Just as Lin Yu was about to order Gardevoir to act,
Misty unexpectedly stepped in front of Pancham.
She stared straight at Gyarados, tears glistening in her eyes.
"Enough, Gyarados! You were weak once too. Now that you're strong, are you going to take your anger out on even smaller, weaker Pokémon?"
[Gardevoir, Latias, stand by to use Protect at any moment!]
Lin Yu silently gave the order.
The charging Hyper Beam needed time to fire. In that brief window, Pangoro stood back up and shielded Pancham.
Through his Wave Guiding Aura,
Lin Yu could feel Gyarados's emotions.
Those words, piercing straight to its heart, had reached it in an instant.
Its rage faded, replaced by guilt.
That's right.
It had been bullied for being weak once. Why was it doing the same thing now?
But the Hyper Beam was already fully charged in its mouth — it couldn't cancel it.
Helpless,
Gyarados shifted its aim.
The Hyper Beam streaked across the sky, narrowly missing the invisible Mew and startling it badly.
I was just watching the show! How did I almost get hit?
Roar…
Gyarados flew back down, its fierce draconic face filled with remorse.
Roar… (Sorry…)
"It's okay."
Misty wiped away her tears and hugged the newly evolved Gyarados tightly.
Watching the heartfelt scene between them,
Lin Yu clicked his tongue.
This mess still needed cleaning up.
He walked over to the shaken Pangoro and Pancham with Gardevoir.
He used his Aura of Viridian to calm them down and handed over a pile of Fighting-type Energy Cubes.
He nodded toward Gyarados.
"Sorry about that. It just evolved, so it's been a little emotional. These are to make up for it."
Pan!
At the sight of so many Energy Cubes, the young Pancham immediately forgot what had happened and happily began eating.
Pangoro, seeing Pancham didn't care,
waved its hand and said it was fine.
It could tell these cubes would be great for its child!
"Thank you…"
Even though she'd wanted to calm Gyarados down on her own, Misty had still relied on Lin Yu's help in the end.
"It's fine. Let's go — we still have a lot of training ahead of us."
Lin Yu said simply.
"Mm-hmm!"
Misty nodded firmly.
For the first time, she felt so close to her dream of becoming a Water-type Pokémon Master.
May 24th.
After evolving Magikarp, Lin Yu's workload lightened a little.
Gym challenges,
training in suitable Secret Realms, and picking up treasures along the way to keep their funds full.
Right now, there were more than a dozen hungry mouths to feed on the team,
and all that responsibility fell on Lin Yu.
Thankfully, Larvitar had plenty of Sand Gems,
and Lin Yu was a Master-Rank Breeder.
Otherwise, he'd never be able to afford raising them all.
Misty had slowly realized just how precious Lin Yu's Energy Cubes really were.
In these past few days,
her Pokémon had improved at an astonishing rate.
Not only had all of them reached Gym tier, but even their potential… had grown by leaps and bounds.
Energy Cubes that could raise a Pokémon's potential…
She'd never heard of anyone who could mass-produce those…
During Secret Realm training, as she watched Lin Yu's back standing at the front, Misty felt deeply grateful and swore silently:
she would never reveal this secret to anyone.
Of course,
Lin Yu hadn't forgotten to refresh his Entry System.
In two weeks, he'd gotten two Blue Entries and many White and Green ones.
He'd broken down almost all the White Entries.
Not many Green Entries were worth keeping either.
[Blue Entry (Irresistible Charm) — When equipped, Charm rises with confidence, making it easier to win others' favor.]
[Blue Upgradeable Entry (Rhythm Master) — When dealing consistent rhythmic damage, damage stacks over time, up to 50%.]
These two Blue Entries immediately gave Lin Yu ideas for their use.
The first one —
Irresistible Charm suited him well enough.
But it suited Feebas even better!
Famous alongside Magikarp, Feebas was avoided by most Trainers in this world.
The reasons were well-known.
And Feebas's evolution methods?
One was using a Prism Scale.
The other was reaching a certain Beauty stat.
That's why Lin Yu said this Entry was perfect for Feebas.
If he ever got the chance,
he might catch one.
A weakness in his team had also become clear: they lacked a proper support Pokémon.
After every battle, Lin Yu had to use his Aura of Viridian to restore their stamina.
But it wasn't a strict necessity — some Pokémon weren't made for battling, but for performances!
Pokémon Contests existed for that very reason,
producing many famous Coordinators.
As for the second Entry…
What kind of consistent damage was the most reliable?
Poisoning, without a doubt — it dealt steady damage at regular intervals.
That was the most rhythmic damage of all.
Paired with this Entry, it was perfect for stacking poison.
So… maybe he should get a Poison-type Pokémon too?
For now, he'd equip it on Gardevoir, who knew Toxic.
As they drew closer to the capital, Jingdu, Lin Yu felt a strange hesitation, like he was afraid to approach someone he missed dearly.
Once in the capital,
the person he most wanted to see was there.
Would she enter the National High School Tournament?
Outside the capital,
inside a Secret Realm merged with the real world.
Early morning.
Misty was packing up their tent when she noticed Dira's tent from the night before was gone.
She looked around but couldn't find her.
"Where's Sister Dira?"
"Her family lives in the capital, so she went ahead."
Lin Yu replied casually.
It was, of course, a lie.
Now that they were near the capital and the tournament was approaching, Lin Yu couldn't keep Latias out in the open.
It would be too hard to explain later.
"Oh."
Misty nodded, finished packing her tent, then ran over to Lin Yu with a mischievous grin and slung an arm over his shoulder.
"Is Sister Dira your girlfriend?"
"Don't be silly."
Lin Yu brushed her hand away without hesitation.
When they first met, he hadn't realized she was this carefree and bold.
Guess people really show their true colors once they get comfortable with someone.
More importantly —
who's Dira?
That's Latias!
Misty's eyes lit up. "No way? Sister Dira's so pretty, you don't like her? Then who do you like?"
Lin Yu: "Focus on the qualifier tournament instead of prying into my life!"
"Aww, c'mon, tell me!"