[No, no one wants to be my Pokémon Trainer.]
"I do!"
[Really?!]
The game interface indicated that his conquest progress had reached the reward threshold. Shen Qi glanced at it; the first stage awarded a [Script Detector].
"But... I think I might have lots of Pokémon over my lifetime."
[Isn't that perfectly normal?]
Chansey still wore that friendly, innocent smile.
[Let's do our best together.]
Another Work Up boosted the Little Sheep's horsepower and torque.
"Don't boost it any more. This is enough!"
Suddenly increasing the power without upgrading the suspension, brakes, and intake system to match could easily cause an accident. It was the same principle as when "Helping Hand" had made the Little Sheep abruptly accelerate earlier.
With Work Up maintained at level two, Shen Qi felt much more confident.
As he entered Trail Mountain, a familiar feeling washed over him.
Those racers only came out for a run every few days, with a relatively serious race once in a long while.
But I, Shen Qi, had to make a living while making sure I was still fit to study the next day. Two or three times a week, I gave this route everything I had to squeeze out the greatest efficiency.
No one knows this course better than I do!
Chapter 14: Questioning Life
On Marker Mountain's outer loop, two headlights flashed past.
The race car pursuing from behind had purple leaf-patterned paintwork and a racing team emblem.
"What's with that pink race car up ahead... why would a backwater like Island 6 have such a fast car?!"
Shan Sheng grumbled, closed the half-open Poké Ball on the passenger seat, and switched to another one.
"Nidorino, Hone Claws!"
The Dark-type move Hone Claws raised attack and accuracy by one level each.
The race car sped up, but still couldn't catch the car ahead.
"Driving that fast on a mountain road-do you have a death wish?!"
As the gap widened, Shan Sheng knew he had no hope of catching up. Disgruntled, he pulled over, lit a cigarette, and made a call.
A few seconds later, a languid female voice replaced the ringing tone in his receiver.
"Idiot little brother, why are you calling me in the middle of the night?"
"Sis, you told me to come train on Island 6... a local race car just overtook me outright. How does this dump have a Class B Car? I'm questioning my whole life."
"Class B?" The voice on the phone paused. "Pink, right? With a Pokémon driving alone."
"Huh, it was pink... I don't know if a Pokémon was driving it. If so, that's terrifying. What professional racer's Pokémon got sent to Island 6 to train?"
"Tsareena. I don't know whose Pokémon she is, but she's one of the strongest on Islands 5 and 6. You don't know the route, so losing to her is perfectly normal."
"Tsareena... I've never heard of that Pokémon."
"Stop worrying about that and get practicing. Otherwise, when will you ever become a full-fledged member of the team?"
"Yes."
After ending the call, Shan Sheng, comforted and encouraged by his sister, was brimming with motivation. He started his race car and resumed practicing.
He had barely driven a dozen meters when a dazzling point of light appeared in his rearview mirror and gradually grew larger. Clearly, a car was catching up from behind.
2:33 a.m... are there really this many racers practicing on Island 6?
Perfect timing!
Shan Sheng was just about to give it his all when he suddenly realized that the vehicle behind him was a minivan.
"Fuck, a Little Sheep. A Class D car. Boring."
It was the minivan most commonly used by Small Merchants and small families. Even if it came equipped with an energy slot, that was only to make deliveries safer and more stable. A vehicle like that had no competitive value.
Having a Little Sheep tailing him made Shan Sheng feel humiliated. He stepped on the accelerator and maintained a fairly high speed even as he approached the bend.
Once he entered the bend, the mountainside blocked the view, removing the irritating Little Sheep from his rearview mirror. Shan Sheng immediately felt much better.
Baa-
Accompanied by a strange bleat, the lights in his rearview mirror suddenly swelled.
No! It had already left the rearview mirror!
Shan Sheng's mouth fell wide open, his jaw practically dislocating.
"I... I actually got caught by a Little Sheep?!"
That acceleration coming out of the bend... could a Little Sheep really do that?!
Nido! Nido!
Inside the Poké Ball, Nidorino sensed his Pokémon Trainer's emotions and wanted to use Hone Claws to boost the horsepower.
"No. We have to wait until we're completely out of the bend."
