Early in the morning, poverty drove Lu Ye to open his eyes early.
Lu Ye planned to seriously prepare for the Piplup Cup finals.
It wasn’t until he reached the finals that Lu Ye finally understood the championship rewards.
【50,000 Prize Money + 200,000 Promotional Resources + Soothe Bell】
That so-called "200,000 promotional resources" was something everyone would just laugh off.
The most important part was still the Soothe Bell.
Although it could be exchanged in the system, this item was classified as an orange-tier item that would appear occasionally in the Mystery Shop for 30,000 BP.
But Lu Ye currently had less than 2,000 BP left.
He also occasionally splurged on valuable items like Fire Stones and Poison Stones to improve Haunter's diet.
Lu Ye always treated his Pokémon equally.
So far, the only gift he had prepared for Eevee was a Silk Scarf.
Besides, the Soothe Bell could increase Eevee's friendliness, which might help improve this little guy’s bad temper.
Winning the finals meant getting it for free!
If that wasn’t a giveaway, what was?!
The desire to get something for free surged, and Lu Ye had never been so eager to train!
"Now the question is…"
Lu Ye rubbed his chin, muttering to himself.
"How should I train?"
Honestly, even though he had made it to the finals, Lu Ye was still clueless about training.
Though his command level was on par with a Tactics Master, and his Pokéblock crafting skills rivaled a Coordination Champion,
his training skills left much to be desired.
So far, his only achievement in training was teaching Haunter the move Toxic,
and that was thanks to Koga's Toxic Insights.
Actually training himself was still a bit much for Teacher Lu.
Teacher Lu still had Haunter!
The barbell set he ordered online had arrived.
Haunter could already lift a 30KG dumbbell with one hand; his physical strength was even more developed than his special attack.
But Lu Ye couldn’t help yelling, "Stop using Black Mist to lift it!"
Haunter paused, and the black mist around him disappeared. The dumbbell slammed into his hand and crashed to the floor with a deafening thud.
Tiny cracks spread across the floor…
Lu Ye seemed to hear the sound of his wallet shrinking again.
Haunter teared up, pulling his red hand out from under the dumbbell, shaking it desperately.
The scene looked like something straight out of Tom and Jerry.
Since his ghostly hands were temporarily solid, Haunter could feel pain at this moment.
Lu Ye's face twisted oddly, and he coughed.
"Keep training! I’m counting on you for Eevee’s Soothe Bell!"
On the other side, Eevee's training equipment was a lot cuter.
Lu Ye had ordered a giant hamster wheel for him.
In theory, Eevee could run on it endlessly, unable to stop.
Lu Ye thought this training method was flawless.
It not only trained Eevee's speed but also his stamina.
"I really am a training genius," Lu Ye muttered, rubbing his chin.
Eevee gave Lu Ye a look that screamed, Are you an idiot?
"You don’t want to try it?"
Lu Ye looked disappointed.
"Why not give it a shot? I bet you’d look adorable."
Eevee puffed his cheeks, reluctantly hopping onto the wheel, glancing around nervously.
Lu Ye grinned and suddenly gave the wheel a push.
Eevee panicked, scrambling to run. But after a moment, his ears perked up, and his eyes sparkled at the wheel.
Wait a second… this is actually kind of fun!
Lu Ye was surprised to see Eevee smiling so happily and couldn’t help but smile too.
What was supposed to be a day of hard training…
once again turned into a day of playing with Haunter and petting Eevee.
Tomorrow was the final exam of the first year’s second semester. After that, the summer break would officially begin.
Lu Ye planned to make some money during the summer to cover his Pokémon’s food expenses for the next few years.
As he was reading in his room, a knock came from the door.
He opened it to find the neighborhood committee’s auntie smiling warmly.
"Little Lu, we brought you a banner!"
Lu Ye blinked. "A banner?"
Behind him, his two Pokémon froze in place, exchanging nervous glances.
"Ka-keke?" (Did we clean up?)
Last night, Haunter had carried Eevee out to train.
The construction site nearby, with its open space and wild Pokémon, was the perfect training ground.
Meowth, Raticate, Houndoom—these Pokémon often fought over territory.
But overall, they coexisted relatively "peacefully."
Until last night, when two unexpected visitors broke the balance…
According to the security guard:
"Those little b*****ds went wild!"
As dawn’s light broke over the construction site, it was a scene of utter devastation.
Most of the wild Pokémon were Normal-types.
Haunter was unfazed, but Eevee, teeth bared, was covered in wounds.
Haunter rummaged through the shadow under his feet and pulled out a Potion.
"Thank you, Comrade Lu Ye, for your outstanding contribution to controlling stray cats in the community."
"Gynecological Genius, Miraculous Hands."
"Uh… Auntie, what’s up with this slogan?"
"Oh, the printing messed up! Just hang it up anyway!"
Faced with her enthusiasm, Lu Ye couldn’t refuse. He smiled awkwardly and accepted the banner.
The committee auntie left in a hurry.
Lu Ye glanced at his two trembling Pokémon.
Great, like I can understand them!
Scratching his head, Lu Ye asked, "You guys went out last night?"
"Training on your own?"
"Ka-keke!" (I took him!)
"And those wild Meowth…?"
"Vee!" (I beat them!)
Eevee lifted his head proudly.
Lu Ye suddenly felt exhausted.
Sinking onto the sofa, he stared at the banner for a long time.
Then it hit him—every word on the banner screamed betrayal!
"Oh well, it’s free anyway."
He sighed and hung the banner in a prominent spot.
"Gynecological Genius, Miraculous Hands."
Lu Ye rubbed his chin, muttering, "You know, it actually looks pretty good…"