At the very edge of range, Shen Qi conveyed his feelings through the dating game, but received no response.
Only terrifying text notifications appeared.
["Speedy Hot Girl," Romance Scenario progress: 31%] ["Speedy Hot Girl," Romance Scenario progress: 29%]
"Jili?"
Chansey looked at the visibly nervous Shen Qi in confusion, unsure what had happened.
"Chansey." Shen Qi turned around, his tone pleading. "I need to catch up with her, so... I'd like your help!"
If Lilligant drove back to her secret spot, Shen Qi would never find her.
He might not run into Lilligant at Pokémon High School tomorrow.
The day after, or the day after that, or some distant day when Xia Yang notified him to look for Lilligant at a race, there would be no salvaging things. Once the progress dropped to zero, rebuilding it would be far more than twice as hard.
He had to catch up with her today and explain everything!
"Jili!"
Although she had no idea what they were going to do, Chansey still agreed with an innocent expression.
With Chansey aboard, Shen Qi started the Little Sheep and gave chase toward the exit of Ruins Valley.
The Little Sheep's performance couldn't compare to Lilligant's race car, but beyond the Sea Walkway Bridge, the route was all mountain roads and consecutive bends. No matter how high the car's top speed was, she couldn't reach it there. Cornering technique mattered more instead.
Even so, it would still be incredibly difficult.
He had started so much later, and the bridge was one long straight. Horsepower was justice.
His biggest assurance was that Lilligant would never expect Shen Qi to chase her on the Little Sheep, so she wouldn't make any moves to escape for now.
Of course... if she happened to drive insanely fast in her grief, racing to shake off her sorrows, there would be nothing he could do.
On the straight outside Ruins Valley, the Little Sheep took twenty seconds just to reach a hundred kilometers per hour...
Opening the game interface, Shen Qi selected the game item he had just obtained.
[Adaptive Tire]
It adapts to one vehicle model, can largely offset wear, and allows tire conditions to be adjusted at any time.
If he adapted it now, this game item would only work on the Little Sheep model from then on.
Shen Qi had no time to dwell on that. There was already a performance gap. Relying entirely on these worn tires he'd used for almost two years would make his hopes even slimmer.
(Happy New Year, dear readers. Wishing you good health, and then... more good health. I've really come to appreciate that lately. Your life matters most; don't mistreat yourself over other things.)
Chapter 13: Chase!
After activating the [Adaptive Tire], Shen Qi saw an overview of the tires' condition appear before him.
A layer of the game item's effect now covered the Little Sheep's tires, making them equivalent to new ones. Their grip had clearly risen a notch.
He could brake later into corners and push his speed closer to the limit.
By default, the [Adaptive Tire] was the same type as an ordinary tire, with drainage grooves to prevent slipping in the rain.
The weather had been perfectly clear lately. On the flat bridge stretch, Shen Qi adjusted the [Adaptive Tire] to a treadless configuration, commonly called a "slick."
The increased contact area with the ground strengthened the grip, improving both power delivery and braking.
"Chansey, do you know about Skill Slots?"
Chansey nodded.
"Good."
In the game interface, Shen Qi took out another item.
[Script Detector]
If he could identify an emotional storyline in Chansey, he could communicate with her mentally through the dating game.
Comparing Lilligant with other Pokémon, Shen Qi had roughly figured out that only Pokémon with profound stories had an "Emotional Script." An airhead like Venonat basically had no chance.
This Chansey seemed very promising.
[Pokémon Emotional Script detected] [Confirm pursuit?]
I knew it!
Shen Qi hurriedly selected yes. He ignored the emotional scenario's name, difficulty, and keywords for now. Catching Lilligant came first!
"Chansey, what Buff Skills do you know?"
[Chansey, what Buff Skills do you know?]
The message went straight to her heart. Chansey jumped in fright, her round belly nearly bursting the seat belt open.
"Don't be nervous. Any Pokémon with a special connection to me can communicate heart to heart."
As he asked about her moves, Shen Qi's heart gave a jolt.
Chansey... didn't seem to know many buffs.
This was a Pokémon with astronomically high HP and Special Defense, but Attack and physical Defense so low they scraped the bottom of the entire world's rankings.
