Couldn't twist off a bottle cap, but could twist off a skull

Inside an electronics factory, parts sped along the assembly line.

The workers beside it moved their arms so fast they almost left afterimages as they processed the products.

It was fine at first, but as time wore on, some of them couldn't take it anymore.

"Hey, you three up front! Enough already! With the little we earn in a day, do you really have to work yourselves to death?"

"Huh? We're paid by the piece. What's that got to do with us?"

Yes, the three at the very front were Jessie, James, and Meowth.

Firm believers in loving whatever job they took, they worked so efficiently that the foreman had put them straight onto piecework.

They had greatly boosted production efficiency, though they were close to inciting a revolt.

"Speaking of which, won't the twerp and his friends run off while we're working here?"

"They won't, meow. I already checked. This city is holding a Pokémon event in a few days, and the twerp's gang will definitely enter with Pikachu.

We'll spend this time getting properly prepared, then take Pikachu while he's focused on the competition~"

Without slowing his hands, Meowth was already working out their next move. He had even made plans to volunteer so they could slip into the venue.

The workers farther down the assembly line were sweating buckets trying to keep up and paid no attention to what they meant by Pikachu or anything else.

Even if they didn't have Pokémon themselves, they heard those sorts of terms often enough. They simply assumed the three were daydreaming.

After all, every now and then, they would hear something along the lines of "What a wonderful feeling."

Meanwhile, Xin Mu had returned home as well. Thanks to Meownei's precise route choices, she hadn't missed a single mud puddle on the way back.

Once inside, Meownei set the shopping bags on the storage rack, then naturally spread her arms, waiting for Xin Mu to carry her into the bathroom.

"You sure stepped into those accurately all the way home."

"Meow~ (I did not. The puddles were too wide.)"

"Are you sure?"

"Meow... (Probably...)"

A puddle three meters across was indeed pretty wide if going around it wasn't an option, but Meownei wasn't human.

She might not have been a Pokémon skilled at jumping like Blaziken, capable of clearing a thirty-story building in one leap, but she wasn't as "weak" as a human, either.

In front of Xin Mu, she might not be able to twist off a bottle cap. Out in the wild, her claws could twist off a skull.

"Let's leave it at that. Should I buy you a pair of rain boots next time we go out? They'd make things a lot easier."

"Meow~ (No. Wearing shoes feels weird. This is fine.)"

Xin Mu hadn't gone blind. He knew Meownei had deliberately stepped into practically every puddle along the way, but he didn't dwell on it and carried her into the bathroom.

While Meownei washed off the mud clinging to her, Xin Mu sorted their purchases, filling the empty refrigerator once again.

"Beedrill pollen... Pokémon really are different. They're bees that don't make honey, yet they still collect pollen."

Looking at the honey's ingredient list, Xin Mu felt he ought to find some time to study the Pokémon ecology of this world.

There was only so much game data in his memories, and plenty of things were unknown to him as well.

This world had already developed many unique things, such as ordinary cattle with Tauros ancestry. Raising these animals was a specialized field of study in its own right, with promising prospects.

After that, Xin Mu made some Pokéblocks and tried his hand at Berry ice cream and Poffins.

To avoid taking up too much of his living space, Xin Mu hadn't brought out all those tools. He simply experimented on his own using the recipes.

Using those tools was the equivalent of one-click production. Now that he was doing it by hand, his failure rate shot up.

Compared with those perfect-looking Pokéblocks, quite a few of his attempts could only be considered waste.

Over the next few days, Xin Mu mostly used the Enhancer to train his body, and the improvements remained clear.

By that machine's assessment standards, Xin Mu's "level" was far too low, and the lower his level, the more pronounced its enhancement effects were.

Aside from that, Xin Mu also looked into other Gyms, such as the Fengdu Gym, which specialized in Ghost-type Pokémon, and the Ice-type Xuantai Gym.

Looking at their names, Xin Mu felt he understood Rong Fei a little better. Compared with the other Gyms' names, his family's Blue Sky Technical Academy Gym was rather unconventional.

At dusk, all sorts of people gathered at the campus sports field.

Couples lingered around the edges, students rehearsed performances for the graduation celebration on the grass, and Trainers took their Pokémon out for walks and fresh air.

The school dormitories didn't offer as much freedom as renting a place off campus. The Battle Studies Department did have better accommodations, but its dormitories weren't Professor Oak's backyard lawn.

School rules still prohibited letting Pokémon out in the dormitories.

Even Pokémon belonging to the same Trainer could have conflicts, let alone those belonging to different Trainers.

If two people's Pokémon started fighting in a dormitory, the consequences would be troublesome.

To prevent that, the administration had simply imposed a blanket ban.

The school provided dedicated boarding grounds for the Battle Studies Department. Anyone unwilling to leave their Pokémon there had to follow the relevant rules.

The open sports field had also become a place for many Pokémon to exercise. Mornings and evenings were cooler than the daytime, but plenty of people couldn't get up in the morning, so more came in the evening.

Over the past few days, however, an unusual pair had appeared on the sports field.

"Meownei, which do you think takes less effort, roller skates or a skateboard?"

"Meow... meow! (Roller skates, probably. I can't control a skateboard well. I might fling you off when turning.)"

This wasn't the first Intercollegiate Rally, and Xin Mu had found reports on previous competitions.

The means of transportation were varied indeed. Any vehicle that couldn't propel itself might turn up there.

During the first stage, competing pairs couldn't abandon their vehicles and had to use their Pokémon's strength to operate them. Otherwise, it counted as forfeiting.

Carriage compartments, unicycles, roller skates, and even wheelchairs were among the options.

The competition even involved a bit of luck. If a competing Pokémon wasn't suited to the vehicle its team received, they could easily fall behind right from the start.

Only in the second stage could contestants abandon their vehicles and complete the final sprint.

Xin Mu was doing some practice now.

Despite the added twists, it was essentially still making Pokémon run with a load. Under those circumstances, a lighter load was actually more advantageous.

Xin Mu couldn't get hold of anything too strange, but he could practice here with smaller items.

Several days of testing showed that some vehicles were liable to swing out during sharp turns. After all, Meownei was running while pulling Xin Mu by the hand, and he had some trouble controlling a skateboard.

For him, drawing a pair of roller skates would be the best outcome.