Chapter 55: Elementary Chief

In ancient times there was Lu the Constable who killed Zheng the Town Boss with three punches; today there is Jigglypuff knocking out Weezing with two fists…

Doesn't rhyme very well.

But Baimu felt this was the line that best suited his mood.

The physical-attacker Jigglypuff… its key moves were highly effective. Weezing, a Grass- and Poison-type Pokémon, should have had the upper hand, yet couldn't last three rounds.

Too bad the screen was pure pixel art, otherwise he would surely have seen the wonderfully expressive look on that opposing girl's face.

Blue-tier talent really is absurdly overpowered.

Baimu couldn't help sighing in admiration. Mini Skirt's Jigglypuff was definitely no low level—no wonder she'd said at the start it was a partner she'd had for years. Maybe she'd raised it from Igglybuff and it had already evolved once.

But why not let Jigglypuff evolve again?

He refused to believe that, given Mini Skirt's family background, she couldn't afford a mere Moon Stone.

On-screen, those girls witnessing this overwhelmingly one-sided battle lost even the thought of taking turns fighting. They sheepishly apologized to the girl who'd originally been "whipped by love" and fled in a hurry.

【You defeated the female students who, under the guise of special training, bullied their classmates. You gained a friend.】

Why does it read like beating a Gym?

Baimu shifted his position, leaning back against Chansey to get a little more comfortable.

After rescuing her classmate, Mini Skirt inevitably received her own punishment—writing a self-criticism.

They didn't even summon her parents to the school, as if the "respect teachers and honor the Way" rule that supposedly exists in Japan didn't apply. Truly worthy of a noble academy.

The funny thing was, Mini Skirt didn't even write the self-criticism herself—the new friend helped her with it.

—A tagalong little sister?

Well, not really.

Mini Skirt never asked her to run errands for snacks or drinks, nor borrowed money from her. They just chatted often, and occasionally had a battle or two to liven up the boring theory classes.

But these peaceful days didn't last long.

One day in the game.

A group of people suddenly flooded into the after-school classroom and, right in front of Mini Skirt, tossed down a challenge letter. The girls who'd been beaten a few days earlier were conspicuously among them, wearing smug expressions.

This is… bringing in their backers to reclaim face?

Baimu's gaze drifted, then landed on the one at the head of the group.

【You accepted the Elementary Chief's three-on-three challenge and proposed the condition that the winner would replace them as Elementary Chief. The other party agreed.】

A top-of-her-class princess?

He studied the girl standing at the very front, but couldn't be sure.

After all, one was 2D animation and the other pixel animation—the gap was considerable. But if she really was a top-of-her-class princess, he might be able to guess whether the simulator's timeline was before or after Ash set off on his journey.

Moreover, this simulated Mini Skirt might even get to compete on the same stage as Ash.

Though at the Indigo League Conference, Ash's performance could honestly be summed up in one word: green.

The swarm of tiny figures departed. The new friend stepped forward and said something anxiously to Mini Skirt, who cheerfully told her to relax.

【You comforted your friend and told her not to worry. Your friend was very hesitant, but chose to trust you.】

【To live up to this trust, you made a phone call home.】

On the virtual screen, Mini Skirt arrived at the school gate, took two Poké Balls out of a sedan, and tucked them into her own pocket.

Huh?

New Pokémon obtained through family connections…? No, wait, more likely these were Pokémon she'd raised before.

Baimu keenly realized that the way students at this school acquired new Pokémon was quite different from the traditional trainer going out into the wild to catch them.

Everything before his eyes confirmed exactly that.

In the dorm, Mini Skirt opened those two Poké Balls.

【You welcomed back a former Pokémon: Jigglypuff. Companions increased.】

【You welcomed back a former Pokémon: Nidorina. Companions increased.】

Another two Pokémon that need a Moon Stone to evolve?

So why on earth not evolve them? Baimu was baffled, figuring it must be some quirk of the rich.

Maybe she thought the evolved Jigglypuff, Jigglypuff, and Nidorina were too big and no longer cute.

