David had barely finished the fight when the combat instructor personally shooed him off the battlefield — probably worried Pikachu might start suplexing students next.
Just off stage, he was immediately mobbed by Tom and Luna.
"Bro! Your Pikachu's a monster!" Tom blurted out, practically vibrating with excitement. "How'd it lift an Onix like that? That thing's like a moving mountain!"
"David," Luna chimed in, eyes wide, "how in the world is your Pikachu that strong?"
Both of them stared at him like he'd just pulled off a miracle — which, to be fair, he kind of had.
After all, the match was insane. Pikachu versus Onix? That was like a football tackling a skyscraper. And yet somehow, David's Pikachu had picked it up and slammed it like a plush toy. The size difference between them was ridiculous — Onix was nearly a hundred times Pikachu's size — but Pikachu had yeeted it into the ground without breaking a sweat.
The result wasn't even close.
Anyone with half a brain could see that this wasn't luck, strategy, or some kind of fluke. It was pure, raw, terrifying power. Onix hadn't been outplayed. It had been bullied.
And now, everyone around the stage was crowding in, eavesdropping hard, all dying to know the same thing: How the hell did David train a Pikachu like that?
Tom and Luna were still gawking at him, stars in their eyes, clearly expecting some profound training method or ancient secret.
Instead, David just gave a casual shrug, then tilted his head upward at a dramatic 45-degree angle, gazing up at the ceiling like he was posing for a magazine shoot.
With a sigh full of fake melancholy, he muttered, "Maybe… it's just talent."
"I didn't even train him," David added, spreading his hands helplessly. "He just got strong all by himself. Honestly, being a trainer feels pointless now. I don't even do anything."
He wore the expression of a man burdened by greatness — the kind that made people want to punch him in the face.
[Received negative emotion points +60 from Tom…]
[Received negative emotion points +60 from Luna…]
[Received negative emotion points +60 from Jake…]
Everyone around stared at David with clenched jaws and twitching eyebrows. That smug look, that fake humility, that absolute nerve—!
"Is he for real?" someone muttered.
"If I had a Pikachu like that, I'd walk into the Pokémon League now," said another.
If punching David didn't break school rules, half the class would've been lining up to take a swing.
Even Tom and Luna couldn't take it anymore.
They exchanged a look, sighed, and wisely changed the subject before David's ego floated off into the stratosphere.
"…So," Luna asked hesitantly, "do either of you have plans for the training break?"
After today's practical exam, there were no more classes — just free time to train and prepare for the final exams. Most students had already booked their dojo sessions, gathered resources, or made arrangements to level up their Pokémon however they could.
All except David, of course.
He'd only gotten Pikachu recently, and from what anyone could tell, he hadn't planned a single thing. No schedule, no reservation, no plan. Meanwhile, dojos charged a small fortune — upwards of 100,000 Alliance coins for just a couple of months — and slots had to be reserved weeks in advance.
David? He wasn't about to let anyone rob him. That was his job.
After a brief pause to think, David replied casually, "Maybe I'll just go explore a secret realm or something."
Luna blinked. "You? Secret realm?"
Secret realms were notoriously dangerous — especially for beginner Pokémon who were still barely past level ten. But David's Pikachu? That thing wasn't a beginner. Its strength had already hit elite level, and its level was sitting comfortably at thirty-eight.
As long as he didn't wander into some forbidden, ultra-death jungle zone, he'd be fine.
The only hiccup?
You needed an official League-issued assessment certificate to enter a secret realm.
And if David waited for that whole application process to finish, the entire training break would be over before he got through the paperwork.
Which left him, once again, in an annoyingly familiar situation:
No plan, no booking, no permission — just vibes and one very angry-looking Pikachu.
****
"For me? I haven't really thought about it," Tom muttered, scratching his head awkwardly.
His partner Pokémon was a Squirtle—sturdy, dependable, and currently sitting at level thirteen, already in its mature stage. Among their classmates, it was doing pretty well. Not top-tier, but definitely no slouch.
But as for a real training plan?
Tom hadn't made one. At all.
