I Really Didn’t Want to Be a Trainer

March 1st, Monday.

In the early morning, the deep chime of a Bronze Bell echoed across Celestic Town.

Lu Ye stepped out of the house with a serious look on his face.

In the courtyard, Cynthia was supervising Gengar and the others as they trained.

With the help of the Lustrous Orb and Adamant Orb, this had become an exceptional training ground.

Even places like Rainbow Academy or the Saffron Gym paled in comparison.

"Morning."

Cynthia crossed her arms, smiling as she observed Lu Ye closely.

"What?" Lu Ye asked.

"You look pretty serious today," Cynthia said. "Oh…" Lu Ye rubbed his neck and groaned, "Slept on the couch last night. Got a crick in my neck."

Cynthia froze for a moment, then turned away. "Pfft…"

"You’re totally laughing," Lu Ye said gloomily.

"As an apology..."

Cynthia looked at Lu Ye with a soft expression and a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Let me give you a massage."

Lu Ye tensed up, clutching his neck. "No need—I’ll have Sirfetch’d give me a few good whacks with his leek."

"Hmm…" Cynthia tapped her chin, deep in thought.

Using a 100kg leek to pound someone's back—wasn’t that just asking to pass out?

She really did want to help him massage though.

Back when she horsed around with girlfriends like Caitlin or Drasna, they'd massage each other all the time.

With Lu Ye staying for three days, she ought to be a good host.

"When are you heading back?" Lu Ye asked, rubbing his neck.

"After I finish coaching Gengar."

Cynthia smiled faintly at Lu Ye. "Then I’ll return to the Sinnoh League."

Lu Ye froze.

There was a mix of emotion in his heart—reluctance, weariness, and something he couldn’t quite place.

"No need to go out of your way." Lu Ye sighed, hand on his forehead. "Gengar and the others can train on their own."

Cynthia nodded slightly.

With the Rotom Pokédex assisting as coach, the Pokémon could indeed manage their own training schedule.

"But with me around," Cynthia said, lifting her chin proudly and smiling, "they’ll train even better."

"..." Lu Ye’s face twisted.

That’s exactly what I’m worried about!

With the Aura ability, he could sense an almost tangible density of energy all around.

The energies of Time and Space were subtly balanced by the Spear Key.

Which was why Mustardseed had said these three days were incredibly valuable for training.

And it wasn’t just Lu Ye making use of this.

Even Cynthia had released her Pokémon to join the session.

The courtyard now resembled an open-air dojo-style training field.

"Raaawr!!" Garchomp’s claws clashed with Lucario’s Meteor Mash, sending out fierce shockwaves.

Lu Ye couldn’t help swallowing hard.

"You trained here when you were a kid?" he asked.

Cynthia nodded, brushing her windswept golden hair behind her ear, her eyes flashing with nostalgia. "It’s been so long already…"

Spurred on by the champion-tier mentors—

The little ones were burning with fiery determination.

They chomped on Pokéblocks while training,

Like popping candy made of pure adrenaline!

Cynthia shook her head in mild exasperation.

That’s the benefit of being a Breeder.

No need to splurge on rare Pokéblocks when you can cook all kinds of Poffins and recipes yourself…

As the sun rose higher—

The training results were phenomenal.

"Gengaa!" Gengar’s eyes glowed blue. It reached its stubby hands skyward—

And an unsuspecting Starly flying overhead seemed caught by invisible hands and plummeted downward.

"Gengaa~ (ノ￣▽￣)" Gengar crouched down, fed the dazed Starly a Pokéblock, and let it go.

Starly flapped its wings, drooling blankly.

It didn’t want to leave. It wanted another round!

Lu Ye twitched at the sight. "What move was that?"

"A move that creates a zero-gravity space or increased gravity—Gravity," Cynthia explained.

Gravity?!

Lu Ye’s heart skipped a beat.

Now that’s a move I love!

Gravity + Hypnosis = the notorious Gravity Hypnosis combo, with a 99.96% accuracy rate!

In short, it’s practically guaranteed to land—no more worrying about misses!

"But... Gengar normally can’t learn Gravity, right?" Lu Ye asked curiously.

"Thanks to the spatial energy from the Adamant Orb," Cynthia said, "Gengar seems really drawn to the move... and it’s made the best progress."

"I guess this proves..."

Cynthia looked at Lu Ye and tilted her head slightly.

"Pokémon and their Trainers... start to resemble each other?"

Lu Ye: "If you think I’m dirty, just say it."

Cynthia grinned sweetly. "I didn’t say that."

"Gengaa~! ヾ(≧∇≦*)ヾ" In the training grounds, Gengar was overjoyed at mastering a new move.

Lu Ye stared at him, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

Gengar’s old rivals—Alakazam and Dusknoir—could all legally learn Gravity.

But Gengar... had no legal way to learn it.

Because once boosted by Gravity, moves like Will-O-Wisp, Thunder Wave, and Hypnosis became almost impossible to dodge.

For a control-style Trainer like Lu Ye, this was beyond broken!

