Wednesday, November 25
The trip to Cinnabar Island had come to an end.
Teacher Lu returned to his peaceful, slack-off daily routine.
Taking advantage of the time off,
Lu Ye lay on the floor of his bedroom, leaning against Arcanine's belly, reading a book in the sunlight.
Arcanine was huge, and its warm fur made for the perfect pillow in the winter.
"Arrooo~" Arcanine yawned, eyes half closed.
The yawn passed to Lu Ye, and then to Sylveon, who was sprawled out on Lu Ye's body.
The warm winter sun was especially cozy.
Even Sylveon's snow-white fur seemed to glow under the light.
After less than ten minutes, Teacher Lu closed the book again.
He reached out and pinched Sylveon's cheek, only to be met with an indignant "Vee~on!" from the little one.
Come to think of it… with 25kg of dumbbells lying on me every day, isn't my body about to evolve too?
He picked Sylveon up and set her aside.
Lu Ye got ready to head out to the Trainer Academy.
Blaine's Fire Blast had left quite the psychological shadow on him.
Instead of letting Gengar secretly train on its own,
It felt safer to bring Arcanine and head to the Sunlight Room for some drills.
Of course, "training moves" was just an excuse—the real reason was not wanting to leave Arcanine home alone.
Training was at least one way to maybe burn off some of its energy…
Anyway, the principal had said the school's training facilities were free to use anytime.
Even if something blew up… it probably wouldn't be a big deal?
---
Grabbing his Poké Balls, Teacher Lu walked toward the outer road.
In the thick grass, you could spot quite a few wild Pokémon.
But once the red light flashed and Arcanine howled with its head held high, everything went dead silent.
The Intimidate ability significantly reduced wild encounter rates.
All those Bug Catchers crouched in the grass wisely chose to pretend they didn't see anything.
It saved time, sure, but… it also meant he couldn't snatch any pocket change from them…
Lu Ye shook his head regretfully,
Then swung a leg over Arcanine's back and gave its fluffy head a pat.
"Let's go! Off to the Trainer Academy!"
"Arrooo~~"
"Wrong way, it's this direction!"
As a Legendary Pokémon in Donghuang mythology, Lu Ye had always had a soft spot for Arcanine.
Riding it, the wind howled past on both sides, trees zipping by in reverse.
Ten or so minutes later, the Trainer Academy appeared ahead.
---
Giselle was reviewing last week's lesson from Teacher Lu.
Suddenly, a cloud of dust kicked up, and a massive Arcanine came to a halt in front of her.
"T-T-Teacher Lu!"
Giselle stammered, then got annoyed:
"No riding Pokémon at full speed inside the school grounds! That goes for faculty too!"
"But I'm not inside the school yet."
Lu Ye laughed, recalling Arcanine into its Luxury Ball.
"How's Teacher Erika doing with subbing?"
"Not as good as you."
"Now don't go spouting harsh truths like that." Lu Ye waved dismissively.
Giselle was speechless.
You're clearly enjoying this, aren't you!
"Actually, I've got something to talk to you about."
Lu Ye said, "There's a student portion in the year-end exchange match… If you're interested, you might want to start preparing now."
"Isn't there a staff match too?"
Giselle blinked.
"If Teacher Lu's participating… shouldn't you be preparing seriously too?"
"It's just the Baby Cup, no need to prep."
Lu Ye waved his hand. "Catch you later."
Watching his back, Giselle blushed, then suddenly realized—
Did Teacher Lu just say something kind of outrageous?
…
At the office, Erika wore her usual green furisode, no makeup, big square glasses on her face, working on her lesson plans.
"Teacher Lu," Erika looked surprised. "You don't have class today, do you?"
"You subbed for me last time."
Lu Ye said, "Since I'm free today, I figured I'd make it up."
"No need," Erika smiled faintly. "My practical battle class… I worry you might leave those kids with psychological trauma."
"Now, come on, I'm not that inhuman."
Lu Ye cleared his throat. "If I'm not needed, I'll go train then?"
Erika gave a slight nod, then suddenly recalled that Teacher Lu was collecting Gym Badges.
Back in Modu, Erika had lost to Lu Ye in the friendly match.
Since Teacher Lu didn't seem eager to bring it up…
Erika figured she'd just hand him the badge when the time was right.
…
Trainer Academy, Sunlight Room.
The old man in charge of overseeing the training facilities was growing more and more anxious at the explosion sounds coming from the training room.
Even though the equipment had just been replaced, this kind of intense usage… was that really okay?
It reminded him of some rather unpleasant memories.
With trembling hands, the old man pulled up the surveillance feed from the Sunlight Room.
A handsome Trainer stood at the edge of the field, holding a Togepi in his arms, eyes fixed seriously on the battlefield.