He'd already kind of accepted his fate—his grades were tragic, and his fallback plan was to drop the whole Pokémon exam circus and just go home to take over the family business. You know, something simple, like managing the family's chain of Water Stone spas.
But then David—his walking disaster of a best friend—had given him that Memory Toast last week, and suddenly his Squirtle started pulling off combos that looked like they were stolen from a fighting game. That gave Tom a bit of hope again. Now he wasn't sure whether to hit the books or hit the arena.
In terms of raw strength, Tom actually had the least to worry about. His parents were loaded. Like, "owns-a-private-island-just-for-Magikarps" loaded. They'd already fed his Squirtle a bunch of low-level enhancement treasures, which helped it level up faster than anyone else's.
Honestly, even if Tom just left Squirtle alone for three months with nothing but snacks and Netflix, it'd still end up ahead of half the class.
Luna stood nearby, watching the two of them with a face that screamed "Are you both seriously this unserious?"
She pinched the bridge of her nose like she was getting a migraine from just standing near them. "You two do realize there's a very real college entrance exam for Pokémon trainers coming up soon, right? Like. A real one. With consequences?"
David gave her a sunny grin and Tom shrugged.
She sighed and continued, "Anyway, the trainers in my family are organizing a trip into the Mystery Zone soon. It's mostly to help me train and maybe hunt for a few secret treasures."
Then, with a flicker of hesitation, she added, "If you guys want… you can come too."
Luna never extended invitations like this. She was a straight-A student with an actual plan. She didn't just throw around invites like she was hosting a pool party.
She had been worried that David might not be strong enough to survive in the Mystery Zone. After all, he only got his Pikachu recently—way behind schedule. But after watching David's Pikachu yeet Jake's Onix into the stratosphere, she figured he'd probably be okay.
Although, knowing David, he'd probably get lost and start bartering with wild Paras for snacks.
Still… she invited him.
David's eyes lit up like a kid who just discovered cheat codes.
"Wait, your family has their own expedition team?"
Luna nodded.
David looked like he was about to propose on the spot.
In the world of Pokémon, entering a Mystery Zone usually required a certification from the League. A permit. Some red tape. But if you tagged along with an official expedition team, you could bypass all that. It was basically a VIP pass to the wild.
These teams were expensive too—like, "costs-as-much-as-a-dragon-egg" expensive.
David couldn't believe it. Luna? Quiet, nerdy Luna? Was a rich girl with a private squad?
Amazing.
Tom looked interested too. "Which Mystery Zone are you guys headed to?"
If it was somewhere cool and not too deadly, maybe he'd join in. After all, training with friends beat sitting at home watching his Squirtle practice water jets in the bathtub.
Luna paused, glancing down nervously, then muttered, "Um… West Lake Mystery Zone."
David and Tom froze.
If Luna had a notification system installed in her brain, she would've gotten a double ping right then:
[Negative Emotion Points: +60 from David]
[Negative Emotion Points: +60 from Tom]
Tom's mouth twitched like he'd just bitten into a sour Pecha Berry.
"Luna," he said slowly, "we didn't… do anything to offend you lately, right?"
She blinked. "No?"
"Then why are you trying to kill us?!"
Luna fiddled with the folds of her uniform skirt, clearly guilty. "It's not that bad…"
David gave her a look. "Not that bad? Luna, the West Lake Mystery Zone is an A-level danger zone. It's literally one of the top three death traps in this entire region!"
"She's not wrong," Tom said grimly. "West Lake is basically legendary. It's been around forever, and no one's fully explored it. Even high-ranking trainers don't go in without backup, and you want us—us—to stroll in like tourists?"
"It's the best one available right now," Luna said, trying to defend herself.
"Luna, that place is famous for being full of wild Pokémon who wake up and choose violence. Every. Single. Day."
David crossed his arms. "This feels like one of those horror movie setups. You lure us in with promises of treasure, then bam—random Gyarados."
Tom nodded. "Not to mention, I just bought new shoes. I'm not wearing them into the grass where Pokémon spit fire."
Luna looked mildly regretful, but mostly still determined.
