Chapter Fifty-Four: From This Moment, This Card Belongs to You

Tang Yi’s attempt to change the subject failed this time.

Ralts still stared at him with wide eyes, refusing to speak.

Tang Yi braced himself and continued playing dumb, “What’s wrong? Why did you suddenly stop talking?”

Ralts bit her lip gently, her voice thin and fragile, “Just now, you mentioned checking search history. What did you mean by that?”

“Why would I check search history? That’s so odd. Did I really say that? Did I? Did I? I don’t remember at all!” Tang Yi feigned confusion to the utmost, knowing Ralts was too shy to expose him in front of others.

Ralts huffed, “The puppy said it! No, it was a smelly salted fish who said it!”

Tang Yi nodded in agreement, “Right, whoever says it is a Growlithe, whoever says it is the King of Salted Fish!”

Ralts stared at him, utterly speechless. The shamelessness of this man left her stunned.

The two gazed at each other. In the end, the more self-conscious Ralts lost the battle, turning her head away, unwilling to look at her thick-skinned trainer.

Tang Yi wore a victorious smile; since the girl didn’t speak, it meant she tacitly agreed.

Very good, nothing happened just now.

“So, how skilled are you now at drawing with your psychic powers?” Tang Yi shifted topics swiftly.

Ralts hadn’t yet recovered from her shock, and after a moment’s silence, she got up and handed him a stack of drawing paper.

Tang Yi was surprised by the thickness of the stack; it seemed that while he was away, Ralts hadn’t spent all her time addicted to the internet.

He flipped through each sheet carefully. The initial drawings were very rough, but by the last few pages, the images were already taking shape.

“Did you use your psychic powers to control the pen for all of these?”

“Of course, I’m not like you, always scheming to trick me.” Ralts uttered a small complaint.

Tang Yi’s ears automatically filtered out the grumbling, focusing on the important part. He praised, “That’s truly impressive, Ralts. This time it’s genuine—you’ve done a remarkable job!”

Ralts was speechless; did that mean his earlier compliments were less than sincere?

“By the way, did you mention to Hypno that you were using psychic powers to draw?”

“Yeah, probably said it unconsciously during the hypnosis sessions.”

“That explains it. Looks like Hypno wasn’t just speaking offhand. She probably realized you were already undergoing this kind of retro training, so guided you to fully commit. Otherwise, it would have been a waste.”

Tang Yi pondered. He had found it odd that Hypno suddenly suggested to Ralts an old training method from decades ago. With her intelligence, it couldn’t have been random. Indeed, it was the best choice for Ralts.

“So, from now on, I’ll keep drawing with psychic powers as you said, and when I reach the level Hypno mentioned, I can start learning skills like Hypnosis?” Ralts asked.

The theory was roughly so. Hypno likely intended them to continue this way. Yet, Tang Yi suddenly had other ideas.

He mused for a moment, then gave the girl a gentle smile.

Ralts jumped in fright, taking two steps back. “Could you please not suddenly smile like that next time? It’s really scary.”

Tang Yi: “……”

The girl patted her slightly rounded chest, still shaken. “Do you realize, every time you smile like that, I sense some strange emotion from your heart? Whenever I feel it, you’re always thinking something bad, aren’t you!”

Tang Yi sighed. Why did he feel more nostalgic for the naive little girl from a few months ago, who could be fooled so easily?

Seeing Tang Yi’s frustrated, speechless expression, Ralts was delighted. At last, she had vented the frustration lingering inside her.

Tang Yi rubbed his aching head, expressionless. “This time, I admit you’ve won. You guessed right—I really thought of something special and fun.”

Ralts was startled again.

Before she could speak, Tang Yi hurried on, “There’s not much time left before the second round of matches. Simply improving your psychic control by drawing isn’t enough. We need to add some other methods.”

“What kind of methods?” the girl asked timidly.

“Starting tomorrow—no, tonight—you’ll use psychic powers for everything at home. Whether it’s washing your face, brushing your teeth, eating, drinking, drawing, surfing the web, reading novels—whatever you do, try to complete it with psychic powers.”

“That’s… that’s too difficult!” Ralts wanted to say it was impossible, but decided it was better to leave herself some room.

“I know it’s hard, but to boost your ability to control your mental power, you must strive for it. Ralts, don’t you want to achieve a good ranking with me in the selection tournament and earn more scholarship money together?”

“Yeah!” Ralts’s hesitant tone became firm.

Tang Yi marveled. He wondered what had recently motivated the girl to be so eager to earn money.

For Ralts now, her only way to make money was to join him in the tournament and win scholarships. It wasn’t as though she could go find a job outside.

Not to mention whether she had the strength for manual labor—even under current laws in Xia, no store or company would sign an employment contract with a young Pokémon girl without a trainer’s accompaniment and signature.

“In that case, I’ll promise you again: any money we earn together will be split evenly. Last time, the eight thousand yuan scholarship—we agreed you’d get four thousand. After deducting what you spent on tutoring materials for me, there’s three thousand seven hundred left.”

Tang Yi, as if performing magic, pulled a bank card from his pocket, gently took Ralts’s fair little hand and placed the warm card in her palm.

“All three thousand seven hundred is on this card. Though it’s registered in my name, from now on it’s yours. Unless you agree, I have no right to use the money inside.”

Ralts didn’t even mind Tang Yi seizing the chance to hold her hand. Gazing at the Xia bank card in her palm, she felt an unprecedented warmth in her heart.

“Are you really giving it to me?”

“Yes, this card belongs to you now. If you don’t believe me, I can show you the balance right now,” Tang Yi half-joked.

“I believe you.” Ralts lowered her head slightly, but this time not out of shyness—she was sweetly moved.