The day's teaching duties had come to an end.
After school, Lu Ye received 30 copies of the type matchup chart from Giselle.
"Not bad, your handwriting is very neat."
Lu Ye nodded in appreciation.
In the end, people always become what they once despised the most...
"Teacher Lu!"
Summoning her courage, Giselle called out to Lu Ye, who was about to step outside.
"C-Can I participate in the end-of-year interschool exchange competition?"
Lu Ye stopped in his tracks, raised a hand, and said, "Depends on your performance."
As the evening glow cast its warm light, Giselle stared in a daze for a moment before bowing deeply.
"Thank you so much!"
---
On the way home, Gengar still looked guilty.
"It's fine."
Lu Ye patted Gengar's head.
"You were just looking out for me."
Gengar shrank its head back, and suddenly, a lightbulb appeared over it.
I need to find a new job!
There should be coaching gigs available in Saffron City, right?
As night fell, Erika sent a message, asking how Lu Ye was feeling.
Erika smiled, "How was your first official day of teaching?"
"Spent the whole day playing cards with the students. Exhausting."
"Huh?" Erika blinked in confusion.
"Kidding." Lu Ye thought to himself.
In reality, they had spent the entire day playing Pokémon: Battle.
Since he only had to teach twice a week, on Tuesdays and Fridays, his off days were either spent at home or wandering nearby.
Cynthia wouldn't be back until the weekend.
Even though Lu Ye didn't say it, he definitely missed her.
On the bus ride back to the city center, Lu Ye leaned against the window, watching the dim streetlights flicker past.
Beside him, Gengar had already fallen into a deep sleep, drooling from its mouth.
With his headphones on, Lu Ye gazed at the raindrops gradually splattering against the window, letting his mind drift.
Suddenly, he felt a tap.
Sylveon stood on his lap, rising up on its hind legs, extending its ribbon-like feelers toward him.
"Handshake?"
"Veeon! (｀皿´)ﾉ"
"Haha, alright, alright, I get it—you want a hug."
"Veeon! o(´^｀)o"
Sylveon rested its small head on Lu Ye's shoulder.
It felt just like holding a kitten at home.
The bow on Sylveon's ear swayed gently, and its little head nodded slightly.
Eventually, the little one, eyes heavy with sleep, nestled into Lu Ye's shoulder and drifted off.
Moving carefully, Lu Ye recalled Gengar into its Poké Ball.
Holding Sylveon in one arm, he fumbled for his keys and unlocked the door.
"Did I forget to turn off the lights?"
Lu Ye froze for a moment.
Suddenly, two imposing figures emerged in front of him, staring him down with menacing eyes.
"Lucaa!"
"Garchompp!"
Sh*t, what are you two doing here?!
Lu Ye was stunned.
---
Inside the living room.
A blonde beauty dressed in black stood in the kitchen doorway, wearing heat-resistant mittens shaped like Bewear's paws.
She was holding a plate of ominous-looking, pitch-black solid matter, looking somewhat embarrassed.
"You're early."
A faint blush appeared on Cynthia's fair face as she coughed lightly.
"Otherwise… I probably would've finished it properly."
"What… is this?"
"Cake…"
"You're calling this a cake?"
"I worked really hard on it."
Cynthia, her blonde hair slightly disheveled, leaned back in her chair, staring up at the ceiling with a helpless expression.
"I even went all the way to a Kalos dessert shop with Diantha…"
Beside her, Lucario and Garchomp shot him murderous glares.
Are you gonna eat it?
Lu Ye's expression turned stiff.
This isn't a question of whether to eat it.
One more step forward, and I'm walking straight into hell!
Taking a deep breath, Lu Ye reached for the spoon, his hand trembling.
In the end, Lu Ye put down the spoon and said seriously, "When we get to Kalos, let's open a café together."
"I'll make sure to teach you how to bake properly so we can drive those shady dessert shops out of business."
