An Expected Dinner Gathering

The principal happily patted Lu Ze and Su Tingxi on the shoulders.

"Good, very good! The students this year are excellent indeed, hahaha!"

Lu Ze and Su Tingxi silently let the principal praise them in front of the students.

Finally, it was time for the awards. The prizes were simply trophies labeled champion, runner-up, and third place—nothing else. The three of them remained calm, showing no signs of excitement.

On the other hand, if Lu Ze's homeroom teacher had not restrained himself, he would have already started jumping around.

That evening, Su Tingxi brought Lu Ze and the others to a hugely popular Charizard Hot Pot Restaurant, said to be the leading hot pot restaurant in all of Dragon Nation.

"Why do we have to eat with this smug bastard?"

Sui Yan said unhappily, his hands clasped behind his head.

"You're only saying that because he pinned you down and beat you up."

"Tch. If I had a Pseudo-legendary, I could pin him down and beat him too."

"Beat him? Keep bragging."

Seeing Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin about to start arguing again, Lu Ze hurriedly stopped them.

"Don't embarrass yourselves. Someone's treating us to dinner. What's not to like?"

During Su Tingxi's battles with Sui Yan, Tang Yunqin, and Lu Ze, Lu Ze had noticed that Su Tingxi always wore an indifferent expression. His eyes conveyed an attitude that nothing mattered and nothing was worth caring about.

That attitude reminded Lu Ze of a colleague from his previous life. They had both been office drones earning just over three thousand a month. Lu Ze had lived carefree and without a worry, while that colleague had shown no interest in anything and cared about nothing, merely completing his work and the tasks assigned by his superiors.

Later, while they were out handling work together, they passed a bridge. Without any warning, that colleague had jumped off without hesitation. A life that had not even reached thirty ended just like that. Later, the police found a suicide note he had written back in university at his home.

Su Tingxi's eyes were extremely similar to those of Lu Ze's former colleague. That was why, when a light appeared in Su Tingxi's eyes, Lu Ze agreed to his invitation.

"Come on, come on. Um, this is the hot pot place I usually like. I don't know whether you'll like it. If not, we can go somewhere else."

Su Tingxi pulled open the door for Lu Ze and asked carefully.

"It's fine. We're good with anything. Let's go in."

The four of them headed toward a private room. After ordering the soup base and dishes, the atmosphere became somewhat awkward. None of them knew how to begin, so Lu Ze was the first to speak.

"Um, did you invite me to dinner tonight because there was something you wanted to ask me?"

Su Tingxi froze. "No. Um, I just... well, it's my first time meeting someone like you. I wanted to make friends with you."

Lu Ze's eyebrow twitched uncontrollably. Ignoring Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin's suppressed laughter, he asked,

"Well, I'm actually... pretty open-minded, but I still prefer girls."

Su Tingxi: ?????

Even Su Tingxi, oblivious as he was, realized that his words had been ambiguous. He hurriedly explained,

"No, no, I didn't mean that I wanted to date you. I mean be friends, like... like you and him."

As he spoke, he pointed at Sui Yan. Only then did Lu Ze let out a sigh of relief, while Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin laughed even louder.

"Why do you want to be friends with me?"

"Because you're the first person my age whom I think is stronger than me."

Su Tingxi slowly began telling them about his life.

It turned out that although Su Tingxi's father was the richest man in Chang'an City and doted on him immensely, his father's way of doting on him was simply granting every request and buying him whatever he wanted. His Mom was the same. Both of them had their own companies, and whenever they got busy, they neglected everything else. In all his years, Su Tingxi could count on one hand the number of times his family had sat down to eat together.

Moreover, because his parents' businesses were so large, many of his friends humored him and catered to him whenever they spent time together. It did not feel like friendship at all, but more like a relationship between master and servant.

Su Tingxi did not like being friends with them either. Though he did not know what friendship truly was, he knew that such a relationship did not count as friendship. As a result, he had always been alone.

It was not until today's finals, when he saw Lu Ze and the other two joking and fooling around, that he began to yearn for it. Yet he had not shown it. Only after Lu Ze defeated him in the arena through his intelligence and command did he feel something different arise in his heart, and the desire to be friends with Lu Ze was born.

Sui Yan nudged Lu Ze with his elbow, then asked Su Tingxi,

"So if Lu Ze were a girl, would you chase after her?"

"Yes."

"Hahahahahaha!"

Amid Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin's roaring laughter, Su Tingxi realized the ambiguity in his words again and hurriedly said,

"No, no, that's not what I meant. It's just that Lu Ze is the first person my age whom I consider stronger than me, so I wanted to be friends with you."

"Alright then. Have you never had friends growing up?"

"It's not that. I just never had friends with a relationship like yours. My friends seemed more like... props to highlight me? Yes, that seems like the right word."

Su Tingxi thought about it seriously. His friends seemed to exist only to make him stand out, more like colleagues in a superior-subordinate relationship.

Su Tingxi laughed at himself. "After I got Dratini, I felt that friends were nothing special anyway, so I stopped contacting them. I actually felt much more relaxed alone. It was only after seeing you today that I realized I hadn't had a single friend in all those years."

