Chapter 45: Teacher Lu is a training master?
After Brock joined the group, it was already late at night. Just glancing at the member list made him shiver.
"Did I join an elite trainers' group?"
Brock muttered to himself with a serious expression, "This lineup is way too extravagant."
At the same time, Jin was squatting in the breeding house, playing games, with a rather aggressive Togekiss floating beside him.
"Boké!" (You idiot, do you even know how to play?)
"Ahhh, Togekiss Taro, you're messing me up!"
Togekiss hit Jin with a Body Slam, sending him tumbling aside. It then called out toward the window, prompting an Ambipom to dive in from the tree and carry the dazed Jin onto the bed.
Scratching his head, Jin saw Togekiss coaching a Pichu on clearing the level and could only give a helpless smile. His phone buzzed. Jin glanced at the screen and yelled in surprise.
"Squinty-eyed old man!"
Brock's eye twitched, veins popping on his temple.
"Why aren't you asleep at this hour?" Jin asked.
"I came to consult Mr. Lu on breeding techniques," Brock replied honestly.
"Oh, you mean Teacher Lu? That guy's probably asleep. Better to ask him tomorrow!"
Brock nodded silently, gazing at the full list of elite trainers in awe.
"What kind of incredible breeder is this Mr. Lu?" he murmured.
After adding Brock to the group, Lu Ye went to bed. Early the next morning, his phone's buzzing woke him up. The group was discussing Lu Ye's late-night post, Midnight Diner.
"I'm starving…" Erika from Viridian posted pitifully.
"I've got breakfast here; you can come over later," Red replied.
Erika: "!!?"
Jin exclaimed in shock, "What? That guy is also a breeder?!"
"Imbuing emotions into cooking to trigger evolution—this is an advanced breeding technique," Brock said with admiration.
Lorelei chimed in, "Even Kalos Water-type Elite Jimmy seems to use a similar method."
Green frowned. He had always adhered to the principle of survival of the fittest and found this emotional approach unappealing. Emotions cloud judgment, he believed. But he couldn't deny that Teacher Lu's methods seemed effective.
"Wow! Gastly evolved!" Blue's eyes sparkled. "It's only been 2 months, right?"
"Evolving Gastly in 2 months is already rare," Brock remarked seriously, stroking his chin.
"Mr. Lu might actually be a master breeder!"
Lu Ye was dumbfounded. What breeder? What were they all talking about?
Didn't Gastly evolve just because it licked the plates clean?
I didn't, I'm not, stop making stuff up!
Watching the heated discussion in the group, Lu Ye couldn't bring himself to interrupt. "Forget it, as long as they're happy," he sighed.
Closing the chat, he opened the admin panel to check his follower count. Overnight, his fanbase had reached 1 million, just enough to break the milestone.
At the same time, the system notification chimed.
[Achievement Unlocked: Million-Follower Content Creator!]
[Reward: Commemorative Ball ×1, Skill Upgrade Ticket ×1]
The stinginess of the reward left Lu Ye cold. A Commemorative Ball for such a major achievement? Seriously?
"Explain why it's not a Master Ball!"
"Did you skim my rewards?!"
[Ding—To commemorate your achievement, a rare Commemorative Ball has been issued as a reward.]
In reality, Commemorative Balls aren't the kind you get from a ten-pull in the game. They're limited-edition items issued by Poké Ball factories to mark special events and are incredibly valuable as collectibles.
But Lu Ye wouldn't be foolish enough to trade system items. "This thing is just going to gather dust," he muttered.
The other reward, the Skill Upgrade Ticket, intrigued him. When he touched it, the card shattered into fragments.
[Skill Upgrade Ticket used successfully!]
[Choose a skill to upgrade: Cooking Lv2, Spirit Vision Lv1, Pokéblock Crafting Lv4, Japanese Lv3.]
From a cost-benefit perspective, upgrading Pokéblock Crafting was the best choice. But Lv4 was already enough for someone who wasn't aiming to be a trainer.
After some internal struggle, Lu Ye sighed and chose Pokéblock Crafting.
"This feels like a trap," he muttered.
[Ding—Skill upgraded successfully!]
[Pokéblock Crafting Lv5: With your mastery over berries, you now have a chance to craft Perfect-Quality Pokéblocks (comparable to a Coordination Champion!).]
Even at Lv5, the chance of making perfect-quality Pokéblocks wasn't 100%. It had merely increased to "a certain probability." Mastery would still require significant practice.
Although his level couldn't yet rival a Coordination Champion like Wallace, he could easily outperform Coordination Masters like Melissa.
Since it was early morning, Lu Ye refrained from testing the noisy berry machine to avoid disturbing the neighbors. But he could feel the effects of the skill upgrade.
"You're in luck, kid!" Lu Ye called as he entered the next room, ready to tease Haunter, but froze in surprise.
"Gengaaa!"
Haunter was practicing punching against the wall.
"Whizz, whizz, whizz—"
Its ghostly hands detached from its body, flying around the living room, phasing through walls, and reappearing from the ceiling unpredictably. It was training Shadow Punch!
"You're a special attacker," Lu Ye sighed. "What's the point of practicing punches with your physical attack stat?"
"Gengaaa?" Haunter gave him a side-eye.
Are you telling me how to do my job?
"Fine, whatever. If it makes you happy," Lu Ye shrugged.
He watched Haunter train for a while and noted its limitations: the ghostly hands couldn't stray more than 5 meters away. In game terms, its range was only a D. Although its precision was an EX, Haunter's physical attack power was dismal.
"If you really want to train, go ahead," Lu Ye sighed again. "I'll buy you some dumbbells next time."
"Gengaaa!" Haunter's eyes lit up, and it nodded enthusiastically.
Lu Ye rubbed his temples. No matter how hard you train, every Pokémon has limits!
What, are you trying to turn yourself into a dual-attack Haunter?
Even though Lu Ye doubted the usefulness of Haunter practicing punches, he decided not to discourage it. Better to let it experiment than to stifle its enthusiasm.
"I'm heading to class. Want to come?" Lu Ye asked.
"Gengaaa!"
Haunter shook its head, mimicking a boxer's stance as it continued shadowboxing.
"Fine, just don't wreck the house!" Lu Ye called back.