In other words—

Lu Ye’s Gengar with Gravity was basically illegal!

"It was my Adorably Cute who taught it—none of your business," Lu Ye muttered to himself.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing." Lu Ye asked, "Gravity in real life isn’t as broken as in the games, right?"

Cynthia crossed her arms and looked his way. "See for yourself."

Lu Ye blinked and looked toward Gengar.

"Gengaa!! (ૢ˃ꌂ˂⁎)" Gengar bared its teeth in a grin, conjuring a swirling Shadow Ball in its palms, then thrust it skyward.

Fragments of the ground lifted under immense gravity, fusing into a pitch-black orb the width of two outstretched arms—visually, it was stunning.

Lu Ye: "That’s... Planetary Devastation?!"

Cynthia: "That’s how Gravity can be weaponized."

This is even more broken than the games! (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻

Cynthia, just because you like throwing meteors (Draco Meteor), doesn’t mean you can teach that to Gengar too!

"There are simpler uses."

Cynthia held up one finger, smiling. "Just use Gravity to flatten your opponent."

Don’t say terrifying things with such a gentle face!

Lu Ye wiped cold sweat from his brow.

To sum it up, with help from the Adamant Orb, Gengar had mastered Gravity.

It was a perfect fit—especially combined with Hypnosis for powerful chains.

Over the next three days—

Gengar was sure to see the fastest improvement.

By then—

Even if it fought a Blastoise empowered with Aura, it’d be a dead heat.

"Blastoise...ヾ(⌐■_■)" The ever-composed Blastoise wiped away a cold sweat.

The turtle felt a serious sense of danger.

Spurred by all the champion-level trainers, it dropped to the ground and started doing one-handed push-ups.

"Blastoise!"

Even burdened with Groudon, I’ll lift Origin Kyogre with one hand. I, Blastoise, am still unbeatable!

Lu Ye held his forehead and shooed away the ominous déjà vu, then stammered:

"A-Any other progress?"

Cynthia rested her hand on her chin, thought for a moment, and said with a soft smile, "Togepi seems to be training Future Sight."

Lu Ye blinked. "How’s it training that?"

"By playing cards." Cynthia sighed. "Guessing the opponent’s hand."

Lu Ye looked over and saw Togepi dueling with 'Alpha' Rotom in a corner of the training ground.

"Togepi! (ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪" It slammed down its last card.

"Inconceivable! Σ(°△°|||)︴"

Rotom shrieked, "I had the mathematically optimal hand, Rotom!"

Lu Ye’s face was complicated.

You can’t beat a lucky draw player no matter how perfect your logic...

Or maybe—

A sudden realization hit Lu Ye.

Togepi learning Future Sight... just to dominate at cards!?

"Just like its big brother, Gold’s Togepi."

Lu Ye chuckled. "All card sharks, huh..."

The little ones still had two days and two nights of growth ahead.

Thinking about that made Lu Ye shiver.

"Once grandma finishes her research—"

Suddenly, Cynthia asked softly, "What are your plans?"

Lu Ye had already contacted Dragon Master Lance about the Poaching Syndicate incident.

Besides that, he was honestly ready to go home and crash for a few days...

"Go home first."

Lu Ye said, "Then wait for you to get back."

Cynthia smiled slightly.

"Then you should enter the Sinnoh League. Maybe even take my place."

Lu Ye thought for a moment, then nodded.

Sorry, Ash. Try the next region.

This year—the Sinnoh Champion title is mine!

…

Celestic Town – Historical Research Institute

"Hmm... looks like its composition is similar to the meteorites from Veilstone City."

Mustardseed stepped away from the microscope, murmuring.

Then she walked into the museum with her cane—and froze.

The place had new security cameras, red beams scanning silently.

The three part-time workers snapped to attention.

"Any orders, ma’am?!"

Mustardseed stuttered. "Th-these were your doing?"

All three nodded.

"Where’d you get the parts?"

"From the junk pile out back!" James said proudly. "We found stuff that still worked, patched it up, and installed it!"

"Meowth even polished everything!" Meowth grinned. "Looks brand new, nya~"

"The cameras are hooked up to the police station in the neighboring town."

Jessie puffed up her chest. "When it comes to crime—I mean, security work, we’re professionals!"

"Wobbufett~!" (You know it~!)

Mustardseed stared blankly, then gulped.

Looks like she wouldn’t need Officer Jenny’s team after all…

But these three—had their tech skills gone off the charts?!

"You guys are… Lu Ye’s subordinates?" Mustardseed asked.

The trio nodded without hesitation.

Giovanni may have charisma and was still their boss—

But their Captain had something even more worth following.

The trio looked to the sky, imagining Professor Lu’s Theater, grinning stupidly.

Mustardseed chuckled, leaning on her cane.

"It’s lunchtime. Come on—let’s all eat together at my place."

The trio blinked. "May I ask… who’s the chef?"

Mustardseed lifted her brow proudly.

"Lu Ye—your Professor Lu!"

………