The school bully

"Sir, aren't you going back to sleep?"

After indulging in some pleasant daydreams, Ye Qing noticed the old man was still at the entrance and asked in confusion.

"Sleep? How am I supposed to sleep with a visitor here in the middle of the night? Tell me, why do you kids always have to be so much trouble?"

The old man grew more irritated as he spoke, sticking a cigarette in his mouth and angrily lecturing him.

"Yes, yes, sir. You're absolutely right!"

Ye Qing didn't mind the old man's scolding at all. Waiting here alone was boring anyway, so having someone to chat with was a blessing.

Unlike Ye Qing, Chimchar covered his ears with both hands. He couldn't stand the old man's machine-gun chatter.

Just as Ye Qing was getting engrossed in the lecture, he suddenly spotted a streak of fire at the far end of the mountain's foot. It drew closer and closer, and amid the scorching flames, a tall, imposing Rapidash came galloping toward them. He could just make out Wang Yao on his back.

"Whoa!"

Wang Yao tightened his legs around Rapidash's sides, making him slow down and stop in front of Ye Qing and the old gatekeeper.

"Ye Qing!"

Seeing Ye Qing safe and sound, Wang Yao broke into a radiant smile. He jumped straight off Rapidash's back and pulled Ye Qing into a hug.

"Chim!"

Faced with Wang Yao's excessive enthusiasm, Chimchar hurriedly jumped from Ye Qing's shoulder to the ground. Watching the two embrace gave him the shivers.

"All right, all right."

Ye Qing patted the tearful Wang Yao, trying to extricate himself from his embrace.

Wang Yao gave Ye Qing's shoulder a heavy pat and said through tears and sniffles, "Thank goodness! You have no idea how much pressure I've been under these past two days."

"So it's you, brat! None of you are any less trouble than the others!"

The old man rubbed the corners of his eyes and realized Wang Yao was none other than the troublemaker from two days ago.

"Thanks, sir!"

Wang Yao was in no mood to mind the old man's words. He pulled Ye Qing and Chimchar onto Rapidash's back and galloped away.

"Want to head to my place first?"

Wang Yao tentatively asked Ye Qing behind him.

Holding Chimchar, Ye Qing thought for a moment before saying, "No, I'll go home and check in."

Wang Yao rejected the idea and directed Rapidash toward his own home. "Home? Bro, do you know what time it is? It'll be dawn soon. Besides, you're going home in nothing but boxers? Look at your face, all bruised and blackened. You'll just worry your parents!"

"All right, then."

After a moment's thought, Ye Qing agreed that Wang Yao had a point. Besides, they had to go to school at daybreak. Better to avoid any unnecessary trouble.

Wang Yao's family wasn't fabulously wealthy, but they certainly weren't short of money. They even lived in a detached, two-story villa, with quite a few Pokémon roaming freely in the yard.

As soon as they entered the yard, Wang Yao sent Rapidash off to play nearby, then quietly opened the door with Ye Qing. "Come on in. Hurry and wash up. These are some new clothes I just bought. Try them on afterward and see if they fit."

Ye Qing peered around the pitch-dark house and asked, "Are your parents home?"

Wang Yao found the clothes for Ye Qing and shook his head. "My dad's busy, so he isn't home. My mom's a light sleeper. Let's keep it down."

"Got it."

Ye Qing made an OK gesture, recalled the mischievous Chimchar into his Poké Ball, and slipped into the bathroom to wash up.

It was still a while until dawn, and Ye Qing had nothing else to do. After giving Chimchar some food, he let him keep practicing Flame Wheel in the front yard.

A long while later, the sun rose over the horizon. Wang Yao's home wasn't far from the academy, so he and Ye Qing bought two steaming-hot jianbing wraps and leisurely walked to school.

Drowsiness washed over Ye Qing, and he yawned again and again. He had barely slept these past two days, especially last night, when he had hardly closed his eyes.

"Help!"

Just as Wang Yao and Ye Qing passed an alley, they suddenly heard a cry for help.

Wang Yao stopped short and asked uncertainly, "That voice... doesn't it sound like one of our classmates? Should we take a look?"

"Let's go. Oh, and remember to record it!"

Ye Qing wasn't a bleeding heart, but if he came across a classmate being bullied, he still had to step in.

"No problem."

Wang Yao took out his phone and was about to start recording, only to discover it had shut off! He was just about to tell Ye Qing when he realized that Ye Qing had already run over!

"Won't pay up? Machop, tear her clothes off."

In the alley, three people and a Machop had surrounded a boy and girl who both wore glasses. Machop had already torn off the girl's jacket.

"Please, let us go. The interest you're demanding is too high!"

Young Master Zhang Qiang patted the boy's face and laughed. "Let you go? If I let you go, who's going to pay me back? Machop, keep stripping her!"

Machop threw a punch at the boy blocking his way, knocking him straight to the ground, then continued toward the girl.

"Hahaha!"

Young Master Zhang and his companions laughed uproariously. They had done this plenty of times before. With their connections backing them, they weren't worried about consequences at all.

"D-don't come any closer..."

The girl collapsed to the ground in terror. With Machop advancing on her, all she could do was weep helplessly.

"Hey, breakfast is on me!"

Young Master Zhang turned at the voice, only to see a plastic bag growing larger before his eyes. It smacked him right in the face.

The crushed jianbing burst across Young Master Zhang's face, splattering him with golden grease and shredded potatoes.

"Fuck!"

Young Master Zhang wiped his face and glared toward the mouth of the alley, seething with rage.

This place was extremely secluded. Unless someone had absolutely nothing better to do, nobody would normally come through here.

"Wang Yao, Ye Qing, help!"

The girl sitting on the ground seemed to have found her saviors and screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Machop, shut her up."

"Machop!"

Machop answered and slapped the girl across the face. Her cheek began swelling visibly.

Wang Yao rolled up his sleeves and snapped, "Young Master Zhang Qiang, don't think you can do whatever you want just because your dad's the vice principal!"

Ye Qing's face was cold. "Don't you know it's illegal to order Pokémon to attack people?"

In truth, when Ye Qing saw Wang Shuang, he had felt reluctant to get involved. Wang Shuang had always been at odds with him and often bullied weaker students. He simply wasn't worth helping for his own sake.

His girlfriend, however, was a genuinely nice person. Not only had she repeatedly used her free time to tutor Ye Qing, but she had also stood up for him when their classmates mocked his poor grades and accused him of dragging the class down.

Young Master Zhang Qiang clutched his stomach with laughter. "Hahaha! You seeing this, boys? The idiot ranked dead last in our year is actually giving me a lecture on the law!"

"Haha, exactly! Who do you think you're kidding, Ye Qing?"

"Get the hell out of here!"

Three flashes of light shone, and three more Pokémon appeared in the alley, glaring at Ye Qing and Wang Yao.

"Chim!"

Facing the three Pokémon helping the bullies, Chimchar's sense of justice surged. Without a trace of fear, he stood on Ye Qing's shoulder and roared furiously!