Newbie Battle Hall!

"Brother Yun, over here!"

In front of the entrance to Golden Wheel Garden Residential Community, a "beautiful girl" dressed in a white shirt, white casual shorts, and a pair of little white sneakers called out loudly.

Under the sunlight, "her" delicate features and fair, glowing skin, along with those long, straight legs, drew the gazes of countless old perverts.

The only thing that left those old perverts slightly disappointed was that overly flat chest. Did someone really have absolutely no curves at all?

Still, considering the face and legs, it was not entirely unacceptable.

Fortunately, Mu Yun could not hear the old perverts' thoughts. Otherwise, he would have told them that this "beauty" was fucking male, male!!

It would be strange if a man was not flat!

"Jianhao, you brat seem to have gotten prettier again." Amid the envious and jealous stares of the old perverts, Mu Yun chuckled and slung an arm around Liu Jianhao's shoulders.

"Didn't you say you were going to work out over summer break? Why can't I see any results?" As he spoke, Mu Yun squeezed Liu Jianhao's exposed forearm.

It was soft and limp, nowhere near as refined and hard as the muscles Mu Yun had built through his Calisthenics training.

"Don't mention it, Brother Yun. Since summer started, I've been lifting every day, eating nothing but boiled chicken breast, and drinking nothing but Moomoo Milk. But my arms didn't get thicker, my pecs didn't grow, and I just dieted myself into getting abs."

"Take a look for me. Am I training wrong somehow?" As he poured out his grievances, Liu Jianhao unbuttoned his shirt, wanting Mu Yun, his good buddy with incredible muscle definition, to take a look.

His pretty brows were furrowed, giving him a pitiful look that made one's heart ache.

"Hey, wait, wait, wait. Why are you taking off your clothes outside? Let's go inside first."

Mu Yun hurriedly held down Liu Jianhao's hand. His good buddy was a man, so there was nothing to be embarrassed about, but looking at that face, Mu Yun still found it strange for him to expose skin outside.

Good brother, didn't you know pretty boys needed to protect themselves outside too?

"Sure. Newbie Battle Hall happens to have a supporting gym too. Once you get a monthly battle pass, all the facilities inside are free to use." Liu Jianhao did not insist and nodded.

Amid the regretful yet envious gazes of the old perverts, Mu Yun and Liu Jianhao walked into Newbie Battle Hall.

"Welcome!"

The receptionist was a young, sweet-looking woman with a lovely voice.

In places aimed at young people, the receptionists were generally not bad-looking. With a little makeup, a slightly cutesy voice, and a more generous attitude, plenty of young men would come flocking in.

But unfortunately, after the enthusiastic hospitality of numerous extremely generous teachers, Mu Yun had long since risen above such lowbrow interests worth only one or two points at most.

As for Liu Jianhao, he had said that if he ever found a partner, they had to look better than him in women's clothing. Otherwise, he might as well stay single.

Mu Yun had been quite curious at the time. Hadn't Liu Jianhao said he was a Pure-Blooded Real Man? Why did he have a habit of cross-dressing?

Liu Jianhao said his older sister had forced him into it when he was young. Though they were biological siblings, and she was a woman, she was incredibly strong—more manly than him, a real man.

"The two of us want monthly passes. Is there an extra discount for two people?" Liu Jianhao stepped forward and asked.

Although he had money and was not short on it, his good buddy's living conditions were far from wealthy. So he had to argue his case and save every League Coin he could.

And honestly, ever since he had developed the habit of saving money, the money in his wallet no longer vanished without warning. It was great!

"Yes, ma'am. Couples receive an additional ten percent discount on top of the existing discount." The receptionist said with a sweet smile.

"Sorry, I'm a man."

Long accustomed to being mistaken for a woman, Liu Jianhao explained calmly.

"Huh?"

The receptionist's smile froze. Her brain had clearly gone into Overload, but she quickly recovered and apologized. "I'm terribly sorry, sir. I didn't realize you were so beauti—"

"Alright, that isn't important. Is there a discount for two people who aren't a couple?"

