You are not allowed to date a trainer.

Chapter 6 There's a Snake Behind the Tree
Hey! This little thing...

Qin Zhen finally couldn't help it. He bent down and rubbed the puppy's chin. The puppy was obviously a very friendly person. After Qin Zhen's first two rubs, the puppy fell on its back and let Qin Zhen stroke its snow-white belly.

Teacher Chen sat aside, watching Qin Zhen petting the dog quietly for a while, and finally asked, "Do you like it?"

"What?" Qin Zhen was stunned.

"I'm talking about this Katy Poodle. Do you like it?" Teacher Chen gestured with his chin to the dog on the ground. "At least it likes you. At my house, my granddaughter can't even touch it."

"Is this Growlithe yours, teacher?" Qin Zhen was a little surprised.

"When I was young, I also dreamed of becoming a champion. To that end, I even challenged the gym and brought back four badges." Teacher Chen pointed at the dog on the ground. "Its grandmother was my main force when I challenged the gym back then."

"Oh, I see."

Qin Zhen glanced at the Caterpillar, nodded, and calmly withdrew his hand from petting the dog.

The old man was silent for a while, and finally said: "Qin Zhen, you should want to be a professional trainer after graduation, right?"

——Is there a difference between professional and non-professional trainers?
Several question marks popped up in Qin Zhen's mind, but his face did not show any expression.

"How did the teacher know?"

"Hmph! Your Chinese and math haven't improved at all, your English and geography have plummeted, but biology has shown tremendous progress. You even explain the evolution, cultivation, and moves of elves so clearly. How could I possibly not know what you're thinking?"

Qin Zhen grinned awkwardly. He never expected that Old Chen would have a misunderstanding because of this, but he was not in a position to explain. He couldn't just pat the old man on the shoulder and say, "Can you blame me? When I was studying geography and English, if I dared to recite the location of Pokémon's hometown or translate 100,000-volt flamethrower in class, I would be slapped in the face by the teacher", right?

Seeing Qin Zhen lowering his head and not speaking, Teacher Chen stopped talking. He looked around and finally found a pair of yellow-green dot eyes behind the fence of the carport. Milton stretched his head carefully and looked in the direction of Qin Zhen. When he saw Teacher Chen's eyes sweeping over, the useless lizard was immediately startled and quickly retracted his head.

The old man looked in the direction where Milton disappeared, his brows furrowed even deeper.

"Qin Zhen, textbooks always tell you that elves become stronger after their levels are increased. Do you know how to increase the level of elves?"

"Is it training?"

"No," Teacher Chen shook his head. "Targeted training can improve a Pokémon's familiarity with moves, develop new moves, and provide them with experience against enemies, but it doesn't raise their level."

Qin Zhen was silent for a moment, recalling the game information from before his rebirth. Finally, he tentatively replied, "Then... fight with other elves?"

"You're half right. A more accurate way to put it would be - win."

"win?"

"That's right. Win a battle between equals, where both sides give their all. Then your Pokémon will grow—its claws will become harder, its muscles will become stronger, its moves will become more powerful, and it will evolve. Everything will be a qualitative change."

"What about the loser?"

"Nothing, but maybe I can gain some experience using moves and fighting strong enemies?"

"That doesn't sound right. Teacher, you just told us the other day that 'failure is the mother of success.'"

"That's for humans. Pokémon are different. They're a fighting race where 'winners take everything, losers take nothing.'" Teacher Chen turned and stared intently into Qin Zhen's eyes. "Qin Zhen, if one's dream is to challenge the Eight Great Gyms of Donghuang and become a professional trainer, then their starting Pokémon absolutely cannot be cowardly or resist fighting. Do you understand what I'm saying?" Qin Zhen scratched the back of his head, a strange look in his eyes. He finally understood why Old Chen had come to him with a Growlithe.

"So..." Qin Zhen put down his hand and asked slowly, "So, the teacher brought Caterpillar to me this time because he wanted to tell me about Millerton, right?"

