The group arrived at the battle arena behind the restaurant. Xia Hanao tossed a Poké Ball, saying, "Li Qiufeng, you and Tan Yue, along with Tu Zhuanghai, will face me, Sister Xiaoxiao, and Sister Ruo. Understood?"
Li Qiufeng blinked in surprise, "What? The three of us against three teachers?"
Xia Hanao stood on the field, "Nonsense, this is your last battle together in your university career. I can't just break up the team. Are you ready?"
Li Qiufeng and the other two exchanged glances, "Alright, let's do it."
Although Xia Hanao had made the decision unilaterally, Tong Ruo and Zheng Xiaoxiao also approached the battleground with their Poké Balls.
"We don't need a referee. We can judge ourselves. Go, Shedinja."
Tong Ruo and Zheng Xiaoxiao also sent out their Pokémon, "Go, Scizor / Buneary!"
Li Qiufeng and his companions sent out their Pokémon as well. The final battle was about to begin.
"Shedinja, attack!"
Xia Hanao and Shedinja launched the first assault. Seeing this new Pokémon, Li Qiufeng and the other two took out their Pokédexes. Then, Tan Yue began to strategize against Shedinja, "Steelix, use Fire Fang!"
As Steelix's Fire Fang approached, Zheng Xiaoxiao began to cover for Shedinja, "Buneary, use Dizzy Punch!"
"Scizor, use Iron Head on Steelix."
Buneary sprang forward and landed a punch on Steelix's chin.
"Is that Dizzy Punch? It looks more like Sky Uppercut to me," someone commented.
Zheng Xiaoxiao explained, "There's nothing we can do. Because of the size difference, any attack from Buneary is bound to look like Sky Uppercut."
Steelix, hit by Dizzy Punch, was then struck by Scizor's Iron Head. The Fire Fang then turned and bit Wailord. Wailord, caught by Fire Fang, instinctively retaliated.
"Now's our chance, Buneary, use Jump Kick!"
"Scizor, bind Wailord."
Wailord and Scizor grappled, while Buneary landed a kick on Steelix's head, quickly gaining the upper hand.
Xia Hanao clapped his hands, "Shedinja, let's go cheer for Buneary."
Shedinja floated beside Buneary, dancing like a bee.
Tong Ruo and Zheng Xiaoxiao turned to look, "Little Xiazi, what are you doing?"
Xia Hanao spread his hands, "Since you two sisters are here, I'm sure you have no problem defeating these three. So, I'll just cheer for you."
As he spoke, Xia Hanao produced two small red flags from somewhere, "Go Scizor, go Buneary!"
Seeing Xia Hanao just loafing around, the other five people present couldn't help but smile wryly. After battling for months, they had almost forgotten how much of a showman Xia Hanao could be.
However, just as Xia Hanao had said, even with only Zheng Xiaoxiao and Tong Ruo, they could easily suppress the three of Li Qiufeng.
Before long, Steelix was defeated by Buneary. Seeing the Steelix with Fire Fang fall, Xia Hanao finally stopped loafing around, "Shedinja, Scratch!"
Shedinja drifted away from Buneary, then wobbled behind Wailord and began tickling Wailord with its tiny claws. The scene caused everyone to burst into laughter.
"Little Xiazi, if you don't want to battle, then just recall your Shedinja. Your interference is making it difficult for us," Tong Ruo said.
Xia Hanao shook his head, "Just keep attacking. Your moves won't affect me anyway."
With that, Xia Hanao released Ludicolo and Diancie, "Ludicolo, Diancie, let's go cheer for Buneary and Scizor."
One person and two Pokémon stood on the sidelines, cheering with six small flags. After a short while, Tong Ruo looked over, "Little Xiazi, why are you only cheering for Buneary? Why not Scizor?"
Xia Hanao shook his head, "No, Buneary is a cute girl, and Scizor is a boy, so I choose Buneary."
Xia Hanao's statement was very much in character. Buneary, cheered on by four people, became incredibly fierce, overwhelming Wailord despite its small size.
However, Wailord was also a Pokémon that Xia Hanao had developed the "Whirlpool Sleep" combination for. After a few attacks, Buneary was trapped in the whirlpool by Wailord.
Xia Hanao waved his flag, "Shedinja, rush in and save Buneary!"
Hearing Xia Hanao's command, Shedinja abandoned its tickling of Wailord and charged into the whirlpool, then burst out carrying Buneary. Although Buneary sustained some damage from Whirlpool, it was in good condition thanks to Shedinja's timely rescue.
After a while longer, Li Qiufeng and his companions were defeated by Xia Hanao's team.
Xia Hanao recalled his Pokémon, "Ah, it feels so good to stretch my muscles."
