May 13th, Thursday.

The summer night was cool, shadows of trees swayed gently, and the cicadas’ chirping from Kricketot floated through the air.

It had just rained in the morning;

the soil was moist and perfect for planting tree fruits.

Returning home after a long absence, Lu Ye threw himself onto the soft big bed, rolled around, then got up again.

“I still have work to do,” Lu Ye murmured, “The stockpile at home isn’t enough;

I have to make more energy cubes.”

The main harvest from this trip back from Michina was the symbol of Arceus’s power—the Power of Transcendence.

The Power of Transcendence tightened the bond between trainers and their Pokémon, granting telepathic communication.

Therefore, this power made Teacher Lu’s specialty—commanding—much more covert.

Just like Caitlin, who naturally commanded through psychic powers.

By silently casting commands, there was no need to foolishly expose tactical intentions…

At this moment, Teacher Lu was using the Power of Transcendence to communicate with Rotom:

“Little Rotom, quickly activate the tree fruit machine form!”

“Beep beep... Unable to understand! (⊙x⊙;

)”

“Don’t slack off, we still have to make a whole truckload and transport it to White Poplar Town.”

“Unable to understand, Roto~ o(TヘTo)”

Little Rotom had two jewel fragments installed as plugins, making both cooking and mixing tree fruits more efficient.

The time fragment sped up cooking, and the space fragment increased capacity... the legendary kitchenware at its finest.

The fresh raw tree fruits came from a barely noticeable system.

Whether rare tree fruits or large quantities of common ones, they could always be exchanged.

If it weren’t for running a studio and loving the game, Teacher Lu suspected he’d be a fruit tycoon making more money than game development…

Entering the kitchen, Lu Ye attempted to use the Power of Transcendence, closing his eyes.

Using himself as the radar center, white light extended outward, sensing far away the insatiable Darkrai in White Poplar Town.

Two beams of white light in the living room belonged to the underage internet-addicted Mew and Togepi;

Sylveon was patrolling outside like the big sister guarding her territory;

In the courtyard, Arcanine was digging, and Larvitar was eating dirt with its mouth open...

“What a strange family,” Teacher Lu said, holding his forehead.

Besides that, a faint connection stretched toward the distant, dim Kalos region.

Three maps had been lit up, but the fog over Kalos’s map remained unopened.

That was exactly the Fairy-type tablet that Arceus had entrusted Lu Ye to bring back.

“If we’re really doing the mission, the tablet should be left to Sylveon.”

Lu Ye fell into thought: “Togepi and Mew can just attend online classes…”

“Production progress reached 85%, Roto!” The Rotom-brand tree fruit machine rumbled.

“That fast?”

“Beep beep… This is high-power mode, Roto!”

Thinking about next month’s electricity bill, Teacher Lu’s expression shifted slightly.

This was already at industrial electricity levels!

Fortunately, Pokémon’s sales were very promising, so electricity and food costs were still manageable.

After all, once the company went public, Teacher Lu would have hundreds of millions, enough to accomplish a small goal!

He entrusted Rocket Delivery to transport the energy cubes to White Poplar Town.

Lu Ye had Haunter carry a few cans of energy cubes.

He planned to visit Professor Rowan’s backyard to check on the training Blastoise and Delibird.

Before leaving, he glanced at the living room, where two Pokémon were playing games.

One was Togepi, and the other was also a ‘Togepi.’

“Chajidu yi~~ ꉂꉂ(ᵔᗜᵔ*)”

The ‘Togepi’ followed the racing game, swaying left and right, practically turning it into a motion-sensing game.

The other Togepi was absurdly lucky, using stars, bombs… various items in succession.

“Chajidu yi~~ヾ(ﾟ∀ﾟゞ)”

Lu Ye laughed silently. Mew rarely went on trips, but tonight the two were making enough noise.

“Wait for me to come back.” Lu Ye shouted, “I’ll treat you two to a midnight snack!”

“Mew~~!” The ‘Togepi’ transformed back into the pink Mew, happily laughing.

Stepping outside into the night filled with mist.

Arcanine wagged its tail upon seeing Lu Ye: “Awoo! ᕦ(･ㅂ･)ᕤ”

“Yoji!” Larvitar obediently bowed.

“You two keep playing,” Lu Ye smiled, “Just don’t eat up Blastoise’s experimental field.”

Blastoise was planting Revival Root and Revival Herb in the courtyard, rapidly maturing them with aura catalysis.

However, it had to constantly guard against the wild Arcanine and the ravenous Larvitar.

Today, with Blastoise out training, the experimental field was in grave danger!

“Yoji~~” Larvitar nodded in agreement. Despite being gluttonous, it was well-behaved.

From this period of interaction, Lu Ye discovered Larvitar’s hobby was building sandcastles.

Whenever it followed Sylveon to the park to monopolize the children’s swings, Larvitar would quietly play with sand there.

Small, pitiful, and still very hungry.

“I wonder if Larvitar can eat Sandcastle Grandpa…”

Lu Ye cleared his throat, deciding he’d take it to the beach to forage (scratch that)... just to play.

“Gengarrr gengarrr~~”

Haunter followed Lu Ye’s footsteps, swimming in the shadow at his feet, using freestyle and breathing techniques.

