Chapter 126: Energy Channeling

Fang Tianze and Eevee walked away, leaving Tang Yi to begin his games with the Hoppip.

Greeting them in the morning was actually exhausting work. Due to their naturally buoyant constitution, the Hoppip almost always traveled in groups; if one came, a whole crowd was sure to follow. What was it like to be surrounded by a group of young girls? Tang Yi’s thought was that he was glad Ralts wasn’t here.

Although he had numbered almost every girl he encountered during his previous visits, it was still easy to suffer from face blindness when a large crowd suddenly descended upon him. Tang Yi hurriedly took out his notebook. He had originally brought paper and a pen hoping to take notes on learning techniques from Fang Tianze, but since the great master had dismissively stated that there were no techniques, the notebook had sat unused. To pass the time, Tang Yi had started recording the unique traits of each Hoppip girl.

*Hoppip No. 4: Two notches on the sprout atop its head.*
*Hoppip No. 16: Tail is over fifteen centimeters long, the longest of them all.*

With face blindness and a language barrier, these notes were his only way to tell them apart. Just as he opened the notebook, he paused and closed it again; he had thought of a better way.

"Come on, who wants to shake hands with me?" Tang Yi gestured, extending his hand.

Non-verbal communication could bridge the language gap. The girls understood his intent. Not knowing what the human was up to but viewing it as a game, several of them giggled and came over to shake his hand. As he held a girl’s hand, Tang Yi closed his eyes, ignoring his sight, and concentrated on immersing himself in the sensation. He had tried this several times before, but it had yielded no results.

Today, however, it felt different. He opened his eyes, a look of disbelief on his face, and asked the Hoppip whose hand he was still holding, "Are you Number Five?" As he spoke, he gestured with his hand to indicate the number five.

The Hoppip nodded in delighted surprise, chirping, "!@#￥%."

"Haha, I’m pretty good at this, aren't I?" Tang Yi laughed triumphantly, choosing to interpret her response as a compliment.

Striking while the iron was hot, Tang Yi continued shaking hands with the other girls. His accuracy wasn't a hundred percent—he guessed wrong several times—but like human genetics, the energy within every Pokémon was unique. Even among the same species and type, there were subtle differences in their energy signatures. For most humans, distinguishing Pokémon by their energy was difficult and pointless. But for Tang Yi, that extraordinary kiss with Ralts that night, and the blue light that had permeated him, had opened a brand new door.

He felt like a child with a new toy, constantly testing this newly awakened ability. These Hoppip were different from the Ralts he lived with; he couldn't yet sense the deeper energy within them, but he could perform a preliminary identification based on the faint, inadvertent energy they radiated. Feeling these lively, unique energy signatures, Tang Yi felt his understanding of this ability deepen.

At lunch, Fang Tianze sought out Tang Yi amidst the cluster of girls. He looked him up and down with a curious smirk and said, "I heard from the Jumpluff that you’ve been playing games with the Hoppip all morning. Having fun, are we?"

Tang Yi nodded and corrected him: "Master Fang, could you stop smiling so lecherously? It makes it sound like I’m doing something strange."

"Oh? Is my voice that lecherous?" Fang asked.

"Yes," Tang Yi confirmed.

Fang Tianze didn't get angry. He waved a hand and said, "Alright then, this afternoon I’ll have you do something even stranger."

"Something stranger?"

"I’m going to teach you my self-created Pokémon massage technique."

Eevee, still chewing on a piece of bread, was startled. "You're going to teach him energy channeling now? Isn't that too early? Shouldn't he master energy perception first?"

"Heh, hasn't he already mastered it?" Fang Tianze gave Eevee a strange look.

Eevee immediately looked away, feeling guilty. "Why are you looking at me?"

"Channeling energy is difficult for beginners. You’ll be there to help him, consider it making amends for your own past mischief!" Fang snorted.

"Ah!" Eevee glared at Tang Yi, eyes asking if he had broken their promise of secrecy.

Tang Yi held up his hands, indicating that he was just an innocent bystander and had nothing to do with it. Fang ignored their silent exchange and led Tang Yi forward, toward the area where the Skiploom and the two newly evolved Jumpluff resided.

Energy channeling—or "Pokémon massage," as Fang called it—sounded reasonable in theory, but with Fang’s tone, it felt inherently suspicious. Fang first took Tang Yi to meet the leader, a Jumpluff girl who had lost some of her youthful shyness after evolving.

"Fang, I trust you. You’ve helped us a lot recently, so those you trust are our friends as well," said the Jumpluff, the only one in the tribe who could speak Chinese, expressing her unconditional trust in him.

"Don't worry, Eevee and I will be watching the entire time. There won't be any accidents," Fang promised.

Afterward, Fang gave Tang Yi detailed instructions—the first time he had actually taught him anything since arriving. "It’s called massage, but it’s really just energy channeling. Since you can perceive energy, you should be able to feel that the energy in some Hoppip isn't balanced."

"Yes, I’ve felt that."

"Our job is to help them harmonize that energy. Enough talk—let's try it."

Fang summoned a Hoppip girl and had her lie flat on an exposed rock. According to him, the energy in Hoppip was relatively simple, making them perfect for practice.

"Uh, is this really okay?" Tang Yi hesitated.

"Don't worry about failure. What I told the leader was just to put her at ease; there’s no danger. With your current ability, you aren't capable of causing any harmful consequences. Besides, Eevee and I are right here." Fang was very confident in his own abilities; even if Tang Yi messed up, he could step in.

"Uh, that's not what I meant," Tang Yi said, gesturing toward the defenseless girl lying on the rock. "I mean, is it really okay for us to be doing this where the Butterfree might see us?"