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BONUS CHAPTER
There was still some time left at the training hall, so the group squeezed in a few more practice battles before calling it a day.
After leaving the venue, Sophie no longer had any complaints about Ethan.
"You're really strong. Welcome to the team."
When Jake had first brought up his name, she'd been skeptical. In her view, she and Lily were solid, and Jake was acceptable — sibling loyalty counted for something. They could've easily found a stronger fourth. Even if they didn't make it deep into the bracket, at least they'd have gone in at full strength.
She hadn't expected Ethan to be this powerful.
She knew him — they'd been classmates since Riverside Prep — but they'd barely interacted. He was the quiet kid in the back row. She couldn't have named a single hobby of his if someone had asked.
"It's about dinnertime. How about we eat and figure out logistics at the same time?" Jake suggested.
"Works for me," Lily said.
Ethan had no objections.
The group found a burger joint near campus and grabbed a booth.
"So," Jake started, pulling out his phone, "we've officially got a team. What do we call it? Registration deadline's in three days."
The competition itself was in ten days. Registration closed in one week.
All four of them went quiet. A team name was important. You could lose every match, but the name had to be legendary.
"Oh — right," Lily said, perking up. "That card of yours is called Pikachu, isn't it?"
Ethan nodded.
They'd gotten familiar with each other's decks during practice. He'd shown them his full lineup afterward — it was better for them to understand what he could do.
Jake, of course, already knew everything. And compared to Ethan's almost entirely Purple roster, the others' decks were... modest. Mostly White and Blue cards.
That was normal. For a college student, even one Purple card was hard to come by.
"Why don't we call ourselves Team Pikachu?" Lily suggested, eyes bright.
She clearly loved that little yellow mouse way too much.
"Hmm..." Sophie thought it over. "The name Pikachu is cute, but Team Pikachu? Doesn't really roll off the tongue."
"Since you like Pikachu so much," Jake said, seeing they'd hit a wall, "why doesn't Ethan just summon it and let Pikachu decide?"
"Can we?!" Both girls responded instantly, their excitement barely contained.
It was safe enough inside the city, and 300 Psionic wouldn't set Ethan back much. He shrugged and activated the card.
"Pika~"
Pikachu materialized on the table between their plates, blinking at the surrounding restaurant crowd in confusion.
"Oh my god... can I hold it?" Lily was already reaching forward.
"Me too," Sophie said — any pretense of team-captain composure completely abandoned.
"Go ahead," Ethan smiled, and then watched helplessly as the two of them scooped Pikachu into their arms and proceeded to squish, pet, and scratch every reachable part of its body.
Pikachu went limp with a dazed expression.
Fortunately, this Pikachu was summoned from a card. Its personality was gentle.
A wild Pikachu would've electrocuted both of them on the spot. And before Tier 4, human bodies weren't reinforced — a couple of shocks could genuinely be fatal.
As for what happened after Tier 4... Ethan wasn't entirely sure. His system had absolutely nothing on Tier 4 and above. The school didn't teach it either. Professors just said you'd "understand when the time came."
Super helpful.
After the petting frenzy died down, they finally returned to the topic at hand.
Pikachu tried to escape during the transition. It was caught. The two girls sat shoulder to shoulder, taking turns holding it in their laps.
Eventually Pikachu gave up. Couldn't escape? Fine. Might as well enjoy the attention.
"Alright, I'll go first," Jake said, cracking his knuckles like he was about to pitch a million-dollar startup. "How about Phantom Strike Force?"
He leaned back with a satisfied grin, clearly expecting applause.
"That sounds like a villain team from a straight-to-DVD action movie," Sophie said flatly.
"Seriously. Who names themselves Phantom Strike Force?" Lily added, wrinkling her nose. "We're college students, not supervillains."
Jake looked desperately at Ethan, who wore a helpless expression.
He also thought the name was terrible.
Finally, Jake looked at Pikachu.
"Pika..." Pikachu made an expression identical to Ethan's — a slow, pained headshake.
It didn't like it either.
What a trash name.
Even Pikachu was better than that.