Lu Bingming, standing nearby, gave him a sideways glance. "Stretch your muscles? You didn't even land a single damaging attack."
The moments of parting are always tearful, but because this separation was brief, Xia Hanao and the others dispersed after the battle. However, before parting, Tan Yue and the others promised to attend the university Pokémon tournament next year to cheer them on.
...
Back at Six Spirits University, with Captain Li Qiufeng graduating, Wei Chiting took over as captain. Lu Bingming was promoted to vice-captain, and Chu Xiaodie took over Lu Bingming's role as the next ace among the underclassmen.
Xia Hanao sat listlessly in a chair, watching everyone train, "Ah, Li Qiufeng and the others have graduated. We'll need to recruit three new students from the school. Why not hold a selection competition?"
As Xia Hanao was thinking, Wei Chiting approached him, "Coach Xia, what are you pondering over here?"
Xia Hanao turned around, "Ah, Old Wei, you've come at the perfect time. I have a task for you: arrange a team selection competition. Select three people, and at least one of them must be capable of replacing you as the tactical brain. As for the competition permits, I'll talk to the principal for you. Understand?"
Wei Chiting nodded, then asked, "Coach Xia, am I fully in charge? What about you?"
Xia Hanao pointed to the chair he was sitting on, "What do you think? Of course, I'm going to slack off."
Saying that, Xia Hanao took out a Poké Ball and released a cute Magikarp with a pink bow, "Come, Magikarp, let me slack off."
Magikarp was very comfortable being petted by Xia Hanao, wagging its tail and splashing on him.
"Host, your petting Pokémon skill is maxed out. I've never seen you practice such a skill before."
Xia Hanao pouted, "If you knew everything, what would be the point? Besides, who told you that you need to pet a Pokémon to increase your proficiency in petting?"
The system understood, "So, that's how it is. You practiced it with Shen Yu when you were young, right?"
Xia Hanao conjured a small figure in his mind, hammering away at the system with hammers. The system rattled its seemingly malfunctioning parts, "Host, your 'slacking off' and 'playing hooky' skills have also improved very quickly."
Xia Hanao looked at the team members training, then shifted his gaze to the lottery box in the school team's training room. He had made this box earlier, and everyone would draw their training plans from it.
As Xia Hanao was sending Wei Chiting to select team members, he leaned back in his chair, about to continue slacking off, when his phone rang. Xia Hanao picked up his phone and looked at it, "Hello, Sister Ruo, what's the matter?"
Tong Ruo's languid voice came from the other end of the line, "Little Xiazi, didn't you say you were going to arrange a team selection competition? How's it going?"
Xia Hanao relaxed upon hearing her languid voice, "This matter has already been handed over to Wei Chiting. You can talk to Wei Chiting directly, Sister."
Tong Ruo nodded and pushed her water cup forward, "Alright, I'll go talk to Wei Chiting. Also, your final exams are also due soon. Less than a month left."
Xia Hanao thought for a moment, "How about this? For our final exam, we'll have them compete. We'll decide who fails based on their ranking in the competition."
Tong Ruo remained noncommittal, "You can't solve all the problems with this selection competition."
Xia Hanao toyed with the whiskers of the Magikarp on him, "Isn't that great? Get it all done in one go, so much easier, and you don't have to rack your brains. It's brilliant."
Before he could finish speaking, Magikarp suddenly became agitated, jumped from Xia Hanao's arms, and unleashed a series of tail attacks. Xia Hanao struggled to calm Magikarp down, "Alright, alright, I won't touch your whiskers anymore. Be a good boy, be good. By the way, Sister Ruo, what did you say just now? Something happened here, and I didn't hear clearly."
"I said, you're too lazy. Show some initiative once in a while."
Xia Hanao recalled the Magikarp on him into its Poké Ball, "Sister Ruo, spring fatigue, summer drowsiness, autumn nodding off, and a winter that never wakes up. Summer is a time when people are tired. I'm awake, so thank heavens. And as the weather gets hotter, my condition will likely worsen."
This was nonsense. Xia Hanao should be more active, not sleepy, in the summer.
"Is that so? Then when will you go for your intermediate trainer certification?"
Xia Hanao thought for a moment, "Hmm, how about September, when it cools down? It's too hot in the summer."
Tong Ruo listened and said, "Then, Little Xiazi. If I invite your little girlfriend to the beach this summer, will you go?"
"Go to the beach? That sounds great. I'll ask her."
Tong Ruo could tell that Xia Hanao was currently in a state of "wu wei er zhi" (non-action), and after hanging up, she went to find Zheng Xiaoxiao, "It seems I need to use some methods to get you energized."