Familiarize Yourself Here

After reaching an agreement with Entei, he left, saying he would come pick up Yan Yang at around five in the afternoon.

Yan Yang looked at Alakazam, deep in thought.

"Te-Teacher, is there anything you want me to do?"

Alakazam shook his head. "It's only your first time here. You don't need to learn anything yet. Familiarize yourself with this place first."

Alakazam's voice carried an aged quality, as though he was already quite old.

That fit Yan Yang's impression of Alakazam Pokémon—the wise old sage.

This Alakazam—no, he should call him his teacher now.

His teacher's head seemed much larger than those of other Alakazam, which also suggested that he was indeed very powerful.

It was said that an Alakazam's strength was proportional to the size of his head. The larger the head, the stronger the Inner Focus needed to support it.

Yan Yang wanted to know more about his teacher, so he quietly activated his ability.

Yet Alakazam seemed to sense something. He quietly used his Inner Focus to shield himself.

Yan Yang saw none of his information.

Yan Yang was greatly surprised. This was the first time he had received no feedback after checking someone's information.

"Yan Yang, it's not very nice to use your ability on your teacher in secret." Alakazam stroked his long beard with a smile.

Yan Yang: "!!!"

It was not only the embarrassment of being exposed, but also the surprise of Alakazam seeming to have anticipated it all along.

Did his teacher know something? Entei clearly had not told him anything. Could it be that he had used some kind of power on him?

Yan Yang said somewhat indignantly, "Master, didn't you use it on me too?"

"If you hadn't used it on me first, I wouldn't have noticed. I don't actively interfere with other people's futures, but I also won't let strangers learn about me." Alakazam explained.

Yan Yang was extremely embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I was just a little curious."

"It's fine. Making good use of your ability is a good thing, and I don't blame you. Your ability to obtain information wouldn't reveal much of my privacy anyway. It would mostly just tell you my current condition, but I still can't let you learn it so easily."

"Also, I don't like being called 'teacher.' How about you call me something else and let me hear it?" After saying that, Alakazam looked at Yan Yang with what seemed like a hint of anticipation.

"Then... Master Hu?" Yan Yang said hesitantly. He seemed to have always called Alakazam Pokémon that before.

"Master Hu? Hmm, that sounds alright. It sounds a little better than 'teacher.' Fine, I won't make you overthink it. Call me that from now on." Alakazam looked somewhat reluctant, yet also fairly satisfied. Yan Yang had no idea how those two expressions could appear on the same face at once.

"Okay, Teach—ah, no, Master Hu." Yan Yang almost failed to switch over in time and smiled awkwardly, but Master Hu did not seem to mind.

Still, being around such an intelligent Pokémon felt rather stressful.

The Pokédex seemed to say that Alakazam's powerful, overflowing Inner Focus could make nearby humans and Pokémon feel uncomfortable. Yet Yan Yang felt nothing. Perhaps Master Hu controlled it well enough that such a thing did not happen.

Yan Yang had many more questions for Master Hu, but Master Hu told him to go play first. It seemed that he had matters to handle.

Yan Yang could only give up. Still, playing with the other Pokémon was not bad, and it was a good chance to get acquainted with them. After all, the Pokémon here should all be Master Hu's students, and it would be nice for them to look out for one another.

What Yan Yang did not know was that Master Hu taught entirely according to whim. After giving instructions, he would simply leave everything to them, only appearing to offer guidance at critical moments.

And he taught them one at a time. So his students mostly studied by themselves in their rooms, rather than learning together in a large classroom as Yan Yang had imagined.

A Bayleef led him around and introduced him to the place.

The wooden cabin had three floors. The first floor was where everyone studied and practiced, the second was where they ate and slept, and the third was used to store various items.

There were many rooms on every floor. The first floor had fewer but larger rooms, the second floor had many rooms, and the third floor had only one room.

It really had the feeling of a boarding school.

There was not much need to introduce the outside, since Yan Yang had already seen it earlier.

There was nothing particularly special in front of the wooden cabin, but behind it were all kinds of terrain where Pokémon of various types could play.

There was a pool, a beach, and ordinary grassland. Beyond that lay the mountains.

After roughly familiarizing himself with the area, Yan Yang began looking for Pokémon to play with.

Though he was timid and reserved around people, he was actually rather outgoing around Pokémon.

Pichu, Cleffa, and Igglybuff were not very afraid of him. Before long, they had become fast friends with the human in front of them.

After chatting for a while, Yan Yang learned that they were not here to study at all. They had come here to play. Master Hu had not assigned them any tasks, but he did not object to them coming here to have fun.

After all, these Pokémon lived nearby, and Master Hu was not the sort of fierce Pokémon who would drive them away. They only needed to complete a tiny task for him in order to keep playing here.

Pokémon that looked this young truly had no need to learn anything for the time being.

Yan Yang held the three Pokémon in one arm, and they seemed very happy.

"Sometimes Alakazam uses his Inner Focus to hold us up in the air. It feels really, really fun," Igglybuff said happily.

Yan Yang also wanted to try that feeling a little.

It was just that he was much bigger than them, and he did not know whether Master Hu could lift him into the sky.

But with Master Hu's abilities, it felt like he could control even a 999-kilogram Pokémon in the air.

Inner Focus really was a wonderful thing.

For humans, it was Psychic Power—controlling objects and the like. It sounded incredibly interesting.

It would have been nice if he could use it too, but this was something that depended on talent. Effort alone would not guarantee results.

Psychics were rare precisely because very few people possessed such talent.

But as long as you truly became a Psychic, everything would get better.

Moreover, Psychics were more likely to be favored by powerful Pokémon such as Psychic Types. Psychic Types were practically broken.

After playing for a while longer, Yan Yang formally greeted Master Hu's students.

There were not many of them, only a dozen or so.

Aside from Bayleef, who had shown him around the grounds, there were also Rhydon, Mr. Mime, Wooloo...

Among them, the one that attracted Yan Yang the most was a Riolu.

Not only because this kind of Pokémon was rarely seen in the Johto Region, but also because of the special traits of its species.

A Pokémon famed for its aura.

It was an abstract concept that Yan Yang did not understand. He seemed to recall hearing that it was a kind of biological energy vibration that could only be controlled by trained humans and certain Pokémon, something that truly existed within every person.

This Riolu looked rather shy, and it seemed unwilling to speak with him.

Yan Yang also learned that his aura had not earned Riolu's favor.

Pokémon like Riolu were drawn to powerful auras. Most Riolu chose their trainers based on whether they possessed a strong or unusual aura.

Knowing that there was nothing special about his aura, Yan Yang did not feel much about it.

Still, it hurt a little that this Riolu did not want to pay him any attention.

After all, every other Pokémon had greeted him.

Yan Yang did not understand, but he would not force himself on it and keep bothering it. He followed a Totodile off to play instead.

Totodile were very lively Pokémon, always looking cheerful, and everyone liked them.

Watching Yan Yang leave, Riolu let out a sigh of relief.

It truly was not very good at handling social relationships. It had been here for two weeks already and still had not made a single friend.

That person's aura was about the same as an ordinary person's, except it carried a little more warmth. Riolu actually liked it quite a bit.

Perhaps once they became more familiar with each other, they could become good friends.

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