Pokémon: Hard work pays off, moves can be upgraded infinitely.

"Brother Yun, save me!!"

Liu Jianhao, whose shoulders were held by Zhao Hailong, was unable to break free and looked utterly desperate.

That bastard, how did his strength get so strong after going to the mountains!

"Alright, alright, here, have a piece of candy to calm down." Mu Yun walked over with a helpless expression, separated the two, and then skillfully took out two pieces of milk candy from his pocket, speaking like he was coaxing a child.

"Tch, I'll let you off this time for Brother Yun's sake." Zhao Hailong curled his lip, peeled the candy, and casually put it in his mouth.

Then......

"Wow, this milk candy is so delicious!!"

Enveloped in the rich aroma of milk, and with his taste buds constantly rejoicing, Zhao Hailong was almost moved to tears.

He spent a whole month in the mountains, eating the worst kind of dog food – some too salty, some too bland, some too fishy, ​​some too bitter. It was a nightmare!

"Seriously? I admit Yun-ge's milk candy is delicious, but this is way too much!"

With a candy in his mouth, Liu Jianhao glanced at Zhao Hailong, whose eyes were glistening with tears, and gave him a strange look.

When did this kid become such a sycophant?

"You haven't experienced hardship, you don't understand. Life in the mountains is like a nightmare you wake up from, the feeling is both vague and profound..."

As Zhao Hailong savored the milky aroma in his mouth, his mood suddenly calmed down, and even the painful memories of summer vacation seemed much more unreal.

In a daze, he seemed to see a vast, vibrant green grassland, where countless milk cans and Tauros were playing happily in the sunlight.

..............................

[Ding! Human Zhao Hailong has triggered a culinary illusion due to the host's delicious food, gaining 100 cooking skill experience points!]

【厨艺（LV2，325/1000）→厨艺（LV2，425/1000）】

..............................

"100 experience points?"

Hearing the notification sound in his mind, Mu Yun was slightly startled.

He only gained 36 experience points after cooking a huge meal at Song Xiaomeng's house, but now, just by triggering a gourmet illusion, he gained 100 points!

No wonder this thing has such a low trigger rate; it turns out there's an extra reward.

Unfortunately, this is something you can only come across by chance; otherwise, upgrading would be a piece of cake.

Coming to his senses, Mu Yun realized that Zhao Hailong had changed.

It's not appearance, but expression.

The earlier irritability and anger had vanished, replaced by a sense of peace and tranquility.

It's very much like the sense of freedom that comes with "post-mortem enlightenment," where one can control their own will.

"Brother Yun."

"What's wrong?"

Under Zhao Hailong's calm gaze, Mu Yun felt a slight chill run down his spine.

"I want more!"

Family, does anyone understand the eerie feeling when a straight man is being gazed at so affectionately by another man and says something like that?

Not to mention Mu Yun, even Liu Jianhao, who was watching from the sidelines, couldn't help but get goosebumps.

Ouch! The mountains are terrifying!

"Here you go, Hailong. Can you please act normal?" Mu Yun reached into his pocket, pulled out a milk candy, and stuffed it into Zhao Hailong's hand with the fastest speed he had ever done.

"Battleground 1, battlegrounds 5 and 41, battleground 2..., battleground 3, battleground 8 against battleground 40..., students whose numbers are called, please proceed to your designated battle area immediately."

Just then, the broadcast started again.

Mu Yun breathed a sigh of relief. Numbers 40 and 41 were Liu Jianhao and Zhao Hailong.

"Thanks, Brother Yun! You have no idea, your milk candy is really special!"

Zhao Hailong said with a serious expression, then strode out of the preparation area and headed to the battlefield.

"What's so special about it?"

Liu Jianhao looked puzzled. He had been eating the milk candy for a week and hadn't noticed anything special about it.

If I had to say something, it would be that it was incredibly delicious!

His dogs, Blue and Growlithe, also love to eat it!

"Then I'll go too, Brother Yun."

After the two left, Mu Yun breathed a sigh of relief and sat back down in his chair.

Soon, their images appeared on two of the large screens.

Liu Jianhao sent out a Growlithe, and the opponent was a Butterfree. Because of the screen, Mu Yun could not see the specific information.

But it doesn't matter, with Growlithe's strength, it has no problem defeating Butterfree.

Sure enough, Liu Jianhao won the victory in just a few minutes.

However, Zhao Hailong was faster than Liu Jianhao.

When Liu Jianhao won the match, Zhao Hailong had already retrieved the one-horned rhinoceros and left the arena.

It's a pity he was separated by a screen, otherwise he could have seen the specific information about Zhao Hailong's one-horned rhinoceros.

..............................

Time flew by, and in about two hours, more than a hundred points matches came to an end in the four arenas.

Mu Yun's opponents in the next two matches were both weak: a level 11 Flower Coconut Monkey and a level 12 Speaker Cricket.

After easily winning the match, the total score is 15 points.

Like Mu Yun, Liu Jianhao and Zhao Hailong also made it into the top twenty with a perfect score of three wins, thus qualifying for the small class.

After the points-based competition ends, the knockout stage will be held at 1 p.m.

Since there wasn't much time for rest in between, Mu Yun and the other two decided to have lunch in the cafeteria.

Liu Jianhao and Zhao Hailong naturally swiped their cards to eat in the cafeteria, while Mu Yun, in order to gain experience, had prepared his meal in advance, packed it in an insulated lunchbox, and stored it in his spatial storage.

The reason it's an insulated lunchbox is mainly for concealment.

Otherwise, why is your food still steaming hot after a whole morning?

"You two go to the cafeteria first, I'll go back and get my bag."

In front of everyone, Mu Yun naturally couldn't just take the lunchbox out of his storage space. He could only go back to the classroom first and pretend that he took it out of his backpack.

Soon, Mu Yun arrived at the cafeteria with an oversized lunchbox. At this time, Liu Jianhao and Zhao Hailong were not arguing, but were eating and chatting casually.

"What are you talking about?"

Mu Yun walked over, put down the lunchbox, and asked.

"It's nothing, it's just that Hailong kept talking about things in the mountains."

"To be honest, it was really tough. Luckily, my sister became an investigator in the patrol department. If she had become a garrison soldier in the military's secret area like Brother Shanlong, she probably would have taken me out for a torment during my holidays!" Liu Jianhao said with a look of relief.

The duty of a Pokémon Investigator is to apprehend wanted Trainers, so they travel all over the world.

The garrison troops stationed in secret realms are the opposite; they stay at a certain location of a secret realm for a year or two, or even several years.

It's hard to say which is more stressful, but if Mu Yun had to choose, the former might be better, at least he would spend most of his time wandering around the city instead of staying in a desolate place that might not even have internet access.

After a moment of silence for Zhao Hailong's summer vacation, Mu Yun opened his lunchbox.

In an instant, a rich, pungent aroma, like that of freshly baked goods, swept out forcefully.

Zhao Hailong, who had just been enjoying his meal, suddenly found the braised pork on his plate unappetizing.

"Brother Yun, did you make this yourself?"

Zhao Hailong swallowed hard, staring longingly at the dishes in Mu Yun's lunchbox.

Compared to Zhao Hailong, Liu Jianhao was much more direct:

"Brother Yun, it smells so good! I really want to try some!"