Tired from swimming, Haunter leaned against the rippling shadow edge and took a satisfying sip of an ice-cold cola: “Gengarrr~”

Lu Ye: “...”

That was just too enviable!

As Haunter’s mastery of antimatter grew, several kilometers around could become its private swimming pool.

But then again, this ability was usually for stealth and curses, like Kukui’s Haunter.

Using it to swim... really fits Teacher Lu’s Haunter perfectly!

In the night, Professor Rowan’s research institute was already in sight.

The institute’s windows glowed faintly. Professor Rowan spotted Lu Ye’s figure and stood up, nodding.

Lu Ye arrived at the main entrance and greeted Professor Rowan.

Professor Rowan stroked his handlebar mustache and said seriously:

“Lu Ye, I heard about that incident in Michina.”

“What happened?” Lu Ye was stunned;

he hadn’t expected the news to spread so fast.

Professor Rowan’s eyes flickered: “I heard you defeated Arceus?!”

“Beep beep...”

The Rotom Pokédex suddenly broadcasted:

“Arceus encounter count: 1, defeat count: 1!”

For a moment, Teacher Lu and Professor Rowan fell into silence facing each other.

Everyone in the institute heard the broadcast, their hands slowing down slightly.

Clatter—

A glass bottle shattered on the ground. An intern hurriedly said, “I-I’ll clean it up right away!”

The institute resumed its operations, occasionally glancing over.

Professor Rowan patted Lu Ye’s shoulder and said in a low voice:

“I don’t understand trainers like Samuel does. But I’m sure research isn’t your path;

you have a bigger stage!”

“The Lily of the Valley Conference?” Lu Ye asked tentatively.

Professor Rowan suddenly coughed and asked back, “The Lily of the Valley Conference?!”

“I heard it from Bamboo Lan,” Lu Ye scratched his head. “If you register for the Lily of the Valley Conference, you can first apply for a recommendation form from the local professor.”

“That way, you won’t have to participate in the preliminaries and can directly advance to the top 100…”

Professor Rowan fell into deep silence.

Watching the serious and determined Lu Ye, Professor Rowan’s thoughts were complicated.

Was this really reasonable?

A trainer who defeated Arceus was now going to participate in a league filled with rookies?

Suddenly, Professor Rowan felt some tightness in his chest and waved his hand:

“That’s your freedom… after all, you don’t have any Elite Four or Champion titles yet…”

Wait.

Professor Rowan felt he had vaguely grasped the truth.

The reason this kid didn’t accept Elite Four or Champion titles

Was because once he did, he couldn’t compete in league tournaments anymore!

“Thank you.” Lu Ye smiled kindly. “Give me the form, I’ll fill it out at home and return it to you...”

Professor Rowan slightly nodded and regained his serious expression.

He glanced again at the resolute, burning Lu Ye, hesitating to speak.

Would your opponents really not shed tears knowing you just defeated Arceus and are coming to compete…

“Professor!”

A ranger hurriedly pushed open the door: “You should come quickly;

the river in the backyard has completely frozen!”

Professor Rowan glanced at Lu Ye;

the meaning was clear.

Lu Ye coughed: “I already told Blastoise to hold back as much as possible…”

On the other side.

Liu Bo’s Delibird stood on the frozen river surface, eye twitching as it looked at the sunglasses-wearing Blastoise.

I haven’t even taught it Ice Beam yet, and it’s already frozen the river…

So you actually already knew Ice Beam and just hid it until now?!

“Ka-mé.” (You didn’t ask me either.)

Blastoise looked at Delibird.

It planned to ask you for advice on advanced ice techniques.

Besides, this was already the result after holding back.

Delibird was stunned, a bit confused.

Who am I? Where am I? Is my mission already complete?

Lu Ye arrived beside the frozen river and looked at Delibird, surprised:

“You taught Blastoise so quickly?”

The giant penguin’s heart was tight, its temple twitching.

I think you two are deliberately teasing me!

I must freeload food and lodging to erase this psychological shadow! New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on NoveIＦire.net

...

On the way home, Teacher Lu used the Power of Transcendence’s positioning to find Sylveon swinging at the park.

“Bui!” Sylveon’s ribbons twirled on both sides of the swing. Catching sight of Lu Ye, it immediately became flustered.

Lu Ye sat on the swing beside Sylveon and gazed up at the brilliant starry sky.

“Ka-mé!” Blastoise used aura to guard the surroundings, wary of potential enemies.

“Bui~” Sylveon lifted its deep blue eyes to stare at the stars.

After two or three minutes of silence, Lu Ye stood up and smiled: “Let’s go back.”

“It’s time to fill out the Lily of the Valley Conference registration form, then prepare for the Baby Cup!”

“Gengar~” Haunter appeared from the shadow, grinning.

One year ago, it was Gastly who carefully filled out the registration form, tapping the screen with its sharp teeth.

One year later, Teacher Lu had become a champion passionate about casual tournaments.

Of course... from the perspective of the Baby Cup, nothing had really changed.

Lu Ye walked lightly, hands in pockets, strolling through the gentle night toward home.

“Bui~” Sylveon stretched its ribbons on its arms, walking with long, fair limbs, head held high.

“Gengar gengar~♪”

Haunter let out a few hoarse calls, without using Perish Song.

Lu Ye smiled as Sylveon’s soft, light humming floated to his ears, and he hummed along.