"Icicle!"
Tang Yunqin wasn't relying solely on luck.
Seeing Electabuzz poised for a follow-up attack, she decisively commanded her Ice Vulpix: "Use Icicle to interrupt its advance!"
Electabuzz remained unfazed. As the shards of ice hurtled toward it, it ignited its fists with fire and shattered them one by one.
The cost, however, was that Electabuzz's forward momentum ceased, forcing it to stop in place.
"Vulpix, use Attract!"
The tide turned. Vulpix blinked cutely at Electabuzz, who was momentarily dazed by its adorableness.
(So… so cute...)
With the Alolan form, Vulpix was naturally attractive, and Tang Yunqin had fed it plenty of the special flavor cubes that boosted its beauty—previously consumed by Feebas.
This Vulpix wasn't just cute; its fur was lustrous, smooth, and objectively several tiers above its Ice Vulpix peers.
"Vulpix, use Frost Breath!"
Reducing its attack power was fine. Slowing Electabuzz down would secure her victory.
Those who managed to enroll in Skyspire University never lacked for command skills.
"Earthquake!"
Electabuzz snapped out of its brief daze, responding instantly to Lu Ze's command. It raised its right foot high.
It hesitated slightly, eyeing the Vulpix, but in the end, stomped down.
Electabuzz endured the Frost Breath and unleashed Earthquake.
"Jump!"
The proximity this time was too close. Though Tang Yunqin reacted quickly, Vulpix couldn't move in time.
Despite Tang Yunqin's quick order, Vulpix was still hit by the Earthquake.
"Vulpix is unable to battle. Electabuzz is the winner!"
Vulpix collapsed, its eyes spinning.
The previous Earthquake hadn't done massive damage, thanks to the Attract's attack reduction.
However, Electabuzz's earlier Fire Punch had landed cleanly and done full damage.
So after the Earthquake, the Ice Vulpix finally lost consciousness.
Not that it mattered. Even if the Ice Vulpix had remained standing after the Earthquake, Lu Ze's Electabuzz had a Swift waiting to finish it off.
"Come on, let's get it healed."
After recalling Electabuzz, Lu Ze walked over and said to Tang Yunqin.
"Alright, let's go."
Tang Yunqin took her Vulpix's Poké Ball and headed toward the treatment room.
Along the way, she shot Lu Ze a glare and complained, "You said we should use this to release the fairy-type energy, but we'd barely used Dazzling Gleam before you knocked me out. How's that releasing anything?"
Lu Ze scratched his head, looking a bit sheepish: "Instinct. Just instinct."
"But your Electabuzz… Why is it so fast? And it's clearly skilled—the timing on its Earthquake and Fire Punch was perfect."
"Electabuzz…" Lu Ze looked up at the sky. "I haven't really managed it much. It usually trains on its own or is trained by Snorlax. Today was its first proper battle."
Tang Yunqin looked at Lu Ze wordlessly. Didn't manage it much… First proper battle…
Her expression was complex: "I feel like Snorlax might be more responsible than you, the trainer."
Lu Ze laughed: "That's because I'm a Breeder."
"Hmph."
"Hahaha~"
As Lu Ze and Tang Yunqin waited for their Pokémon to recover, Sui Tinxi and Sui Yan arrived, followed by Yu Yu You and Yin Hanlin.
"How'd it go?"
"I won."
Seeing Sui Tinxi's excitement and Sui Yan's disdain, Lu Ze smiled, then looked toward Yu Yu You and Yin Hanlin.
"How about you two?"
"We tied," Yin Hanlin said with a smile.
Both used Dragalge, were born at the same time, and trained in the exact same way. Their battle naturally ended in a deadlock—neither could gain an advantage.
"Alright, go get your Pokémon healed."
"Got it."
The four took their Poké Balls to Happiny and then joined Lu Ze and the others.
"So, what's for dinner?"
"Sui Yan and I had a point duel. I won, so his tab's covered tonight," Sui Tinxi said, immediately excited, pointing at Sui Yan.
"Thwack!"
Sui Yan bat his hand away and declared with bravado: "Whatever. I'm paying!"
"Alright!"
Everyone cheered, then started debating where to go.
At the same time, outside Lu Ze's home.
"Looks like he's not home."
Zhuge Ziyu stood with two children at Lu Ze's front gate, ringing the doorbell. When no one answered, he let out a sigh and said to the little girl holding his right hand.
The girl deflated for a moment, but quickly brightened again. She tugged on Zhuge Ziyu's hand and pulled him back outside.
The little boy gave the girl a indulgent look, then followed after the two of them.
After taking a few steps, the boy glanced back.
If their gaze could penetrate space, it would rest on the Deoxys core sitting on Lu Ze's desk, inside his room.
Likewise, the Deoxys core sensed the boy's presence outside. It swayed slightly.
(Almost time. Almost time.)
Then, it stilled once more.
.....................
"How about the food street behind the school's back entrance? It's cheap, and the food is amazing."
Tang Yunqin asked Lu Ze, her eyes sparkling.
"Hey, what do you think? How about it?"
Lu Ze nudged Sui Yan, who was slumped in a chair, staring blankly into space.
The moment Sui Tinxi said, "Why don't we go eat at Emperor's Flame Sichuan?", Sui Yan immediately slumped into full-body feigned unconsciousness—theatrics at their finest.
"This works for me!" Sui Yan instantly revived, jumping to his feet.
Then he turned to Sui Tinxi: "Emperor's Flame Sichuan? Bro, sell me and you still couldn't afford one meal."
Sui Tinxi smiled faintly: "Sell you? You couldn't afford a bowl of spicy hot pot with that money."
"You bastard!"
"Chuu! Chu!"
Sui Yan immediately lunged at him.
Lu Ze and the others didn't intervene, simply watching. Minidraco hovered in the air, dancing as if cheering them on.
"Ding!"
With a pleasant chime, their Pokémon were restored to full health. Sui Yan and Sui Tinxi stopped wrestling, reattaching their Poké Balls, and headed toward the school's back entrance food street.
"Damn, there are so many people here,"
Sui Yan sighed as he arrived at the food street entrance, momentarily overwhelmed.
He instinctively grabbed the entranced Lu Jun, afraid he'd vanish into the crowd.
"Let's go! Eat! Tonight, Sir-Sui's treating us!"
"Let's go~"
A cheer rose, and they melted into the bustling stream of people.
"Boss, seven orders of grilled squid!"
"Coming right up, young man. Hold on, they'll be ready soon!"
The group just arrived and were immediately captivated by the grilled squid, deciding right then and there to start here.
"Boss, we'll have three orders too."
"Xiaozé, nice to see you again."
(End of Chapter)