Chapter Ninety-Four: I Want to Fly Higher

Hearing that, Tang Yi actually felt a weight lift from his heart. So the champion was just being asked to look over a plan? In that case, no problem. “All right then, Coach. Thanks.”

As soon as he finished, Tang Yi trotted off to the side and pulled out his phone.

Li Yaowen stared after him, dumbfounded, beginning to suspect that he himself had just misspoken. He had said world champion, not some city or school champion.

Tang Yi had already opened Fang Tianze’s WeChat profile picture.

He composed a very courteous message, since he was the one asking for help: “Mister Fang, hello. Are you available now? I have a small idea I’d like to ask your advice about, and I was wondering whether I might trouble you for a few minutes?”

Ten minutes passed with no response.

Fang Tianze really was not someone who checked WeChat often. Tang Yi wondered whether he should ask for leave and go to the welfare home in person, but that would waste too much time, and besides, he was not even sure whether Fang Tianze was still there.

After some thought, Tang Yi edited another message.

Tang Yi: “I want to fly higher.”

Fang Tianze: “Why do you suddenly want to learn to fly?”

Good heavens, this time he replied instantly.

Tang Yi: “You pervert!”

Fang Tianze: “Pervert your head! You think I can’t tell it’s you pretending to be Ralts?”

Fang Tianze: “Xiao Tang, what made you think of having Ralts learn to fly? At the very least, shouldn’t it wait until after it learns Psychic?”

From that tone, Tang Yi knew the one holding the phone had already changed.

Tang Yi: “Butterfree sister, here’s the thing.”

After thinking for a while, Tang Yi typed out a long message, sending both his original intention and his wildly imaginative idea in full.

Then came another long wait. This time Tang Yi was not in a hurry. Since Butterfree had taken control of the phone, that meant she was probably seriously considering the feasibility of his plan.

“Ralts, do you want to fly?” During the dull wait, Tang Yi chatted with Ralts.

Ralts looked up at the blue sky, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

“Is it because you want to make money?”

“No!” Ralts thought for a moment, organized her words, and said with a trace of longing, “Actually, I used to imagine having a pair of wings, flying up into the sky and looking down from above. By then, I’d look so tiny in your eyes.”

Tang Yi froze for a moment, then suddenly remembered that in one of Ralts’s earlier drafts, the protagonist seemed to be Pidgeotto.

He could not help saying with feeling, “That’s true. I can understand you. Honestly, when I was little, I used to think about becoming a bird and flying up to take a look too.”

He was not joking. Who had never dreamed of being able to fly?

Ralts was silent for a moment, then nodded. “Mm-hm, I’ll study hard and learn to fly. When I do, I’ll take you with me!”

Her earnest expression, as if saying she would show him off and carry him soaring, made Tang Yi laugh. Strictly speaking, the simplified version of flight he had envisioned probably would not be able to carry a person. Even if it could, to be honest, he would still not dare to try it…

More than ten minutes later, WeChat finally came alive again.

Fang Tianze: “We discussed it among ourselves, and Butterfree sister even used telekinesis to test it several times. The conclusion is…”

Tang Yi was speechless. She was even keeping him in suspense, clearly waiting for him to ask. Fine, he would oblige.

Tang Yi: “Master Eevee, what’s the conclusion?”

Fang Tianze: “How boring. Why do you call Butterfree sister, but refuse to call me sister?”

Fang Tianze: “Fine, fine, Vulpix hit me again. I’ll tell you: the conclusion is that it’s feasible. You can do it. Old Fang even praised you just now, said your brain is pretty quick.”

Tang Yi: “Thanks for the compliment!”

Fang Tianze: “Xiao Tang, I have a few more things to add. The coordination between teleportation and telekinesis must be handled properly; that is the core of the core… You also need to pay close attention to safety protection, and make sure Ralts never gets nervous.”

The other side went on and on, adding a number of fine-tuning suggestions.

But that motherly tone clearly meant the phone had changed hands again.

Tang Yi: “All right, I’ll pass it on to Ralts. Actually, Butterfree sister, why don’t you have Mister Fang buy another phone? Then I can just come chat with you directly from now on, okay?”

Fang Tianze: “What are you trying to do? Get lost!”

Yes, the phone had changed hands again.

The conversation could almost end here.

Having received both Fang Tianze’s and Butterfree’s approval, and having had his rough idea refined in greater detail, Tang Yi now had the confidence to try.

“All right, then let’s get started!”

Li Yaowen jumped. “W-who did you just ask?”

“The champion.”

“Which champion?” Li Yaowen said, his face full of disbelief.

“Uh, that’s confidential.”

Since Fang Tianze had kept himself out of sight for so many years in retirement, Tang Yi certainly would not go around revealing it casually. Besides, even if he did say it, probably no one would believe him.

Li Yaowen took it as nothing more than an excuse Tang Yi had made up to fool him. At this point, there was nothing a temporary coach like him could do to stop him by force, so he could only help with safety precautions, while also releasing his own Pokémon girl, Gogoat, from her ball.

“Gogoat will use Vine Whip to keep the surrounding area protected. I hope it won’t interfere with your training.”

“Thank you so much, Coach.”

With that, there was no need to worry about safety.

Then they could begin by overcoming the fear of the sky.

At first, Ralts did not take it seriously. She climbed onto the thick cushions, stood on top of them, and hopped around a few times, even finding it rather fun.

Under Tang Yi’s gentle urging, Ralts looked up at the sky.

“Remember to teleport directly above the cushion area,” Tang Yi reminded her.

In truth, he had already dragged over every cushion available, and the coverage exceeded Ralts’s maximum range for each jump by a wide margin.

With Gogoat helping at the side, it was practically foolproof.

“Got it, don’t underestimate me!” Ralts grew focused. Her body blurred, and then she appeared in the air about four meters above the ground.

“Aaah—!”

Thud!

Just as expected, the first time she teleported into midair, Ralts almost instinctively let out a scream, flailing wildly as she dropped, but Gogoat, quick-eyed and quick-handed, caught her with a Vine Whip.

“It’s okay, keep going.”

First she had to overcome her fear of the air before they could move on. They could not have her screaming every time she went up, could they?

Tang Yi knew this could not be rushed, so he continued watching from the side.

“Aaah—!”

“Aah—!”

“Waaah—!”

The screams on the field never let up. It was only then that Tang Yi learned Ralts could scream like that too. At first he was a little tense, but by the end he had grown used to it.

There truly was no safety issue. In the beginning, Gogoat dutifully caught her with Vine Whip each time, but later she realized it was unnecessary, since the cushions were already thick enough.

So Gogoat only needed to lend a hand when Ralts might fall near the edge of the cushions. Most of the time, like Tang Yi and the others, she too entered a state of eating melon and watching the show.