Class in session

"If you don't need anything else, sis, I'll get going." Zhang Cheng rubbed his nose, feeling rather uncomfortable.

"Why the rush? Want to come sit in my room for a while?" Bai Yuling asked with a smile.

"That probably wouldn't be a good idea. I have other things to do, so I'll head out." With that, Zhang Cheng fled the teachers' dormitory as though running for his life.

Zhang Cheng figured that if he actually went inside, Bai Yuling might well teach him a lesson. He had no desire to suffer through that.

After going downstairs, Zhang Cheng returned to his dorm room, let out his two Pokémon, and served them the Pokémon Food he had prepared.

Watching the two Pokémon eat gave Zhang Cheng an inexplicable sense of accomplishment. It felt like he was taking care of his own children.

Once they finished eating, Zhang Cheng took both Pokémon into the bathroom for a bath.

Poliwag wasn't particularly opposed to baths, but getting Pidgey to bathe was a struggle every time.

Perhaps all bird Pokémon were like that. Once their feathers were wet, they couldn't fly freely, so they tended to resist bathing.

By the time he finally finished bathing both Pokémon, it was already past midnight. Zhang Cheng decided to get some rest as soon as possible, or he would be dozing off in tomorrow's theory class again.

Just as Zhang Cheng was about to fall asleep, his phone suddenly chimed with a message notification.

Ye Tian rarely contacted him by phone. Who could it be at this hour?

Thinking this, Zhang Cheng opened his phone to check. After hearing a notification, hardly anyone could resist finding out what the message said.

He opened it and found a message from Bai Yuling: "Are you asleep, little bro?"

"I just finished getting everything done. I'm about to go to bed."

"You're going to bed so early?"

"Yeah. I have your class tomorrow, don't I, sis? I wouldn't dare fall asleep in your class."

After reading Zhang Cheng's message, Bai Yuling replied with an eye-roll emoji.

"You're the one who dares to sleep in my class the most, and now you're saying you wouldn't dare?"

"You're falsely accusing me, sis! Last time was just an accident. Didn't you say you'd let bygones be bygones?"

"Of course. If I said I wouldn't hold it against you, I won't. I can't sleep right now, so play some games with me."

"Don't we have class tomorrow? If we stay up any later, I won't be able to keep my eyes open."

"I'll give you one more chance to rephrase that."

"Sis, actually, I really want to play some games too."

"That's more like it."

And so Zhang Cheng succumbed to Bai Yuling's tyranny and played online minigames on his phone with her. Only when it was nearly three did she finally agree to stop.

Once Bai Yuling let him off the hook, Zhang Cheng hurriedly pulled the covers over his head and went to sleep. If he stayed awake any longer, he might ascend straight to heaven.

The next morning, Zhang Cheng arrived in class with heavy dark circles under his eyes. He didn't even have an appetite for breakfast, and as soon as he sat down, he slumped over his desk and fell asleep.

The clear chime of the class bell rang out. Bai Yuling walked into the classroom and immediately spotted Zhang Cheng sound asleep.

However, Bai Yuling didn't go over to wake him. Instead, she took out her book and began the lesson.

Zhang Cheng slept until nearly noon before Bai Yuling's lecture finally woke him. He looked up to find the sun already overhead.

Following the sound of her voice, Zhang Cheng turned toward Bai Yuling. She was still explaining Pokémon knowledge and hadn't noticed that he had woken up.

Looking at Bai Yuling, he saw no sign that she had stayed up until the early hours. She didn't even have dark circles under her eyes. Zhang Cheng was baffled. What was going on?

How was Bai Yuling so full of energy? Was he just not up to it?

At that thought, Zhang Cheng shook his head. A man couldn't think of himself as not up to it.

While Zhang Cheng's thoughts wandered, Bai Yuling noticed that he was awake. Their eyes met, then she looked away and continued teaching Pokémon theory.

Only then did Zhang Cheng realize he had been in class all along. He had slept so deeply that he had no idea what had happened.

Still, Bai Yuling had been pretty decent about it. She hadn't woken him once all morning. Zhang Cheng wondered whether he should ask her for permission to stop attending Pokémon theory classes altogether.

For Zhang Cheng, studying this material was completely unnecessary. It would only waste his time.

The morning soon passed, and when the bell rang to end class, the students headed for the cafeteria.

Zhang Cheng went to Ye Tian's classroom. After finding him, the two headed off to eat together.

"I heard you nearly beat your teacher's Pokémon in yesterday's battle?" Ye Tian asked eagerly as soon as he saw Zhang Cheng.

Ye Tian had only heard his classmates discussing it today. He still found it rather unbelievable, so the moment they met, he wanted to get the full story.

"Uh, I got lucky and managed to use Endeavor, which brought my teacher's Altaria close to fainting," Zhang Cheng explained.

"Even so, that's impressive enough! I've never heard of a student managing to threaten a teacher's Pokémon. You're the first!" Ye Tian said excitedly.

"All right, stop hyping me up and eat. Come find me after class this evening. I want to spar with you," Zhang Cheng said between bites.

"No problem. But why do you look so tired today?" Ye Tian asked, looking at the dark circles under Zhang Cheng's eyes.

"I finished bathing my Pokémon pretty late last night, so I went to bed a bit late," Zhang Cheng said guiltily.

"All right, then try to take better care of yourself. You can't let yourself get too worn out. Just wait for me in the cafeteria after class this evening," Ye Tian said, patting Zhang Cheng on the back.

After eating, the two returned to their respective classrooms for the afternoon lessons.

That afternoon, Bai Yuling didn't continue lecturing. Instead, she printed out some practice questions for the students to work on.

Bored, Zhang Cheng slumped over his desk. He had no interest in the practice questions in front of him. They were all far too easy.

Seeing Zhang Cheng staring into space, Bai Yuling took out her phone and sent him a message: "Why are you spacing out instead of doing the questions?"

"The questions are too easy. I don't feel like doing them."

"So you're saying you want some more challenging questions?"

"There aren't any questions I'd find challenging," Zhang Cheng replied confidently, slipping in a casual boast.

"I really don't know what to do with you. Are you that confident you've mastered all this theory?"

"I've read a lot about Pokémon before. I already know all the high school Pokémon material backward and forward."

"That's impressive. When I was in high school, all this theory gave me such a headache. I'm jealous, little bro."

"It's nothing, really. You might not be as outstanding as me, sis, but you're still pretty good, haha."

"Drop dead →_→"