Chapter 40: Where Did Pichu Go? [2/2]

"Hey, Nero, what's wrong?"

In the school cafeteria, sitting across from Nero, Sophia waved her hand in front of him. Seeing that Nero had no reaction, she spoke up, and only then did he finally snap out of his daze.

"N-nothing."

Nero shook his head and lowered his gaze, focusing on his meal.

"You're acting really weird today. You seemed distracted during class and kept zoning out."

It was Tuesday. Sophia recalled how Coach Dante had scolded Nero during the virtual Pokémon battle simulation in class earlier that morning because he wasn't paying attention. As a result, he had to stay behind for a retake in the afternoon.

"Really, it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

Despite his words, Nero was extremely anxious inside.

The reason was simple—he hadn't seen Pichu all day yesterday.

Pichu, who usually showed up at the dojo every day, had suddenly disappeared without a trace.

When Nero left the dojo around 8 PM, he specifically asked Machamp to keep an eye out for Pichu, thinking it might show up later that night.

Machamp agreed, but when Nero arrived at the dojo early in the morning, Machamp told him that Pichu never showed up the night before either.

That made Nero start to worry.

After all, if one paid close attention, they'd notice that this Pichu was different from others.

Unlike regular Pichu, this one had three small notches at the tip of its left ear—Spiky-eared Pichu.

When it came to strength, Nero wasn't sure how Spiky-eared Pichu compared to other Pichu, since this was his first time encountering one and he had no idea what special abilities it might have.

But one thing was certain—

Spiky-eared Pichu was incredibly rare!

Even though it wasn't a Shiny Pokémon, its rarity was on par with, or perhaps even greater than, a Shiny Pokémon.

At first, Nero worried that Spiky-eared Pichu might attract the attention of ill-intentioned people. However, ever since he met Pichu, it had always been safe and sound. Nero assumed that it had its own ways of protecting itself.

But then, a thought crossed his mind—

Living alone in a city like this, no matter how well it hid, it was only a matter of time before it was discovered.

That thought made Nero uneasy.

He glanced at his watch—it was only a little past noon, with a long way to go before school ended.

As a member of the school team, he wasn't allowed to take leave so easily. Faking an illness wasn't an option either. With Coach Dante's personality, he might even call the school doctor over to verify Nero's condition…

Besides, he hadn't passed his battle test in the morning and needed to take the retest in the afternoon. Requesting leave would be difficult.

...

In the training room, Coach Dante was already waiting for him.

The moment Nero stepped in, Coach Dante immediately reprimanded him.

"Nero, what was going on with you this morning? You weren't focused at all. Just because you stood out in the school team selection doesn't mean you can get complacent. There are always better trainers out there in the city. If you keep this up, you'll be at a disadvantage in the interschool city tournament."

"Understood, Coach."

Seeing Coach Dante's stern expression, Nero knew he had to take things seriously.

He picked up Combusken's Poké Ball and stepped onto the battle platform. "Coach, I'm ready."

Coach Dante gave a slight nod and walked over to a machine, adjusting the settings to input the necessary Pokémon data.

This machine was a Virtual Pokémon Simulator, similar to Nero's VR glasses. By entering specific data, it could generate fully simulated Pokémon battles.

Such machines weren't common; only select schools had access to them. Samron High had invested heavily to provide students with proper training resources.

Selecting the challenge mode, Nero now had five minutes to defeat a two-star Pokémon.

A blue glow appeared, and a Nidorino materialized before Combusken.

"Begin!"

As soon as Coach Dante gave the signal, he started the timer.

Nidorino immediately launched a barrage of venomous purple needles.

"Flamethrower!"

A scorching pillar of fire engulfed the Poison Sting attack. Nidorino swiftly dodged to the left, narrowly avoiding the flames.

But in the next second, Combusken suddenly appeared right in front of it, its claws engulfed in flames as it struck directly at Nidorino's face!

The scorching fire swallowed Nidorino whole. When the flames finally dissipated, Nidorino's entire body was charred black before it dissolved into blue light and vanished.

The second Pokémon—

Growlithe!

This Growlithe didn't exude an overwhelming aura upon entering the battlefield, which immediately ruled out the Intimidate ability. Given Coach Dante's specialized training regimen, this Growlithe most likely had the Flash Fire ability.

Because of that, Nero abandoned the idea of using Fire-type moves.

"Combusken, Double Kick!"

A crystalline blue glow shimmered beneath Combusken's feet as its Speed Boost ability activated, allowing it to move at an incredible pace.

At the same time, Growlithe's fangs crackled with electric energy!

Thunder Fang!

Growlithe lunged at Combusken, but just as the two Pokémon were about to collide, Combusken vanished into a blur!

When it reappeared, it was already behind Growlithe.

Double Kick struck out instantly, landing with precision and knocking Growlithe out.

The third Pokémon—Pidgeotto!!

In the past, a Flying-type like Pidgeotto would have posed a considerable threat to Combusken, a Fighting-type Pokémon.

But now, Combusken had no reason to fear.

Tempest Kick!

Two crescent-shaped blue slashes cut through the air, striking Pidgeotto before it had any chance to react.

Before long, it was down to the fifth opponent.

Combusken's Speed Boost ability had reached an astonishing level.

Combined with Shave, it burst forth with extreme velocity, closing the distance in an instant—before delivering a devastating Thunder Punch straight to Poliwhirl!

A flash of lightning streaked across the battlefield!

Poliwhirl collapsed.

All five Pokémon were defeated.

Coach Dante glanced at the time.

65 seconds???

Now it was his turn to be astonished. He had tested this against every member of the school team, and the record for defeating a lineup of five two-star Pokémon was held by Viktor Ehman at 63 seconds.

A two-second difference might not seem like much, but Viktor had been training consistently since the last semester to reach that time. Yet Nero, who had only recently joined the school team—

Wasn't he just a substitute?

Looking purely at the numbers, Dante had to admit—

Nero's strength was already on par with some of the starting team members.

And he had also heard that Nero had only received his Pokémon this year due to a car accident.

Three months of training, and he was already catching up to people who had been training for nine months?

This would be hard for others to accept…

…

That afternoon, as classes ended, Sophia had just greeted Nero when he swiftly grabbed his backpack and ran off.

He sprinted all the way to the dojo, gasping for breath, but wasted no time in pushing open the wooden doors and stepping into the training area.

"Pichu? Pichu, are you here? If you're here, answer me!"

No response.

"Machamp!"

Machamp stepped forward, shaking its head, indicating that it hadn't seen the small yellow mouse Pokémon all day.

Nero clenched his teeth, his expression anxious. "Combusken, let's go find Pichu."

"Cha-mo! Cha-mo!!"

Combusken nodded in agreement.

Their little companion had suddenly disappeared without a trace, and with no leads to follow. It wasn't just Nero who was worried—Combusken was just as concerned.

"Machamp, stay here and keep an eye out in case Pichu comes back. Combusken and I will go search outside."

Machamp gave a firm nod, and with that, Nero and Combusken dashed out, running at full speed.

As he sprinted, anxiety gnawed at Nero's mind. He kept repeating a desperate plea:

Pichu, please… Please be safe!

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