I Really Didn’t Want to Be a Trainer-Chapter 639: Crossing the Sea to See You

June 30th, Wednesday.
Miare City, Pokémon Colorful Café.
Lu Ye stood in the courtyard, one arm cradling his chin, watching the rowdy Pupitar.
"Shaji!!"
Pupitar looked like a cocoon, with visor-like protuberant spikes on either side of its eyes and short stubby legs beside its hard shell. Right now it was bouncing around the sandpit, throwing up sprays of sand that scattered throughout the courtyard, leaving a thin layer of grit everywhere.
In the virtual projection call before Lu Ye, Professor Samuel Oak cheerfully introduced:
"Pupitar is covered in armor yet can hop around freely. It will fly into a frenzy to relieve its stress—it's a very temperamental Pokémon!"
Before he finished speaking, Pupitar jumped in place, using expelled compressed air like a bursting balloon to ram around the courtyard.
"Shaji!!"
That iron-headed, reckless tactic was one of Pupitar's moves:
'Make a Ruckus'.
Lu Ye thought of Lance once suggesting he grab Pupitar mid-flight;
his expression shifted subtly as he asked, "Is there any way to fix it?"
"In the larval stage, Larvitar will use feeding to calm itself." Professor Oak shrugged. "With Pupitar, it can only dig or run around wildly, I suppose."
That made sense—denying it its favorite chips would understandably make Pupitar irritable.
"Oh, right." Professor Oak raised a finger. "You can also try music therapy!"
"Gengarrr?" Haunter pressed against Lu Ye's cheek, pulling out a microphone and waving it at Professor Oak.
"Not Haunter's Perish Song, haha."
Professor Oak wiped cold sweat from his brow and forced a smile. "I mean lullabies, things like a soft grass flute."
"Easy."
Lu Ye called over to Togepi, who was watching Pupitar: "Togepi, use a sound-type move!"
Metronome couldn't exactly summon whatever you wanted, but with the Power of Transcendence giving a psychological nudge, it could do a sort of "targeted search (sort of)" and sift within sound-type moves. With Togepi's luck, pulling the desired move was easy.
Professor Oak folded his arms in surprise. "You can command it that way?"
"Chajiduyi~ (ﾉ´▽｀)ﾉ♪"
Togepi's fingertips glowed bright blue as it hummed a soothing lullaby;
the melody drifted through the courtyard.
Metronome · Sing!
"Shaji..." Pupitar's eyelids grew heavy;
it fell backward into the sandpit, its little legs from the shell pointing up.
Rotom in vacuum form was cleaning the sand, and it closed its eyes and stopped operating to snore: "Ro~tom~"
Lu Ye had already covered his ears, shaking his head to stay alert, then tested: "Professor Oak?"
"Huh?" Professor Oak, barely keeping conscious, snapped back.
Lu Ye: "Please continue."
"Ahem!" Professor Oak's expression flickered;
he clenched a fist and cleared his throat. "It really can be called up... ahem. What I mean is, before evolving, Larvitar doesn't need to ingest extra minerals. Just patiently get through the long growth period."
"The growth period of pseudo-legendary Pokémon is very long, which is why they're often called 'late bloomers,'" Professor Oak explained.
Lu Ye nodded slightly.
The proper way to raise Pupitar still followed the Essence of Earth. In battle, their Pupitar clearly excelled at weather strategies. Sandstorm-boosted special defense plus a Weakness Policy could form a perfect defensive counterattack. The flinch chance from Iron Head and Rock Slide was also a crucial, non-negligible factor.
After all, Tyranitar earned the title Desert Tyrant not just for its Dark typing but for the flinches it caused.
"It's just that my Rock Slide rarely hits..." Lu Ye muttered.
Professor Oak: "Alright, I should attend to my Pokémon now, like Muk—ah, umm!"
Muk approached from the side of the feed and enveloped the unprepared Professor Oak;
his struggling sounds quickly faded.
Lu Ye's expression was complicated.
He'd seen this footage many times, but it never failed to tweak his worldview!
Still, with Professor Oak's constitution as the original kind of new human, there was no real worry he'd be harmed.
Lu Ye thanked him and cut the connection, then exchanged a glance with Togepi.
"Duuyi?" Togepi tilted its head.
Some Pokémon want to get stronger;
others simply want to grow closer to their trainer.
Lu Ye remembered what DeFu had said earlier and smiled. "It's nothing. Go play."
"Duuyi~!" Togepi waved its tiny hands and walked to the sandpit, grabbing Pupitar's little foot and tugging hard to pull it out.
In the end, Togepi fell flat on its rear while Pupitar remained inside the pit.
Lu Ye thought Togepi might cry, but instead its gaze grew focused. It waved its hands, gathering purple-pink psychic energy, and controlled Pupitar to lift it out and gently set it down unharmed.
