Feebas

The four of them headed toward the heart of the forest, where Espeon and Umbreon had made their home, and where Zubat trained as well.

Beside the pool, Espeon lounged lazily, watching her beloved Umbreon teach Zubat moves. Umbreon gathered a blackish-purple Shadow Ball in his mouth and fired it at an iron target. Zubat imitated him, but the Shadow Ball she formed was inferior to Umbreon's in both speed and size.

The moment Lu Ze saw Zubat's Shadow Ball, he was overjoyed and hurried toward her. When he arrived and had just opened his mouth to praise her, he failed to notice the Feebas family watching from the water. Caught off guard, he was sprayed in the face twice.

Only then did Lu Ze remember. He wiped his face helplessly and looked at Feebas with a bitter smile.

"Don't be like that, Feebas. I already apologized. I was young and ignorant back then, so please be magnanimous."

Feebas flipped over and dived into the water, but Lu Ze clearly caught the humanlike haughtiness in his eyes. What Lu Ze did not see was the smug look on Feebas's face after he sank beneath the surface.

Lu Ze helplessly looked at the other Feebas beside him, who was smiling, then pointed at the school of Feebas behind her and said,

"Look at you, already parents to so many children, yet he still acts like a brat. Every time I come, he spits water at me. Why don't you keep your husband in line instead of just laughing on the side?"

Feebas rolled her eyes at Lu Ze in a remarkably humanlike manner, ignored him, and continued watching Umbreon teach Zubat moves on shore.

The Feebas in the water belonged to Lu Ba and Lu Ma. The one who spat water at Lu Ze was Lu Ba's Feebas, who had held a grudge ever since Lu Ze called him "so ugly" as a child. Every time he saw Lu Ze, he would spray him with water. The Feebas Lu Ze had been talking to belonged to Lu Ma. She and Lu Ba's Feebas were a married pair, and all the other Feebas in the pond were their children.

There were also scattered Pokémon of other kinds in the pond, such as Goldeen, Poliwag, Krabby, a Quagsire, and, of course, the Magikarp said to appear wherever there was water.

After being interrupted by Papa Feebas, Lu Ze was no longer in a hurry to praise Zubat. He turned to Tang Yunqin, who had followed behind, and said,

"Tang Yunqin, there are so many Feebas in the water. Why don't you put yours in too? Let him spend more time with his own kind."

"Sure."

Tang Yunqin readily agreed, releasing her Feebas and placing him into the pond.

Papa Feebas:!!!

Mama Feebas:!!!

All the Feebas:!!!!!

Lu Ze grinned smugly at the sight. Serves you right for spraying me. Let that shock you for the whole year.

Though they were both Feebas, Tang Yunqin's Feebas had spent a long time eating the Energy Cubes Lu Ze gave him, which could increase Beauty. He still looked like a Feebas, but whether it was the sheen of his scales, his streamlined body, or the confidence in his bearing, he appeared far more dazzling than the Feebas in the pond.

It was no wonder the pond Feebas were stunned. To them, it was like a swan walking into a flock of ordinary ducks. And since he was one of their own kind, the contrast was even more obvious.

After gloating for a moment, Lu Ze ignored the other Feebas's reactions and quickly walked over to Espeon, who was curled up nearby, watching Zubat diligently learn her new move.

Pokémon: Zubat

Gender: Female

Type: Poison, Flying

Ability: Infiltrator (Can attack through the opponent's Barrier and Substitute)

Aptitude: Orange

Basic Moves: Absorb, Supersonic, Astonish, Mean Look, Poison Fang, Swift, Confuse Ray, Shadow Ball

Egg Moves: Cross Poison, Air Slash, Pursuit

Looking at Zubat's status panel, Lu Ze knew that she had already mastered Shadow Ball and was now simply becoming more proficient with it.

Zubat's Shadow Balls struck the iron target one after another, and she improved rapidly. Before long, they were nearly the same size as normal Shadow Balls, and her casting speed had become much faster than when Lu Ze first arrived.

When Zubat took a break, Lu Ze walked over, stroked her little head, praised her, and took out a new box of Energy Cubes for her.

These were made from Tamato Berries that Lu Ze had specifically asked the owner of the Berry shop to find some time ago. In the game, Tamato Berries increased friendship while lowering Speed Effort Values. In reality, they only slightly increased friendship, but even so, they were extremely rare.

Using the recipe in his mind and combining them with several other Berries, Lu Ze made Energy Cubes that no longer increased friendship but could slightly increase Speed.

Likewise, there were other Energy Cubes that could slightly increase Attack, Special Attack, and so on. However, the crucial Berries were far too scarce. Most had been brought out from Pokémon Secret Realms, and the fruit the Berry shop owner had found for Lu Ze was the only kind he had managed to locate.

In the game, Crobat had two common builds. One was a fast offensive build with maximum Attack stat and Speed. The other was maximum Speed, with the remaining points split two-thirds into HP and one-third into Attack stat, using Taunt, U-turn, and Toxic. But regardless of the build, Speed was extremely important.

As he watched Zubat eat the new Energy Cubes, Lu Ze did not forget Umbreon, her teacher. He took out a box of the best-tasting nutritional Energy Cubes for Umbreon and Espeon. The two Pokémon shared the box, and the looks they gave Lu Ze became even more doting.

Over there, Sui Yan also released Torkoal and Growlithe, while Su Tingxi released Dratini. They began feeding their own Pokémon as well.

