Chapter 69: The "Rival" of the Ice Vulpix
Chapter 69: The "Rival" of the Ice Vulpix
Kissling, the Kissing Pokemon, possesses both Ice and Psychic types.
It resembles a little girl with golden hair, pink skin, large eyes, and its most distinctive feature—thick, prominent lips.
Kisslings are incredibly curious Pokemon. Their lips are highly sensitive, and they often use them to explore and understand unfamiliar objects.
They can also use their lips to remember things they like or dislike.
To keep their lips moist, wild Kisslings regularly apply tree sap to them.
In fact, Kisslings are so concerned about their lips that they will immediately check them after a fall, so it’s not surprising to see them looking in a mirror.
However, if a Kissling can't look in a mirror, it’s not a matter of confidence—it’s a matter of narcissism.
This isn't entirely a psychological issue, but it’s similar to the case of the Uglyfish that eats cabbage to boost its self-esteem. The Uglyfish suffers from extreme insecurity, while this "Eternally Eighteen" Kissling is excessively narcissistic.
After a moment of thought, Jing He offered his advice.
[Jing He]: My suggestion is to use external intervention combined with a change of focus, along with some "hypnosis" guidance.
[Eternally Eighteen]: What exactly do you mean?
[Jing He]: For example, hide all the mirrors, or take the mirror away when it’s looking at itself, and then give it something like an Energy Block to shift its focus.
[Eternally Eighteen]: Hold on.
It didn’t take long for the other person to send a video.
In the video, a Kissling was looking in a mirror when a pale hand suddenly snatched the mirror away. The next second, the Kissling burst into tears.
The tears pooled on the ground, and the Kissling started using the puddle as a mirror.
As for the Energy Block offered to it, it didn’t even glance at it.
Jing He: "..."
He retracted his previous assessment.
This was indeed a psychological issue!
[Eternally Eighteen]: That’s the situation.
Jing He felt a headache coming on.
If a Pokemon was insecure, it would be easier to handle—just build its confidence gradually.
But if it was overly confident and narcissistic, you couldn’t just apply a drastic solution.
Doing so might backfire, turning extreme confidence into extreme insecurity, which would be a real problem.
Otherwise, showing the Kissling its evolved form might help.
But there was only one way left.
Jing He sighed.
He glanced at the Ice Vulpix, who was enthusiastically watching a show with a Gastly.
‘But you probably won’t encounter it.’
With that thought, he sent a photo of the little Vulpix from the festival, where it had been in an ice cream cup.
[Eternally Eighteen]: So cute!
“Message retracted.”
Jing He’s lips twitched, pretending not to notice.
[Jing He]: Show it to the Kissling and tell me the reaction.
A photo was quickly sent back.
The Kissling, holding a tablet, was stunned.
Jing He felt a slight relief.
Thankfully, the Ice Vulpix was quite adorable.
[Eternally Eighteen]: It seems a bit at a loss.
[Jing He]: Are you a Trainer?
[Eternally Eighteen]: Yes.
[Jing He]: Then tell it that the Ice Vulpix is working hard in training, and a Pokemon that trains is the cutest.
[Eternally Eighteen]: I’ll try.
Ding-ding—
Another photo was sent. The Kissling was now holding two small dumbbells and training seriously.
It seemed to have had some effect.
[Jing He]
This is just the first step. You'll need to closely monitor the Smoochum's condition afterward. Remember to praise it for being powerful, hardworking, and beautiful. If you have any issues, feel free to reach out to me.
Confidence is a good thing, but if it becomes an obsession with appearance, things could change drastically once the Smoochum evolves.
Of course, it's also possible that the evolved form will still have confidence in its appearance, but it might become more Blindly Obsessive.
Therefore, it's important to mitigate such risks in advance.
Shifting the Smoochum's focus from its appearance to its abilities and strength would be more suitable for a trainer.
This is why Jing He asked if the person was a trainer.
If the person just treats the Smoochum as a pet, then this shift might not be appropriate.
[Eternal Eighteen]: Thanks (sigh.jpg)
[Jing He]: You're welcome.
After sending this, Jing He browsed through and replied to some other questions.
Then, he put the incubator back in place, took a quick shower, and got ready to sleep with his Glaceon.
Speaking of which, the number of "sleep aid" sessions has decreased a lot lately.
But who can be sleepless every day?
‘Well, living off others isn't a good thing either.’
Silver Academy, Kanto.
"Whoa, little Smoochum is actually exercising. Is the sun going to rise in the west tomorrow?"
Risa pushed the door open and was surprised to see the Smoochum seriously lifting small dumbbells.
Kona pushed up her glasses and recounted the advice she had received from Jing He online.
"Oh? It seems our senior Jing He has some real skills."
Both of them had felt a sense of familiarity with Jing He before. Later, they found out that Jing He was also a student at Silver Academy, though not in the same department, he could still be considered their senior.
"Risa, how do you think I should thank him?" Kona asked.
Risa understood that this "thank you" wasn't just about the Smoochum; it also included the inspiration Kona had gotten from the "Sonic Boom" tactic.
"Give him money."
Risa shrugged.
"I heard that our senior Jing He has been working part-time all along."
Kona frowned.
It wasn't that she found giving money vulgar.
But for someone who worked so hard, would giving money hurt his pride?
"You think too much."
Risa shook her head disapprovingly.
"Then how about giving him training insights? He has a Glaceon, right? You're so good with Ice-type Pokemon; you could share your insights as a thank-you gift."
"Would a trainer who can command a Lapras to use the 'Sonic Boom' tactic so skillfully need someone else's insights on raising Ice-type Pokemon?" Kona countered.
"You have a point." Risa twirled her glasses, teasing, "Isn't Wataru also friends with him? You could ask Wataru."
Crack!!
A crack appeared on the tablet in Kona's hand.
After the school festival, there would be a few days off.
Early in the morning, poverty drove Jing He to open his eyes early.
As he woke up, he saw the Gastly on the ceiling, rubbing its sleepy eyes with a disappointed look.
Another day where it couldn't lick Jing He awake.
"Oooh—"
The Glaceon turned over, spreading its legs and stretching lazily.
Today, he planned to visit the electronics city to see if he could find a used "Berry Blender." He had already done his research.
However, not long after getting up, he heard a voice from downstairs.
"Hello, your package. Please sign for it!"
By the window, a Pidgey was preening its feathers while holding a package.
A package?
Jing He was taken aback.
(End of Chapter)
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