Chapter 2: The girl in the short skirt
"Ta~"
A little purple mouse poked its head out of the grass. The affectionate Rattata approached with a limp.
"Good little one, good little one."
Shen Qi crouched down and stroked Rattata's head.
In the Pokémon world, schools all raised a number of Pokémon so students could learn about them firsthand. Students who formed a bond with one and passed the assessment could even take that Pokémon with them.
This poor, remote Pokémon High School mostly took in Pokémon that were injured, abandoned, or unable to return to the wild for various reasons.
This Rattata, for instance, was missing a front leg and had become particularly affectionate after receiving treatment.
Precisely because Pokémon High School took on the seemingly thankless work of raising injured Pokémon, Shen Qi wondered why there was a Lilligant at the school.
Lilligant were rarely seen in the wild. A beautiful Pokémon with considerable fighting prowess was unlikely to be abandoned, and she was not native to Kanto either.
"Rattata, did you see a Lilligant run past just now?"
Pokémon in the wild did not understand human language, but they were highly perceptive. After spending enough time with humans, they learned to communicate very quickly.
Rattata understood most of what he meant. Unfortunately, it had never heard the specific name "Lilligant," and scratched at its ears and cheeks in frustration with its only remaining front leg.
"Uh..." Shen Qi revised his description. "Did a Pokémon that looked like a girl run past just now? One wearing a long skirt."
This time, the message got across. Rattata nodded repeatedly and pointed toward the lake.
Scree-
A piercing cry rang out. Another nocturnal Pokémon, Zubat, was calling Rattata over to play.
Watching the two Pokémon leave, Shen Qi felt something touch a soft spot in his heart.
Injured Pokémon and those with health problems were unsuited to battling. Pokémon High School was full of such Pokémon, making it difficult to produce strong Pokémon Trainers and leaving the school even more obscure.
Still, the principal's seemingly thankless approach seemed to reveal an especially heartwarming kind of beauty.
With a faint warmth in his heart, Shen Qi gripped the Pliers and dashed toward the small lake.
Although Pokémon High School was poor, it was located in the middle of nowhere, where land was cheap. The vast stretch of wild land behind the teaching area was all set aside for the Pokémon to roam. If Lilligant ran too far in, he would never find her.
Fortunately, things had not turned out too badly. Lilligant was not nocturnal, and beneath an old streetlamp outside the woods, Shen Qi spotted her graceful silhouette in the distance, crowned with a large flower.
Duck!
Rather than rashly calling out to her, Shen Qi slipped behind a tree into the shadows.
He would first see what Lilligant was up to in the middle of the night.
Beneath the old streetlamp, tiny motes of light appeared across Lilligant's body, rising into the air before dissipating.
As energy surged, her leaves and petals grew more vibrant.
Normal-type move: Growth
According to its in-game effect, using Growth raised Special Attack and Attack by one stage each.
In the real Pokémon world, there was no fixed formula where one stage meant a fifty-percent increase in strength. It was simply a Buff Skill whose effectiveness varied from Pokémon to Pokémon.
In the dead of night, Lilligant was diligently practicing Growth beneath a streetlamp.
"How strange..."
Shen Qi puzzled over it but could make no sense of it.
He watched for more than half an hour. Besides Growth, Lilligant also practiced Synthesis, a move that restored HP based on the weather.
Other than that, he saw her do nothing else.
Surely she ought to have at least a few damage-dealing moves?
Raising Attack and Special Attack without dealing any damage was a complete waste.
Not only was her choice of moves strange, but Lilligant was also unpracticed in using them.
It was only a Buff Skill, yet her windup took over ten seconds. In a real battle, how could she afford to stand still for that long?
[Lilligant felt somewhat restricted]
The text prompt scrolled.
Then, under Shen Qi's astonished gaze, Lilligant took off the large flower ornament on her head and gave a forceful tug. The leaves forming her poofy princess dress all tore away, leaving only... a mini skirt ending well above her knees!
Such a pale, delicate... skirt.
Shen Qi cleared his throat. Now he knew where the keyword "short skirt" had come from.
With her headdress removed and her skirt shortened, Lilligant's posture immediately became much more natural, and her moves flowed more smoothly too.
Her elaborate outfit and accessories were nothing but restraints to her. She reminded Shen Qi of the Lilligant from Hisui-the ancient Sinnoh Region-in another timeline. Those Lilligant were Fighting-type as well as Grass-type, and wore tight-fitting leggings rather than long skirts.