Or perhaps for some special reason.

He watched Mini Skirt begin special training with her three Pokémon, but unfortunately it was all pixel graphics and time flew by fast—he couldn't glean much useful information.

Otherwise, picking up some knowledge through the simulation would have been excellent.

Time flowed on.

Not long after.

The day of the agreed-upon match arrived. Mini Skirt brought her friend to the battleground and discovered a large crowd had gathered.

Among them were no shortage of middle-division, upper-division students, and teachers.

【You suddenly realized this match and the position of Elementary Chief were not as simple as you'd thought, but you felt no fear—instead, you grew even more excited.】

The little figure representing her friend began to tremble slightly, and Mini Skirt trembled along with her as she stepped up before the Elementary Chief.

From the narration it wasn't hard to tell this one was purely trembling with excitement.

The battle was about to erupt.

Baimu couldn't be certain whether Mini Skirt would win in the end, and was even more curious whether that Chief really was a top-of-her-class princess.

But when both sides sent out their Pokémon, he showed a regretful expression.

The Elementary Chief sent out a Fire-type Rapidash—not the Graveler and Cubone used by the top-of-her-class princess. Of course, it could also be that she just picked a Rapidash at random.

After all, being rich and having lots of Pokémon was perfectly normal.

Still can't be sure.

Rapidash and Baimu took their positions, one above and one below; the former's tall, majestic horse form, even at pixel level, looked far more exaggerated than the petite Baimu.

Immediately.

Rapidash began running back and forth across the field; under the embellishment of a five-cent special effect, the flames on its body coiled around it layer by layer like snakes, and once it picked up speed, a bunch of white lines were added beside it to indicate its astonishing speed.

But Baimu's counter to this was just one move—

Leaping up to meet the charging Rapidash head-on, reaching out to grab its horn, gathering a sky-blue Aqua Wave in the right hand, then clenching it into a fist and smashing it down!

Boom! Boom!

Every time Baimu threw a punch, the entire screen trembled, 彰显 its terrifying power.

Water splashed everywhere, as if it were free.

The narration chimed in repeatedly.

【Your Baimu used Water Pulse; it's super effective, Rapidash's condition is rapidly declining】

【Your Baimu used Water Pulse again; it's super effective, Rapidash is starting to feel like crying because it can't shake your Baimu off】

The gap was really this obvious?

Baimu knew very well just how terrifying the strength required was for Baimu to accomplish all of the above.

The sheer force of Rapidash's charge alone was no small matter—how could you just grab it whenever you felt like it?

The two Pokémon entered a grappling phase—more accurately, it was Baimu single-handedly pummeling Rapidash; it was hard to imagine why those tiny claws could grip so firmly.

In any case.

Rapidash obediently collapsed after taking the third "punch," and a string of "……" flew up from the foreheads of all the watching spectators.

Miniskirt's performance undoubtedly shocked everyone.

And the next two Pokémon sent out by the Elementary Chief likewise failed to defeat Miniskirt's Jigglypuff and Nidoran♀; from this tiny pixel animation, Baimu also saw numerous extraordinary battle methods.

For instance, the Jigglypuff that inhaled sharply before attacking, ballooning to an enormous size before using 【Hyper Voice】, making it look just like 【Boomburst】.

And the Nidoran♀ that was like a poison incarnation, spraying poison traps all over the ground, then grabbing them up and desperately smearing the poison onto its opponents.

These outrageous battle methods made the students exclaim—

"This isn't in the textbook!"

【Your performance shocked the entire school's faculty and students; you have become the Elementary Chief and earned the qualification to skip grades】

After the narration appeared.

Miniskirt chose to skip grades without hesitation, arriving at the Middle Division world, and set off toward graduating from the High Division, intending to qualify for the League Conference within a single semester.

Baimu watched with a flood of emotion, and couldn't help but think—

"It's in the bag!"

Putting everything else aside, the League Conference is definitely in the bag, right? There's no way she can't beat the High Division before the conference ends, right?

Surely not?