"So you invited us to dinner today just to become friends with us?"

"Yeah."

"But friendship isn't something that happens just because you say you want to be friends. Personality matters too. If our personalities don't fit, then we can't become friends."

"You're right."

Su Tingxi thought about it seriously and felt that Lu Ze made sense. If their personalities did not fit, then any friendship they formed would probably turn into that same strange kind of relationship as before.

"Then... let's get acquainted again. Hello, I'm Su Tingxi."

Su Tingxi stood and held out his hand to Lu Ze.

"Hello, I'm Lu Ze."

"Hello, I'm Sui Yan."

"Hello, I'm Tang Yunqin."

The four of them started with the two shaking hands. Then Sui Yan casually placed his hand on top of theirs, while Tang Yunqin's hand supported Lu Ze's from underneath.

Lu Ze gave Tang Yunqin a strange look. He did not understand.

The four exchanged smiles and sat back down. By then, the soup base and dishes they had ordered had arrived, and they began chatting as they ate.

Sui Yan said, "Hey, how did you train your Dratini? It's so strong."

Tang Yunqin said, "Yeah. Your Dratini feels ridiculously tanky. It was like we couldn't hurt it at all."

Su Tingxi said, "I barely trained him. Usually, he trains himself. Maybe it's because he eats well. The Energy Cubes Dratini eats are basically all A-rank, so his constitution is better."

Sui Yan said, "He had quite a lot of moves when he battled Lu Ze. Did he learn them himself?"

Su Tingxi said, "No. Some were learned with TMs, while others were taught by people I hired."

Lu Ze said, "Have you tested Dratini's aptitude? He knows quite a few moves, so his aptitude should be pretty high, right?"

Su Tingxi said, "No. I don't want to test it. If the test says his aptitude is poor, it might leave a regret in my heart. So testing his aptitude has no meaning to me."

As Su Tingxi spoke, he stroked Dratini, who was happily eating on the table beside him. Dratini contentedly rubbed against Su Tingxi's palm.

Non-large Pokémon were allowed out in private rooms, so aside from Dratini, Lu Ze, Sui Yan, and Tang Yunqin's Pokémon were also there. However, while the four of them ate hot pot, the Pokémon still ate Energy Cubes. Hot pot simply did not suit Pokémon tastes at all.

It was worth mentioning that Munchlax could be let out, but not after evolving. Unless, of course, they went to a restaurant specifically meant for large Pokémon. Haha.

"Well said!"

Lu Ze and the other two gave Su Tingxi a thumbs-up at the same time. This embarrassed Su Tingxi so much that his ears turned red, and he hurriedly urged everyone to eat.

After the meal, all four of them were very happy. It had to be said that this hot pot restaurant tasted fantastic.

Su Tingxi said, "Can we eat together again tomorrow?"

Lu Ze said, "Probably not. We still need to train tomorrow."

Su Tingxi said, "Then can I train with you tomorrow?"

"Of course. Why not?"

Lu Ze agreed with a smile.

"Then let's meet at the Pokémon Battle Center downtown tomorrow morning at eight thirty. See you there."

"Mm, see you there."

Su Tingxi agreed happily, then went home with the driver who had come to pick him up. Tang Yunqin was also picked up by her family, leaving only Sui Yan and Lu Ze to stroll slowly home beneath the Moonlight and city lights.

When Su Tingxi called his driver, he asked whether they wanted a ride home. Lu Ze and Sui Yan declined because they lived nearby, while Tang Yunqin said someone was coming to pick her up.

As they walked, Sui Yan asked,

"How did you end up agreeing to it? I remember you not being the type to make friends everywhere."

Indeed, Lu Ze had only ever been friends with Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin since childhood. Although he got along quite well with the people at school, they were merely classmates.

"He's different."

"What's different about him?"

"Friends are the kind of people who can gather together no matter how far apart they are. They're the kind of people who won't become strangers even if they don't contact each other for a long time. With Su Tingxi's personality, he's quite suited to being a friend. Besides, there's a good chance he'll go to the same university as us in the future. Of course, that's assuming you can get in."

Sui Yan protested, "Tch. With my Written Trial grades, as long as I pass the Martial Trial, I'll get in. Huh? Are you saying Shangqing is his goal too?"

"Do you think he can get in with that Dratini of his?"

"Alright, he definitely can."

"Exactly."

The streetlights stretched their shadows ever longer, and their figures gradually disappeared around the corner.

Su Tingxi's home.

Su Tingxi returned home and switched on the lights. Sure enough, he was still the only one there.

Su Tingxi's family was not used to having outsiders in their home, so aside from the cleaning lady who came to clean, it was usually only the family members themselves. Of course, Su Tingxi was alone at home far more often.

Su Tingxi returned to his bedroom, released Dratini, then sat at his desk and opened his diary to write,

Today was the school Pokémon Battle Tournament. I came in second place, but I wasn't unhappy at all, because I seem to have met someone interesting... someone who could become a true good friend...