Pokémon: An Encounter with You

Something was not right with Riolu.

Early in the morning, Shi Qiu was eating breakfast and looking at the elves sitting around him, when suddenly these words popped up in his mind.

During these two days, they all stayed in the teacher apartment arranged by Ikuda. Kyoto University, Ikuda University and Mizuki University are all in Kyoto, not too far from each other, so the apartment here is very convenient to go to any school.

At this time, Shi Qiu watched Riolu practicing martial arts, eating, taking care of Zoroark, etc. as normal, but he always felt that something was wrong.

The most effective way to maintain good relationships among family members is to play it straight, talk everything out, and nip all misunderstandings and conflicts in the bud.

But Riolu is introverted, so he always needs to find some clues first.

He began to ask other Pokémons indirectly whether they had noticed any good or bad behavior of Riolu that was different from usual.

"(You said something's wrong with Riolu?)" Bubble Squirrel thought about it while holding the small microphone.

"(He's probably struggling over whether or not to evolve.)" Bubble Squirrel thought about the time when Alakazam set a trap for Ice Vulpix and seemed to be thinking about something.

"(Last time I saw, Riolu took the Immutable Stone from his backpack.)"

"Evolution? No stone?"

It's possible that Riolu is struggling with the evolution issue, but the Unchanging Stone... Riolu's panel doesn't show that he carries the Unchanging Stone?

"Why are you hesitating about evolution?" Shi Qiu asked humbly.

The Bubble Squirrel pointed at Aledo not far away, then pointed at himself: "(Of course, it's because I can be hugged by you without evolving, but I guess I will feel guilty about it... or something like that.)"

A strange reason emerged.

Shi Qiu sighed: "I know."

What Bubble Squirrel said made some sense, but he always felt that the reason was not as simple as that.

------

Today's military training still requires students to work with elves.

Aledo has always been attentive, and he noticed Shi Qiu's attention on the blue puppy in the morning. Without waiting for Shi Qiu to speak, he made room for Riolu, saying that he needed to practice his breathing and sword skills.

Shi Qiu smiled awkwardly.

I feel that when there are a lot of elves, sometimes the atmosphere between them becomes quite subtle.

Although most of the time, the elves get along well with each other.

For example, when Ice Vulpix draws a picture, he will remember to add Bubble Squirrel, Riolu will pour milk for Zoroark, whom he didn't like very much before, and Zeraora also helped Aledo hone his sword skills last time.

However, there are also times when undercurrents surge between them. Although Shi Qiu appears calm on the surface, he can actually feel it vaguely in his heart.

The young boy was very talented in pretending not to see it, as he always felt that if it was exposed, something terrible would be discovered.

------

The military training in the morning was a cooperative cross-country race.

The total path is 250 meters long, with four levels, requiring students and elves to complete an obstacle course.

The obstacles set up may be troublesome and difficult for ordinary students, but for people like Shi Qiu and Riolu, who have a foundation in agile physical skills, this is in their comfort zone.

Everyone, including the instructors who had fought with them, thought so, but...

The third group, five students including Shi Qiu, started the obstacle race.

"Be careful!" Rongyue couldn't help but shout out from below.

When Shi Qiu was climbing on the net rope, he did not notice the loophole in it. His feet were empty and he was about to fall to the ground.

Fortunately, Leolu next to him was quick-witted and quickly pulled Shi Qiu to help him stabilize his body.

"That was close." Shi Qiu took a breath.

If you fall from this height, at most you'll feel some pain when you fall, and you won't even break a bone, but it's embarrassing...

A man and an elf crossed the net rope, and Shi Qiu breathed a sigh of relief: "Thanks to you, hey... wait a minute! Be careful!..."

Shi Qiu and everyone else saw that Riolu, who had been so reliable just now, did not notice the barrier rope next to him and was tripped by it the next moment.

This time, it was Shi Qiu's turn to hold him back in time.

Riolu stared at the boy in amazement.

Shi Qiu burst out laughing: "It's over, our status is really going to be ruined this time."

"Hurry up, the people in the group ahead are almost gone."

Next, the man and the elf made mistakes again, and it was obvious that they were not in good shape, and were openly daydreaming. Fortunately, they were able to help each other in time and did not fall into any serious trouble.

"Didn't they sleep well?" Rong Yue was a little dumbfounded and asked Lu Qing in a low voice.

Lu Qing frowned and observed carefully for a while, with a strange look on his face: "It doesn't look like it... Why do I feel..."

Why do I feel like this person and this elf are both worried, and all their attention is on each other? But I frequently fall into traps and make all kinds of mistakes, but I can still protect the other in time.

These two were really serious. The more mistakes they made, the faster they wanted to go. The more they paid attention to their companions, the more mistakes they made.

So weird.

------

During lunch.

Shi Qiu was eating when he suddenly laughed out loud.

With the right time, place and people, hitting a straight ball requires a certain background preparation to be effective.

"Tell me about it." Shi Qiu sighed, put down his bowl and chopsticks, his eyes showing an emotion that could not be refused, "What are you worried about recently?"

"(I...)" Riolu pursed his lips.

"Don't you want to evolve?"

“(No!)” Riolu stopped hesitating and immediately denied it.

"(Before, I did hesitate for a while and even took the Unchanging Stone from my backpack.)" Riolu said, "(But soon I decided that I wanted to evolve into Lucario.)"

"(But, Shi Qiu...)" Riolu's voice trembled slightly, "(Soon I discovered something even more terrifying...)"

"..." He frowned, having a bad feeling.

"(I failed to evolve, Shi Qiu...)"

A calm voice with a hint of crying.

A blue light emerged from the blue puppy's body, which lasted for a while and then gradually disappeared, remaining the same.

It’s not about whether or not to evolve, but about not being able to evolve.

Shi Qiu immediately realized that this matter was much more serious than he had imagined...

------

The fact that Riolu couldn't evolve was not a big deal to Shi Qiu, and he didn't care. He liked both Riolu and Lucario, whether they were strong or weak.

However, Riolu's evolution is an evolution of intimacy, and the bond between them naturally reaches or even exceeds the requirements of evolution.

Teenagers will not use the success or failure of evolution to prove or measure the existence and extent of their emotions.

But Riolu does.

The moment his first evolution fails, he will doubt his feelings for his trainer.

"(I can't respond properly to the trainer's feelings.)" This thought arises, and as it continues to grow over time, more thoughts will arise from it.

"(Will I be a drag on everyone?)" and "(Am I worthy of staying by Shi Qiu's side?)"

This will destroy him.

Even if Lian Shiqiu couldn't help directly, the more considerate he was and the more he showed closeness, the more guilty Riolu would feel and the more he would hate himself.

……

Trouble. Shi Qiu remained calm on the surface, but he began to think hard in his heart.

For the first time, he felt like he had no idea where to start. He couldn't stay away, nor could he get close.