Chapter 29: A Perfectly Natural Coincidence!
And Qingfeng City’s sponsorship for students is also quite generous, or rather, the sponsorship in every city is basically the same.
Sponsored students can claim one Starter Pokémon and 1 million Pokémon Nurturing funds.
Whether it was the Starter Pokémon or that 1 million, it was what Lu Li desired.
No need to say more about the Starter Pokémon; the First Tier all have one, guaranteeing at least Elite Trainer status.
“Thank you for the Gym Leader’s recognition.” Lu Li thanked him with a face full of gratitude.
Before, Lu Li had never thought he would become an Alliance sponsored student. The reason was simple: he was confident he could meet the first two conditions, but that last one about being recognized by the Gym, Lu Li had never thought he could achieve it.
To put it bluntly, such a spot exists in only one per city, and only one per year.
Anyone with a bit of intelligence knows this spot is internally decided by the Gym, because without the Gym’s approval, this spot cannot be given out.
After Jin Huang received his award, Yu Zhonggang directly patted Jin Huang’s shoulder and asked, “Youth, are you interested in coming to my Gym as an Apprentice?”
Although he had anticipated it, Jin Huang was still excited with tears welling up.
“Mm!” Jin Huang nodded heavily. If not for the occasion, Lu Li suspected Jin Huang would kowtow on the spot to take him as master.
What is defying fate? This is defying fate.
Once Jin Huang became a Gym Apprentice, he would be a proper Alliance direct descendant. Someone like Lu Li could at most be considered an Alliance resident; only Jin Huang’s position was truly “direct descendant.”
Lian Sheyi looked at Jin Huang with some envy, but it was merely envy. After all, he knew his own situation best; Lian Sheyi knew it was almost impossible for him to become Yu Zhonggang’s Apprentice.
Unless Yu Zhonggang specialized in Poison Type instead of Steel Type, Yu Zhonggang would not look favorably on him.
Hadn’t even Lu Li’s excellent talent caught Yu Zhonggang’s eye? Talent was important, but attribute compatibility was even more so.
As for this, Lu Li maintained a calm mindset. Even if Yu Zhonggang intended to take him as an Apprentice, he had no interest in becoming a Gym Apprentice.
Compared to the Gym’s inherited knowledge, Lu Li desired Kyushu University’s library more. From beginning to end, Lu Li knew what his greatest cheat was.
After the award ceremony ended, Jin Huang left with Yu Zhonggang.
Before leaving, Yu Zhonggang instructed Lu Li to remember to go to Qingyun Gym to claim the Gym Badge.
With the Education Bureau’s recommendation letter and the Gym Badge, he could go to Qingfeng City’s Nurturing Center to claim the Starter Pokémon.
Lu Li decided to claim the Gym Badge tomorrow, then get the Starter Pokémon back early. Lu Li was not worried that nurturing too many Pokémon at once would distract him, nor was he worried that the bond between himself and his Pokémon would be diluted.
If his strength allowed it, Lu Li wished he could nurture his First Tier Pokémon early.
After school, as soon as Lu Li exited the school gate, he saw Lian Sheyi, who had been waiting at the doorway for a long time.
As soon as he walked over, Lian Sheyi said, “Let’s talk over there.”
Lu Li nodded, then followed Lian Sheyi under a tree. Lian Sheyi directly asked, “Are you interested in Grimer?”
Lu Li: “???”
Lu Li always felt this sounded strangely familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.
Wait!
Lu Li remembered; wasn’t this exactly what Ai Ke had said to him before?
Lu Li asked in a somewhat strange tone, “Do you know where there’s a Grimer Pokémon Egg?”
Lian Sheyi nodded: “I know a Grimer gathering place…”
“Wait.”
Lu Li interrupted Lian Sheyi and directly asked, “This news wasn’t told to you by Wildfire Gang’s Ai Ke, was it?”
Now it was Lian Sheyi’s turn to be surprised. Lian Sheyi asked puzzledly, “How do you know?”
“Because that guy invited me the same way a week ago. I even kept his Feixin contact.” Lu Li explained with a dark expression.
Lian Sheyi’s facial expression also darkened: “I learned about this three days ago.”
Lu Li asked somewhat speechlessly, “So how many people has that guy told about this?”
Lian Sheyi tilted his head and thought, then explained: “He told me that including himself, there are four Rookie Trainers on his side. If including you, there should be one more person, probably someone from his Wildfire Gang.”
As for whether he pulled in more people afterward, I’m not too sure, but probably not afterward, since more people would mean not enough benefits to share.
Lu Li nodded.
Lu Li quite approved of Ai Ke’s approach. A Grimer gathering place definitely had many Grimer; one more person meant one more layer of insurance.
“I hope that guy knows when to stop; five should be about enough.” Lu Li silently prayed in his heart, hoping Ai Ke wouldn’t randomly pull in more people.
That Lian Sheyi was invited was not strange to Lu Li; after all, Lian Sheyi quite fit Ai Ke’s standards.
No parents, living in hardship, urgently needing a second Pokémon, and not disliking Grimer— in all of Qingfeng City, not many Trainers fit these criteria.
“Since you’ve already agreed to Ai Ke’s invitation, I won’t explain more. We’ll look out for each other then; after all, we’re classmates. For this kind of matter, it’s better to stay cautious.” Lian Sheyi said.
Lu Li nodded. Originally, he had some worry that Ai Ke might have a conspiracy, but now that Lian Sheyi was also invited, even if there was some change, he would have an extra helper.
After bidding farewell to Lian Sheyi, Lu Li jogged home. Due to a Cultivator’s excellent physique, Lu Li who returned home didn’t even break a drop of sweat.
Seeing Lu Li finally home, Wailmer impatiently jumped out from the water vat.
Lu Li asked, “Have you already digested the Spirit Beauty Pill I gave you yesterday?”
Wailmer excitedly nodded. Even though a day had passed, Wailmer was still in an excited state.
“Very good.”
Lu Li poured another pill from the small jade bottle, then tossed it toward the water vat. The impatient Wailmer leaped out of the water surface and swallowed the Spirit Beauty Pill in one gulp.
After feeding Wailmer, Lu Li arranged Tropius’s training plan for today.
Tropius’s current shortcoming was speed, but that was innate, and Lu Li currently had no way to fix it, so Lu Li decided to take a roundabout approach.
“Tropius, next you need to train your reaction speed and instantaneous explosive power.” Lu Li said with a serious expression.
Lu Li didn’t expect Tropius to fly very fast; he only required Tropius to be able to quickly dodge the enemy’s skills.
Tropius nodded. It had also reflected well on today’s match and found that its reaction ability and speed were indeed holding it back.
Lu Li continued, “But don’t rush this yet; the yard’s space is too small, and you can’t fully unleash it. Let’s focus first on training the Growth skill.”
Tropius nodded. The special Growth skill that the Trainer taught it was quite powerful, and it had already decided to make this its core skill in the future.
Lu Li: “Let’s review the Growth technique first. Firstly…”
