A storm was brewing

"Mewtwo!"

Yanlang gritted his teeth, locking eyes with the Pokémon.

Mewtwo said coldly, "You're at death's door, and you still want to cause trouble for someone else."

Looking at Ms. Zhao's pretty face so close to his own, Ye Qing calmed himself and met her eyes.

Zhao Xinran conceded under Ye Qing's unflinching gaze. She straightened up and smiled. "All right, all right. If you don't want to tell me, I won't force you."

"Okay."

Ye Qing nodded hurriedly.

"Hmph, don't be late for class again."

Zhao Xinran playfully tapped Ye Qing's forehead, then walked toward the office with light steps.

Remembering his promise to Chimchar, Ye Qing checked the time. There were still fifteen minutes before class, so he hurried across the plaza and headed straight for the Volcanic Zone Area of the sports field.

The temperature here was noticeably higher than elsewhere. After just a few steps, sweat began to bead on Ye Qing's forehead.

Only when he caught sight of the artificial lava pool nearby did Ye Qing stop.

"Chimchar, make sure you train hard here."

Ye Qing released Chimchar from his Poké Ball and made a point of reminding him.

"Oo-wa!"

Chimchar jumped for joy. The environment here felt wonderfully comfortable to him.

He rolled on the ground, then waved at Ye Qing to show that he understood and that Ye Qing should hurry off to class.

Once you're gone, let's see how you keep me in line. You won't even know whether I'm training.

Looking at the excited Chimchar, Ye Qing gave a sinister smile. "Good. I'll turn on my phone's camera and leave it here to keep an eye on you. That way, I can check on your training at any time."

Chimchar: w(°ｏ°)w

At Ye Qing's words, Chimchar's brain froze. Humans really are sneaky. He's actually using a trick like that against me!

Chimchar knew he couldn't back down now. He planted his hands on his hips and glared indignantly at Ye Qing, his whole face saying, You don't trust me.

"Uh..."

Ye Qing scratched his head. He hadn't expected such a strong reaction from Chimchar.

There weren't many academic classes now. Aside from two classes each morning, the rest were outdoor training sessions for their Pokémon. Even if Chimchar slacked off in the morning, it wouldn't be much of a problem. After all, there had to be a balance between work and rest.

There's no harm in giving a little ground. And if Chimchar hooks up with a female monkey, I shouldn't be spying on him, should I?

Ye Qing rubbed Chimchar's head and warned him, "All right, I won't leave my phone here. I'll come pick you up after class. But if you dare slack off or cut corners, you'd better watch out."

"Oo-wa!"

Chimchar stood ramrod straight and thumped his chest, assuring Ye Qing that he would never shirk his duties like that.

"Okay."

Ye Qing nodded, checked the time, and turned toward the classroom.

For the first few days, Chimchar really did behave himself. Ye Qing made a point of checking on him during breaks and found that he was indeed training seriously. Not only had he reached level thirteen, but he had also become thoroughly proficient in both Double Team and Counter Shield.

After observing him for several days, Ye Qing felt reassured. He left him on the sports field almost every day and only came to collect him during the afternoon training class so they could work on their coordination in battle.

"Have you heard? There's a monkey in the Volcanic Zone Area of our sports field. I don't know who it belongs to, but it's completely out of control."

"Exactly! It even injured my Ponyta a couple of days ago."

"Come on, whose else could it be? There are only a handful of monkeys in our entire year."

Hearing their conversation, Ye Qing was puzzled. Whose troublesome Pokémon had been causing havoc?

From their discussion, this monkey was not only mischievous but also quite powerful. Apparently, it had beaten every opponent in the Volcanic Zone Area.

Could it be my little troublemaker? Surely not. Isn't he training seriously every day?

"Class is starting!"

Zhao Xinran walked up to the lectern with her teaching materials and raised her voice at the unruly students below.

"Ma'am, I need to use the bathroom!"

The more Ye Qing thought about it, the more suspicious he became. He decided to make a surprise visit to Chimchar during class and see what was really going on.

"All right. Hurry back."

Zhao Xinran took a sip of water without giving it much thought, then opened her teaching materials and began the lesson.

"Ma'am, I need to use the bathroom too!"

Watching Ye Qing's furtive departure, Wang Yao knew he must be up to something and decided to follow him to find out.

Zhao Xinran's delicate brows rose. "Why do you suddenly need the bathroom just because he does? Hold it!"

Wang Yao immediately protested, "Ma'am, that's unfair! What if holding it in damages something? Wouldn't that be the end of the Wang family line?"

Zhao Xinran was young, after all, and had never dealt with anything like this. Although she knew he probably didn't really need the bathroom, she weighed her options and eventually agreed, telling him to hurry back.

"Will do!"

Wang Yao sprang to his feet and ran out after Ye Qing.

Ye Qing jogged along, but just as he reached the plaza, he heard someone calling him from behind.

He stopped and asked in confusion, "Wang Yao? Why did you follow me?"

Naturally, Wang Yao wasn't going to admit that he wanted to watch the fun, so he lied through his teeth. "I was worried you might have something urgent to deal with. I came to see if I could help."

"Really?"

Ye Qing knew his friend all too well.

Still, there happened to be something Wang Yao could help him with. Thinking it over, he realized that Chimchar might have known about his inspection visits in advance because he could smell him coming.

If he sent Wang Yao instead, they might actually uncover something.

"Wait, my scent!"

Ye Qing mulled over those words, feeling as though he was about to grasp something he had overlooked.

Wang Yao asked in confusion, "What's wrong, Ye Qing?"

Ye Qing waved a hand. "Nothing. Go check what Chimchar's doing for me first. My stomach's feeling a little off."

"Sure... You rest here, then."

Seeing Ye Qing's constipated expression, Wang Yao tactfully left.

Sitting on the steps by the plaza fountain, Ye Qing finally worked out what had been bothering him.

My scent! Although I never showed my face to Team R back then, and later escaped using Mewtwo's Teleport...

It seemed foolproof, but I definitely left plenty of my scent inside the transport plane!

If they use their Pokémon's keen sense of smell to investigate all the places I passed through, they'll eventually find where I'm hiding!

At that thought, Ye Qing slapped his thigh hard, suddenly overwhelmed by a powerful sense of danger.

What should I do?

The sudden threat left Ye Qing flustered. He wasn't nearly strong enough to protect himself yet, so... he could only turn to outside help to protect himself and his family.

Eevee's various evolved forms had already been thoroughly researched by the academic community. For now, information about legendary Pokémon was still relatively scarce.