Chapter 384: Chapter 384

February 8th, Monday. Clear skies.

With the semifinals concluded, the Indigo League Tournament was now set to enter its final full battle.

Zhuo Xiong, a seeded contestant from Johto, advanced to the finals with an impressive 6:1 record.

It was said that this competitor, having traveled across multiple regional leagues, already possessed the strength to qualify for the Masters Tournament.

On the tournament forums, the comments were flying:

Everyone could already picture it—when he faced Teacher Lu in the final, it would definitely be another clash of titans.

As the finals drew near and the hype built up—

Members of the group chat also arrived at the Indigo Plateau one by one.

The weather was lovely. Under the clear sky, the plateau buzzed with a celebratory atmosphere.

Of course, the top earners were still Team Rocket.

But even with their substantial daily profits, they still maintained a diligent and serious work ethic.

In the bustling crowd, James, wearing sunglasses and a face mask, squeezed next to an ordinary-looking bystander.

“Hey there, buddy—you want a card pack?”

The brunette man in purple clicked his tongue, looking annoyed by the hassle.

But the Trainer reached out and accepted the pack from James.

“Charge it to you, yeah?”

“…You’re such a pain.”

The man tapped his phone with a soft beep.

James stared for a moment, then stammered,

But they were already walking away, leaving behind silhouettes that seemed almost… legendary.

In that instant, James felt a sudden burst of clarity, eyes ablaze.

“I’m confident I can make even better cards now!”

“Green-sensei!” A blue-jacketed boy with Pikachu on his shoulder ran over excitedly. “And Grandpa Red!”

“Long time no see.” Red smiled and rubbed Pikachu’s head.

“Pika~chuu!” Pikachu narrowed his eyes in bliss.

Green nodded slightly, then said,

“Everyone else is at the player village. Let’s go join them.”

At the Player Village, Indigo Tournament

“It’s time for another Professor Oak Lecture!“

In the open dining hall, some space had been cleared, and a crowd gathered around Professor Oak, each with their own small stool.

Wearing his white coat, the old man coughed and knocked on the blackboard with a fist.

“Excluding those in the Undiscovered egg group, how many pure Flying-type Pokémon are there?”

“Gold, you know a lot about egg groups,” Professor Oak said meaningfully to the boy with goggles. “What’s your take?”

“Pssh, I can rattle off ten right now.” Gold started counting on his fingers. “Pidgey, Pidgeotto, Pidove…”

Professor Oak smacked him with a rolled-up newspaper.

Lu Ye twitched at the corner of his mouth.

“Those are all dual-type Normal/Flying Pokémon, aren’t they?”

“There’s… such a distinction?” Gold’s eyes widened.

“I told you before,” Kristal, wearing her round cap, sighed. “So far, aside from the Undiscovered group, there are only two known pure Flying-types.”

“Rookidee and Rookiedee’s evolution, right?” said the red-haired, caped man with crossed arms.

“I heard Leon mention them when I visited Galar.”

“Ooh, as expected of you, Mr. Lance!” gasped Daisy of Viridian, clearly impressed.

Nearby, the mature redhead Lorelei rested her chin on one hand, sighing.

“You guys really have time to learn such obscure trivia…”

“Seems like Auntie doesn’t know either,” Gold whispered to Silver.

Silver silently scooted his stool farther away.

“Gold,” Lorelei smiled sweetly. “The weather’s nice today. Want to have a battle?”

“Too bad the field’s already taken.”

Lu Ye glanced at his phone.

“Red and Ash are going at it pretty hard right now.”

“He can spar with Red?” Brock blinked.

“Ah… that explains it.”

The room fell into an awkward silence.

Professor Oak coughed.

“Anyway! Let’s all cheer for Lu Ye in the final! Let’s go win that championship!”

“Is it really okay to say this in front of the organizing committee?” Lance winced.

“Well, it proves I didn’t misjudge when choosing a Pokédex holder!” Oak laughed.

Pokédex holders are said to resonate with each other—

When gathered, the Pokédexes even emit a synchronized ‘beep’.

They’re not just tools. They’re symbols of belief and spirit.

To Professor Oak, Lu Ye and Ash were both trusted contenders for the title.

Lu Ye thought for a moment.