Shan Sheng wouldn't gamble with his life. On an unfamiliar mountain road, every bend was a blind bend. He would never dare excessively boost his vehicle's power at the apex; at most, he would give it a little gas.
Yet the Little Sheep that had overtaken him clearly knew the mountain road well. Its driver knew where the bend ended and dared to let loose at full throttle.
"Even if I don't know the route, I can't lose to a Little Sheep when I'm driving a Class B Car!"
After they exited the bend, Nidorino used Hone Claws repeatedly to improve the vehicle's performance. The distance between the two cars began shrinking, but nowhere near as quickly as Shan Sheng had imagined.
Clearly, the Little Sheep was also using a Pokémon to boost its power.
"Are you kidding me? With what a Class D car can withstand, boosting its horsepower twice should already be dangerous... could it be defense?!"
Shan Sheng quickly realized that the Little Sheep ahead had not only boosted its power, but also used defensive buffs to stabilize its chassis. That was how a junk car could withstand such punishment.
They entered another bend ahead, and Shan Sheng clung desperately to its tail.
But after adjusting its heading at the apex, the Little Sheep unleashed even greater power, blasting out of the bend at high speed and widening the previous gap.
"Helping Hand! A temporary fifty-percent boost to overall power!"
To dare use a move like that on a mountain road at night, just how confident did its driver have to be in their knowledge of the course...
By the time Shan Sheng exited the bend, the Little Sheep's taillights had already vanished around the next one.
He stopped his race car, lit a cigarette, and called his sister.
"Idiot little brother, what is it now?! Two calls in the middle of the night-do you want me to beat you to death when you get back?!"
"Sis... I got completely crushed by another car."
"Hmm? Did you run into the few skilled drivers on Island 6 all in one go? What kind of race car was it this time?"
"It wasn't a race car. It was a Little Sheep."
"Little Sheep? What Pokémon is that..." The moment the words left her mouth, his sister's sleepiness vanished. "You don't mean the D-class minivan, the Little Sheep, do you?"
"Yeah... I think you can buy a new one for 40,000 b."
"Are you serious?!"
"I am. I'm questioning my whole life..."
After leaving Trail Mountain, Marker Mountain lay ahead.
Shen Qi was anxious. He had to get within tracking range on Marker Mountain. If they left it and entered the Marker Forest area, they wouldn't be far from Pokémon High School.
If he still failed to catch Lilligant, heaven knew where she would park the car.
"Chansey, refresh Defense Curl."
Jili!
In the game, once a Buff Skill was used, it lasted until the battle ended unless it was dispelled or canceled out by a debuff.
In reality, buffs only lasted for a while, with the exact duration depending on the Pokémon and the circumstances.
Shen Qi didn't dare boost the Little Sheep's power too much, but he could max out its defense and keep it at the move's permitted limit.
Without Defense Curl's effect, Shen Qi would never have dared use "Helping Hand" to send the Little Sheep bursting out of all those time-consuming bends.
[We've caught up!]
"Have we really..."
A streak of red light appeared ahead, and Shen Qi narrowed his eyes...
A pink body-it was undoubtedly Lilligant's race car!
"We've caught up!"
His current progress in the "Rapid Speed Girl" Emotional Script had already fallen to 26%. He couldn't let it keep dropping.
But... Shen Qi kept feeling that the Little Sheep was nearing its limit.
For a cheap minivan to endure this much punishment without anything going wrong, it was already remarkably tough.
The coolant temperature warning on the dashboard had lit up long ago, and the power was beginning to fall short.
Besides, he could clearly feel the brakes fading. The brake pads were probably badly worn, reducing their effectiveness.
That meant Shen Qi had to brake and slow down earlier before each bend, sacrificing more speed.
Fortunately, he didn't actually need to overtake Lilligant, leave her behind, or cross some finish line. He only needed to get close enough to explain everything within the conquest game's communication range.
They entered the bend.
The pink race car ahead had clearly noticed a vehicle pursuing it and was moving a little faster than before.
"Little Sheep, hang in there!"
Shen Qi slowed down as he entered the bend. Chansey, who had worked in sync with him the entire way, understood his intentions and prepared the move in advance.
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