David stared at her in disbelief. "You know what? Fine. We'll go. But if we die in there, I'm haunting your dorm and replacing your shampoo with Weedle slime."
Luna rolled her eyes, "You're not going to die."
Tom muttered, "We better not, because I just promised Squirtle a new water gun if he leveled up again…"
***
It had been nearly a hundred years since trainers first started poking around the West Lake Mystery Zone, and yet most of it still remained a giant, well-decorated deathtrap with a pretty view. The deeper you ventured in, the more it felt like signing up for a one-way ticket to the afterlife. That's why the place had long been categorized as an "S"-level Mystery Zone. Translation: "Stay out unless you have a death wish… or a Charizard with military clearance."
And now, Luna had just casually suggested dragging David and Tom along for a little sightseeing there.
Honestly, they might as well just lie down in the school garden and bury themselves alive—it would save time.
Tom looked like he had just been told he was the main character in a horror movie. "Luna," he croaked, "you… you dolike us, right?"
Luna fidgeted, clearly realizing how insane this sounded now that it was out loud. She nervously smoothed a wrinkle on her skirt and muttered, "We're only going to hang around the edges of the Mystery Zone… not the deep parts."
Right. Because nothing bad ever happens at the edges of cursed zones filled with wild, possibly steroid-boosted Pokémon.
David, however, looked thoughtful, rubbing his chin like he was evaluating a used car.
"I dunno, Tom," he said at last. "I think Luna's offer might actually be pretty good. I mean, the West Lake zone's loaded with higher-tier secret treasures. Even if we're just chilling on the edge, we could get our hands on some premium loot."
He wasn't wrong. While the place was officially "S"-rank, the outer edges were more like "C"-rank. Sure, you'd still get chased by the occasional angry Weepinbell, but nothing life-threatening—as long as you didn't do anything stupid like poke a Snorlax in the eye.
And more importantly… free bodyguards.
Normally, tagging along with an expedition team to one of these zones would cost a small fortune—like, sell-your-kidneys-on-the-dark-web levels of fortune. But this time, it was free, courtesy of Luna's well-connected family.
So why not take advantage?
David clapped his hands and gave Luna a big thumbs-up. "Count me in! Just tell me when."
Tom groaned dramatically, putting a hand on David's shoulder like he was about to make a sacrifice to the gods. "If you're going, then I guess I'm going too. Someone's gotta drag your body out when you inevitably try to hug a Gyarados."
And just like that, the three of them agreed to embark on a trip to the terrifying, majestic, possibly-murderous West Lake Mystery Zone.
Luna gave a small, almost bittersweet smile. She wasn't usually one for big emotional gestures, but something about this felt like a sendoff. With the trainer exams looming just a few months away, who knew where they'd all end up? College? Different cities? Full-time Twitch streamers?
This might be the last chance she had to thank them—for sticking with her, for being her friends, and for not totally losing it every time she corrected their test answers.
And let's be real—if the West Lake Mystery Zone were actually easy to train in, there wouldn't be an entire line of dojos across Jiangnan desperately avoiding it like the plague. No one skipped a free S-tier training ground unless it came with a side of funeral arrangements.
"Alright," Luna said, adjusting her glasses with a serious nod. "Meet me at the school gate tomorrow at 9 a.m. sharp. Bring everything. Seriously. Food, potions, underwear. We might be out there for months."
David and Tom nodded, looking unusually serious—for about three seconds—before slipping away while the actual combat teacher's back was turned. Their version of stealth was mostly just exaggerated tiptoeing and whispering way too loudly.
The other students couldn't have cared less. After David's earlier battle with Jake, nothing else in class could compete. Every other match looked like two Magikarps slapping each other with wet noodles.
Most of them had already mentally checked out anyway, thinking about their own training plans for tomorrow—visualizing that glorious day when they'd return to school, fully evolved and full of themselves.
Punch Pikachu. Kick Onix. Dominate finals.
That was the dream.
After David got home, he kicked off his shoes, plopped down on the couch, and immediately pulled out a notepad titled: "Stuff To Survive In the Wild Without Crying." Luna had mentioned they might be stuck in the Mystery Zone for a few months—not days, months. So yeah, packing snacks and deodorant suddenly became a top priority.
