Chapter 153: Intensive Training Schedule and the Dragon-Type Traitor

Raikou fled in a panicked rush, carrying bags of all sizes, while Zhu Suihan looked over at Mewtwo, who was loosening up his right arm, and asked about his power.

"How was it? Was it stressful using telekinesis to restrain that kind of legendary Pokémon?"

[Not bad. At least when the target's resistance isn't too fierce, the energy consumption can be ignored.]

The moment he pinned Raikou, he actually felt the thunder-like surging power flowing frantically within the opponent's body, a force truly worthy of being called formidable.

If they were to genuinely fight, relying solely on telekinesis would make it impossible to pin down an opponent of Raikou's caliber.

Mewtwo asked: [You gave them so much. Are you sure they can finish it all?]

Zhu Suihan wore a matter-of-fact expression. "Of course they can finish it. They are legendary corporate slaves, after all. The Three Beasts' only mission is to run around various regions day in and day out, so that little bit of stuff really isn't much."

All concepts of "scientific diet" were built under normal conditions, much like how various science problems required a designated prefix, such as under scientific conditions or general conditions.

Given the consumption rate of the legendary beasts, even if you fed them high-calorie carbohydrate bombs every single meal, they would consume them without changing their expression, and might even feel that it lacked some elemental energy supplements.

This brings up the difference between the legendary beasts and the legendary birds: the former have no flocks, while the latter do.

Or rather, given the way the legendary beasts were conceived, if they did have flocks, that would truly spell big trouble—Ho-Oh would have to summon Arceus down from Mount Coronet to cleanse the mortal realm together.

"At least in my concept, having those three little ones is already enough for the legendary beasts."

Zhu Suihan looked over at the three little Pokémon. "It seems nothing is left for us to do. Let's go home."

The white-haired monkey had guessed wrong; he truly didn't need to concern himself with matters regarding Team Dark, but upon his return, he was summoned straight to the principal's office by Joy Jing.

To her left was an Altaria with a piercing gaze, to her right was a Blissey rolling up her sleeves, and Joy Jing sat rigidly at the front, beginning to interrogate her student about whether he had been up to any strange business.

"Where is King Poklendar's soul?"

"Raikou took it away."

Joy Jing: ?

"Suihan, be honest with me. Did you use someone's soul to feed Ghost-type Pokémon?"

Joy Jing earnestly tried to persuade him: "A person shouldn't easily set such a precedent for themselves; it's not good for your personal psychological health."

"Besides, even if you don't care about these things, you have to consider whether your partners can accept this kind of thing, don't you agree?"

The Poké Balls shook slightly. Both Lapras and Milcery felt that their acceptance level for such matters was quite high.

Or rather, after experiencing the Burned Tower illusion, they deeply loathed people and Pokémon who committed evil acts.

It was a classic case of birds of a feather flocking together.

They suggested that the white-haired monkey at home should step things up!

"It was genuinely taken away by Raikou."

Zhu Suihan tossed out a Poké Ball. "Mewtwo, please use your psychic powers to replay the scene from back then."

[I've noticed that your application of psychic power is becoming more and more abstract.]

You can use psychic power for everything, yet you barely use it during actual combat.

Mewtwo copied a portion of his own memories and then used his psychic powers to project them outward, showing Joy Jing how they had encountered Raikou at the time.

Well, there was no sound effect, because intuition told Mewtwo that his Trainer's moral standing might have some rather major issues, so the dialogue didn't need to be broadcasted.

"It really was Raikou."

Joy Jing finally let out a sigh of relief. As for Zhu Suihan using stone spheres to prop up a frying pan, she couldn't be bothered to care.

Her own student pulled off plenty of strange stunts; just in case he simply felt the material quality of the stone spheres was exceptional and intended to grind some stone powder to protect the bottom of the pan, right?

No harm done.

"You don't need to worry about the business with Team Dark anymore. Next, you have a much more important task."

Joy Jing searched through some documents: "You returned to the academy a bit late, so I'm notifying you directly to save me the trouble of tracking someone else down."

Zhu Suihan: ?

"Principal, I just got back to the academy. Can you please give me some time to rest and attend regular classes?"

He had still planned to look for some research materials regarding that sealing jutsu to flesh out his arsenal of weapons and equipment.

You and the principal of the Officer Academy really are just quest-giving NPCs, aren't you? You won't give me a single moment of rest.

I'm just a tender, innocent first-year freshman!

"Don't interrupt. This is also a normal teaching assignment."

Joy Jing slammed a stack of documents onto Zhu Suihan's head.

"You performed well on the Silver Plains. At least the next time there's medical aid on the Silver Plains, those Volcarona who used to stubbornly endure their injuries will choose to accept our treatment."

The family looked thoughtful.

Oh, so stubbornness wasn't just that little guy's problem after all.

It's a family trait.

"In other words, your name is on the roster for this year's Quartz Conference. Perform well and don't disgrace our academy."

Joy Jing said, "Don't worry, just display the content you usually learn; it's very simple."

Given this kid's true skill level, he shouldn't have been a first-year student in the first place, but when Pryce spoke up back then, he mentioned that the boy "lacked experience in dealing with people," which was why things were arranged this way.

And now look: all the first-year students had been completely dominated by him, and the moment anyone thought of his research caliber, no one could possibly treat him like a newcomer anymore.

If word got out, someone would probably point at Zhu Suihan and demand to know how on earth he could possibly be a first-year student.

"Oh, intensive training, what a hassle."

