Miss Iono, you're so sweet!

"How many times have I told you not to do things that make me worry without letting me know?"

Xia Chi sat in his chair with a grim expression.

Sprigatito and Misdreavus stood on the floor with their heads lowered, seemingly taking his criticism seriously.

"Challenging a Primeape? You two really outdid yourselves!"

Xia Chi was genuinely angry. What they had done this time was far too risky.

The level listed in the system messages alone showed how terrifying that Primeape was. At level 29, it was definitely a boss-tier wild Pokémon around Shanghai University's freshman campus.

And that wasn't even counting its gang of Mankey underlings.

It wasn't that Xia Chi wouldn't let them challenge it, but shouldn't he at least have been there?

That way, even if they lost, Sprigatito and Misdreavus could have retreated safely into their Poké Balls.

Though the price might have been a sound beating from Primeape for him, their Trainer.

Fortunately, they had at least known to work together, ultimately joining forces to defeat the powerful Primeape.

All right. At least it had ended well.

Seeing Sprigatito and Misdreavus humbly acknowledging their mistakes, Xia Chi's anger faded considerably.

He said irritably, "All right, tell me what happened."

As soon as Sprigatito saw his anger subside, it perked up. Raising a paw to point at Misdreavus, it started tattling. "Meow-feh, meow-feh!"

Xia Chi remained expressionless. "You're saying Misdreavus went out first?"

Sprigatito nodded without a shred of guilt.

Beside it, Misdreavus drooped its eyes and didn't dare argue. After all, Sprigatito wasn't lying. It really had gone out first last night.

Watching their expressions, Xia Chi pieced together the rough sequence of events.

He looked at Sprigatito and continued, "Then you followed it out to protect it?"

Under Xia Chi's serious gaze, Sprigatito suddenly grew uneasy. What should have been a perfectly confident nod simply wouldn't come.

It knew whether protecting Misdreavus had really been its reason.

The truth was that it had wanted to sneak out for extra training at night, and had talked Misdreavus into supporting it against that powerful Primeape along the way, dragging Misdreavus into trouble.

Should I keep denying it?

After a moment of hesitation, Sprigatito shook its head and raised a paw to admit its mistake. "Meow-feh. (Sorry. I was the one behind this.)"

It had expected a disappointed look or a scolding from Xia Chi.

But to Sprigatito's surprise, the storm it had imagined never came.

"I'm glad you could admit it, Sprigatito."

Xia Chi stroked the little cat's upturned head and said softly, "I'm not trying to figure out whose fault it was. I just want you to understand that we're partners who can rely on each other, not people who point fingers and pass the blame."

Inspirational pep talk +1+1+1+1

Fortunately, Sprigatito was still inexperienced in the ways of the world, just the right age to swallow a little motivational fluff.

The grass-green kitten wrinkled its nose and nodded firmly. "Meow-feh!"

Xia Chi knew that lectures alone couldn't turn the two Pokémon into truly inseparable partners.

But there was no rushing this sort of thing. For now, getting the point across was enough.

He rubbed the kitten's head. "All right, go apologize to Misdreavus."

Sprigatito might have been a little tsundere, but it wouldn't fudge a sincere apology when one was needed. It turned toward Misdreavus. "Meow-feh! (Sorry! I lied to you yesterday!)"

Misdreavus, which hadn't understood any of this from beginning to end, looked utterly bewildered. "∑(O_O;) Myao? (Lied to me? What did you lie about?)"

Xia Chi pressed a hand to his forehead. "..."

He hadn't believed it before, but Mingchong Mountain really was a beginner zone. A Misdreavus this clueless had somehow survived there all this time.

After resolving the conflict between Sprigatito and Misdreavus, Xia Chi reflected on his approach to "education."

Wasn't forbidding the two Pokémon from going out while he slept a little stupid?

The answer was unquestionably yes.

It was just as stupid as those bizarre dorm inspection rules that banned all electrical appliances, prohibited staying out overnight, demanded no trash in trash cans, and allowed no people on beds.

That sort of blanket policy was essentially lazy administration, designed only to make management easier while ignoring the actual needs of those being managed.

After reflecting on it, Xia Chi felt his own management style had become a little too institutionalized.

Not letting a nocturnal Pokémon like Misdreavus be active at night? That was downright ridiculous.

Besides, the two Pokémon had survived in the wild for so long without incident. How could living on campus after he caught them somehow be more dangerous?

That made no sense.

In the end, Xia Chi decided to give Sprigatito and Misdreavus enough freedom and space.

Of course, the most important condition was that they had to put their own safety first.

They weren't allowed to do anything like last night again, provoking Pokémon far stronger than themselves.

Naturally, Sprigatito and Misdreavus readily agreed.

From then on, the two Pokémon began sleeping by day and roaming by night.

During the day, they slept in the dorm or snuggled with Xia Chi. At night, they became champions of justice, roaming campus to punish the wicked Pokémon that had committed all sorts of misdeeds.

Xia Chi discovered that the Dark-type bond's Fear rose exceptionally quickly under these circumstances.

Only then did he understand how his system buddy worked-even without a Dark-type bond, Misdreavus could help the team earn Fear through battle once it became a member.

In just ten short days, the system's bond Fear skyrocketed from 43 to 62, doubling its previous rate of growth.

Perhaps because the two Pokémon had been going out to fight side by side every night, Sprigatito and Misdreavus had also grown much closer.

Although they still occasionally bickered and roughhoused in everyday life, their relationship was clearly developing into that of an affectionately squabbling pair.

To put it in human terms, a cool, aloof tsundere with long, straight black hair plus an airheaded blonde?

Huh, why does that feel strangely familiar...

And bond Fear wasn't the only thing that changed during that time. Sprigatito gained another level in the system, reaching lv.15.

About ten days had passed since its last level-up.

A simple math problem.

If it gained one level every ten days...

Then going from lv.1 to lv.100 would take a thousand days, a little over three years.

Of course, that was just Xia Chi daydreaming.

A Pokémon's leveling speed in its early and later stages couldn't possibly be treated as the same, but this was still very fast.

Besides its constant trips outside to "grind monsters and level up," Xia Chi felt the top-grade Miracle Seed Iono had given him had also played a significant role.

Speaking of Iono, his wealthy top supporter had sent him another set of Pokémon training notes on his third day back at school.

This time, they were for the Misdreavus she had raised herself.

Only this time, she hadn't even asked for anything in return. She simply handed them over.

It left even Xia Chi, whose skin was as thick as an Aegislash in Shield Forme, feeling a little embarrassed.

But Iono had her own explanation.

"Geeta and Brassius went to a lot of trouble helping with Sprigatito's training materials, so of course I had to treat them to dinner or a spa session for their Pokémon or something. By the same logic, you had to play games with me."

"As for Misdreavus, I've raised one myself, so I can just give you the notes. With how close we are, why would I need anything in return?"

Miss Iono, you're so sweet!

What else is there to say?

From now on, anyone who messes with Iono is picking a fight with me, Xia Chi!