A Ghost-Type Companion Since Birth

Just like that, Yin Hanling seriously treated Youyu You as her child husband. Because of his introverted personality, Yin Hanling usually handled things whenever they were out. As for what happened at home, who knew?

When Lu Ze curiously asked about their Pokémon, Yin Hanling generously explained that her own Pokémon was descended from the Pokémon belonging to Youyu You's parents, who were also her parents. As for Youyu You's Pokémon, its appearance was rather legendary.

According to Youyu You's parents, when he was born, a Gengar suddenly appeared in the delivery room. After Youyu You was born, the Gengar entered the shadow of the infant Youyu You.

It stayed there for seventeen years, protecting and accompanying him all that time. When Youyu You finally became eligible to own a Pokémon, on the night of the citywide mock exam, Gengar left a Pokémon Egg by his bedside and disappeared. A few days later, Gastly hatched from it.

As Yin Hanling spoke, she stroked Haunter's head. Haunter affectionately rubbed against her hand as well.

"Oh, right. Did you make this Pokémon food? Xiao Meng and Haunter seem to like it a lot. Could I buy some from you?"

While stroking Haunter's head, Yin Hanling suddenly seemed to remember and asked Lu Ze.

Lu Ze waved his hand. "No need, no need. It's really simple. I can teach you how to make it."

Yin Hanling's little face flushed red, while Youyu You beside her narrowed his eyes, the corners of his mouth curling into a crescent.

"Well... I'm not very good at making Pokémon food."

Seeing Yin Hanling's bashful manner and Youyu You secretly laughing beside her, Lu Ze suddenly understood.

"Sure, no problem. It's just a matter of ingredients. Add me on Fetion, and I'll send you the ingredient list. Once you've prepared everything, I can help make it."

Yin Hanling happily took out her phone.

"Mm-hmm, okay. Thank you so much."

After Lu Ze added both of them on Fetion and sent them the ingredients list, he said,

"No problem."

"Haha, Lu Ze, I made it into the Main Event too!"

Just as Lu Ze finished sending the ingredients list, an excited shout came from the doorway. It was Sui Yan, who had already finished all ten battles.

Sui Yan froze when he entered and saw two people beside Lu Ze. Lu Ze took the initiative to introduce them.

"This is my childhood friend, Sui Yan."

"These two are friends I just met, Youyu You and Yin Hanling."

Sui Yan smiled and held out his hand in greeting.

"Hello."

Yin Hanling smiled as well. "Hello."

Lu Ze stepped forward and whispered into Sui Yan's ear, "Youyu You is a little introverted. Don't mind him."

Sui Yan curiously glanced at Lu Ze, not quite understanding what there was to mind.

Compared to Lu Ze, Sui Yan was much more outgoing. He proactively asked the two of them,

"Did you get ten straight wins and make it into the Main Event already?"

Yin Hanling replied with a smile, "Yes."

Sui Yan was surprised. "That fast?"

Yin Hanling only smiled without answering, so Lu Ze explained instead.

"Their Pokémon are both pretty strong. One Haunter and one Misdreavus. Both are very good."

"Keh!"

"Holy shit!!!"

Hearing someone call its name, Haunter suddenly appeared from behind Yin Hanling, startling Sui Yan.

Sui Yan's face went pale as he pressed a hand to his wildly pounding chest.

"Do all Ghost-type Pokémon love scaring people this much?"

Yin Hanling covered her mouth and laughed. "Sorry, sorry."

Sui Yan waved his hand. "It's fine, it's fine. I'm used to it."

After that, Lu Ze told them about the Gengar at home that loved scaring people. When Youyu You heard that Lu Ze also had a Gengar at home, he became interested and timidly said that he wanted to meet it. Lu Ze said that was no problem; they could visit whenever they had time.

The group chatted for a while longer, and noon soon arrived. Yin Hanling and Youyu You took their leave first. They had already finished the preliminaries and were heading home for lunch. They would return tomorrow for the Main Event.

Lu Ze and Sui Yan waited for Tang Yunqin and Su Tingxi to finish their matches so the group could have lunch together.

Su Tingxi arrived at the lounge first, and Sui Yan curiously asked,

"How many did you win?"

"Seven. Three left. There's enough time this afternoon."

Su Tingxi sounded rather helpless. If he had not run into Tang Yunqin, he would have completed his ten-win streak much earlier. What a pity.

Before he could finish speaking, Tang Yunqin bounced in like a light fairy and happily said,

"I've already won ten in a row! What do you think? I'm amazing, right?"

Lu Ze: "Mm-hmm, amazing."

Sui Yan: "Mm-hmm, amazing."

Su Tingxi: "Mm, amazing."

Lu Ze: "Let's eat."

Sui Yan and Su Tingxi: "Let's go!"

The three of them laughed and messed around as they headed outside, leaving Tang Yunqin standing there in a huff. She stomped her foot, then still followed after them.

They casually found a restaurant outside the venue. After lunch, both the people and Pokémon were full and satisfied. They rested for a while, then only ambled back into the venue when the matches resumed at two o'clock.