Cynthia lazily rested her head on the table, her golden hair cascading down as she lifted her gaze to Lu Ye.
Her bright gray eyes carried a deep, mysterious glow.
"Will it take a long time?"
"No. Every day you're here feels too short."
"That sounds like quantum mechanics."
"To be precise, it's relativity."
Cynthia tilted her head slightly, pondering for a moment.
Then, she straightened up and scooped a spoonful of the pitch-black "cake" in front of her.
Carefully, she brought the silver spoon to her lips, her black sleeves revealing her fair wrist.
"This is awful." Cynthia sighed and silently put the spoon down.
The two of them leaned back in their chairs, facing each other in silence.
The warm orange glow of the dining room chandelier flickered slightly.
Suddenly, Cynthia couldn't help but chuckle.
Lu Ye covered his face and coughed dryly.
"If it's that bad, don't eat it!" Lu Ye exclaimed.
"No way! I worked so hard to make this!" Cynthia slammed the table.
"Don't feed it to Gengar! He's still just a kid!"
"Gengarr! (*⊙~⊙)" (Relax, man, I'm a Poison-type—I can handle this.)
While cleaning up, Lu Ye found out that Cynthia's flight had been delayed, so she decided to come back for the night.
"So, you have to leave again tomorrow?"
"Yeah, morning flight."
Cynthia lounged on the couch, petting Glaceon with one hand and Sylveon with the other.
"The Champion's duties… they really are tiring."
"So," Cynthia brushed a strand of golden hair behind her ear, her eyes curling into crescent moons.
"When are you going to take over as the Sinnoh Champion?"
"Champion, huh… Hard to say. But there are other ways."
Lu Ye pondered.
Maybe something like Chairman Rose in Galar?
Set a small goal first—just buy out the Sinnoh League. Shouldn't be that hard.
Cynthia smiled but didn't press the issue. Stretching lazily, she yawned.
"I have to get up early tomorrow… Goodnight."
"No games tonight?"
Cynthia froze mid-step.
"Battle." Her eyes gleamed. "Or cards?"
"I'm good with either. You decide."
"Gengar, get me a coffee. Thanks~~"
"Gengarr! [](￣▽￣)*"
Revived with full energy, Gengar eagerly nodded.
---
November 14th, Wednesday.
Cynthia left early for the airport.
Meanwhile, Teacher Lu stayed home, preparing his lesson plans.
"There's a year-end event… I really need to train these kids."
Lu Ye pondered for a moment.
"…Maybe I should let Gengar be their coach?"
Though it was just a casual remark, Lu Ye, as an experienced assistant professor at Modu University, had plenty of training expertise himself.
As for the Pokémon TCG scene—
Johto's expansion pack had successfully launched.
Both the gameplay and rules had seen noticeable improvements.
Of course, the power creep was real—Johto's cards were undeniably stronger than Kanto's…
But hey, that's the natural progression of every card game.
Fortunately, the Pokémon TCG was still in its early stages—there were at least five more generations to expand upon.
"Once we're done with Galar's expansion pack… we can do a Kanto Let's Go set. The cycle will never end!"
Lu Ye stroked his chin.
Generations upon generations, endlessly thriving…
Before he knew it, the morning had flown by.
Today, it was Squirtle's turn to babysit.
Terrified that Togepi might get kidnapped, Squirtle was sweating buckets.
In the end, Squirtle carefully placed Togepi inside an empty fish tank and let out a long sigh of relief.
"This… this is the safest place I could think of!"
Lu Ye got up to prepare lunch for the little ones but noticed Gengar was missing.
"Out working again to help with the household expenses?"
Pausing for a moment, he pulled out his phone and checked Gengar's location on the special Pokédex tracker.
Instantly, Lu Ye's expression turned… strange.
The Pokédex showed that Gengar's current location was—Saffron Gym.
The very place where Sabrina reigned.