I Really Didn’t Want to Be a Trainer

The upcoming semifinals would be held at the main venue of the Indigo Plateau.

There, beneath the blazing sacred flame, the two Trainers would engage in a full-scale battle.

In fact, apart from that 6v6 exhibition match against Leon—

This would be Teacher Lu’s first official full battle.

To be honest, he was feeling just a tiny bit nervous.

“Blastoise…ヾ(⌐■_■)”

Beads of cold sweat covered Blastoise’s forehead—he was too anxious to sleep.

A full battle meant the opponent would surely be tough too.

Even if he lost, he couldn’t embarrass his Trainer!

“Blastoise!”

He crossed one arm behind his back and resumed doing push-ups.

Lu Ye glanced at his Blastoise quietly grinding with push-ups and realized—

He was overthinking things.

“I’ve been with Blastoise too long… Am I becoming as steady as he is?”

Lu Ye looked up at the ceiling.

“Looks like Trainers really do start becoming like their Pokémon…”

“Gengarrr…” Gengar nodded deeply in agreement.

At this moment, Lu Ye was still in the hotel, getting ready to head out.

To celebrate Teacher Lu’s entry into the Top Four—

The members of the Indigo Plateau group had organized a celebration dinner.

In this lingering early-spring chill, it felt especially heartwarming.

But to Teacher Lu’s opponents—

This Indigo Plateau felt more like a freezing, merciless winter.

After the official release of the quarterfinal match footage—

A post titled “Arcanine 1v3! Instant Kills Despite Type Disadvantage!” went viral.

“I was at the scene. Dude just went on a rampage—I was stunned!”

“H*** yeah, it got me fired up!”

“Weird… why are there two dogs on the field? (dog emoji)”

Haidou’s mentor, Gym Leader Yoshinori from Wetland City, appeared in the comments.

“That Arcanine has great spirit, hahaha!”

Yoshinori also gave a professional analysis:

“Besides the training, its moveset—Solar Beam and Wild Charge—were key to victory.”

“But without Lu Ye’s level of command, best not to blindly copy this setup. Water-type Gym Leaders aren’t pushovers.”

He sighed.

“Just yesterday, two Trainers showed up with Arcanine… both had to be carried to the Pokémon Center.”

After all, a triple knockout against a type disadvantage was too visually stunning.

So much so that Trainers began imitating it left and right.

But in practice… it was a different story.

“Predicting Teacher Lu’s semifinal team…”

At the celebration, Misty rested her chin in her hand, scrolling through posts and reading aloud:

“With Sirfetch’d and Arcanine, he might actually pull off another 3-0!”

Then she looked up, curious:

“Teacher Lu, what’s your game plan for the next match?”

“Haven’t decided yet,” Lu Ye replied casually, taking the curry plate from Brock. “It’s the first 6v6. Gotta take it seriously.”

Brock’s hands trembled slightly, almost spilling the curry.

That’s what you call “taking it seriously”? Knocking the opponent out 6-0?

“Ash just finished his Top 8 match at the Celestic Tournament,” Blue added, glancing at the chat. “Too bad, he got knocked out in the Top 8.”

The Indigo and Celestic tournaments were just a few days apart.

This was Ash’s second year as a Trainer—and placing Top 8 in his third region was already a big deal.

“What’s he doing next?” Brock asked, untying his apron and sitting beside Lu Ye.

“Heading to the Battle Frontier,” Blue smiled. “But looks like he’ll still be cheering for Teacher Lu in the finals!”

The curry smelled amazing.

Though the hotel offered high-class meals, they still couldn’t beat Lu Ye and Brock’s home-cooked food.

Fighter, medic, chef—Brock was a man of many talents.

Lu Ye couldn’t help but sigh.

“Life sure made Brock learn a lot…”

The celebration dinner was held in a rented restaurant with a full kitchen—thanks to Lance’s arrangements.

Very eco-friendly too.

Lu Ye scooped a spoonful of curry and opened the group chat on his phone, skimming the messages and typing:

“@Ash — No worries. Keep pushing in the second half of the year!”

Ash, who was currently studying “type disadvantage matchups,” quickly replied.

“I’ll do my best!” he said, clenching his fist with a fire in his eyes.

“The semifinals are the day after tomorrow, you know,” Lorelei teased. “Teacher Lu, aren’t you supposed to be prepping instead of chatting here?”

