix cried out, its body glowing white, and then swung its paw fiercely at a brick, shattering it into pieces. Compared to Tackle, the hitbox of Return is smaller, only usable when an enemy gets close. Otherwise, it's easy for opponents to dodge.

"This move has too much of a wind-up," Lu Cheng frowned. "That glowing light just announces to the enemy that you're about to use an attack."

Vulpix tilted its head, clearly not understanding what Lu Cheng meant. Stroking his chin, Lu Cheng thought carefully. In this real-world Pokémon battle system, combat didn't rely solely on Speed stats. If he could speed up the move's execution and eliminate the wind-up for Return, Vulpix's speed could take another leap forward! After all, any spellcaster that needs to chant is weak, and ninjutsu users who rely on hand seals are cannon fodder!

"Vulpix, try to suppress the glow when using Return," Lu Cheng instructed. "See if you can use it without the light!"

Vulpix looked confused, clearly unable to fully comprehend Lu Cheng's words, but it obediently tried again. Another Return! However, the white glow was still just as prominent.

Lu Cheng stepped forward, patting the now slightly frustrated Vulpix on the head, comforting it, "It's okay, don't worry."

Training a Pokémon's moves isn't something that can be achieved overnight, and what Lu Cheng was asking for went against the fundamentals of the move itself, so it was likely just a futile effort.

Frowning, Lu Cheng asked, "System, is it possible to make a move execute instantly?"

From what Lu Cheng had observed, every move seemed to require a charge-up time, except for moves like Quick Attack, which, even in the games, had a naturally higher priority.

Ding—Powerful trainers have their own unique understandings of moves. Please explore on your own.

Lu Cheng let out a sigh of relief.

The fact that the system responded this way meant that Lu Cheng's direction wasn't wrong. Realizing this, Lu Cheng felt much better. He turned to Vulpix and said, "Let's call it a day, Vulpix. We'll take it slow. One day, we'll succeed!"

Vulpix nuzzled against Lu Cheng's leg and let out a soft cry before being recalled into its Poké Ball.

By eliminating the wind-up delay of Return, Lu Cheng believed that, with Vulpix's intuition and his own training, mastering this would only be a matter of time

---

T/N: Being shameless here, powerstones will make me release more chapters daily.

15+ Advanced Chapters [P@treon.com/WiseTL]