I Really Didn’t Want to Be a Trainer

Friday, January 8th.

Magic City, with its towering skyscrapers and bustling commercial streets.

"Gengarr~" Gengar floated beside Lu Ye, nodding knowingly.

I know this place — turn left and it’s the Magic City Gym!

Despite staying up all night, Lu Ye was still full of energy.

He glanced toward Sister Liu’s villa area.

At the gate, the old security guard, wearing glasses, was diligently writing in his diary as always.

You could say that Teacher Lu’s habit of jotting things down was a true legacy from this old guard...

Not far from where he used to rent an apartment,

stood the "Bull Club" where Gengar served as a coach.

Judging from how booming business seemed,

Olive’s management skills clearly had leveled up.

Lu Ye nodded in satisfaction.

"Gengarr! (￣▽￣)/" Gengar floated toward the club with ease.

"Coach Gengar!"

Hearing the excited shout from inside, Lu Ye smiled slightly.

Moments later, Gengar floated back out, carrying two cans of cola. "Gengarr~" Gengar handed one to Lu Ye.

"You got these from the vending machine?" Lu Ye blinked.

"Gengarr!" Gengar nodded nonchalantly.

Well, it’s our own vending machine anyway.

Lu Ye popped open the can with a hiss.

After catching the bus, he returned to Magic University.

"Ka-me...ヾ(⌐■_■)"

Blastoise felt the familiar atmosphere and glanced toward the breeding house.

Due to Blastoise’s overwhelming aura,

a lot of students stole glances this way, whispering among themselves.

"That senior’s so cool..."

"Must be from the Battle Department, right? Isn’t today the final assessment?"

"Wait, isn’t that Teacher Lu?!"

Before getting mobbed, Lu Ye made it to the university’s competitive team office.

Coach Zhai Wenyao was scolding the freshmen:

"You guys are the worst batch I’ve ever trained!"

Looking up and spotting a familiar student waving at him, Coach Zhai froze for a second.

Inside the office.

"You punk, weren’t you at the Quartz Tournament? How come you're back all of a sudden?"

Coach Zhai burst out laughing.

"There’s an awards ceremony for the Top 100 Creators," Lu Ye grinned. "Also, I’ve got some stuff to handle back home."

"Oh, and once that's done, heading back to challenge the League?"

Lu Ye: "Honestly, I haven’t even collected all the badges yet..."

Coach Zhai slapped his forehead.

"I almost forgot — you took the faculty post at Yuhong University! You’re automatically promoted to the Top 100!"

At the mention of this, Coach Zhai’s emotions grew complicated.

While other students were fighting tooth and nail for badges...

You? You get an offer handed to you and have time to come back for an award?

Comparisons will kill you!

"By the way, Coach," Lu Ye said, "do I need to take the final battle assessment?"

Coach Zhai’s face twitched.

You’re already a division champion and you’re asking me if you need to take finals?

"No need. With your division champion title, you’ve got more than enough credits to graduate,"

Coach Zhai said helplessly.

"If I really let you battle, the other students would have a breakdown!"

Lu Ye suddenly realized.

Almost forgot about that!

"Too many casual tournaments..."

Lu Ye gazed up at the sky.

"I’ve lost track of them all..."

Originally, Coach Zhai wanted Lu Ye to coach the freshmen a little.

But thinking it over... if Lu Ye stepped in, the students might not even recognize him as the real coach anymore.

Coach Zhai coughed awkwardly and told Lu Ye to focus on doing his best at the League.

If Lu Ye could actually win the League Championship...

Even for Magic University, that would be a huge honor.

And if the old principal got happy enough, opening up Magic University’s resources might not be impossible...

Following the time he’d arranged with Lt. Surge and Brock,

Lu Ye met up with them at a chain Budew Hotel.

"You know," Lt. Surge said, burning his tongue, "this stinky tofu’s pretty damn good!"

"Strange..." Brock frowned, deep in thought.

"I wonder what method they use to make it?"

The two of them standing together — big, brawny guys — somehow felt weirdly harmonious.

Lu Ye yawned.

"The awards ceremony is at night. Wanna go back and catch a nap first?"

"Nope," Lt. Surge bared his teeth in a grin. "I just hit up the Magic City Gym. I’m way too pumped to sleep!"