“Feels like it wouldn’t matter even if he didn’t prep,” Gold snarked.

“@Gold, come to the Plateau and help out,” Silver messaged.

“No way! There’s no business at all here!” Gold snapped.

Blue’s smile faltered, then she drooped like a wilted flower and mumbled:

“How can this be… I, a beautiful girl acting as shop mascot, and still no customers?”

The red-haired boy stayed silent, sneaking a glance at the Trainer Card in his pocket.

【UR: Giovanni】

To gather intel, Silver had pulled this card on his very first draw.

UR cards were usually Champion-level. Below that were Elite Four and Gym Leaders.

He never thought… he’d get a UR Giovanni.

It was crafted with impeccable quality.

Silver glanced at it again, then tucked it away without guilt.

“The matchups are out,”

In the group chat, the overworked prosecutor Pidgeot (Lance’s alt) tagged Lu Ye.

“Teacher Lu is up against Xianping from Slateport City, Hoenn.”

“A seeded player from Hoenn, huh,” Shafiya commented.

“When he came to challenge my Gym…” said twin-tailed Roxie in surprise, “I heard that Aron was a gift from Mr. Steven?”

“Yup,” Steven confirmed easily. “Met a talented junior while traveling and gave him an Aron.”

As Hoenn’s former Champion, Steven treated his region’s juniors with care and patience.

He even gave a Mega Stone to Shouta once on TV.

With a sugar-daddy Champion like that, Hoenn newbies really had it good…

“Meanwhile Kanto’s start is hell,” Lu Ye muttered. “You fight a Mega Steelix and then Green…”

As night fell, the celebration dinner neared its end.

“Cheers~!”

“Gengarrr~[](￣▽￣)*”

The little ones sipped their drinks—distilled water, soda, orange juice…

Sirfetch’d looked around the table and decided to go bold.

“Quack!”

Calmly plucking a leaf from his Leek, he declared:

Excuse me, could someone press me a leek juice?

Stepping outside the restaurant, a chilly spring breeze met them. Above, the Indigo Plateau stars sparkled brilliantly.

Red, on Mt. Silver, must be enjoying this same view with his Pokémon…

Lu Ye and Brock walked back to the hotel, exchanging greetings along the hallway.

“You watching tomorrow’s matches?”

“Yeah. I’ll help you hold the fort too.”

“I’m a bit worried about James and the others…” Brock muttered.

“If Ash can grow, then so can James~”

Brock smiled, lips curving upward.

“Thanks, Teacher Lu.”

Back in the hotel room—

Lu Ye rubbed Arcanine’s head and fed him two Pokéblocks.

Despite that 1v3, Arcanine didn’t look injured at all.

“Sylveon! (｀皿´)ﾉ”

Sylveon, on the other hand, was scratching at the hotel room door (which had no pet door), clearly agitated.

Let me out! I wanna go to the training field and farm wild Trainers!

Rumor had it a “Pink Demon” was terrorizing the training facilities.

Lu Ye didn’t think much of it. Most likely just Nurse Joy’s Chansey from Saffron City.

As for Sylveon…

What bad intentions could Sylveon possibly have?

He picked up Sylveon with one hand, deep in thought.

Maybe… should he let Sylveon battle in the next round?

But the opponent’s ace was clearly the Steel-type Aggron.

With that type disadvantage… it didn’t look favorable.

“Whatever, it’s a 6v6. Worst case, we Baton Pass and let Blastoise solo.”

Lu Ye nodded thoughtfully.

That night—

Gengar silently floated out with some Poké Balls to train on the field.

Blastoise kept doing push-ups in silence, dripping sweat.

Sylveon and Arcanine were sparring, with Sylveon pinning Arcanine and beating his face in.

“Awooo! QAQ”

“Togee~(ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪”

Togepi sat on the steps, legs dangling, attentively taking Mew’s online course.

Teacher Lu and Duck Duck were fast asleep.

“Quack~~”

After all, Sirfetch’d had performed excellently in the last match and wasn’t as full of stamina as Arcanine.

Gengar didn’t have the heart to wake up Sir Coach.

But suddenly—Sirfetch’d’s eyes flew open.

He looked around, grabbed his sword and shield, waddled to the door, and slipped outside to join the others.

Don’t stop me, quack!

It’s too dark inside! I wanna train too!!