Chapter 120: Riding a Bicycle with Larousse

Gu Qingyue had recently devoted herself to preparing for the college entrance examination, but the kindhearted girl could not bring herself to ignore her younger cousin. Feeling troubled, she took advantage of a spare moment to find Tang Yi and casually tell him about it.

“Children these days are such a handful!” Gu Qingyue concluded at last.

“Hey, you’re only a high school student yourself,” Tang Yi said helplessly.

“Anyway, it’s nothing important. I just couldn’t help venting to you. I still have to take Happiny to my brother’s place tonight.” Waving her hand, Gu Qingyue prepared to return to her seat and continue studying.

“How about I go with you tonight?”

“Hm?” Gu Qingyue looked puzzled.

“We’ve known each other for years. It would be too formal of you not to let me help with something this minor. Besides, I do have some experience when it comes to persuading people.”

After a pause, Tang Yi smiled. “Life’s been awfully dull lately. Training and studying are all I do. This is a good chance to find something else to break up the monotony.”

Gu Qingyue gave a soft laugh. “That second reason is probably your real one. Fine, then. You’re pretty slick-tongued, so you might actually be useful. Should we bring Ralts along too?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“All right. See you after school.”

The two settled it immediately.

Tang Yi first asked Li Yaowen for leave. Normally, he would stay behind after school to continue discussing tactics and training with Li Yaowen, but missing a single day would not matter. Li Yaowen, naturally, had no objections.

Life had been somewhat monotonous lately, and Tang Yi also wanted something to occupy him besides training and studying. He was rather curious, too, about how ordinary Trainers and their Pokémon girls lived in this world.

At the very least, Tang Yi knew that his relationship with Ralts was definitely not considered normal by this world’s standards.

By evening, Tang Yi was waiting outside the school gates for Gu Qingyue so they could go together to her younger cousin’s home. Ralts and Happiny had met many times before, and in front of familiar people, Ralts was not actually very shy. She was simply a girl of few words.

“My brother’s place is near Nanfu Road. Let’s ride there. It isn’t far—twenty minutes at most, I’d say.”

Tang Yi and Gu Qingyue each unlocked a shared bicycle.

Gu Qingyue had originally intended to return Happiny to her Poké Ball, but when she saw that Tang Yi had no intention of doing the same, she could not help asking, “Can Ralts ride a bicycle?”

“No. I’ll carry her,” Tang Yi replied casually.

“I—I’d better go into my Poké Ball after all.” Ralts had not thought much of it at first, but being asked that question by Gu Qingyue suddenly made her feel embarrassed.

“No,” Tang Yi refused.

He and Ralts had more or less grown accustomed to this arrangement. Unless they were in a place where bringing a Pokémon was absolutely impossible, he rarely let Ralts return to her Poké Ball.

“But how are you going to carry Ralts?” Gu Qingyue asked in confusion.

These bicycles had no rear seat.

“That’s fine. We still have this.” Tang Yi patted the basket at the front of the bicycle.

Most unevolved Pokémon girls were fairly small, and Ralts was especially slender. She would fit in the basket without much trouble.

Ralts was still rather reserved. Although she could probably squeeze into the basket, she imagined herself sitting there and felt that it would be terribly improper.

Tang Yi gave her no room to negotiate. When she continued standing there without moving, he simply walked over, scooped her up by the calves, and lifted her into his arms amid her startled cry.

“Put me down, quickly!”

Ralts was mortified. Compared with the things she and Tang Yi had been doing lately, such intimate contact was nothing—but there was an outsider standing right beside them!

“Don’t move, or you’ll fall,” Tang Yi warned.

He carefully placed her in the basket, gestured for her to hold on to its edge, and steadied the handlebars. After looking left and right, he seemed quite satisfied.

Happiny shook her head with an amused smile. “Qingyue, I won’t make things difficult for you. I’ll just go into my Poké Ball.”

Happiny was somewhat plumper than Ralts, so fitting into the basket would have been a tight squeeze. Besides, Gu Qingyue was a girl, and naturally had less strength than Tang Yi.

Riding proved fairly strenuous for Tang Yi as well. He had never noticed before, but Ralts had quietly grown in every way. Unfortunately, her chest had shown little change.

At first, Ralts felt awkward and had no idea where to put her feet. But once she grew accustomed to it, she discovered that rushing forward into the spring breeze felt unexpectedly wonderful.

She stretched both legs outside the basket and swung them casually, her eyes narrowing slightly as she savored the natural exhilaration of the breeze brushing against her face.

Tang Yi had initially been worried that Ralts might fall out, but when he noticed the ring of blue psychic power surrounding her body, he could only shake his head with a laugh. He had been overthinking it.

Ralts was not some frail human girl.

Once he realized that, Tang Yi unconsciously began pedaling faster, letting the wind rushing toward them grow stronger.

Following not far behind, Gu Qingyue glanced over from time to time. Suddenly, she said enviously, “You and Ralts really are close. I’m a little jealous.”

“You and Happiny get along well too,” Tang Yi replied.