Seeing that even the electric mouse had rejected him, Jake deflated entirely, slumping in the booth. "You guys are way too picky! Phantom Strike Force! That's intimidating! It has presence!"
"It has presence, sure — villain presence," Sophie said, scratching Pikachu's chin and making the little guy squint in bliss. "Imagine hearing that announced during a match. People would think we're the bad guys."
Lily nodded. "And it's not cute at all. What about... the Pikachu Assault Squad?"
"Assault Squad is kind of basic. How about the Pikachu Lightning Team?" Sophie's eyes were shining now. "Pikachu's electric, lightning is fast — it fits our blitz style."
Jake rolled his eyes. "Are you two obsessed with Pikachu? Can't you think of something with a little more edge?"
"You can't come up with anything edgy, and you don't like anything cute," Sophie shot back, hands never pausing their Pikachu-petting duties. "So why don't you suggest something that isn't embarrassing?"
Jake had no comeback. He turned to Ethan with pleading eyes. "Dude. Say something. Stop sitting there like you're watching a sitcom."
Ethan, who had indeed been watching with a smile, finally spoke. He tapped one finger lightly on the table.
"I actually have an idea. It involves Pikachu, it's got some meaning behind it, and it's even a bit of a meme."
"What? Tell us!" Lily and Sophie leaned in immediately. Even Jake sat up straight.
Pikachu seemed to understand the shift in energy. It lifted its head from Sophie's arms, tilted its little face, and looked at Ethan curiously.
"Team Rocket."
Silence.
"In the stories I based Pikachu on," Ethan continued, "Team Rocket is the group that's obsessed with catching Pikachu. They follow it everywhere. They never give up. They have the most iconic catchphrase in the entire series. It's perfect."
"Team Rocket," Lily repeated slowly. Then: "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. My grandmother wouldn't pick that name."
Sophie nodded vigorously. "That's somehow worse than Jake's."
Even Pikachu showed open disdain. It didn't know who "Team Rocket" was in this world — but it had heard of their reputation from its story, and it wanted absolutely nothing to do with them.
"Alright, alright." Ethan held up his hands in surrender. "Moving on. Solo matches don't need a team name, right?"
"No. Why — are you entering solo too?" Sophie glanced at him. "Actually, yeah. With your deck, it'd be a waste not to."
Lily leaned forward, curious. "If you did need a name for solo, what would you pick?"
Ethan was quiet for two seconds.
"Team 2D, I guess."
"What's 2D mean?" Jake looked confused.
Seeing the blank faces around the table, Ethan pulled out several cards and spread them across the table between the ketchup bottles and fry baskets. "It's like these. They're all Summoning Cards, buff cards, whatever — but in my head, they all belong to the same category. 2D."
"...Why?" Jake was even more lost.
"Because they're all from cart—" Ethan stopped. He looked at the three of them. This world didn't really have a word for anime. Animation existed, sure, but it was niche and underdeveloped. There was no subculture around it.
"Characters from cartoons," he said instead. "Look at the art style. Even though there are differences between them, they're all drawn — not photographed, not described in text. Text is one-dimensional. Cartoons are two-dimensional. So I call it a 2D deck." He paused. "I can't really explain it better than that. It's just how I think about it."
The three of them stared at him with varying degrees of half-understanding.
This world simply didn't have the concept. Ethan couldn't bridge the gap.
"In that case," Sophie said suddenly, "let's just call ourselves Team 2D."
"What?" Ethan blinked.
Lily nodded. "Our team's basically riding on you anyway. And Pikachu counts as 2D, right?" She stroked Pikachu as she spoke. The little mouse looked up at her. "If that's the case, Team 2D works."
They both turned to Jake, who scratched his head. "I mean... there aren't any other good options. It's fine. We can go with it."
"Pika!" Pikachu chirped in agreement, and all eyes turned to Ethan.
"...Fine. Let's go with that."
With the team name settled, the dinner's main purpose was accomplished. They spent the rest of the meal discussing team composition, card synergies, and strategy for the bracket format.
After dinner, the group headed back to campus.