"Yes, yes!"

With Liu Jianhao taking the lead, they quickly got two cheaper monthly passes.

For thirty days, they could use battlefields for free a hundred times, as well as all the fitness facilities in Newbie Battle Hall, including the swimming pool, for the duration of the pass. The price was not expensive either, only five thousand League Coins.

One had to know that maintaining and repairing battlefields was not cheap. At an average of only fifty League Coins per battle, this was practically dirt cheap.

"As an established chain brand, Newbie Battle Hall has its own professional repair crews. Plus, beginner battles are less destructive, so the actual costs aren't high." Liu Jianhao explained as they walked deeper inside.

Mu Yun understood.

Although his good buddy's academic grades were slightly worse than his, because of his family background, Liu Jianhao knew many things Mu Yun did not.

That was also one of the reasons Mu Yun had become even more determined early on to choose the path of a Breeder rather than a Trainer.

The moment they passed through the corridor and entered the grounds, a wave of excitement and noise washed over them.

Looking around, they saw Trainers passionately shouting across one another in more than a dozen separated battlefields.

"Brother Yun, what do you think? Should we have a match first, or go straight to random matchmaking?" Hearing the somewhat noisy Uproar around them, Liu Jianhao felt his blood boil, and even his tone became more excited.

There were two ways to battle at a Battle Arena. One was to find someone yourself, either an acquaintance or someone in the venue you happened to hit it off with.

The other was random matchmaking.

You only needed to submit information about the Pokémon you owned, and the system would automatically arrange a suitable opponent for you.

Therefore, the more crowded and lively a Battle Arena was, the easier it was to find a suitable opponent. Naturally, it became more attractive, and even more people came.

"Either works."

Mu Yun was fine with anything.

"Then let's have a match first. I'm telling you, my Snubbull is really talented!"

Liu Jianhao grinned.

Snubbull was a canine Pokémon that could walk upright. Its pink skin and mature, elderly-looking face were its defining features.

On the day Snubbull was born, Liu Jianhao had excitedly sent him a video of himself feeding Snubbull milk. It was ugly-cute in the most endearing way.

"Then I'll be looking forward to it."

Mu Yun smiled back.

Kid, you had grown up. It was time to understand the true value of a third-generation Pokémon being no match for a cheater!

After making their decision, the two immediately went to the reservation machine and swiped their cards.

As the number of uses on their cards dropped from 100 to 99, their reservation was confirmed.

"Battlefield 11, seventh match. There are still two groups ahead of us, so it'll be our turn soon." Liu Jianhao glanced at the notification sent to his phone.

"Yeah, let's go. We can watch the other Trainers battle while we're at it." Mu Yun nodded.

Soon, the two passed several battlefields and arrived at a relatively remote part of the Battle Arena.

At that moment, two Pokémon were battling in Battlefield 11: a Butterfree and a Beautifly. Neither was high level, one at Level 16 and the other at Level 15.

Judging from the clear-eyed appearances of the two Trainers and their Pokémon's levels, Mu Yun guessed they were not high school seniors this year, but university students already enrolled in non-Pokémon majors.

The battle quickly ended under Butterfree's Confusion strikes.

As one of the few non-Psychic Type Pokémon capable of learning Psychic Type moves, Butterfree indeed held a considerable advantage in early battles.

Once it locked someone down with Confusion, the scales of victory would quietly make their judgment.

After that match ended, the next two to take the field were also boys.

One still looked childish and was probably a high school senior this year. The other seemed relatively more mature. Judging by their similar appearances and the way they had been chatting while sitting together earlier, they were probably brothers.

As for what they had been talking about, Mu Yun suspected it had nothing to do with battling, because after he and Liu Jianhao entered the area, the high school senior kept glancing their way.

When Mu Yun caught him, the boy awkwardly lowered his head with a blush.

No surprise there. Another Xiao Chunan had been captured by his cross-dressing good buddy's pure, innocent appearance.

Mu Yun really wondered what kind of shocked and disappointed expression he would make once he learned Liu Jianhao was a man.

It would definitely be amusing!