Safari Zone

"Wah?"

Ye Qing nearly knocked the nut out of Chimchar's hands. Chimchar looked at him squirming restlessly on the bed, clearly displeased.

Smack.

Chimchar raised a hand and slapped Ye Qing on the butt, wanting to know what his problem was. Couldn't he see Chimchar was eating?!

Ye Qing turned around and stared at Chimchar. "You said you wanted to go to the Safari Zone?"

Chimchar: ⊙(・◇・)??? Did I say that? I didn't even say anything, did I?

"All right, then. Get ready. We're going next week."

The thought that he might catch a Milotic there made Ye Qing unwilling to wait another second!

"Big brother, we're back."

While Ye Qing and Chimchar were staring at each other on the bed, the sound of the front door opening came from outside.

Ye Qing sprang straight off the bed with a kip-up. "Okay, I'll help you wash the vegetables."

Still holding his nut, Chimchar watched Ye Qing leave, unable to process what had just happened.

Did I just agree to something?

In the living room, Ye Qing took the little girl by the hand and pulled her into his room.

"What is it, big brother?"

Watching Ye Qing act so secretive, Ye Menghan couldn't figure out what he was up to.

"Look at this."

Ye Qing used his phone to check the balance on his newly linked bank card.

"One hundred thousand?"

Ye Menghan's eyes widened. She covered her mouth with her little hands and stared at Ye Qing in astonishment.

Ye Qing ruffled her hair and said quietly, "See? Your big brother didn't lie to you. Study hard. We'll only have more money from now on."

"This money..." Ye Menghan hesitated.

Ye Qing knew exactly what she was worried about. "Don't worry. I earned it legitimately."

First thing on Monday morning, Ye Qing submitted an application to his homeroom teacher, Zhao Xinran, for permission to catch a second Pokémon. Everything went smoothly.

With her connections, she naturally knew what reward the Pokémon League had given Ye Qing. She merely reminded him to stay safe. After all, the Safari Zone wasn't entirely risk-free.

"Dude, what were you doing in there?"

Seeing Ye Qing emerge from the teachers' office with a grin, Wang Yao hurried after him to ask.

"That's classified."

Since he intended to keep Milotic as his trump card, Ye Qing naturally couldn't let anyone know he was going to catch a Feebas.

That made Wang Yao, the biggest blabbermouth in the entire school, the last person he could tell. Otherwise, the whole school would know about his plan to catch a Feebas by tomorrow.

Seeing Ye Qing's smug expression, Wang Yao scoffed. "Classified, my ass. I've even worn your underwear when we were kids, and now you're keeping secrets from me!"

In a corner behind them, Young Master Zhang Qiang stood with a dark expression, staring fixedly at the pair.

"Boss, should we ambush him on Friday?"

"Yeah! Just say the word, boss, and I'll take one of his legs off!"

Listening to the others egg him on, Young Master Zhang Qiang frowned. "Are you all idiots? Everyone knows I have a problem with him. If anything happens to him, won't I be the prime suspect?"

"Good point. Then give us an idea, Strategist. As long as it helps the boss get even, we'll do exactly what you say!"

Strategist pushed up the glasses on his nose and laid out his reasoning. "Ye Qing is Principal Jiang's favorite right now, and he's pretty close to all the teachers too. So I want to see whether we can provoke someone else into clashing with him. Then we can sit back and enjoy the show."

Young Master Zhang Qiang immediately grew interested. "You've got a plan?"

Strategist nodded. "It just occurred to me. Didn't we get a transfer student in our class? After watching him these past few days, I've realized he's all brawn and no brains.

"Most importantly, he's a lecher. Isn't Ye Qing supposed to have a pretty little sister?"

Young Master Zhang Qiang nodded. He was about to speak when something suddenly occurred to him, and he frowned. "Hold on. I'll ask my dad about Ye Qing's background first. What we dug up might not be accurate. Let's not end up getting burned!"

After an agonizing week of waiting, during which Ye Qing trained like mad with Chimchar and challenged everyone he met to spar, Wang Yao's Treecko alone had been bullied by Chimchar no fewer than ten times.

Under such intense training, Chimchar reached level fourteen.

Ye Qing sent his mother a message saying he wouldn't be coming home that weekend, then went straight to the shopping mall to buy seven days' worth of Fire-type Basic Pokéblocks and one portion of mixed-type Basic Pokéblocks.

Those two purchases alone cost him a thousand, which made Ye Qing's heart ache.

Still, they were essential for the trip. He had no idea what types of Pokémon he might encounter, so it was better to be well prepared.

Fortunately, Chimchar still couldn't handle the nutrients and energy in Intermediate or Advanced Pokéblocks. Otherwise, Ye Qing's meager savings wouldn't even begin to cover his needs.

After buying two Great Balls, each equipped with a single-use Super Potion spray, and some Pokémon feed, Ye Qing paid and left the Pokémon store.

He bought a set of wilderness survival supplies at the department store next door, checked to make sure he hadn't forgotten anything, and set off for the Safari Zone.

"Wah."

As they walked along the bustling street, Chimchar crouched on Ye Qing's shoulder and kept pointing at a poster on the wall.

"Not every dairy cow is a Miltank?"

Looking at the poster Chimchar was pointing to, Ye Qing inwardly winced.

Miltank milk was a favorite among Pokémon, with top-notch flavor and nutrition. But he had never told Chimchar about such a luxury. How did he know about it?

"Woo, woo."

When Ye Qing ignored him, Chimchar grabbed his head with both hands and forced him to look at his tear-filled eyes.

Seeing Chimchar's pitiful expression, Ye Qing wavered. This wasn't some knockoff like Six Nuclear Bombs. A single five-hundred-milliliter bottle of Miltank milk cost a whopping five hundred Pokémon Coins!

After thinking it over for a while, Ye Qing steeled himself. "If you do well in the Safari Zone this time, I'll make an exception and reward you with a bottle."

"Wah?"

Chimchar's eyes lit up, as if to ask whether he really meant it.

Ye Qing patted his head and smiled. "When have I ever lied to you?"

He hailed a cab. Watching trainers race down the road on their Pokémon and ride Flying-type Pokémon through the sky, Ye Qing wondered when he would get to ride freely like them.

After more than half an hour on the road, the taxi finally stopped outside the Safari Zone.

The entrance was a shell-shaped building, with a vast forest stretching out behind it. To prevent Pokémon from escaping the Wild Area, the entire Safari Zone forest was enclosed in a specially made net.

Luxury cars filled the area outside the Safari Zone. There were even several Zebstrika tethered nearby.

"They're all rich."

Standing in the plaza, Ye Qing drew surprised looks from those around him. Plenty of people visited the Safari Zone every day, but hardly anyone ever arrived by taxi.