An unexpected situation arose on Tang Yunqin's side. Lu Ma's Feebas had taken a liking to the Energy Cubes Tang Yunqin brought out to increase Beauty. Though she did not know what they were, she instinctively craved the Energy Cubes in Tang Yunqin's hand and kept rubbing against her hand while using Charm.

Tang Yunqin fed Mama Feebas one cube, and the other Feebas immediately crowded over as well. This put Tang Yunqin in a difficult position. She had only brought one box of Energy Cubes today. If she gave them all to the Feebas in the pond, her own Feebas would have none left. Besides, even if she gave all of them away, each Feebas would not even get a single cube. There simply was not enough.

Tang Yunqin helplessly looked at Lu Ze and silently mouthed, "Come help me."

When Lu Ze saw it, he gave her an "OK" gesture, patted Zubat's head again, and walked over.

"Pfft."

Lu Ze had just reached the edge of the pond when Papa Feebas spat another mouthful of water at him before he could say anything. Lu Ze helplessly wiped his face and said to Mama Feebas,

"Keep your husband in line. If you can stop him from spraying me every time he sees me, I'll have my mom feed you this kind of Energy Cube every day. I'm telling you, if you eat these, you can become as beautiful as that Feebas."

Lu Ze pointed at Tang Yunqin's Feebas as he spoke. Mama Feebas's eyes lit up, and she turned around to glare at Papa Feebas.

At last, Papa Feebas could not withstand it any longer and slunk away into the deep water. Only then did Mama Feebas look at Lu Ze happily.

"Ha ha, nice! I'll make them when I get back tonight, then have my mom bring them over for you tomorrow."

Lu Ze happily said to Mama Feebas. This was the first time in his life that he had successfully put Papa Feebas in his place. Of course he was happy.

After settling the matter, there was still plenty of time left. A satisfied Lu Ze brought Tang Yunqin back to continue watching Zubat train, while Su Tingxi and Sui Yan had also set training goals for their respective Pokémon.

Growlithe still needed to improve his Speed and impact force, so his training remained running. After his battle with Lu Ze, Su Tingxi had become extremely envious of Zubat's ridiculous evasion rate. He discussed it with Sui Yan and had Sui Yan's Torkoal use moves while Dratini dodged them.

This training killed two birds with one stone. It could improve Torkoal's move casting speed and accuracy while also training the evasion rate Su Tingxi had been longing for. The downside was that if too many moves landed, Dratini would have to take them head-on, which would hurt him as well. Everything depended on Dratini's ability to evade.

After some time, the sky gradually darkened. Kommo-o walked over with Munchlax. As soon as he arrived, he raised a large clawed thumb at Lu Ze, then patted Munchlax.

Munchlax stepped forward and struck a Bulk Up pose. White light flashed over his body as he successfully used Bulk Up, raising his Attack stat and Defense stat by one stage.

Lu Ze was overjoyed. He had known Munchlax had learned Bulk Up last time, but the move had not yet been mastered. He had not expected Munchlax to master it so quickly this time, giving Lu Ze a pleasant surprise. As expected of a Pokémon with Golden Aptitude.

Lu Ze also gave Munchlax a thumbs-up to show that he had done great. Munchlax scratched his head shyly and smiled happily.

But no one noticed that Zubat was training even harder nearby. She had been about to rest, yet she gritted her teeth and continued training.

"Eevee!"

Umbreon was the first to notice that something was wrong with Zubat. He suddenly let out a loud Roar, trying to make her stop.

Umbreon's Roar drew Lu Ze's attention as well. The moment he turned around, he saw Zubat, already swaying unsteadily, struggling to form a Shadow Ball and fire it at the target. Then, due to exhaustion, she fell from the sky.

"Zubat!"

Lu Ze was shocked and lunged forward at top speed. Thankfully, he was not far away. Lu Ze successfully caught Zubat as she fell from the sky and slid forward a short distance.

Holding Zubat, Lu Ze said with some reproach,

"Why didn't you go rest? You were already about to collapse, so why did you still force yourself to use a move?"

Zubat opened her mouth slightly, looking aggrieved.

Lu Ze realized that his tone had been wrong and gently explained to Zubat,

"I'm not blaming you. But move practice needs to be gradual too. No one can become fat in one bite, right?"

Zubat could no longer hold it in. A tear slid from the corner of her eye, and a voice appeared in Lu Ze's mind.

"But I'm the older brother. How can I be weaker than my little brother? I want to protect him forever!"

Lu Ze stared at Zubat in shock.

"Was that you talking just now?"

Zubat nodded her little head, but no more voice appeared in Lu Ze's mind.

"You're not weaker than him. You can protect your little brother. Look, didn't you already help me win the Champion title in the school tournament? You're amazing too. Your little brother is still being protected by you."

Zubat looked at Lu Ze, then at Munchlax, who had run over with a worried expression. Her lips curled upward, and she happily fell asleep in Lu Ze's arms.

"Is she okay?"

Sui Yan and the others ran over and asked as well.

Lu Ze softly said,

"She's fine. She just exhausted herself and fell asleep."

"That's good."

The group relaxed. No one knew that, deep within the forest, inside an artificial waterfall, a humanoid Pokémon opened its eyes. Its gaze seemed to cross space itself as it watched Lu Ze and the others.

Wishing everyone peace, joy, wealth, and beauty in the new year.

And while you're at it, try guessing which Pokémon I revealed at the end.