"Shaji..." Pupitar opened its eyes.
"Duuyi! (oﾟ▽ﾟ)o" Togepi grinned widely.
Lu Ye felt a warm happiness and lifted the corners of his mouth.
There was no need to obsess over whether Togepi should evolve;
being able to give Togepi a happy life was enough. If ever Togepi needed to guard everyone one day, that would be a trainer's failure. Or, if Togepi eventually wanted to evolve to fulfill some wish, Lu Ye would honor it.
"Ka!" Sirfetch'd stood beside Lu Ye, and a proud, fatherly satisfaction shone between its brows.
"It seems my compatibility with Ducklett is like the perfect match between cook and ingredients!" Teacher Lu mused with a peculiar analogy.
"Ka…(°ー°〃)" Sirfetch'd froze.
It glanced up at Lu Ye, hefted its leek-sword-and-shield, and went to a corner of the courtyard to do its daily 'leek-swing' practice.
A simple thing, repeated hundreds or thousands of times, becomes a steady, erosive power.
"Ka! (´థ౪థ)σ"
Sirfetch'd 'shushes' while swinging its leek blade, tearing up at the bittersweet feeling.
Today, yet another day survived, quack~~
The next item on the agenda was to invite Darkrai to serve as a bodyguard before heading to Unova, and to inquire about the whereabouts of that Delibird from the delivery company.
Lu Ye contacted the local Masago Town parcel service, picked up a small penguin's employee number, and exclaimed in surprise:
"It already resigned?"
"It didn't resign;
it was transferred to another district," the person on the line said apologetically. "Recently Rocket Delivery took over our operations, so I'm not very clear on Pokémon reassignments."
Lu Ye let out a private sigh of relief—Rocket Delivery taking over wasn't exactly their business?
Imagine an enemy agent receiving a parcel late at night from a Team Rocket Delibird containing a note that read:
[Teacher: I'll offer you a condition you cannot refuse.]
Lu Ye thought, "With Giovanni involved... that cat boss vibe is real!"
After thanking them and hanging up, Lu Ye called Matori to have her track down that Delibird.
Matori asked cautiously, "Is that a Delibird at Liu Bo's level?"
Lu Ye: "...No, it's just a courier."
Matori understood and respectfully said, "Understood. I'll investigate immediately!"
It felt like Matori had misunderstood something, but she was efficient;
five minutes later she called back.
"Found it." Matori said. "That Delibird is under Rocket Delivery's Sinnoh branch command and was transferred to another district."
"Which district?"
"Uh... because Rocket Delivery in Miare City recently absorbed 'Mount Goat Mount Transport Services' and urgently needs personnel, it was transferred to the Kalos region."
Lu Ye paused.
Kalos region, Miare City?
Isn't that where I currently am!
He remembered telling it he was heading to Kalos. Coincidentally, it had volunteered to be transferred to Kalos?
Lu Ye fell into thought.
"Seems like I don't need to return to Sinnoh..."
...
Half a month earlier.
In Masago Town, the parcel company had announced that Rocket Delivery would take over operations. Delibird, Pelipper, Starly and others were stunned, and employees whispered among themselves.
A plain-looking Delibird shouldered its pack and slightly turned to look at the newly arrived manager.
"Uw?"
"Let me introduce myself—I'm Liangping under Rocket Delivery, currently in charge of logistics scheduling for the Masago Town area!"
The small boss's face wore a confident, satisfied smile;
he spun his cap behind his back and said:
"Rocket Delivery now spans Kanto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and Kalos. Unova's cross-district business is yet to be explored."
"The Kalos district urgently needs experienced staff and Pokémon. Interested parties may apply!" the small boss said.
"Roar!"
Not far off, a Muk sneaked up and enveloped the little boss, shocking the Pokémon.
"Hahaha, it's okay." the small boss said. "I'm used to it... ah, uhm!"
The employees exchanged looks and quietly decided this guy might be unreliable.
Only a single Delibird fixed its gaze, hoisted its pack, and planned to travel across the ocean.
To the Kalos region.
To start a fresh job and journey!
Today marked the tenth day since that Delibird drifted across the sea and officially started work.
It had seen Professor Sycamore's institute's seriousness and the glamour of the Grand Hotel Belleview. Compared to Masago Town, Miare City was undoubtedly a sprawling metropolis.
But the Delibird happily weaved through streets and alleys, and for good performance was rated an "Outstanding Courier" by its superiors.
Today the Delibird had an express parcel to deliver to the south-side street address: the Pokémon Colorful Café.
It overheard a boss discussing: "What's inside this item?"
"A badge? Oh, that must be expedited. I'll send our best courier!"
The Delibird felt a warm sweetness in its chest.
