A Child Bride? A Child Husband!

A Child Bride? A Child Husband!

Lu Ze glanced at Sui Yan in admiration. Sui Yan's commanding had truly improved by leaps and bounds. With Growlithe's natural speed and the two-stage boost from Agility, Drizzile could have easily dodged Water Pulse. But Sui Yan had Growlithe use Flamethrower to clash with the attack, filling the entire field with water vapor.

Then, relying on Growlithe's racial talent and powerful sense of smell, he found Drizzile's location and caught it off guard. If not for the girl in the princess dress reacting quickly and having Drizzile use Aqua Jet to knock Growlithe away, Sui Yan could have gotten in another free hit.

As the water vapor gradually dispersed, the girl in the princess dress looked at the slightly panting Drizzile and continued commanding angrily.

"Drizzile—Aqua Jet!"

"Growlithe—Flamethrower!"

As Aqua Jet approached Growlithe, it was suppressed by the Flamethrower blasting from Growlithe's mouth. After evaporating Aqua Jet, Flamethrower continued surging toward Drizzile without losing any momentum.

"Drizzile, Dodge!"

The girl in the princess dress's expression changed drastically as she commanded Drizzile to use the miraculous move Dodge. Unfortunately, Flamethrower was not slow, and Drizzile was still hit by it.

"Drizzile is unable to battle. Growlithe wins."

After checking Drizzile's condition, the referee announced the result of the battle.

The girl in the princess dress could no longer hold it in. With reddened eyes, she recalled Drizzile into its Poké Ball, then crouched on the ground, buried her head in her arms, and began sobbing quietly.

Lu Ze bumped Sui Yan with his shoulder as Sui Yan came down from the field, teasing him.

"She's crying now. Aren't you going to comfort her?"

Sui Yan seemed somewhat pleasantly surprised.

"Huh? I made her cry?"

Lu Ze was baffled. "Why are you happy about making someone cry?"

Sui Yan took out his phone and pointed it at the girl in the princess dress.

"My uncle-in-law said I wasn't good enough. I'll take a picture and show him. I can even make people cry in battle—how can he still say I'm not good enough?"

Lu Ze was speechless. "You really are a genius."

Sui Yan ignored Lu Ze and excitedly started typing something on his phone.

The girl in the princess dress had finished venting as well. With red-rimmed eyes, she walked toward them and declared fiercely,

"I'll definitely get my revenge in the Main Event!"

After saying that, she glared at Lu Ze and walked away.

Lu Ze scratched his head in confusion. Why did she glare at me? Wasn't Sui Yan the one who made her cry?

Beside him, Sui Yan held up his phone for Lu Ze to see and asked,

"What does my uncle-in-law mean?"

Lu Ze saw his uncle-in-law's reply: "You're quite the talent too," followed by a thumbs-up emoji.

Lu Ze pushed away the phone that Sui Yan had practically shoved into his face and answered calmly,

"It's nothing. Your uncle-in-law is praising you. Keep it up."

Sui Yan burst into laughter behind him.

"Ha, see? I told you! Once I sent him the picture, he couldn't keep saying I wasn't good enough!"

Lu Ze gave Sui Yan a pitying glance, then headed toward the rest area. He still had to wait for Su Tingxi, Tang Yunqin, and the others to finish their matches before heading back together. They needed to discuss how to handle tomorrow's Main Event, as well as information about the difficult opponents they had encountered in the knockout tournament. After all, know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated.

After Lu Ze kicked him, Sui Yan shamelessly went off to prepare for his next match. He had already won eight straight battles. Two more victories and he could enter the Main Event. Su Tingxi was the unfortunate one—he had drawn an internal matchup, and it was against Tang Yunqin. If he had drawn Sui Yan instead, both of them would have needed to fight a match.

Lu Ze did not go watch their battles. Since the battlefields were assigned randomly, following them around would mean running all over the place. He might as well rest in the lounge.

When Lu Ze arrived at the lounge, two people were already inside. Both wore black clothes and looked thin and frail. One of them wore a hat that obscured his face. He sat in a chair as if resting and showed no reaction when Lu Ze entered.

Lu Ze did not say anything either. He quietly sat down across from them, released Munchlax, and took out some Pokémon food he had made from the Backpack behind him. It was a Pokémon snack Munchlax loved. Munchlax plopped down on the floor and began eating happily.

Lu Ze watched Munchlax feast with a smile. Suddenly, Munchlax seemed to sense something. It picked up a piece of Pokémon food and held it out to its right. The air in front of the food rippled, and a blackish-purple Pokémon gradually emerged. It happily accepted the food, took a bite, and wore a satisfied smile.

Lu Ze froze for a moment, then did nothing as he watched Munchlax share its food.

Before Haunter could take a second bite, another spatial ripple appeared beside him, and a Misdreavus emerged. Drooling, it stared at the Pokémon food in Haunter's hand. Haunter looked at Misdreavus, suddenly twisted aside, and hid the food against his chest protectively.

Misdreavus puffed out its cheeks and glared angrily at Haunter.

"Munch~"

Munchlax raised another piece of Pokémon food and called out, indicating that Misdreavus could eat the one in his hand.

"Misdreavus~"

Misdreavus cried out in delight, took the food from Munchlax, and revealed a satisfied expression after taking a bite.