(Special Attack can be understood as magic damage, while Special Defense is equivalent to magic resistance.)
She was a tank, especially against special attacks, with very weak damage output.
From what Shen Qi remembered, Chansey could learn only one or two Buff Skills, such as Defense Curl, which raised physical Defense. Beyond that, she had all sorts of healing moves.
Healing moves probably weren't much use in a race...
No, wait. Of the two moves Lilligant had practiced so diligently, Synthesis restored HP.
Could healing moves replenish a race car's energy?
Shen Qi quickly dismissed that idea. If healing could keep up with energy consumption, cars wouldn't need energy reservoirs or Energy Blocks.
Those two components were equivalent to a conventional car's fuel tank and weighed quite a bit. Eliminating that weight would be tremendous, yet he'd never heard of a Racing Driver leaving out the energy reservoir.
There was a flurry of movement in the passenger seat. Grayish-white energy floated up before Chansey, forming a simple spherical icon.
Sure enough, it was Defense Curl, a move that raised a Pokémon's physical Defense. Its effect on a vehicle should be similar, strengthening the body or something along those lines.
Then... what would a move that raised Special Defense do for a car?
Shen Qi had never considered using the Little Sheep as a race vehicle. Since he didn't have a Starter Pokémon either, he had never studied Skill Slots in depth.
The Little Sheep left Ruins Valley and entered the Trail Bridge. There was practically no room for maneuver here; Lilligant would simply widen the gap.
He could only hope she wasn't driving too fast in her grief.
"Chansey... try a healing move. Let me see."
"Jili!"
Chansey had plenty of healing moves. She could learn Life Dew early on, and there was also her specialty, Egg Bomb.
Another gray ball of light representing a Normal-type move appeared. A soft shell shaped like a translucent bird's egg burst open, scattering a blue glow that flowed into the Skill Slot.
Clearly, the move could be used on the vehicle, but the energy display hadn't increased, and Shen Qi couldn't feel any obvious change in the scooter.
"Do you know Helping Hand?!"
The Normal-type move Helping Hand increased an ally's attacking move's power by 50% for the current turn.
He didn't know whether it could serve as a corresponding power boost.
[I do!]
Palms resembling white gloves clapped together, and Normal-type energy flowed into the Skill Slot. Just as Shen Qi was about to say he couldn't feel any difference, the Little Sheep's power surged. The force pressing him back into his seat felt almost like a roller coaster.
"Baa-"
There was a notch in the Little Sheep's front air intake. At sufficiently high speeds, the strong airflow produced a whistle resembling a sheep's bleat. Shen Qi had only heard it at full speed before.
The acceleration lasted briefly, then the speed dropped again.
Just like Helping Hand's effect, the 50% boost applied only to the current turn.
Shen Qi broke into a cold sweat. Testing moves this way was far too dangerous.
If he'd done it somewhere with bends, a sudden 50% power increase without any improvement to the vehicle's other components could easily cause trouble.
Luckily, this was the Trail Bridge's long straight. The Little Sheep had merely accelerated beyond its normal capabilities for a while.
[Did I help?] [Do you need me to do anything else?]
The words relayed through the game interface were remarkably fluent. Clearly, this Chansey had spent a long time interacting with humans and had excellent communication skills.
Lilligant sometimes still sent somewhat halting phrases. She wasn't as mature as Chansey in expressing herself.
"Ah, this is a bit much to ask of you, but what matters most in racing is probably raising Attack and Special Attack."
[I can do that!]
"Huh?!"
At the far end of the Trail Bridge, Chansey's reply took Shen Qi by surprise.
"How do you know an offensive buff?"
Chansey still wore that innocent smile. Normal-type energy surged again, changing color until it looked like chili powder scattered through the air.
Work Up!
Before Generation IX, Chansey could learn this move. Its effect was the same as the Growth Lilligant had been practicing: it raised Attack and Special Attack by one stage each.
This was a learned move, not one Chansey could master naturally as she grew. It required a Technical Machine.
She...
"Do you have an owner? Have you been training with a Pokémon Trainer?"
Logically, a Pokémon available for pursuit was unlikely to have an owner. Shen Qi still voiced this most probable guess. Otherwise, where would she have gotten the means to learn the move?
Before you continue