Strengthening Gratitude

What exactly is the relationship between myself and Ralts?

Sitting on the testing machine, Wei Xin couldn't help but start thinking. Although with Ralts's ability, he could read other people's minds and easily understand their thoughts and personalities, such as Mary, who was a simple girl who wasn't very good at expressing her emotions.

But Ralts is the only one who is like parents who don't always know what their children are thinking. Although Ralts has been in contact with him for a long time, she rarely expresses intense emotions like Eevee.

Perhaps the gratitude between him and Ralts is like a dish that needs time to cook.

What exactly is the relationship between myself and my trainer?

Sitting on the testing machine, Ralts couldn't help but recall the scene of their first meeting. She couldn't remember much about what happened before she was born; she only remembered that someone had taken her for a long time and walked to a very far place.

A voice kept whispering in her ear, urging her to wait patiently.

Until that day, someone stepped into the research center, pushed open the door of the research room, lifted the glass cover, and a pair of hands touched her face. She knew that the person she was waiting for had arrived. When she opened her eyes, she vaguely saw a figure that slowly overlapped with her memories.

She became the trainer's Pokémon, and the trainer treated her very well; she also liked the trainer very much.

However, this familiar life always gave her a sense of déjà vu, as if she were walking on footprints on the ground. Sometimes, she would wonder why the footprints on the ground were red.

She felt she had seen that bright red color somewhere before.

Every day spent with her trainer was filled with joy. Every night, looking at her trainer's face brought her immense peace of mind. She would have different beautiful dreams every night, and when she woke up in the morning, she would count her trainer's eyebrows one by one, using the morning light streaming into the room.

After accidentally waking the trainer, it closed its eyes and pretended to be still asleep.

Perhaps her relationship with her trainer is like a loaf of bread that's already baked; once it's taken out of the oven, you can enjoy it without worry.

"That's amazing." When they saw the numbers on the screen, Senior Sister, Lillie, and Ma Liang all gaped in disbelief.

"What's wrong?" Wei Xin carried Ralts to the screen.

Three astonishing numbers were written on it.

255! Maximum intimacy level.

"Wow," Wei Xin exclaimed, barely audible.

"This isn't a matter of 'wow,'" the senior sister exclaimed in surprise. "I've been with the long-eared rabbit for five years, and my intimacy level is only 241, although 241 is already quite high."

"But 255, you've only known Ralts for a few days. That's unrealistic. Even boiling a frog in lukewarm water takes time. Did you two jump into a vat of boiling oil together? Or was Ralts' affection level already maxed out when she was born? Could it be that Ralts was your lover from a past life? What exactly have you two been doing these past few days?"

The senior student even suspected that 255 was the upper limit of the system's set value, rather than the upper limit of their favorability.

Ibrahimovic stared at the numbers on the screen and fell into deep despair. "You come out with a perfect score on the test. How am I supposed to get first place?"

"Instead of that, let's have Long-eared Rabbit teach Ralts how to repay a debt of gratitude first," Wei Xin said.

In the Pokédex, the calculation for Return is the friendship level divided by 2.5. This means that Ralts' Return skill can reach its maximum damage of 102, making it the most powerful skill Ralts can use.

"Alright, I guess you guys don't even know either." The senior sister sighed, rubbing her forehead. After the others made way, she pointed to a thick metal plate in the room, "Long-eared Rabbit, use Gratitude I."

"Meow!" The memories in her mind transformed into power, enveloping the long-eared rabbit's body. The long-eared rabbit leaped and kicked the metal plate, instantly creating a groove in the metal.

"This is Repaying Kindness I, which is also the most common skill for repaying kindness."

"So, 'Repaying Kindness I' means there's also 'Repaying Kindness II'?" Ma Liang said.

"That's right," the senior sister closed her eyes, recalling the moments she shared with the long-eared rabbit, and then commanded, "Long-eared rabbit, use Gratitude II."

"Meow!" The long-eared rabbit leaped into the air. This time, a silvery-white light flowed across his body and gathered at his feet. With a meteor-like tail behind him, he kicked through the entire metal plate with a loud bang.

"It actually kicked right through?" Ma Liang exclaimed in surprise.

"This is the power of Return II. It was discovered by the Grass-type Gym Leader. It utilizes the bond between Pokémon and their trainers, allowing the Pokémon to feel the trainer's support, encouragement, and presence, thus unleashing an even more powerful Return move. It can also be called a two-way Return," the senior sister said.

"The actual improvement is around 1.2 to 1.3. It is said that the Grass-type Gym Leader himself has developed a new version with an actual improvement of 1.5 times."

"However, this is a closely guarded secret of the Grass-type Gym Leader. It is said that even his Gym apprentices do not teach it. I, your senior sister, only learned it by secretly taking my Bungee-like dog with me when I was on a business trip."

"If anyone asks later, don't say I taught them." The senior sister lowered her voice, afraid that someone might overhear her and spread what she said. "That sect leader is vindictive and petty."

"As for the tricks to using it, they're similar to what I felt in the intimacy testing machine earlier. They can only be understood intuitively and cannot be explained in words. You'll have to try them yourselves."

So, after Ralts, Eevee, Piplup, and Lopunny exchanged tips and tricks, the three began practicing the Return skill.

With the guidance of the Gratitude Master Long-eared Rabbit, all three learned very quickly, especially Ralts, who was the first to master the Gratitude skill with the support of the Double Efficiency Card. However, due to the level difference, it could only make the metal plate bulge slightly.

After Eevee and Piplup also mastered Return, Wei Xin took Ralts and Ma Liang took Piplup to begin practicing Dual Return.

As for Ibrahimovic, although she really wanted to practice with Wei Xin, she also knew the importance of the freshman competition, so she obediently (with a hint of envy) chose to watch from the sidelines.

Envious of Wei Xin and Laluras's relationship, she chose to ignore it and turned to look at Ma Liang and Bogaman.

"Bogaman, use Return!" To cover up their theft of the technique, everyone tacitly replaced the name of the two-way journey to return with Return.

"Pegaman!" Pigasman shouted, flapping his wings and slamming heavily into the metal plate.

Unfortunately, the metal plate did not change at all.

Instead, Bogarman, supporting his swollen wings, burst into tears.

Watching Bogaman cry and run wildly around the house with his arms crossed, Ma Liang scratched his head: "As expected, the upgraded skills are not so easy to master."

So he turned his head and looked at Wei Xin and Ralts's training progress.

After hearing the principle of strengthening gratitude, Wei Xin had an idea: could he use Ralts' telepathy to sense each other's presence and thus quickly master this skill?

Wei Xin and Ralts closed their eyes at the same time, concentrating intently. The noise from Piplup gradually dissipated in their ears, as if they were on a tranquil lake. Each breath they took created ripples on the surface, signaling each other's presence.

When their auras merge and blend together, two identical ripples appear on the water's surface.

Just as Wei Xin and Ralts were about to make their move, they sensed the presence of a third ripple.

???