Gu Qingyue paused, then shook her head. “Actually, Happiny and I have had our share of little disagreements. Nothing serious, of course. It’s just that… you and Ralts seem especially close.”

Her words seemed to make Ralts think of something. She immediately became wary and denied everything in rapid succession.

“I didn’t! I’m not! Don’t make things up!”

Tang Yi could only sigh silently. What a terrible liar. By rushing to deny it so desperately, she only made it look as though she had something to hide.

Gu Qingyue paid no attention. “Actually, even though most Trainers and their partner Pokémon get along quite well, conflicts are inevitable no matter how close they are. It’s like married couples—no matter how intimate they may be, they’ll still argue and bicker sometimes.”

“M-Married couples?” Ralts completely panicked. She shifted uneasily, causing the bicycle to wobble along with her.

Tang Yi felt a headache coming on. Ralts clearly had a guilty conscience; she heard a hidden implication in every word. He knew perfectly well that Gu Qingyue had only made an offhand comparison.

If only he had put Ralts in her Poké Ball from the beginning.

Before the girl could give herself away any further, Tang Yi hurriedly steadied the handlebars and changed the subject.

“What exactly is the conflict between your cousin and Spearow? Is it really just because Spearow doesn’t want to learn to fly?”

“They’re both rather stubborn. They said some harsh things to each other while they were angry, and things ended up like this. I heard Spearow is even thinking of applying to go to a welfare home. My brother couldn’t bear to let her go, but he refuses to admit that he was wrong, so they’re stuck in this stalemate.”

“That isn’t a serious problem. They’ll be fine once they talk it out.”

“I hope so.” Gu Qingyue did not look very optimistic.

Twenty minutes later, the two arrived at her younger cousin’s home. The life of a second-year high school student was less demanding than that of a third-year student, and classes ended earlier as well. By the time they arrived, her cousin was already home.

Gu Qingyue’s cousin was named Gu Ding. He was rather short, and seemed to have been in a poor mood lately. When he saw his cousin, he merely offered her a perfunctory greeting.

Gu Qingyue knew his temperament. As she entered and changed her shoes, she began introducing Tang Yi, who had followed her inside.

“This is my classmate. He heard about your—”

Before she could finish, Gu Ding glanced at his cousin’s classmate. His dull eyes suddenly lit up. Ignoring Gu Qingyue, he hurried over in his slippers.

“Wait—Tang Yi? Your name is Tang Yi, isn’t it?”

“Uh… you know each other?” Gu Qingyue asked, utterly astonished.

“I don’t know him,” Tang Yi said, shaking his head.

“But I know you! You’re Tang Yi, right? The famous Tang Yi, right?” Gu Ding said, visibly excited.

Tang Yi looked at Gu Qingyue. “Your cousin doesn’t attend our high school, does he?”

“No. He goes to a different high school,” Gu Qingyue replied.

Tang Yi turned back to Gu Ding. “Then how do you know me?”

“From the news! That article, ‘Confidence or Arrogance?’ You haven’t heard of it? You’re practically famous on the gossip boards of Qingjiang Night Talk.”

Qingjiang Night Talk was a local online chat community. Tang Yi had heard of it, but had never been interested. With the college entrance examination approaching, he barely even visited online forums anymore, let alone those chaotic discussion boards.

Still, Gu Ding’s words piqued his interest.

“Come on, tell me about it. What have they been saying about me on those boards? Is it all because of that article?”

Gu Ding eagerly leaned closer. “Not entirely. It probably started during the first round of the selection tournament. Someone made a post saying that the level of this year’s tournament was terrible, that a bunch of mediocre slackers had somehow gotten in. It was full of sarcastic insinuations, and they even singled you out as an example. But nobody knew who you were at the time, so the post quickly sank.”

“Then, after the second selection tournament ended, that article came out. Someone quickly dug up the old post and bumped it back to the top, slapping the original poster right in the face. It was hilarious.”

Tang Yi’s expression turned slightly strange. He could vaguely guess who had made that post. He had not expected that person to have so much free time. Still, hearing that someone had dug up the post and humiliated its author felt rather satisfying.

“So that’s how you found out about me?”

Gu Ding nodded. “Then people on the forum started digging into your background. Someone claiming to have been your classmate in middle school even came forward and said your grades used to be terrible. That was when I became really excited. I admired you so much.”

Tang Yi said awkwardly, “What’s there to admire about having bad grades?”

“A comeback! A glorious reversal! You know, humiliating the people who looked down on you! Isn’t that the best? It felt so satisfying. That was when I decided to take you as my goal and make a comeback of my own!”

On the way there, Gu Qingyue had already told Tang Yi that her cousin’s grades were truly dreadful. He was the sort of student who might very well fail to get into college in the future.

Tang Yi was speechless. “So you want Spearow to undergo special training because you hope she can achieve a good result in the college entrance selection tournament?”

“Exactly! Your grades were so bad, and yet you were counting on the selection tournament to earn bonus points. Thank you, Brother Tang! You showed me that a comeback is possible!” Gu Ding’s tone was utterly sincere.

Tang Yi and Gu Qingyue stared at each other.

After all that, the source of the whole problem was actually him?