At the dormitory crossroads, Lily and Sophie reluctantly handed Pikachu back to Ethan. The guys' dorms were in the opposite direction from the girls', so this was where they split.
"You must treat Pikachu well," Lily said firmly, like she was handing off a child to an untrustworthy babysitter.
"..." Ethan took it back, feeling mildly attacked. Seeing their expressions — genuine worry, as if he might forget to feed it — he briefly considered whether he should just give them the card.
Their energy was too much for him.
After saying goodbye, the group went their separate ways.
"I genuinely don't know what goes on in your brain to design something like that," Jake said, leaning over and pointing at Pikachu on Ethan's shoulder. His tone was somewhere between admiration and accusation.
"Use your brain more and you'd figure it out too," Ethan sighed. He had no way to explain questions like that.
Pikachu, perched on Ethan's shoulder, watched Jake's finger hovering near its face. It pouted. Endured it for a few seconds. Then lunged — jaws snapping shut on empty air.
"You little gremlin!" Jake yanked his hand back. "You actually tried to bite me!"
His heart was still racing, but the desire to tease only grew stronger. He brought his finger back, wiggling it just out of reach.
Ethan watched the two of them and had nothing to say.
A few minutes later, they passed a boba shop on campus.
"I'm gonna grab some boba. You want one?"
"Boba?" Jake had been walking the whole way without getting bitten, riding high on his own reflexes. Ethan's sudden question made him glance toward the shop — and in that split second of distraction, Pikachu struck.
"Ow! Ow ow ow!" He snatched his hand back, shaking it.
Pikachu hadn't used full strength, but it was enough to sting for a good while.
The little mouse crossed its arms and grinned with deep satisfaction.
Ignoring Jake's suffering, Ethan walked up to the counter. "Hey — ten cups of classic boba, and one taro grape."
He looked back. "So — you want one or not?"
Jake was still nursing his finger. Then his brain caught up. "Wait — you're buying ten cups? For yourself?"
"I promised my cards I'd treat them after training," Ethan said simply.
"Training?" Jake blinked, then it clicked. Ethan had made promises to his summons during their practice sessions. But they were cards. Spirit Cards.
"You're buying boba for Spirit Cards?"
"I keep my promises. You want one or not? Because I'm not paying for yours otherwise."
"I want one! I want one! Give me the most expensive thing on the menu, extra toppings!" Jake forgot all about his bitten finger and rushed to the counter.
The two of them paused at the pickup window to wait for their order.
A few seconds later, three girls walked up — apparently also on a boba run. But the moment they spotted the Pikachu perched on Jake's shoulder (Ethan had handed it off while ordering), all three froze with identical expressions of wonder.
A quick whispered conference, and one of them approached.
"Hey — is that thing on your shoulder a summon?"
Ethan turned. She had a nice smile. And the look on her face was the exact same one Lily had worn earlier.
"Yeah," Ethan said. He already knew where this was going. "It's a Purple card, so it's not for sale. But if you want to pet it, go ahead."
"Really?!" All three girls crowded around.
Seeing their careful, almost reverent hands, Ethan just took Pikachu from Jake and let them hold it.
Pikachu had apparently built up a tolerance for this kind of thing. It didn't struggle. If anything, it looked mildly pleased — ears relaxed, tail swaying gently.
Jake watched this scene with visible frustration. "Why does it let them pet it and not me?"
Ethan glanced at him. "Some things are different between men and women."
Jake glared. "What, and you're not a man?"
"Sorry. I'm a Pokémon Master. Different rules."
After a few more rounds of bickering, the boba order was ready.
Ethan walked back to collect Pikachu from the girls, who all wore matching expressions of heartbreak at having to let go.
Seeing Ethan's hands full of bags and cups, Pikachu hopped down from the girls' arms, scrambled up his jacket, and perched on his shoulder.
Then it turned around, waved one tiny paw at the girls with a wide grin, and let out a cheerful:
"Pika pika~"
All three of them practically melted.
Ethan shook his head as they walked away. "With that charm of yours, you could debut as an idol."
Pikachu rubbed its paws together like a scheming little mastermind.
"Pika pika~"
Thx For reading.