Wouldn’t this make it sound like he’d been pre-selected?

Wasn’t this supposed to be a prep meeting for the final?

When did it turn into Professor Oak’s classroom?!

Lu Ye scratched Sylveon’s head and rubbed his temples.

Forget it. Doesn’t matter if I prep or not at this point.

Across the dining hall, the little ones were playing.

Togekiss Taro stood on his tiny feet, sweating and trying to keep up with Togepi.

“Togekiss!” (Slow down!)

Togepi darted around wildly, throwing the group into chaos.

If she even got a scrape, Togekiss Taro would probably fire off an Aura Sphere!

Even after evolving, Togekiss still has little feet—technically, it can stand on tiptoe.

Normally, this makes it look graceful and elegant like a ballerina.

But when Gold’s Togekiss Taro tried it… the vibe was very off.

“Pfft!” Gold sneaked a glance and nearly choked with laughter. “Togekiss Taro, you’re hilarious!”

In an instant, his gaze sharpened—Air Slash was charging up!

A massive explosion erupted from the battle arena.

Red exhaled heavily and glanced toward the dining hall, briefly stunned.

“Weird… why is there an explosion over there too?”

“I’m going in, Red-senpai!”

Red turned back, tugging his cap down as the blast of air surged past.

Charging at him like a battle god—Ash.

Nearby, the brown-haired youth in purple twitched.

Looks like he’d graduated from no-holds-barred duels…

In the wrecked cafeteria—

Gold and Togekiss Taro were put in charge of cleanup.

Silver, Kristal, and Daisy stayed behind to help.

The rowdy group members clearly didn’t care about their status as Pokédex holders, goofing off all over the place.

“What kind of field do you want for the final?” Lance asked casually before leaving.

“Wait… I can choose the field?!” Lu Ye was stunned.

“Just kidding—haha! I’ll be presenting your trophy. Good luck in the final!” Lance soared away on his chonky Dragonite.

Lu Ye looked up at the sky, watching the big-bellied Dragonite scratch its head.

“How did Dratini evolve into this…”

“Should’ve turned into a graceful Milotic or something.”

After a day of chaos, the group posted their updates in the chat.

Ash: “I pulled Red-senpai’s UR card! [Image]”

Gold: “Holy—so cool!!”

Blue: “WHY didn’t you come to my booth?!”

Daisy dug into her overalls, pulled out her last bit of pocket money, and blushed.

“I wanna go draw cards too!”

Lu Ye laughed so hard he couldn’t close his mouth.

“More of that! I love lucky draws like you, Ash!”

Professor Oak turned in early, but the group chat was still buzzing.

Lu Ye lay on his pillow, staring at the ceiling in the dark as his phone vibrated beside him.

His emotions were… complicated.

“Are you guys really here to support me… or just using it as an excuse to group-travel?!”

It was only one o'clock—still early.

Lu Ye checked his console and messaged the user with the ice cream avatar.

“Didn’t want to disturb your rest.”

“It’s fine. Gengar’s subbing in tomorrow.”

He ended up beating Cynthia twice in a row.

Cynthia smiled sweetly, knuckles popping blue, then let it go.

“When he gets to Sinnoh… I’ll properly deal with him.”

Lu Ye, satisfied, prepared to sleep.

But his phone screen lit up again with a faint glow.

Lu Ye blinked, then picked up the call.

“For tomorrow’s match.”

A man’s voice—deep and husky, like amber-colored whiskey. A faint cat meow echoed behind him.

That voice… he’d heard it before.

But the call had already ended.

Lu Ye clicked his tongue.

“Like father, like son… all tsundere.”

Then suddenly, realization struck. Cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Even in a sure-win match… this group was jinxing him to death!

“Even if it’s the Baby Cup, I still—”

Suddenly, he locked eyes with the “chubby black guy” in the room.

Gengar scratched his butt and grinned.

“Forget it…” Lu Ye laughed helplessly.

Maybe lately, he’d been too focused on winning and losing.

What really mattered—

Was letting the little ones enjoy battling.

Then for the next match…

Lu Ye patted Gengar on the head.

“Let’s bring smiles through battle, Gengar!”

“Gengengar! ヾ(≧∇≦*)ヾ”