章 13: There's Something Off About My Pokémon. [13]
Just after Vulpix's Extrasensory training ended, the verdict on the incident between Hu Sheng and Lu Cheng was finally announced. To everyone's surprise, the school's decision was to issue a formal reprimand to Hu Sheng! As for Lu Cheng, he was merely mentioned by name in a symbolic manner.
Although the punishment seemed insignificant, Hu Sheng, who was now missing his eyebrows, certainly didn't think so! Normally, if the school dared to discipline Hu Sheng in any way, his father would have intervened immediately. What was going on? Did the school no longer care about losing Hu Sheng's father's sponsorship money?
Even more puzzling was Hu Sheng's sudden change in behavior. Not only did he stop harassing Lu Cheng, but he actively avoided him whenever they crossed paths. This confused many people, including Lu Cheng, who had been expecting Hu Sheng to provoke him again. Now, with Hu Sheng acting like a model student, Lu Cheng felt awkward even thinking about confronting him.
But if things kept going this way, how was he supposed to complete his task?
"Task: Reasonable Command." Task Objective: Win a Pokémon battle against Hu Sheng. During the battle, Vulpix cannot be hit more than three times. Task Rewards: 2 Potential Points, ¥10,000, 5 Random Berries."
This was the most rewarding task Lu Cheng had seen since gaining the system, but now that Hu Sheng wouldn't even look at him, Lu Cheng couldn't find an opportunity to initiate the battle. As the task deadline approached, he had no choice but to cancel it with tears in his eyes. Lu Cheng had originally thought Hu Sheng understood the trainer's code, where disputes were settled through Pokémon battles. To his dismay, Hu Sheng turned out to be just a spoiled brat who only knew how to call his parents, leaving Lu Cheng feeling utterly helpless.
"Lu Cheng, did you see that? Hu Sheng just made way for us!" said A Le, the chubby kid, shaking Lu Cheng's arm excitedly. Clearly, he had suffered plenty of bullying from Hu Sheng in the past.
"Yeah, I saw it," Lu Cheng replied, not too thrilled. "You need to have some backbone. If you became a trainer, even the principal would have to give you some respect."
A Le chuckled. "It's fine, as long as I've got you to rely on. I'll just hang on to your coattails."
Lu Cheng pretended to kick A Le but suddenly spotted a cute underclassman in front of them and immediately stopped his actions. No way, he couldn't ruin his image in front of a cute girl!
The girl looked around nervously, and seeing no one nearby, gathered her courage and approached the two, her face flushing bright red.
"Wait a minute, could this be...!"
Sure enough, the girl pulled out a pink envelope and, under A Le's envious gaze, handed it over… to A Le.
Huh? She gave it to Ah Le?
Wasn't it supposed to be for me?
"Senior, at five o'clock after school, meet me behind the teaching building," the girl shyly said, tugging at her skirt. After mustering all her courage to say this, she fled like a startled rabbit.
Lu Cheng and A Le stared at each other in shock. Ah Le was completely bewildered.
"You... you lucky guy! How on earth did you get a love letter? Tell me! I've never even received one before! How could you, a guy who only thinks about games, get one? Go die!" Lu Cheng grabbed A Le's collar and shook him violently, causing A Le to gasp as he tried to explain.
"Lu Cheng, calm down. Let me check the contents of the letter first. It might just be a prank," A Le said.
"Fine," Lu Cheng replied.
A Le wiped the sweat from his brow and carefully opened the first love letter of his life.
"Why are you smelling it? Are you some kind of pervert? Just read it already!" Lu Cheng snapped.
"I'm just making sure it's real!" A Le retorted.
"Cut it out! Hurry up and open it!" Lu Cheng demanded.
With trembling hands, A Le opened the envelope, revealing a pink letter with a picture of a Clefairy and a heart drawn on it.
"It smells... amazing!" A Le exclaimed.
"That's not the point!" Lu Cheng leaned over A Le's shoulder. The letter read: "There are some questions I'd like to discuss with you, senior. Meet me at five after school. Don't be late."
"What kind of questions? Biology?" Lu Cheng joked.
"What's going on in your head all day?" A Le's face turned bright red as he grabbed Lu Cheng's hand tightly and said, "Tell me, Cheng, has my springtime finally come?"
Lu Cheng calmly pulled his hand away and coldly replied, "The only thing I know is that the college entrance exams are coming up, and I hope you have some sense of urgency."
"I know, but I still have to give the girl an answer!" A Le insisted.
"Then hurry up and get ready, you lucky guy!" Lu Cheng snapped.
---
At five o'clock in the afternoon, the setting sun bathed the sky. A flock of Pidgeotto flew overhead with a group of Pidgey, forming a neat line. The school's largest bell tower chimed five times, and students were heading home in small groups, leaving Ah Le and Lu Cheng anxiously waiting behind the school building.
"Do you think she won't show up?" A Le asked nervously.
"Of course she will! No one goes this far for a prank. The letter even has perfume on it," Lu Cheng reassured him.
"I'm so nervous, Lu Cheng!" A Le exclaimed.
"Think about when you take exams—use the same courage you have when you sneak a peek at my test paper, and you'll be fine," Lu Cheng teased.
"Deep breaths, deep breaths, deep breaths!" A Le repeated, trying to calm himself. As they were discussing their strategy, a figure appeared in the distance, and Lu Cheng quickly slipped into the bushes.
"Shh, don't make a sound, Vulpix! And don't poke your head out! Ugh—fine, just look, but don't make a noise!" Lu Cheng noticed the little fox was just as curious as he was, wagging its three newly grown tails while peeking out from the bushes.
The junior girl, the object of all this anticipation, finally appeared, wearing her familiar JK uniform, her face flushed as she walked toward them. A Le had even changed into his best outfit, and when he spoke, his nervousness was so evident that his voice came out distorted.
"You—you came, junior," A Le stammered.
"Senior, I have some questions I wanted to ask..." she began, hesitating.
"Don't worry, any question you have, I'll do my best to help!" AhLe reassured her, though his heart was pounding out of his chest as he watched her struggle to get the words out.
But then, the girl said, "I heard that your family also has a Wingull, so I wanted to ask about how you train it…"
A Le nearly choked. She gave him a love letter and asked him to meet her here… for an academic discussion? The girl, realizing how misleading her actions had seemed, quickly explained, "Actually, there's another reason for the letter…"
Her voice grew softer and softer until it was barely audible, "My Wingull seems to be in its mating season, and I heard your family has a few Wingull, so I was wondering if… you could lend me one for two days, to… to mate..."
She couldn't quite finish the sentence. A Le's face looked utterly deflated as he forced a weak smile and said, "Of course, no problem. Come over in a couple of days to pick one up."
"Thank you so much, senior!" The girl's eyes lit up, and she flashed him a sweet smile, "I knew you were a nice guy!"
A wild junior girl appeared! She used the "Nice Guy Card" on A Le! It's a critical hit! It's super effective!
A Le's vision went black, and he collapsed on the spot!
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