How Do You Expect Me to Stay Rational?!

The crisp sound of the doorbell interrupted Xia Chen's daydreaming. Just as he was about to get up and answer it, a brown figure flashed past his eyes.

Watching Eevee skillfully leap up, brace her forepaws against the doorknob, and use her body weight to press it down and open the door, Xia Chen's expression turned strange.

Why were you so good at that?

It was certainly convenient, but it still felt a little weird.

She performed the motion in one smooth flow, as if she had done it hundreds or thousands of times. But Eevee had only come to his home today.

Xia Chen could only attribute it to this Eevee's unusually high intelligence.

The door opened, and unsurprisingly, it was Marnie and her Snivy, here to mooch a meal and serve as the camerawoman.

As soon as Marnie entered, she saw Xia Chen standing blankly beside the dining table. After greeting him, she realized what was going on too.

Xia Chen was standing right there, so who had opened the door for her?

Then she lowered her head and saw Eevee sitting obediently, staring wide-eyed at Snivy.

"She opened the door?" Marnie asked uncertainly.

Xia Chen shrugged. Otherwise, had a ghost opened it?

Marnie wore the same strange expression as she changed into slippers and walked inside, with Snivy following right behind her.

Marnie was already a frequent guest at Xia Chen's house. She had no intention of treating herself like an outsider, and after washing her hands, she prepared to help him.

Xia Chen wanted no part of assistance from this childhood friend who could only make things worse, so he hurriedly stopped her.

"Stop, stop, stop. We're filming a video today, so you should just handle the camera!"

Marnie hummed in dissatisfaction, but obediently agreed.

Since he was making a video, Xia Chen muttered about the key points of each step while cooking, while Marnie occasionally asked questions from beside him.

Marnie's tone was extremely serious, as though she were genuinely asking for advice, but her questions were absurdly basic to anyone who had ever cooked.

For example:

"Once the oil is about sixty percent hot, you can add the scallions."

"How can you tell it's sixty percent hot? Do you test it with your hand?"

"Add an appropriate amount of Lum Berries prepared beforehand."

"How much is an appropriate amount?"

"The soul of this dish lies in that small spoonful of white sugar added before serving."

"How do you tell sugar apart from salt?"

The two went back and forth until it sounded nothing like a cooking video, but more like a comedy routine.

Though Xia Chen was speechless, he still patiently answered every time, because he had noticed that whenever this happened in the video, the bullet comments became especially dense.

Fine. To earn formula money for Eevee, answering stupid questions was worth it.

It wasn't like I was deliberately creating entertainment value. The entertainment value came looking for me.

While Xia Chen and Marnie bustled around in the kitchen, Eevee and Snivy were having a silent exchange in the living room.

Snivy had a proud, tsundere personality and did not take the initiative to speak. In her eyes, this junior Eevee should have greeted her first.

As for Eevee, for reasons known only to herself, she merely looked at Snivy with a loving expression.

Snivy found this Eevee rather strange. She vaguely felt, This little sister looks so familiar. Perhaps I have seen her before.

As for why she felt that way, Snivy, who had only been born not long ago and whose brain had not fully developed yet, did not understand either.

Perhaps it was... her eyes?

Right, it was her eyes. The way Eevee looked at her was practically the same as how her mother, whom she had never met, would look at her.

Snivy did not know whether that mother was a Serperior, a Ditto, or some other Pokémon.

In any case, she could not possibly be this Eevee, who looked even younger than Snivy herself.

Thinking that, Snivy suddenly felt offended by this little Eevee.

What kind of look was that?!

I treat you like a friend, but you want to be my mother?

Snivy was angry. She felt she had to teach this junior a lesson!

"Snivy!"

Snivy's slit pupils instantly sharpened, and invisible energy radiated from her widened eyes.

A Pokémon move: Leer!

It might sound a little useless, but in reality, this status move could lower an opponent's defense.

In the games, moves like this lowered a fixed stage—one-third, in other words.

But reality was obviously not so rigid. The degree of reduction depended on factors such as the gap in strength between the two Pokémon and the target's resistance to such moves.

Otherwise, could a newborn Rattata make Arceus tremble with a single Leer?

The same principle applied to other status moves, such as boosts, Intimidate, Will-O-Wisp, and Toxic.

Logically, against an Eevee even smaller than herself, Snivy's Leer should have achieved its full effect.

Yet Snivy was nearly glaring herself to tears, while Eevee still wore a faintly amused smile.

It was as if she were saying, "What's wrong, little sis?"

To Snivy, that was blatant provocation.

The tsundere snake secretly glanced toward the kitchen.

The scent and clatter of cooking were at their peak. They definitely would not be finished anytime soon, and that was more than enough time to deal with this little Eevee.

Though Snivy had also come from a breeding facility, the combative nature branded deep into her genes had not changed.

Today, she was going to teach this little Eevee how to act like an adult!

A vine silently extended from the yellow floral collar around Snivy's neck. Without any warning, it lashed toward Eevee.

The two Pokémon had not been standing far apart to begin with, and Snivy had shamelessly launched a sneak attack.

No matter how one looked at it, there was no way this ordinary newborn Eevee could dodge that Vine Whip.

A smug look appeared in Snivy's eyes. The first thing big sis would teach you today was that an opponent would never notify you before attacking!

But she failed to notice that the instant the Vine Whip emerged from Snivy's body, Eevee's long ears twitched almost imperceptibly.

Then, before Snivy's incredulous eyes, Eevee nimbly lowered her little head, and the Vine Whip that had been whistling through the air missed!

How was that possible?!

Snivy was stunned. The distance between Eevee and herself had been less than half a meter, and her command over Vine Whip was far more flexible and swift than her own arms.

And it still missed? Did Eevee have cheats on?

After her brief daze, Snivy's heart suddenly lurched as she remembered that she was in the middle of a battle.

This was bad. An Eevee who was clearly an expert would never miss such a golden opportunity. She was definitely about to get beaten up!

But something even more unexpected happened. In her field of vision, Eevee casually lifted a little paw and tidied the fur that the gust from Vine Whip had ruffled, looking as though she had not taken Snivy's attack seriously at all.

Snivy did not realize that, at that moment, her mentality was gradually slipping out of control.

Eevee's teasing and indifferent attitude completely filled the humiliated tsundere snake's heart with rage.

If she thought rationally, all those unusual details pointed to one fact—

Setting raw strength aside, in terms of battle awareness alone, Snivy was nowhere near Eevee's level!

But rationality?

How did you expect her to stay rational?!

Snivy could no longer suppress the impulse in her heart and lunged fiercely at Eevee before her.