Chapter 80: Seeking a Sparring Partner at the Training Hall

After leaving the orphanage, Tang Yi didn’t rush home. Instead, he wandered around the neighborhood with Raluluas, mostly because he could tell she was quite tired.

“You were definitely deceiving people again just now,” Raluluas complained.

Thinking of Fang Tianze’s wounded expression before they left, guilt stirred in Tang Yi’s heart. Despite how good Butterfree was to her, Tang Yi still fooled other trainers.

Tang Yi glanced up at the sky. “If you hadn’t let something slip, he wouldn’t be upset, you wouldn’t be guilty, and a world without hurt would have been born. Sometimes, a well-intentioned lie can make that much difference.”

“You’re just twisting words!” Raluluas protested angrily.

“All right, tell me, how exactly did Butterfree help guide you? What did you think of it?” Tang Yi was genuinely curious. He hadn’t dared to ask in front of Fang Tianze and Butterfree.

Raluluas suddenly grew a little excited. She rummaged through Tang Yi’s backpack, pulled out his thermos, and unscrewed the lid, pouring out the water.

“What are you doing?” Tang Yi asked, puzzled—his confusion quickly turned to astonishment.

Raluluas poured several times with her left hand, while her right gathered blue psychic energy, deeper and richer than usual.

The torrent of water stopped mid-air. With a flip of her palm, the slanting stream reversed and flowed neatly back into the cup.

Releasing her psychic force, Raluluas screwed the lid back on, looking quite pleased with herself, waiting for praise.

Tang Yi, stunned for a moment, finally came to his senses and complimented her as she wished, “I was just thinking, if we set up a street stall in a park and put on a show, maybe you could earn a bit more money.”

So amazing—and he still doesn’t praise me!

Raluluas puffed up her cheeks in indignation.

Too adorable!

Tang Yi burst out laughing; for some reason, he could never tire of that cute, angry expression.

“But truly impressive,” he continued, “Coach Li Yaowen once said the most basic psychic power only manipulates solid objects. As you get more skilled, it can control liquids and gases. You’ve really made a lot of progress.”

Tang Yi was genuinely shocked, but even more surprised that Butterfree could teach her to this degree. Was that special teaching method really so incredible?

Raluluas, faced with Tang Yi’s curiosity, wasn’t sure how to explain and gestured with her hands.

“Big Sister Butterfree said my spiritual power was already strong and my foundation wasn’t weak, but my energy was chaotic, making it hard to precisely grasp each frequency of fluctuation.”

“So she used her own psychic force to guide me, helping me learn to distinguish and control each fluctuation, teaching me which fluctuation matched which frequency. She said that once I had them sorted out and got used to it, I could flexibly learn many basic psychic-type skills.”

“Sounds pretty simple,” Tang Yi muttered.

“It’s not simple at all! Do you know how many kinds of psychic fluctuations and frequencies there are? At least hundreds. Butterfree guided me, helping me nearly understand each one—she must be exhausted.”

Raluluas didn’t fully understand, but she could sense how taxing this teaching method was.

Tang Yi fell silent for a moment, surprised by how far Butterfree went to help a stranger like him and Raluluas.

He didn’t know much about Pokémon skills, but imagining what Raluluas described made his scalp tingle at the complexity and fatigue.

What could Butterfree’s motive be?

Simply the joy of helping others?

He didn’t fully understand...

Tang Yi shook his head. All right, he decided—he’d buy a Fang Tianze poster and get it signed next time he visited. Since Butterfree had done so much, he couldn’t waste this kindness.

Tang Yi resolved to strike while the iron was hot and, instead of heading home, opened his phone map to find the nearest training gym and took a taxi there.

These gyms provided spaces for trainers to battle, spar, or simply socialize. National law forbade skill use outdoors, and some powerful moves weren’t suitable for home, so the gym was the best place.

This particular gym wasn’t very large, nor crowded.

Before entering, Tang Yi checked the price—over a hundred per hour, reasonable enough, though the receptionist clearly wasn’t content with him choosing the lowest-priced service.

“We also offer sparring partners. Whether you want a defensive, offensive, or speedy opponent, we can arrange the perfect match for you.”

Tang Yi considered, then asked, “Do you offer move-teaching services?”

The receptionist hesitated. “Sorry, sir, we’re not a training school. Our sparring partners probably aren’t very experienced teachers.”

Tang Yi laughed. “That’s fine. Do you have any sparring partners who can use both Teleport and Hypnosis?”

“Just a moment, let me check.”

A few minutes later, she returned, delighted. “We do, actually! Would a Mr. Mime work?”

“That’s perfect.”

“Adding sparring service is 480 per hour.”

“I’ll take just one hour.”

The price shot up with sparring, so Tang Yi limited it—time was short, after all.

The sparring partner soon arrived—a woman in her thirties and her Mr. Mime companion.

Her appearance matched Tang Yi’s idea of Mr. Mime; in fact, he’d noticed that humanoid Pokémon changed the least when anthropomorphized.

“My name’s Li Rongjie, and this is my partner, Mr. Mime. Thank you for choosing us,” the woman greeted him warmly and professionally, likely earning a good commission from the sparring fee.

“Hello, shall we begin?” Tang Yi kept things brief. Wasting time meant wasting money—his scholarship fund was dwindling.

“Wait, I’d like to know if you have any extra requirements?” Li Rongjie asked.

“Extra requirements?” Tang Yi’s expression was odd.

“I mean, do you have any specific requests for the sparring process? Is it just practicing skills, can we counterattack, or is it free practice?”

Tang Yi exhaled, relaxing.

Raluluas shot him a contemptuous glance—she couldn’t even be bothered to ask. This guy had clearly thought of something unhealthy or inappropriate just now.

“It’s simple—Mr. Mime just needs to repeatedly use Teleport and Hypnosis, until my Raluluas learns them. Is that alright?”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

Li Rongjie breathed a sigh of relief—far simpler than she’d expected. She glanced affectionately at Mr. Mime—this way, there was no worry about him getting hurt.

Then, let’s begin.