I Really Didn’t Want to Be a Trainer

Wednesday, January 20. Cloudy.

Lu Ye opened his eyes, breathed a sigh of relief after confirming the ceiling was intact.

Looked like he didn’t shout “Mega Evolution!” in his sleep last night.

Otherwise, Blastoise might’ve transformed into Super Aura Blastoise right in his dreams.

After all, once Mega Evolved, Blastoise’s ability would switch from Torrent to Mega Launcher.

And Mega Launcher gave a huge power boost to aura- and pulse-based moves—perfectly in sync with his own Blastoise.

In fact, Water Pulse under that ability might even rival Origin Pulse from Kyogre.

“I need to find a chance to test out Mega Evolution, see what its limits are.”

Leaning against the headboard, Lu Ye idly stroked the sleepy Sylveon, lost in thought.

“Maybe… I should ask Red for some pointers up on Mt. Silver?”

He quickly vetoed his own suggestion.

Come on. If that battle-hardened man got excited, it might turn into a full-on, no-holds-barred fight.

Lu Ye would probably be done for.

“Better to go to Sabrina’s Saffron Gym.”

He looked up at the sky.

“She has Mega Evolution experience. And with psychic barriers, Saffron Gym shouldn’t be that easy to collapse… probably.”

Decision made, Lu Ye got up to wash.

It was the coldest period of winter; condensation fogged the windows, frost lined the sidewalks, though no snow had fallen yet.

Because of the cold, Sylveon preferred burrowing under the blankets.

Then again… that was her year-round habit. Lu Ye was already used to it.

“Byii~” Sylveon daintily hopped off the bed and stood at the French window, gazing outside.

Lu Ye walked over, bent down, and ruffled her head with a smile.

“Go play for a bit. Breakfast will be ready soon.”

“Byii!” Sylveon nodded obediently for once.

Lu Ye blinked in surprise.

Too cold even to act tsundere?

He smiled, then suddenly froze mid-scan of the room.

“Chagi Duii~”

Togepi wasn’t playing games. Instead, she leaned against Arcanine, flipping through notes.

“Wooof~”

Arcanine lowered his massive head, occasionally offering guidance on Fire-type moves.

Lu Ye blinked.

That must be yesterday’s newly acquired Move Tutor, Mystical Fire.

But… they were already this far along?

Now it was Togepi’s turn to learn?

Lu Ye turned to Sylveon, still lost in thought.

Which meant—

Sylveon had already learned it?!

He double-checked the system Pokédex, confirming it, and let out a long sigh.

As expected…

Never underestimate any of his Pokémon.

It wasn’t impossible for them to pick up new moves overnight.

Well, except Slacker Duck.

Lu Ye was still quite reassured when it came to Sirfetch’d.

Even if he wanted to grow stronger, at present his performance was… rock steady. Like a turret.

Lu Ye had long grown used to his team’s insane talent.

He threw on his athletic jacket and pulled on his black-and-red fingerless glove, flexing his fingers.

In the mirror above the sink, the Keystone embedded in the glove glowed with a rainbow gleam—

Stylish points: MAX.

And that was just one socket.

Someday, he’d have it inlaid with Z-Crystals, Radiant Stones, Wishing Stars…

In battle, one snap of his fingers would be all it’d take.

“Still… better be cautious.”

Lu Ye’s expression turned wary.

“Even Super Ash could only fire off one Z-Move per battle. The drain’s definitely not small.”

Then again, maybe Ash never really tried to push further.

Most Trainers could only support a single Mega Evolution.

But Ash—Aura bonds, Z-Moves, Mega Evolution—could chain them all back-to-back without even panting.

---

Fully geared up, Lu Ye opened the chat group and messaged Sabrina to ask if her Gym was open today.

The League Conference was fast approaching.

Many Gyms had already paused badge distribution to prep for next year.

Except for poor Surge…

His “repairs” might take a long while.

“My father will be there.”

Sabrina replied coolly.

“You planning to train?”

“Uhh…” Lu Ye scratched his cheek, a little sheepish.

“Just borrowing the arena. Wanna test out Mega Evolution.”

The last time he’d “trained” was a month ago—back when Sirfetch’d was practicing brick-breaking.

He was nearly a year into his journey, and his training sessions were still countable on one hand…

“Mega Evolution?”

‘Evolution Legend’ Blue’s eyes lit up.

“Which Pokémon is it, Lu Ye?”

Lu Ye posted a JPG of Blastoise doing push-ups.

‘Breeding Legend’ Green twitched.

He’d witnessed Lu Ye catch his Squirtle live in the chat not that long ago…

And now, just over six months later, the thing was doing reps.

Even Green was feeling the pressure.

But… knowing Lu Ye, it made sense.

After all, he and Red had reached Champion level in just one year—

Lu Ye wasn’t far behind.

“I wanna learn Mega Evolution too… o(╥﹏╥)o”

Gold teared up and clenched his fists.

“But Boom Taro, Tail Taro… none of them can Mega!”

Compared to Kanto’s starters,

Johto’s had weaker typings and lower usage rates.

Still, Gold’s lineup was more built for field battles—Mega or not didn’t matter much.

Silver threw shade:

“Even if you had it, you wouldn’t figure it out.”

“?? Meet me in Ilex Forest for a one-on-one!”

Silver smirked:

“Just what I was hoping for.”

Lu Ye mass-muted them both, exasperated.

If y’all wanna hang out, just say so! Stop pretending it’s about fighting!

Brock popped online and @Surge:

“How’s the Gym repair coming?”

“Ha ha…” Surge replied with a bitter grin, attaching a pic of the ruins.

“Much appreciated!” Brock replied solemnly.

“I’ll bring Steelix to help!”

Surge’s face turned ashen.

You sure you’re helping? DON’T YOU DARE SHOW UP!

“The Gym still has usable areas—you can head straight over.”

Sabrina chimed in.

“I’ll be there this afternoon too.”

She happened to be free during filming.

A trip to Saffron meant she could also see Gengar again.

As Sabrina was considering that, her DMs lit up—

From Surge:

“Make sure you prep strong psychic barriers in advance!”

“If you don’t reinforce them, repairs could last till February!”

Sabrina blinked.

“It’s just Mega Evolution… is all this really necessary?”

Surge made a strange face.

Lu Ye’s Mega Blastoise…

That thing’s destructive power might even beat Mega Steelix.

“Just trust me!”

Sabrina glanced at Surge’s flustered tone, assuming he’d suffered psychological damage.

After all, Lu Ye had been in Vermilion recently.

The Gym getting flattened…

Probably was the instructor’s doing.

“Don’t worry,” Sabrina replied, flicking her dark hair.

“I’ve got it covered.”

---

Elsewhere—

“Let’s go, Gengar.”

Lu Ye pocketed his phone and cracked his wrist.

“Heading to Saffron Gym!”

“Gengarr! (๑`▽´๑)۶”