It loved this job.
Some Pokémon were poor at battling;
some just wanted to work and live alongside humans. The green-haired youth named N tried to free all Pokémon from Poké Balls, but N did not realize that Poké Balls were not only a restraint by humans but also their promise.
'If you want to befriend a Pokémon, you risk tears.'
The Delibird liked living among humans. One black-haired young man left a deep impression on it. If possible, it hoped to see him again.
The Delibird distractedly walked through Miare City's streets, shouldering its pack, suddenly realizing this was an express delivery and flapped its wings in a hurry toward the Pokémon Colorful Café.
It was running late, uwu!
Panting, it reached the café and looked up at the sign, peeking through the window at the wonderful, adorable interior. Swallowing nervously, it pecked the glass below the doorbell and prepared to hand the parcel to the shop owner.
"Coming."
The shop owner stepped out and bent down to look. A layer of sunlight cast a shadow on his handsome face. He paused for a long moment, then a faint smile curved at the corner of his mouth.
It was like seeing an old friend, like seeing a sapling sprout fruit, like the clear blue sky streaked by Ho-Oh's rainbow.
"Welcome," Lu Ye almost said, then instead:
"Long time no see."
"Uw..."
The Delibird froze, clutching its pack and unsure what to do. It bowed and presented the parcel to the shop owner.
Your—your delivery!
Lu Ye accepted the package without wondering who had sent it, but his interest in the courier grew.
He spread his hand, revealing a translucent golden energy block made by blending Golden Razz Berries, Golden Nanab Berries, and Golden Pinap Berries.
"Here, for you." Lu Ye smiled.
The Delibird stiffened its neck and after a long moment tried to refuse: "Uw!"
"I've been professionally trained;
I can't accept treats from customers!"
Lu Ye: "If you come work in my shop, then this isn't a customer's treat, right?"
The Delibird paused and reluctantly nodded, seeming to accept the reasoning. It took the energy block, cupped it with both wings, and pecked it into its mouth.
"Uw~ (′▽`〃)"
While the Delibird was dazed, Lu Ye lightly bonked its head with a crisp snap.
Clap!
"This still feels the same, still the same recipe!" Lu Ye said with a jolt.
"Uw..."
The Delibird held its forehead dazedly, ready to cry but ending up with a silly smile.
They looked at each other and shared a goofy, happy grin.
The sun sank;
dusk's afterglow poured over the city;
Prism Tower glittered brilliantly.
Lu Ye took out a Poké Ball from his pocket and tentatively offered it to the Delibird: "Is this okay?"
The Delibird froze for a moment, shouldered its pack, and scrutinized Lu Ye seriously.
It hesitated, confused—its heart filled with a strong surge of joy and a sudden, willowy sorrow.
Finally, the Delibird shook its head: "Uw..."
I really like my work.
We can be friends.
But for you, for my trainer, going to battle—I can't do that yet.
So.
The Delibird bowed deeply to Lu Ye.
"Uw~ (ಥ_ಥ)"
I'm sorry uw...
Lu Ye wanted to say he wouldn't make it fight. But a trainer's mission includes battling and scaling battle's peaks. He had to respond to many people's expectations;
the bonds wrapped around him were something the Delibird couldn't yet shoulder.
Teacher Lu felt that a Poké Ball symbolized an agreement between both sides. Even a revengeful Mewtwo who crushed Poké Balls never considered that those Pokémon also depended on that promise.
Lu Ye didn't feel disappointed. He smiled:
"Then would you like to work at my shop? Deliveries and ice cream—I'll give you a commission."
"Uw!" The Delibird hoisted its pack and nodded happily, then shyly scratched its head.
No need for wages~
The owner giving energy blocks is fine!
Lu Ye smiled: "It's a deal."
"Uw!"
The Delibird nodded with joy, tiny bubbles of happiness emanating from it, and hurried back to the parcel company for the handover paperwork.
Lu Ye watched the Delibird's silhouette in the sunset, and Haunter beside him held a handkerchief to its face, eyes watery.
"Gengarrr~ ﾍ(;
´Д｀ﾍ)"
"Bond... huh."
Respecting Poké Balls and respecting Pokémon;
it's not just trainers—it's the bond between people and Pokémon.
Lu Ye murmured, tore open the parcel, and muttered:
"Come to think of it, I don't remember ordering anything."
Clink!
Two metal badges tumbled out of the package, matte and glinting—one shaped like an insect, the other like a wall.
Lu Ye stared at his open palm, momentarily stunned and unsure.
"Th-this is..."
He pressed his dry lips together.
Badges?
Two of them!?
[Ding! Quest progress updated!]
[Badge Collection: (5/8)]
Teacher Lu slowly typed a question mark.
Lu Ye: ?
...