Zhu Suihan took the documents and looked them over: "A two-week internship training program in Goldenrod City, followed by two days of holiday upon completion, and then heading to the Quartz Plateau right after the break."

Such a rushed schedule; he wasn't even sure if he could make it in time for the cooking competition the club president mentioned.

"So that's how it is. Officer Jenny's old hag of a mother told me your partner has flight capabilities as well. Whether you return to the academy after getting off work every day or stay in Goldenrod City is entirely up to you."

Joy Jing waved her hand: "That's pretty much it. Also, if you're going to do anything out of the ordinary, you need to report it in advance."

Zhu Suihan's eyes lit up: "You mean no matter what kind of trouble I cause, Principal, you'll have my back?"

"How is that possible?"

Joy Jing glared at the troublesome white-haired youth.

"If you tell me in advance, your principal here can still muster up her old face to pull some strings and minimize your impact as much as possible."

"Care to guess why no one from Team Dark attempted to kidnap you after the Burned Tower incident? It was because I begged the League to handle the news for you."

Zhu Suihan gave a thumbs-up: "The principal is magnificent!"

"In that case, I'll churn out a few more research projects to give back to the academy—guaranteed to let you stand up straight and hold your head high at the year-end debriefing meeting!"

A portable elemental energy injector could finally be scheduled. Anyway, with his grinding-addict work ethic, continuing his research after a full day of internship work was completely fine.

Other things aside, as long as the injector could guarantee effectiveness on the vast majority of Pokémon, it would definitely be a huge moneymaker.

Stack that on top of all his previous exploits, and the principal wouldn't just be standing on chairs and tables to give speeches at the year-end review meeting—she could literally tell the director to step aside and host the whole thing herself!

Joy Jing: !

I poured my heart out to you, and you ungrateful brat actually want to murder me?!

No amount of face or connections could ever survive being burned through at the rate you're going!

If I let you do any more research and stir up trouble on the side, when I head back I won't be attending a performance review—I'll be dragged off by even older veterans for a mandatory ideological re-education session!

Joy Jing had already formulated the scolding she would receive: something along the lines of "You aren't a qualified educator, how on earth did you even become a principal?!"

"No need. Just honestly follow the academy's curriculum plan."

After Zhu Suihan left, Joy Jing sighed helplessly, feeling an immense mountain of pressure bearing down on her.

Regular coursework could no longer stump this kid; the senior-level courses were merely unstudied by him, not unlearned.

In other words, this kid had plenty of time to pursue his own research, and it wasn't like she could post a sign outside the experimental building reading *Zhu Suihan Prohibited From Entering*.

"Forget it, forget it. Anyway, this kid's schedule is packed tightly enough; he should be able to keep a low profile for a while."

Joy Jing calculated Zhu Suihan's itinerary, finally allowing her to relax somewhat.

Immediately following the intensive training was the Quartz Conference—a place that could keep Joy running off her feet until she dropped. In high-traffic areas, Trainers occasionally needed to be redirected to other Pokémon Centers.

If the crowds weren't diverted, the Pokémon Center getting blown right out of its foundations wasn't entirely out of the question.

Once the Quartz Conference concluded...

Joy Jing accepted a cup of hot tea handed over by Blissey, sighing that old partners really were the most reliable.

What kind of excuse could she find to toss Zhu Suihan out? Preferably throwing him somewhere like Kanto or Hoenn, so that if he stirred up trouble, she wouldn't have to worry her head over it.

When the time comes, whether you're using your secret identity to play around or getting mixed up in some massive event on the level of a legendary Pokémon, what does any of that have to do with my Joy Academy?

The students are on vacation, and I'm off duty!

All of those actions were the student's own independent decisions!

Her student kept repeatedly bouncing between the two extreme states of a "super cash cow" and a "hot potato."

Joy Jing admitted that she was extremely satisfied with Zhu Suihan's talent and hard work—it was a true mixture of love and exasperation.

Altaria tilted its head, then plucked an invitation letter off the reception table and placed it before Joy Jing.

"Hmm, what is this? Is it an urgent document that needs processing, why was it left on the reception table?"

Normally, Blissey would always remind her of such documents.

Looking puzzled, Joy Jing opened the invitation letter, fell silent for a moment, and then abruptly stood up, a wide smile breaking across her face as she rubbed Altaria's little cheek.

"Well done! As expected of my partner of many years, you really know how to solve problems!"

Joy Jing cheerfully dialed a phone number. "Hello, kid, are you busy?"

"Jing-jie?"

The old white-bearded man from the Dragonite clan sounded full of puzzlement on the other end of the line.

"What made you think of calling me today? Does Joy Academy have some kind of activity or meeting we need to participate in?"

"No, no, that's not what I mean."

Joy Jing smiled broadly: "Aren't you guys hosting the Dragon Festival after the Quartz Conference? I'd like to request an invitation for my student—the one who developed the Dragon Gate potion."

The white-bearded old man burst into laughter upon hearing this: "That's not a problem at all, Jing-jie! I'll have them prepare one right away. Consider it a way for Lance and his friend to interact more and deepen their relationship."

What a wonderful opportunity!

Not to mention whether Zhu Suihan could research anything else from the Magikarp species, having him study something from other Pokémon should be a breeze.

Come, come, my dear nephew whom I've only met once: wouldn't it be a piece of cake for an old man like you to research a Garchomp line that can use Dragon Dance?

Our Dragon Clan has plenty of everything, but most of all, we have money and resources!