"You call it Milton, don't you?"

Teacher Chen pressed his eyebrows and nodded.

"Yes, you guessed right, Qin Zhen. As your homeroom teacher, I hope you don't choose Milton as your initial elf partner. If you really don't like the three great elves in school, I can offer you a better choice."

Qin Zhen glanced at the Growlithe squatting in front of him without saying anything. He suddenly had a strange feeling: he wasn't discussing starting Pokémons with his homeroom teacher, but rather meeting his future father-in-law. The landlord, Master Chen, was grabbing the collar of his farmhand, Xiao Qin, and shouting, "Get rid of that ugly bitch you're dating and marry my sweet daughter!"
"Qin Zhen, I know that Motorbike is a very powerful Pokémon, and its combat power is far superior to the three starter Pokémons that haven't evolved to their ultimate form. I also know that you kids are much more interested in Dragon attributes than Water, Fire, and Grass. But Qin Zhen, if your dream is to achieve success in Pokémon competitions, then please believe me, Motorbike is definitely not a good match for you."

"It's lived in that carport for eight years. During these eight years, there have been students who have wanted to tame it, but in the end, they all gave up. This Pokémon is lazy and timid. Once it faces another Pokémon, it will immediately throw itself on the ground and beg for mercy. In this respect, it's not even as good as a Rattata. At least when the trainer is hurt, a Rattata will go berserk and run away, but this Motorbike will probably just abandon its trainer and run away, right?"

Qin Zhen pursed his lips, not knowing how to respond to Teacher Chen, because he could see that every word Teacher Chen said came from the heart. In the old man's eyes, Millerton was completely a big pit, and he didn't want his students to fall into this pit.

At this point, Qin Zhen actually hoped that the old man had seen Milton's extraordinaryness and was trying to snatch it from him. Compared to malice and evil intentions, this pure concern from the teacher made people even more at a loss.

However, it is absolutely impossible to give up Milton. Qin Zhen is very clear about the truth hidden under that cowardly shell - the god of the future who is above all living beings. Even if all the three major families of this school are stacked together, they can hardly reach one tenth of its value.

"I've got that in mind. Thank you for your kindness, teacher. But I believe in Milton. I believe that even if it's afraid of fighting, it will never abandon me. And..."

But such a statement obviously couldn't convince the old man. Seeing Teacher Chen's eyebrows rising higher and higher, Qin Zhenxin said in a scoundrel tone, "She's pregnant with my child," and said stiffly, "And I've already made an agreement with Milton! She's agreed to be my starting elf. I'll take her to the school office to register tomorrow morning."

"Woo woof!!!"

Suddenly, the Cati dog squatting in front of the two people's hair stood up. It seemed as if it suddenly discovered something. It turned its head sharply, let out a loud bark, and ran towards a big tree in the distance.

"Qin Zhen, you..."

Teacher Chen's voice was stuck in his throat. He wanted to loudly order Qin Zhen, "Go and apologize, and then pretend nothing happened." But fortunately, at the last moment, the old man remembered his identity. He was a teacher, and what he said was a lesson to teach students by example. Teaching students to be treacherous is something that must never be done.

"Anyway, thank you again, Teacher Chen. I'll go back for lunch."

Qin Zhen stood up, bowed slightly to the head teacher who was sitting by the flower bed, and turned to walk towards the teaching building.

Teacher Chen didn't say anything. He just watched Qin Zhen walk away silently. Suddenly, the old man felt something pulling at his trouser legs twice.

He lowered his head in confusion and saw that his pet Cati had run back at some point, with its head tilted up and its nose wagging back and forth at him, with something seeming to be stuck on it.

The old man took out his reading glasses from his pocket, put them on, and bent over.

There were some grass juice and a few broken leaves stuck to the tip of the puppy's nose. The old man reached out and picked them up, pieced the broken leaves together, and finally let out a strange "Huh".

——It turned out to be a torn four-leaf clover.

(End of this chapter)