Treating Glameow

Steven stroked the Bronzor floating beside him. Though his spirits were low, he was not exactly dejected.

"What did he say?"

"He just praised the Thunder Stone, then said his Pikachu needed it."

The man in the suit snorted. In his eyes, the other party had merely seen that he wanted to buy back the Thunder Stone and was deliberately driving up the price.

But since Steven had asked, he did not dare hide anything. He repeated every word Su Bai had said over the phone.

When Steven heard Su Bai's high opinion of the Thunder Stone, his eyes immediately lit up.

"He said my Thunder Stone was of excellent quality?"

"Cousin, I think he only said that to sell the Thunder Stone for a higher price."

"You don't understand."

Steven shook his head.

The beauty of stones was a work of art shaped by nature, something not everyone could appreciate.

Even Wallace could not appreciate their beauty, which troubled Steven quite a bit.

He had never expected to hear a university student in the Dragon Nation offer an appraisal of a stone today, even if it was only about its quality.

Everyone knew evolution stones could help certain Pokémon evolve, yet they overlooked the stones themselves.

At that thought, Steven could not help feeling that he should have met this young man sooner.

"Find this young man's information. I want to see it."

The man in the suit nodded and turned to leave.

But he had only taken a few steps when Steven stopped him.

"That would be too rude. Leave this matter alone. I'll find a time to visit him myself."

Meanwhile, Su Bai was happily studying moves at home, unaware that he had already caught Steven's attention.

Gengar's special attacking moves had all been randomized away, leaving only Psychic. That clearly would not do.

Moreover, it was only after consulting the Pokémon Pokédex provided by the system that Su Bai learned Gengar could learn Drain Punch.

If that was the case, Drain Punch would be an excellent value for his physically oriented Gengar.

Giga Drain and Drain Punch would be useful moves for keeping Gengar going.

Dream Eater only worked while the opponent was asleep. If the opponent woke up right as he used Dream Eater, as had happened to that legendary-using trainer's Darkrai, it would be awkward.

Too unreliable.

With that in mind, Su Bai opened the System Shop.

The Technical Machine for Drain Punch had not been unlocked yet.

Machamp probably knew Drain Punch, but if he asked Qi Shijun to teach it, he would likely have no way to explain where Gengar had come from.

Drain Punch TMs were available on the market, though, for over eighteen thousand.

He looked at Gengar's chubby little hands, then thought about his Gengar's physical attack base stat of over two hundred after the boost from Huge Power.

Oh, whatever. I'll buy it. It'll definitely be worth every penny.

After placing an order online, Su Bai checked his balance and thought that he still needed to earn more money.

"Hee hee hee."

Gengar floated over with a toothy grin, making funny faces to cheer Su Bai up.

"All right, all right. Don't worry. I can still afford this much."

With a light flick from Su Bai, Gengar flew around the room like a big inflated balloon, repeatedly bouncing off the walls.

It was quite comical.

Su Bai yawned, gently nudged Growlithe with his foot, and picked up Pikachu before heading into his room to sleep.

He still had to get up early for school tomorrow.

Gengar stopped bouncing around, switched off the living room lights with a grin, and floated after Su Bai into the bedroom.

The next day was Wednesday.

Su Bai entered the campus yawning, thinking that once he randomly obtained another Black Market Ball, he absolutely had to catch a Psychic-type Pokémon that knew Teleport.

"Good morning, Su Bai!"

"Morning, senior!"

Two cute younger male students walked past him, greeting him enthusiastically.

Su Bai nodded back.

After winning the Health Cup and then defeating two school team members in succession yesterday, Su Bai had become one of J University's most prominent students.

He entered the classroom, sat in a corner, and secretly took out two steaming buns, wolfing them down in a few bites.

The buns had come from today's randomization attempts. Fortunately, they had meat fillings.

He had to admit that the things the system randomized were getting more and more random.

That morning's class was a practical lesson. The teacher came up to the front carrying a Glameow that looked picky at a glance.

Their task was to prepare Pokémon food that this Glameow liked.

The teacher first explained the flavors catlike Pokémon enjoyed, then went over several recipes for Normal-type Pokémon. After spending an hour covering nutrition, dietary restrictions, and related topics, she told everyone they could begin.

Whoever succeeded first could leave.

Su Bai glanced at Glameow and noticed something wrong with the color of its coat. Its belly was noticeably larger than those of others of its kind, yet it was not fat, and its eyes lacked brightness.

He did have information about similar symptoms in his mind, along with a solution.

Let's give it a try!

Su Bai put on disposable gloves, took out several Berries, and juiced them with some herbs. He mixed in flour and protein powder, shaped the mixture into long strips, then cut them into the small cylinders commonly used for Pokémon food.

After drying them in the oven, he would have portable Pokémon food.

Before his batch was ready, several others had already finished. Most of their Pokémon food was a mash or paste, so they were faster than Su Bai.

Glameow really was picky. It usually stopped eating after a single taste and even let out distinctly unhappy cries.

Its expression could not have been more disdainful.

When Su Bai raised his hand, the teacher walked over with Glameow in her arms.

Glameow meowed, resistance written all over its face. It clearly did not want to keep eating the students' food.

The teacher had no choice but to coax her Glameow.

"Be good, kitty. Just one bite. Think of it as helping these children."

"Try one bite. Trust me, this Pokémon food is good for you."

Su Bai placed the food container in front of Glameow and stroked its head.

Although Glameow did not want to eat the students' food, it was very friendly toward them and was not shy around strangers. When Su Bai offered it the Pokémon food, it rubbed against his hand, pitifully begging for mercy.

"Meow." (Can I not eat it?)

"Don't worry. My Pokémon food is different from theirs."

Hearing Su Bai's words, Glameow knew there was no escape. It had no choice but to arch its back and cautiously sniff the food.

Huh?!

It smells so good!

Glameow wavered, then finally took a bite.

It's delicious!

Glameow gave a delighted cry, then began to feast.

In the end, it ate everything, leaving not even a crumb.

The teacher was stunned. This Glameow was not hers, but one of the Pokémon raised by the school's breeding program, with the teachers taking turns caring for it.

This Glameow had not eaten a proper meal for several days.

Although the teachers were all professionals, none of them had been able to think of a solution yet. She had never expected Glameow to enjoy Su Bai's Pokémon food so much.

"All right, you've passed. You may leave."

"Please wait a moment, teacher."

Su Bai smiled faintly.

Before the teacher could ask what was wrong, Glameow let out a shriek, struggled out of her arms, and ran out of the classroom.