Pokémon: Trainers Returning from Monster Hunter

Once Wednesday is over, time flies by.

"What a busy and fulfilling week!"

The training venue was quite deserted on Friday evening.

Looking at the empty stadium, Oreki sighed.

"Rararu!"

What exactly are you busy with?

Beside her, the small Ralts, in a perfect horse stance, swung her fist and uttered a disdainful question.

Around them, Xin Ye Miao, who was running around in circles, took the opportunity to stop and meowed in agreement.

"Meow meow meow ha!"

Exactly! We are the ones who are busy and fulfilled!

"Watching you guys train so intensely every day, how come I don't feel fulfilled? Don't I need to create my own training plan?"

Oreki remained completely calm and composed.

"Besides, if you two could fight a little better and last a bit longer, wouldn't you be able to get me involved in the work? If you surrender in five minutes, I won't be able to enjoy myself."

Upon hearing this...

Xin Ye Miao immediately objected.

"Meow! Meow!"

Come on! This cat is determined to last five minutes and one second today!

"Alright, if you don't want to train, come over here. I need to discuss something with you guys."

Oreki already knew Shin-chan's personality very well.

This guy has been taking advantage of the opportunity to stop and slack off since he started talking, even though there are still two and a half laps left to run.

Now they're probably trying to use practice sessions as an excuse to skip out on the remaining laps.

Anyway, once the time comes, they'll just pretend to unleash a few moves and then lose, and that'll be the end of it.

It's not that Xin Ye Miao isn't serious about training; on the contrary, it's very willing to train to become stronger.

This has never changed for the stubborn kitten.

However, after Ralts joined the team, it would sometimes inexplicably show its rebellious side and deliberately slack off.

The training exercises were nothing more than trivial and insignificant, so Oreki naturally let them be.

Meow~

(〃｀ 3′〃)

No, not at all~

While saying this, Shin-chan's body language betrayed her, and she slowly walked up to Oreki and sat down obediently.

Ralts, on the other hand, was still throwing punches.

After training in this way for a week, it was surprised to find that the power of its Flame Fist had indeed increased slightly.

Therefore, it is meticulous during training and never slacks off.

I know this guy's personality.

Simply.

Oreki sat down beside Shin-chan, holding her in his arms.

"We've been training for four or five days now. Although the academy's testing equipment shows that your strength has improved considerably, we still need to test your actual performance through Pokémon battles."

"So—let's take advantage of the weekend and challenge the gym!"

However, Oreki was actually quite puzzled.

The testing equipment at Mingming Academy showed that Xin Ye Miao's strength had improved, but the system remained unresponsive.

After much thought, he could only console himself with the reason that "the improvement is not significant enough."

So.

He felt it was necessary to truly test the two boys' growth through a gym challenge.

Upon hearing the words "Pokémon battle," Ralts paused in its punching motion.

He then nonchalantly looked straight ahead again and continued throwing punches.

"Laru".

I have no objection.

"Meow?"

Which gym should we challenge?

Shin-chan, enjoying Oreki's massage, tilted her little face up and asked.

"I'd rather go..."

"Ah! Oreki-sensei."

"First of all, we didn't mean to eavesdrop. Secondly, please be sure to come to the Camarra Gym!"

The sudden sound startled Shin-chan, who trembled all over. It was only because Oreki was holding her that she felt safe; otherwise, her Anjanath form would have had to make another appearance.

Look in the direction of the sound.

A red-haired girl stood at the entrance of the training venue; it was none other than Aysa Bensa.

Behind her was Du Juan, who was trying to pull and tug but couldn't budge Asha in the slightest.

Seeing that her best friend had been exposed, Du Juan had no choice but to reluctantly let go.

"Teacher...we really were just passing by on our way home from school..."

"Uh-huh!"

Asha nodded in agreement without hesitation.

"I definitely didn't come over out of curiosity to see your training routine!!"

"..."

Looking at the carefree Aya, Oreki and Du Juan felt equally helpless.

However, after a moment's thought, he didn't refuse outright, but instead asked curiously.

"Can I hear your reasons?"

"The reason? The reason is simple: I want to challenge the teacher!"

Aya acted as if it were perfectly natural, and even found Oreki's question quite strange.

"Okay, never mind."

Oreki gave up and looked down at the two little ones beside him.

"Are you willing to challenge Aysa?"

Originally, he planned to go to Dewford Town to challenge the Dewford Gym, so that Ralts could experience the fighting skills of the Fighting Pokémon that had received systematic training.

This will also allow it to see its own weaknesses.

But since Aysa made the suggestion, it wouldn't hurt to let Shin-chan experience the allure of fire first.

Coincidentally, Ralts's Fire Punch and Magic Flame are also fire-attribute moves.

"Meow!"

no problem!

Although New Leaf Cat may slack off during training, it doesn't resist battles.

The cute girl next to her, who remained silent while still throwing punches, was, needless to say, a violent maniac.

Presumably, it would be happy to fight wherever it goes.

"Alright, since everyone agrees, let's go to the Furnace Gym."

"Yay!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Aysa, who had already entered the venue, jumped high into the air.

"Let me show you my skills, teacher. Hmph, I won't hold back."

"Hey, Aysa, you better act like a gym leader!"

Du Juan couldn't help but tap Yasha on the head as a reminder.

"Oreki-sensei has only earned one badge, so don't send out your ace."

"Oh dear, I certainly won't break the league rules!"

Aysa rubbed her head and replied irritably.

But to everyone's surprise, upon hearing this, Ralts suddenly stopped what she was doing, looked up at Oreki, and her cute little face was full of "seriousness".

"Raltral!"

Upon hearing this, Xin Ye Miao immediately gave a look that said, "Seriously, sister? Did you ruin your brain from practicing boxing?"

It's bad enough that I get beaten up by my trainer every day, but when I try to fight at a gym, I still want to get beaten up?

I can't bring myself to say "I want to play against her ace" no matter how hard I try.

Do you perhaps have some masochistic tendency?

Hmm, speaking of which, I think I've seen a similar case on TV before.

A certain trainer, due to his peculiar hobby, instructs his Snivy to whip him with the Vine Whip move every day...

Newleaf's gaze toward Ralts grew increasingly strange, as if it had discovered some incredible secret.

"Huh?"

Du Juan and Ya Sha looked at each other in surprise.

Although they couldn't understand what Ralts was saying, they were still trainers at the near-Gym level, and with a little deduction, they could figure out what Ralts meant.

"what!"

Seeing that Zhemu had quietly frowned, Du Juan suddenly spoke.

"This doesn't comply with the rules of gym challenges, does it, Aysa?!"

As she spoke, Du Juan didn't forget to give Yasha a frantic wink.

Now, she just hopes that her easygoing friend will be a little more quick-witted.

If it were any other rookie trainer with only one badge, challenging their ace Pokémon would be one thing, but it would be a lesson for those arrogant trainers.

The problem is, the person they are about to challenge is their teacher.

You can't possibly let your teacher abuse you...

Do you even want to pass the final exam?!

Just as Aya was about to accept the message with her slow-witted brain and agree to refuse, Oreki spoke first.

"Alright! It's decided then! We'll challenge Asha's ace Pokémon!"

(#`O′)

"Meow?!"

New Leaf Cat instantly bristled.

Busigomen, are you serious?!

Is this cat's trump card against the Fire-type Gym Leader?

Hello, Officer Jenny? Someone's abusing cats here...

……