"I brought you lunch."
An Shiyu held up the bag in her hand, which seemed to contain two insulated lunch boxes.
Ye Chuan asked curiously, "You actually brought lunch? Isn't that troublesome?"
"I'm worried that restaurants and such outside aren't very healthy. Homemade is more reassuring."
"Are you my mom?"
The two sat on a bench at the sports center. Ye Chuan opened the black lunch box and found it filled with various sumptuous dishes: glistening, peeled nine-section shrimp, golden and crispy fried eel cakes, sliced stewed beef, and blanched cauliflower, all neatly arranged. Just the smell was enough to make one's mouth water.
An Shiyu opened an insulated bottle, poured out a bowl of thick white soup, and handed it to Ye Chuan. "Drink the soup first. I've been simmering it all morning."
"Thanks." Ye Chuan took the cup of soup and drank it.
The rich, mellow, and sweet taste bloomed on his tongue. He let out a long breath, a happy expression on his face. "Delicious."
"If it's delicious, have more," An Shiyu said with a smile.
After finishing all the food, Ye Chuan put down his bowl. "Thank you, Shiyu. I'm full."
"You're welcome." An Shiyu was packing up the lunch boxes when she noticed a grain of rice stuck to the corner of Ye Chuan's mouth. She reached out, took it off, and then subconsciously put it in her own mouth and ate it.
Ye Chuan: "..."
"What's wrong?" Seeing Ye Chuan's surprised expression, An Shiyu tilted her head curiously. But the next second, her face turned red at a visible speed, and she stammered, "N-n-n-no..."
"I-I was just thinking I shouldn't waste it!"
"I-it's not like I wanted to indirectly kiss you!"
"Calm down, Shiyu. I haven't said anything yet," Ye Chuan said quickly, seeing An Shiyu's flustered state.
An Shiyu lowered her head, even her ears turning red.
After a long while, she finally calmed down. Seeing An Shiyu like this, Ye Chuan said, "I know, you don't have to be so agitated."
An Shiyu pouted slightly, looking away. "It's all Ah Ye's fault for looking at me like that just now."
"I just愣了一下, I didn't mean anything else."
"Mmm."
After tidying up a bit, Ye Chuan saw that Charmander was also full, so he stood up and looked at An Shiyu. "Are you going back now, or will you stay and wait for me to train a bit more?"
"I'll go in with you, don't mind me." An Shiyu finished speaking and glanced at the time on her watch. "There's less than two hours until three o'clock, Ah Ye. Aren't you planning to rest a bit more?"
Ye Chuan said with a smile, "I should train a bit more if I can."
"Okay."
Time passed quickly. After three o'clock in the afternoon, Ye Chuan and Charmander finished their training. Seeing Charmander's unparalleled destructive power, An Shiyu finally understood why Ye Chuan wanted it to focus on close combat.
Watching Charmander in battle was like seeing a berserker wreaking havoc in a game, only to open its information panel and see that its class was mage.
"Which shopping center are we going to?"
Walking out of the training room side by side with An Shiyu, Ye Chuan asked.
"Just the usual one we go to. I want to buy some ingredients to stock up." As she spoke, An Shiyu looked at her chest. "Hmm, and also buy..."
"Your underwear is small again?" Ye Chuan glanced at her and then asked, "Is it really okay for a guy to accompany you?"
"It's not underwear! I was just thinking about what to buy!" An Shiyu immediately covered her chest and took a step back. "By the way, how did you know?!"
Ye Chuan gave a thumbs-up. "I'm very accurate about this."
He had just finished speaking when Ye Chuan received a beating, but An Shiyu didn't have much strength, so it was about the same intensity as a massage.
Just as she said, it was just a simple purchase of ingredients and some seasonings, but the quantity was quite large. After one round of shopping, Ye Chuan was already carrying two large bags of groceries.
The two unintentionally arrived at the fourth floor of the shopping center, which was the area selling Pokémon supplies. Ye Chuan also saw an item that interested him.
"Excuse me, could you please take that device down for me to take a look?"
Ye Chuan said to the shop assistant, pointing to a device on the wall.
"Okay."
The shop assistant took it down and handed it to Ye Chuan.
This was a metallic device similar to a vest, connected by springs. After a Pokémon wore it, the heavy weight and the pulling force of the springs required the Pokémon to exert more strength to move freely. Its name was aptly "Training Vest."
This device could improve a Pokémon's explosive power, speed, and strength, but its drawbacks were also obvious. Most Pokémon wouldn't like this kind of device that felt like being restrained.
Ye Chuan thought for a moment.
Charmander's body contained the bloodline of Salamence, which meant it needed various ways to wear down the destructive urges within it. The pulling force of this device, on the contrary, could allow Charmander to dissipate that impulse faster.
"Can newly hatched young Pokémon use this?" Ye Chuan turned to ask the shop assistant.
The shop assistant smiled and introduced, "The pulling strength of the training vest can be adjusted. There are five levels in total. If it's a Pokémon in its early stages, level one is sufficient."
"You want to buy this?" An Shiyu looked at the device curiously. She thought that if it were Rowlet, it would definitely not like it.
Ye Chuan took out Charmander's Poké Ball. "I'll ask Charmander's opinion first. If it can accept it, I'd like to get one."
A flash of white light, and Charmander appeared.
"Charmander, this device can improve training efficiency, but it might be a bit uncomfortable to wear. Do you want to try it?" Ye Chuan squatted down to Charmander's eye level and asked, holding the training vest.
Hearing the words "improve efficiency," Charmander seemed interested. It looked at the vest and nodded. "Ga."
"I won't force you, so you can try it first. It's okay if you don't like it," Ye Chuan chose to let Charmander try it on first.
Ye Chuan regarded Pokémon as partners, so for this type of device, he would respect Charmander's opinion. If it really didn't want to accept it, with Ye Chuan's personality, he wouldn't force it either.
With the help of the shop assistant, the training vest was adjusted to a suitable size for Charmander to wear. After fastening the button, Charmander felt the weight and pulling force transmitted from the vest.
It wobbled a few steps, feeling that movement was very difficult, and finally plopped down on the ground.
"Are you really okay?" An Shiyu asked softly beside Ye Chuan.
"It seems a bit difficult for Charmander." Ye Chuan was about to tell Charmander that maybe they should give up, but then he saw it struggling to stand up, letting out an unwilling low growl.
One step, two steps, three steps...
Charmander's unyielding appearance was deeply imprinted in Ye Chuan's mind.