Meanwhile, Pikachu was practically vibrating with excitement.
"Pika! Pikaaa!"
Translation: Finally! No more charging the toaster!
David chuckled. "Yeah, I bet you're happy you don't have to be our walking power bank anymore."
But then a thought struck him.
"Oh right... the generator!"
He sprang up, grabbed Pikachu's hamster-wheel-style mini generator, and strapped it to his backpack like a proud parent preparing for a hiking trip. Pikachu's ears drooped instantly.
[Pikachu: crying.jpg]
[You have received +50 Negative Emotion Points from Pikachu.]
[+60 Negative Emotion Points from Pikachu.]
[+70 Negative Emotion Points from Pikachu.]
Pikachu stared at him like he'd just been handed a shovel and told to mine coal for fun.
"I may not be human," Pikachu thought bitterly, "but you're the real monster."
With basic survival gear ready (and one emotionally damaged electric rat), David moved on to more important supplies: snacks. Specifically, Jet Cubes, his custom high-energy berry snacks. He dialed up his usual supplier—some old guy from the breeding house—and casually ordered 20,000 berries like he was buying chewing gum.
Sure, Jet Cubes didn't help him collect negative emotions, but they did taste suspiciously addictive. Also, he needed to keep his stock up. You never know when you'll need to bribe your Pokémon or emotionally eat in the woods.
The past few days had been generous too—emotionally speaking. Between the Jake showdown and random daily chaos, David's negative emotion stash had broken the six-digit barrier again.
Current Balance: 105,000 Negative Emotion Points.
That's right. He was rolling in salty vibes.
Still, he didn't want to waste it all before the college entrance exam. Big plans required big resources. So, he decided to dip just a toe into the prize pool.
"Alright, system. D-level prize pool. Ten spins. Let's go."
[Spending 1000 Negative Emotion Points. Beginning ten consecutive draws…]
[Beep… Beep… Ding!]
[Congratulations! You've received: Thank you for your patronage ×1]
[…and again… and again… and ten times more…]
David stared blankly at the virtual screen.
"…You're kidding."
Ten tries. Not even a common item. Just the prize equivalent of a participation trophy.
Still, David wasn't new to disappointment. He grit his teeth and tried again.
[Thank you for your patronage ×1]
[Thank you for your patronage ×10]
…Again.
[Thank you for your patronage ×10]
His face twitched.
[+30 Negative Emotion Points from David]
[+40… +50…]
"I said CONTINUE!" he roared, waking up the neighborhood cats.
Another round.
[Thank you for your patronage ×10]
David's eye twitched so hard it might've counted as cardio. "Oh yeah?! Never gonna drop anything? Fine! If you've got the guts, never give me anything ever again! I'll stew Pikachu!"
Pikachu: "I dare you."
And then—finally—the gods of RNG took pity.
[Spending 1000 Negative Emotion Points. Ten consecutive draws in progress…]
[Beep… Beep…]
[Congratulations! You've received: Thank you for your patronage ×1]
[…×1…]
[…Black Stockings (Ordinary. May be used for crossdressing)]
David blinked.
"…I beg your pardon?"
He stared at the reward, his soul momentarily leaving his body.
"Why… why does it have to say 'may be used for crossdressing'? Who coded this system? Why are you like this?!"
[+10 Negative Emotion Points from David]
[+20… +30…]
David stacked the Black Stockings neatly next to a basketball jersey he'd won earlier, forming a weird little shrine of cursed items. The wheel kept turning.
And then—BANG.
[CONGRATULATIONS! You have received: S-Rank Item – Upgrade System (Greatly improves EXP gained from battles)]
The screen exploded in golden sparkles. His brain did a backflip.
"NO WAY!" David jumped so high he nearly headbutted the ceiling fan.
Golden legendary! Jackpot, baby!
It wasn't the all-powerful 'prompt system,' but this battle EXP booster was still one of the best pulls out there. It could cut down training time by months.
And if there was one thing David never had enough of—it was time.