"Um, sorry. Did we disturb you?"

While Lu Ze was intently watching the Pokémon share the food he had made, a soft, timid voice sounded. If the lounge had not been so quiet, Lu Ze might not even have heard it.

Lu Ze looked toward the source of the voice and found one of the two people he had seen upon entering standing some distance away from him. He had his head lowered and looked extremely embarrassed.

Lu Ze smiled lightly. "It's fine. They like the Pokémon food I make, and that makes me happy too."

The person raised his head and said earnestly,

"Th-thank you."

The instant he raised his head, Lu Ze was stunned. He abruptly stood and blurted out,

"Allister?!"

Lu Ze's sudden movement startled him. He took two panicked steps back and said softly,

"Um, my name is Youyu You, not—"

After hearing Youyu You state his name, Lu Ze calmed his shock and apologized awkwardly.

"Sorry, you look a lot like someone I know. I mistook you for him. Sorry about that."

"I-it's okay."

After saying that, Youyu You lowered his head again, looking at a loss.

Lu Ze could not be blamed for mistaking him. The person before him looked far too much like Allister, the Ghost-type Pokémon Gym Leader who had appeared in the eighth-generation games from Lu Ze's previous life.

What had shocked Lu Ze was that, when he saw Youyu You, he had thought characters from the anime of his previous life might reappear in this world. But that was not the case. They merely looked alike.

"Sorry, he isn't very good at interacting with people. Hello, I'm Yin Hanling, his younger sister."

Yin Hanling had just been awakened by Lu Ze's shout. Seeing Lu Ze and her older brother like this, she knew Youyu You had run out of words, so she stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Hello, I'm Lu Ze."

Lu Ze smiled and returned the greeting, then glanced at Youyu You again.

Yin Hanling seemed to guess what Lu Ze was thinking and volunteered,

"I was adopted. I'm Youyu You's child bride."

"No, family."

Before Lu Ze could respond, Youyu You became anxious first, insisting that Yin Hanling was his family, not an adopted outsider.

Yin Hanling broke into a radiant smile, walked over, and lifted Youyu You's chin with her index finger.

"But I think of you as my child husband."

Youyu You's face turned bright red. He turned his head aside and softly answered, "Mm."

Finding the two of them rather interesting, Lu Ze took the initiative to ask,

"Are you two contestants in this competition as well?"

Yin Hanling said, "Yeah. We just finished ten matches and have already entered the Main Event. What about you?"

Lu Ze said, "Me too. You two finished pretty quickly."

Yin Hanling beckoned to Misdreavus and Haunter. Misdreavus floated over to Yin Hanling, while Haunter floated to Youyu You's side. Yin Hanling patted Misdreavus's little head and said,

"It's all thanks to these two. Xiao Meng is my Pokémon, while Haunter belongs to my child husband."

"Mm."

Youyu You echoed from the side.

Only then did Lu Ze begin examining their Pokémon.

Pokémon: Misdreavus

Gender: Female

Attribute: Ghost type

Ability: Levitate (Floats above the ground, avoiding damage from Ground-type moves)

Aptitude: Red Aptitude

Basic Moves: Growl, Confusion, Spite, Astonish, Confuse Ray, Mean Look, Hex, Psybeam, Shadow Ball, Nasty Plot, Thunderbolt, Will-O-Wisp

Egg Moves: Destiny Bond, Shadow Sneak, Sucker Punch, Imprison, Wonder Room

Pokémon: Haunter

Gender: Male

Attribute: Ghost type, Poison type

Ability: Levitate (Floats above the ground, avoiding damage from Ground-type moves)

Aptitude: Gold Aptitude

Basic Moves: Shadow Punch, Hypnosis, Mean Look, Confuse Ray, Lick, Payback, Spite, Curse, Hex, Night Shade, Shadow Ball, Will-O-Wisp, Icy Wind, Thunderbolt, Dark Pulse

Egg Moves: Perish Song, Reflect Type, Toxic, Smog, Clear Smog

Lu Ze looked at Youyu You in surprise. This was the second Pokémon with Gold Aptitude he had ever seen, and it belonged to someone else. Curious, Lu Ze took another box of Pokémon food from his Backpack and gestured for Misdreavus and Haunter to share it with Munchlax. The three Pokémon happily began their feast, while Lu Ze started chatting with Yin Hanling.

After talking for a while, Lu Ze learned that the two were third-year students at Municipal No. 2 High School, while Lu Ze attended No. 1 High School. Yin Hanling had been alone after losing her family when she was young, so Youyu You's family adopted her. As for why she called herself Youyu You's child bride, that had begun as a joke.

Originally, Youyu You's parents had wanted to find him a playmate and hoped to change his introverted personality, so they adopted Yin Hanling.

When the two first met, Youyu You's parents introduced her to him.

"This is Yin Hanling. From now on, she's part of our family and your younger sister too. You two should get along well."

Youyu You had been even more introverted as a child. He did not say a word and simply kept staring at Yin Hanling. Yin Hanling jokingly asked,

"Why are you staring at me? Do you want to marry me?"

Youyu You nodded lightly, then ran to his room with a flushed face. Yin Hanling laughed happily and shouted after him,

"Then you'll be my child husband from now on!"

Mm, I'm amazing.