Counter Shield

After watching for a while, Ye Qing frowned. "Hanhan, didn't I tell you to prepare for the Pokémon Academy entrance exam? Why are you still doing questions that have nothing to do with Pokémon?"

Ye Menghan didn't look up. She knew her brother was angry, so she merely pursed her lips and stopped writing, sitting motionless with her head lowered.

Looking at his silent little sister, Ye Qing suddenly deflated like a punctured balloon.

He sighed, closed the door, and sat beside Ye Menghan, turning her little head toward him.

Looking into her bright eyes, he asked, "Tell me, do you want to become a Pokémon Trainer?"

Ye Menghan avoided his gaze and shook her head, still without saying a word.

Ye Qing knew what she was worried about. Their family's savings had almost all gone toward his education. There was simply no money left to send his sister to the Pokémon Academy.

Ye Qing turned her head back toward him and said firmly, "How about this? I promise I'll have a hundred thousand yuan in cash a month from now. Will you believe me then?"

Tears shimmered in Ye Menghan's bright eyes. Her first instinct was to shake her head, but looking into her brother's determined eyes, she thought for a long time before giving a small nod.

Ye Qing breathed a sigh of relief and gathered up all the test papers on her desk. "All right. Then it's a promise-one month from today."

After leaving her room, Ye Qing felt his own eyes sting a little. He thought that perhaps this was the sorrow of being born into a poor family.

Fortunately, in this life, he had the ability to change all of it.

Back in his own room, Ye Qing sat down in his chair and released Chimchar, who had been cooped up in his Poké Ball for ages.

"Oo-wa."

Chimchar sat quietly on the desk with his chin propped on one hand, looking deeply wounded.

Seeing him like this, Ye Qing felt a heart-to-heart was in order. "Chimchar, be honest with me. Is it boring spending so much time in your Poké Ball every day?"

"Oo."

Chimchar nodded vigorously, blinking his big eyes over and over.

For an energetic, active Pokémon like him, spending long stretches shut inside a Poké Ball was pure torture.

But there was no helping it. School rules explicitly prohibited releasing Pokémon during classes. Otherwise, wouldn't letting out Pokémon like Gloom or Grimer be the death of everyone else? And if someone had a Pokémon like Ralts, who would still be able to concentrate on the lesson?

Ye Qing stroked Chimchar's head and comforted him. "I know you want to go out and play, but I hope you can understand my side too. Think about it. If everyone let their Pokémon out, wouldn't the classroom be a complete mess?"

"Ooh!"

Chimchar thought for a moment, then looked frustrated.

Seeing his dejected expression, Ye Qing changed tack. "Still, it's not like there's no solution. As long as you promise to train properly on your own after I let you out, I can let you out of your Poké Ball while I'm in class. Then I'll come pick you up afterward."

"Ooh-er."

Chimchar had been excited at first, but once he heard that Ye Qing wanted him to train on his own, the offer suddenly lost its appeal.

Watching Ye Qing go on and on, painting a rosy picture for him, Chimchar listened with his head drooping while trying to think of a way to avoid both staying in his Poké Ball and training.

Wait!

The corners of Chimchar's mouth suddenly lifted. He had spotted a loophole.

If I'm training outside, how can Ye Qing keep watching me from inside the classroom? I might as well agree and fool him first. Once I'm out, I'll be free to monkey around however I like!

Chimchar congratulated himself on his cleverness, then looked up at the still-rambling Ye Qing and gave a firm nod.

"You're agreeing?"

Ye Qing was a little stunned. He couldn't understand why Chimchar, who had looked so reluctant a moment ago, had suddenly agreed.

Still, he didn't dwell on it and happily patted Chimchar's forehead.

He thought this was a win-win: it solved Chimchar's reluctance to stay in his Poké Ball while also encouraging him to train!

After sending Chimchar off to play with his sister, Ye Qing turned on his computer and began considering which moves Chimchar needed to learn next.

Chimchar's current move pool was simply too limited. If he ran into a difficult opponent, turning a losing battle around would be hard.

Opening JD.com to browse the Pokémon shop, Ye Qing scrolled through the listings one by one.

"The Double Team TM isn't expensive, and it looks like it's still in stock."

He spent eight thousand yuan on it, then continued browsing the other TMs.

After looking through them a few more times, he found that the other moves were either too expensive or impossible for Chimchar to learn at the moment. With no other options, he shut down the computer.

Ye Qing rubbed his forehead, racking his brains as he listened to his sister and Chimchar laughing and playing in the next room. "What other move could he learn?"

"Right, Counter Shield!"

Ye Qing's eyes lit up, and he excitedly struck his fist against his palm.

This was one of Ash's signature techniques. Ye Qing vaguely remembered that Ash had first developed the tactic during the Diamond and Pearl series.

Counter Shield could be used for both offense and defense, making it an excellent technique.

Recalling what Counter Shield looked like in action, Ye Qing pulled out a sheet of paper and began working through it.

The key to this technique should be rotation. By having a Pokémon spin rapidly in place while using a move, the attack would no longer concentrate on a single point. Instead, the rotation would spread it over a much larger area, turning it into a technique that could both attack and defend.

A technique like this might not be particularly effective in battles out in the wild, but in a bounded battle arena, it would undoubtedly be troublesome to deal with.

If Chimchar could learn Counter Shield now using Ember as its foundation, he would be a monkey with wings in future competitions.

It would be highly effective even against Flying-type Pokémon or extremely fast opponents.

Ye Qing immediately put his idea into action. He couldn't practice this trump card at a school full of surveillance cameras, so being home now was the perfect opportunity.

"Let's go, Chimchar. I'm taking you out."

Ye Qing got dressed, called for Chimchar, and headed for the door.

"Be careful out there, big brother."

His sister set down the Chimchar she had been holding and poked her head out of her room, cheerfully calling to Ye Qing.

Ye Qing had Chimchar jump onto his shoulder and replied with a smile, "Okay. Now get back to studying."

Hearing the commotion, Ye Mom came out of the kitchen and said disapprovingly, "Where are you going, son? Dinner's almost ready."

Without looking back, Ye Qing said, "There's something I need to test. Go ahead and eat without me."

Ye Mom sighed. "Honestly. Always rushing around like this-how is he ever going to find a girlfriend?"

Ye Qing ran downstairs with Chimchar. At this hour, quite a few elderly residents were strolling around the complex to enjoy the cool air, so he had to head to an abandoned construction site outside it.

Tall sheet-metal barriers enclosed the entire site. The developer had fled, and the workers had all dispersed, leaving only rubbish strewn across the ground and rows of unfinished buildings.