"You went to challenge the gym?" Lu Ye blinked.

Brock nodded.

"It was more of a gym leader exchange battle."

Gym Leaders often had to face challenges from other gyms.

Saffron City’s Fighting- and Psychic-Type Gyms were prime examples.

Lu Ye was curious. "Who won?"

Lt. Surge’s smile stiffened for a second and he coughed.

"You know... I’m not really cut out for official formats..."

Brock nodded.

"Gym Leader Tang won — but just barely."

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, then nodded.

Lt. Surge was famous for wild brawling, after all.

And anyone who could become a Gym Leader was no pushover.

Looked like Old Tang’s main lineup was pretty solid...

"Ay," Lt. Surge rubbed his neck and sighed.

"I was hoping to snag a Magic City badge for my collection."

"But, well... I’ve never been good against Psychic-types..."

Lu Ye: "I’ve got over ten of those at home."

Lt. Surge: "???"

Disgraceful, Major Surge!

"We grabbed some wontons at a food stall," Brock said, squinting.

"Tasted pretty good."

Lu Ye looked up at the sky, mentally picturing the scene of the towering, blond Lt. Surge

hunched over a street vendor's table eating wontons...

Yeah, vivid image achieved!

The lavish brilliance of Magic City lived up to its name as an international metropolis.

The neon-lit Battle Tower of the East stood proudly — a famous battle landmark, on par with the Battle Frontier.

At the familiar Mercedes-Benz Arena,

the Top 100 Creators Awards Ceremony officially began.

Lu Ye vaguely recalled that when his follower count broke a million,

the system had given him a reward.

By that logic, the Top 100 reward should be pretty juicy too.

"Wow, pretty packed," Lt. Surge glanced around.

"A lot are fans," Lu Ye said.

"Feels more like a giant meet-and-greet."

It was definitely different from the pure awards shows he remembered.

Food zone, music zone, battle zone... every section had its own activities.

It actually felt more like a giant convention.

Lu Ye and the others entered the venue.

A hostess blushed nervously.

"Lu—Lu Teacher, this way please!"

"As for your bodyguard..." she snuck a glance at Lt. Surge.

"What’s she saying?" Lt. Surge didn’t catch it.

"She said she likes Electric-type Pokémon too," Lu Ye translated.

"Oh!"

Lt. Surge grinned wide, flashing white teeth.

"Thanks!"

Inside the venue,

even among Top 100 Creators,

many bloggers looked at Lu Ye with starstruck eyes.

Attending an awards ceremony (×)

Attending a fan meeting (√)

People kept coming over for photos, and Lu Ye smiled and nodded at them.

Brock, being a food blogger, quickly found friends in the food section.

As for Lt. Surge, who had a modest 11k followers...

"Where’s the EDM zone? Why is there no EDM zone?" Lt. Surge looked around wildly.

"Maybe..."

Lu Ye cleared his throat.

"Check out the arcade area first?"

"Oh!"

Lt. Surge’s eyes lit up seeing the kids gathered around the arcade machines.

"Fighting games are my specialty!"

The formal awards ceremony would start in about an hour.

Lu Ye, leading Sylveon around, wandered the venue, occasionally getting stopped for pictures.

A fan joked,

"Whether Teacher Lu’s here or not doesn’t matter — we’re mainly here for Sylveon!"

"Hmm? What's your streaming ID? I'll block you right now!"

Meanwhile, a broadcast came over the speakers:

【Up next: a friendly exhibition match in the battle zone.】

【Featuring Gym Leader Ji Shiyin from Imperial City Gym vs. Gym Leader Tang Hui from Magic City Gym...】

【And lucky audience members may win mystery prizes—】

The crowd began moving toward the battle zone.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

The prize doesn’t matter. I mainly just wanna see Old Tang get wrecked!

"I remember... Imperial City’s Gym Leader specializes in Dragon-types..." Lu Ye muttered.

Suddenly, a clear voice interrupted his thoughts.

Lu Ye looked up to see a girl with an orange ponytail and sunglasses perched on her head, waving enthusiastically.

"Teacher Lu, long time no see!"

It was Sonia,

the assistant professor from Galar.

Lu Ye blinked in surprise.

"Sonia?"