A burly Arcanine bared its fangs, strings of glistening drool stretching out, as blazing flames gathered in its mouth!
The old man's expression changed.
That's an Arcanine—why does it look kinda familiar?
Is this the same Growlithe that tore the place apart last time, now evolved and back for revenge?
BOOM!!
A massive orange fireball in the shape of the kanji for "Big" erupted from Arcanine's mouth, roaring toward the skill target.
If it was just training, then no big deal…
Just as the old man let out a breath of relief—
BOOM!
Another explosion. The old man jumped and had to adjust his reading glasses.
Fire Blast… missed?
At that range, and you still missed?
Lu Ye was also stunned, his voice uncertain:
"Let's… try again?"
"Arrooo!"
Arcanine howled confidently toward the sky.
This time, there's no way it could miss!
BOOM!!
Another Fire Blast exploded, this time slamming into the wall. The entire Sunlight Room trembled slightly.
Two missed Fire Blasts in a row—Teacher Lu was getting fired up.
I even brought Togepi for luck today—how can my luck be this bad?!
"One last time!"
Lu Ye snapped, "Arcanine, Fire Blast!"
"Arrooo~~"
Arcanine howled at the sky, fire bursting from its mouth—its power was honestly pretty impressive.
After just one afternoon, Fire Blast was already taking shape.
Which made Teacher Lu once again give himself a little mental thumbs-up for his training skills.
But the trajectory… was absurdly off.
The attack veered completely off course—not toward the skill target, but toward the ceiling.
The old man's eyes flew wide open.
The flames roared straight up at the roof.
With a crashing rain of debris from the wall—
A beam of sunlight poured down from the hole in the ceiling.
"Arrooo~~凸(｀0´)凸"
Arcanine shook out its flowing mane and grinned, full of swagger.
As expected of yours truly!
In just one afternoon, it had nearly caught up to Gengar's progress from half an hour of training!
With sunlight pouring in, Teacher Lu stood in the beam, expression complicated.
My house didn't blow up… but the school did again?
Whatever. Better the school than my place…
Wait, no. Lu Ye shook his head, face twisted in conflict.
I really just came here to train a move!
How was I supposed to know Fire Blast would miss three times in a row, and with flight paths this ridiculous?!
---
Principal Michael arrived in a hurry, wiping sweat from his forehead awkwardly.
It hasn't even been a week—how did it blow up again?
Maybe the last contractor they hired really was unreliable!
"You're not hurt, are you, Teacher Lu?" Principal Michael asked with concern.
Lu Ye: "I'm fine, just a little shaken…"
"Good, that's good." Principal Michael let out a breath.
"I'll have a crew come fix this soon… for now, just use the other facilities!"
"Let me cover part of the repair cost, Principal," Lu Ye said, guilt creeping up.
"No need—we talked about this last time."
Principal Michael smiled. "The value your teaching brings is far greater than any material thing."
Lu Ye froze, a little moved, and nodded.
"I'll call the repair crew then, Principal. I've got VIP status!"
"Oh? That so? Then I'll leave it to you!"
---
By the end of the afternoon, Arcanine's Fire Blast was looking pretty solid.
Though in a 4-moves match, Lu Ye would obviously choose the more reliable Flamethrower,
Compared to letting Gengar handle the teaching behind his back, Lu Ye felt personally training Arcanine was much more reliable.
This round, Teacher Lu was thinking five steps ahead!
The sun dipped low, and a flock of Pidgey flew past the orange-tinted sky.
Lu Ye shook hands with the Kanto-style renovation team leader.
After saying goodbye, he felt even more determined to join the exchange tournament.
Just Principal Michael's kindness alone… he had to repay that.
---
Back at the office, Lu Ye stared at the teaching task list, falling into deep thought.
"Three students to enter the tournament, huh… Where the heck am I gonna find these prospects…"
Just as Lu Ye was racking his brain—
A student with a "poker-faced hairstyle" burst into the office.
"T-Teacher Lu!"
The student panted, "Giselle-senpai is fighting an outside student at the front gate!"
"Start from the beginning," Lu Ye said.
"Some guy claiming he's from Alola is challenging all our Battle Department students one by one."
"Giselle-senpai… is about to lose too!"
Lu Ye blinked. "What does he look like?"
"Blonde hair, kinda edgy hairstyle, and worst of all—he's got a stuck-up face that's just asking to be punched!"
Listening to the student's rant, Teacher Lu thought for a second.
That description… sounds awfully familiar?
Led by the self-proclaimed "Duel King" student, Lu Ye hurried to the school gates—where a Midnight Form Lycanroc stood, eyes glowing red, gaze haughty.
Teacher Lu's eyes lit up.
A tournament prospect… looks like one just showed up!