After entering the stadium, Lu Ze asked,

"Want us to come watch your match?"

Su Tingxi hurriedly waved his hands.

"No, no. Having you watch from below puts a lot of pressure on me. You guys go rest. I'll come find you soon."

"Alright then. Good luck."

"Mm."

After saying that, Lu Ze left with Sui Yan and Tang Yunqin. Su Tingxi let out a long breath, then stepped onto the field with determined eyes and began his match.

Lu Ze, Sui Yan, and Tang Yunqin wandered around like oddities amid the battle-filled venue, completely out of sync with the atmosphere of the entire stadium.

Still, no one came looking to battle them. The wrist devices of trainers available for battle glowed here, but after five consecutive wins, the devices stopped glowing. At that point, the system assigned opponents instead.

As they wandered, Lu Ze stopped to watch a battle. The match on the field was quite strange. Both sides had extremely rare Starter Pokémon, and they were both Grass-type starters. More absurdly, both Pokémon were Turtwig.

Perhaps because they had not learned many moves, the two Turtwig were on the field bumping into each other. One would hit the other, then use Absorb; then the other would hit back and use Absorb. It was about as sleep-inducing as the match between Munchlax and Drizzile.

After watching for quite a while, the two Pokémon finally determined a winner. One panting Turtwig defeated the other Turtwig, so Turtwig was unable to battle, and Turtwig won. Ha.

The three of them continued strolling around while waiting for news from Su Tingxi. Before long, Su Tingxi called to say that he had achieved ten straight wins and qualified successfully. They would meet at the entrance.

The four gathered again at the entrance and headed toward Lu Ze's home. They planned to sort through information and see what troublesome opponents they had encountered today, so they could be prepared if they met them during tomorrow's Main Event.

After arriving at the Day Care in Lu Ze's home and greeting Lu Ma and the Pokémon in the back, the four entered an empty room and sat in a row. Lu Ze said,

"What troublesome opponents did everyone run into today? Let's figure out how to deal with them. I'll start with the ones I met."

"Okay." ×3

Lu Ze organized the information in his mind and said,

"The first was a Bunnelby. It probably had the Huge Power Ability. Its attack was extremely high. There wasn't much in the way of type advantage, so you'd have to rely on raw strength. The moves to watch out for were Quick Attack plus Double Kick, and Defense Curl plus Rollout. Nothing else was particularly worth noting."

"The second Pokémon was Drizzile. It was very fast, but its trainer's command ability was poor. The Pokémon itself was still pretty strong, though, so just pay attention to it."

"The third Pokémon was Woobat. It probably had the Simple Ability. Once it got on the field, it could first weaken the opponent's stats. Woobat probably had not learned Calm Mind or Nasty Plot yet, so it was still relatively easy to handle."

"Lastly, the two people who got their ten-win streaks even faster than I did. Their Pokémon were Haunter and Misdreavus. Both had the Levitate Ability, making them immune to Ground-type move damage. Be extremely careful if you run into them. Judging by how fast they achieved ten wins, they probably knew quite a few moves and had broad coverage."

The three were somewhat surprised. They had thought Lu Ze's ten-win streak had already been fast, but they had not expected two people to be even faster.

Sui Yan said, "Were they the two people in the lounge? I thought they arrived after you."

Lu Ze shook his head. "They're strong, and none of us have many moves that can counter Ghost types. Those two are formidable opponents."

The three silently kept Lu Ze's words in mind.

Lu Ze let out a breath. "Alright, Sui Yan, tell us yours."

Sui Yan half reclined into a comfortable position and said, "Lu Ze already mentioned one of them: Drizzile. Its weakness was obvious too. Its trainer's command ability was poor."

"The second was Bronzor. I won easily because of type advantage, but it's still worth mentioning. Its Ability was probably Levitate. My Fire-type moves didn't have their damage reduced against it, so it probably didn't have Heatproof. As for moves, I knocked it out in two turns, so it only used Confuse Ray."

"The third Pokémon was Corvisquire. I don't know its Ability, but its moves—Brave Bird, Roost, Tailwind, Hone Claws, and Swift—were incredibly annoying to deal with."

Lu Ze nodded. "Mm, alright. What about you, Su Tingxi?"

Su Tingxi wore a serious expression. "Actually, I think I should watch out for Tang Yunqin. Her Shellder counters me way too hard."

Sui Yan and Lu Ze burst out laughing, while Tang Yunqin darkened her face and shot Su Tingxi a glare.

"Say it properly!"

Su Tingxi raised his hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay. First Pokémon: Mr. Mime. It had all sorts of restrictive and status moves. Its main attacking moves were Psywave and Icy Wind, plus Fake Out. I don't know if it had any hidden moves, and I couldn't probe its Ability either."

"The second was Pawniard. It was very fast, and I don't know its Ability. But it had Swords Dance, Sucker Punch, Fury Cutter, and Brick Break, so those need to be watched out for. Just don't let it stack Swords Dance or Fury Cutter. Tang Yunqin would have a hard time against it, but Lu Ze and Sui Yan should be fine."