The two keywords, "hot girl" and "short skirt," now made sense.
"Mechanical" corresponded to the Pliers that had fallen out of her skirt. He still did not know what they were for; perhaps they were related to the keyword "competition."
As he pondered this, flashlight beams swayed in the distance, accompanied by rough voices.
"Anything over there?"
"Nothing!"
Two flashlight beams converged along the paths around the small lake. At first, Shen Qi thought thieves had broken into Pokémon High School, but after a closer look, he recognized the uniforms of two maintenance workers.
The maintenance workers were responsible for distributing the Pokémon's food at the school, and also patrolled during the day to prevent Pokémon with weaker constitutions from having accidents at night. It was rare to see two workers on night patrol together, though.
"Still haven't found it?"
"Where could it have gone...?"
From their conversation, it seemed one of the maintenance workers had lost something and brought his colleague along to help search.
Now she was in trouble. The lake lay to Lilligant's left, while two maintenance workers were searching along the lakeside paths ahead of and behind her. She clearly did not want anyone to see her current hot-girl look, with her hair loose and her skirt short. She trembled, her face filled with despair.
As though her reputation were about to be ruined...
"Has she gone stupid?"
The lakeside paths ahead and behind were blocked, and the lake was on one side, but she could still hide in the woods to her right...
She couldn't be afraid of the dark, could she?!
Only a sparse scattering of old streetlamps lined the lakeside. A short distance away, the wild woods were pitch-black.
There was no time to think any further.
Rustle, rustle...
Shen Qi moved quickly along the edge of the little grove. As the rustling approached, Lilligant pressed her long, leaflike hands to her chest, so nervous she nearly fainted.
"Lilligant, come with me!"
[Lilligant, come with me!]
As Shen Qi spoke in a low voice, he noticed the corresponding words scroll across the text prompt.
Once a romance target was confirmed, the player could convey his feelings directly through the game interface.
Lilligant shuddered. Before she could react any further, Shen Qi had already caught her hand and pulled her into the little grove.
[Don't be nervous. I'm a student at Pokémon High School.]
Shen Qi tried what he had done earlier. Sure enough, he could convey his thoughts directly through the game.
His feelings reached straight into her soul. Lilligant gradually stopped struggling, and narration scrolled across the text box.
[She shyly tried to pull her skirt down]
Only after reading the prompt did Shen Qi realize that, beneath the scattered lamplight filtering through the branches and leaves, Lilligant was almost pressed against him, awkwardly tugging at her short skirt with her soft Leaf-Blade Hands.
Apparently, after she cut her long skirt short, it could not grow back immediately. Her legs, which were never visible in the game, looked hazy and suggestive in the darkness.
Chapter 3: Racing
[Don't be nervous. You look very charming like this too, Lilligant.]
A sound like a high, lilting flute note drifted from Lilligant's mouth, conveying both shyness and delight.
[You can't make noise at a time like this!]
Shen Qi hurriedly covered Lilligant's mouth.
If the maintenance workers discovered them... a boy holding on to Lilligant in a little grove, with her skirt torn down to a mini skirt-how would that look?
Forget becoming a Pokémon Trainer. Shen Qi would first have to spend a few years eating prison food.
"What was that sound just now?"
One of the maintenance workers faintly heard the flute-like note and looked around.
Fortunately, they had kept their heads down searching for the lost object and had not seen Shen Qi pull Lilligant into the bushes earlier.
"Don't scare me."
"Maybe it was just the wind blowing through the grass."
The sensation against his palm grew steadily warmer. With Shen Qi covering her mouth, Lilligant's body was heating up.
She gently patted the back of Shen Qi's hand with a leaf, and only then did he pull his hand away.
"Still haven't found it?"
"Ah, forget it. I'll just pretend I never bought that pipe."
The maintenance workers met up, still without finding the missing item. After exchanging a few rueful remarks, they left.
Only once the flashlight beams had completely disappeared did Shen Qi clearly feel Lilligant's tense body relax.
In the space of ten-odd minutes, her skirt had already grown long enough to cover her knees, and a new flower bud had formed on her head.
"Lilligant..."
Shen Qi's call received no response. Lilligant rose, glanced back once, and hurried away in a fluster.
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