July 1st marked the official start of the Six Spirits Intercollegiate Team Selection Matches. Early that morning, Xia Hunaò was already up and about. Observing the bustling campus, he stood on the balcony with his arms outstretched.
"Little Xiazi, what are you doing?"
Xia Hunaò turned to see Zheng Xiaoxiao and Tong Ruo, toothbrushes in hand. He greeted them and replied,
"It's quite a surprise to see you two sisters together."
"Stop joking. The competition starts today, are you ready?"
Xia Hunaò gave a thumbs-up. "Don't worry, the app has been released and tested. We'll just have to wait and see the results."
After a brief chat with Zheng Xiaoxiao, Xia Hunaò returned to his room to wash up, then headed to the main sports field. He approached two giant Meowths standing there and poked one. "Where did these Meowths come from? Does our school have things like these? And shouldn't our mascot be Da Mengmeng? Why has it changed to Meowth?"
The Meowth waved at Xia Hunaò and then gave him a gentle hug. Although Xia Hunaò harbored some doubts, he entered the field nonetheless.
Following a short opening ceremony, the host on the main stage, Yan Chunyu, announced, "Next, please welcome the Principal for his address."
To everyone's surprise, the blue Meowth climbed onto the stage, removed its headpiece, and declared, "Students, hello everyone, I am your Principal..."
Seeing Zheng Xiaoxiao on stage, Xia Hunaò was aghast. He knew firsthand the conditions inside a mascot costume for cooling purposes. If anything were to happen, it would be a disaster.
Xia Hunaò watched Zheng Xiaoxiao on stage with a nervous expression. Fortunately, the speech concluded without incident. As Zheng Xiaoxiao descended from the stage, Xia Hunaò breathed a sigh of relief.
Just as Zheng Xiaoxiao finished her speech, Yan Chunyu passed the microphone to Xia Hunaò. "Next, may we invite our youngest lecturer, Teacher Xia Hunaò, to say a few words?"
Hearing the deafening cheers from the students behind him, Xia Hunaò was startled. He looked at Zheng Xiaoxiao, who had put the Meowth headpiece back on. "Alright, sister, you've found more trouble for me again."
Xia Hunaò ran a hand through his hair and walked onto the stage. "How are the contestants doing?"
As he spoke, Xia Hunaò gestured with the microphone towards the audience. The crowd remained silent. Xia Hunaò brought the microphone back. "I'm not going to talk then. These people aren't cooperating at all; there's no atmosphere."
The moment he finished speaking, Xia Hunaò quickly pointed the microphone back at the audience and shouted, "How is everyone doing?"
This time, some in the audience responded, shouting back, "Very well!"
Xia Hunaò retrieved the microphone. "Remember that male student just now. I'm granting him a privilege: he can challenge Wei Chiting without any limit on the number of times. He can fight him as many times as he wishes."
Xia Hunaò said this casually, but Wei Chiting's face darkened. "What is this? Why are you using my suffering to reward someone else?"
Xia Hunaò paid no mind to Wei Chiting's inner turmoil and continued his short speech. "As you all know, although our team was full of momentum with my addition before the competition, we unfortunately encountered the overpowered Jiangling University, and this year we lost to the champions."
The audience chuckled at this. Calling the loss to the champions a defeat immediately turned their third place into second.
Xia Hunaò continued, "After the competition ended, our team lacked members, so we needed to recruit new ones. Originally, I wanted to draw lots, letting Wei Chiting pick three people randomly from the entire student body. But they said that would be too troublesome, so after discussion, we chose a more troublesome method..."
Xia Hunaò's short speech lasted about four or five minutes. At the end, he looked at the crowd. "As the Chairman of the Preparatory Committee for this mini-selection tournament, I officially declare the competition open."
As soon as he finished speaking, a male student pushed his way out of the crowd, raising his hand and shouting, "Teacher Xia, I want to challenge!"
According to the continuously updated selection rules, while challenges could be proposed freely, the method of combat was decided by the challenged party.
Xia Hunaò smiled. "One-on-one, quick battle. Quagsire, use Water Pulse and Ice Beam!"
With a flash of light, Quagsire appeared, immediately using Water Pulse and Ice Beam on the challenger, freezing him solid.
"Match over. Yan Chunyu, get him out of there."
Yan Chunyu quickly freed the student from the ice. Quagsire's freezing temperature wasn't extremely low, so the student, after being released, merely shivered and quickly recovered.
"That student showed commendable courage, but since you came out to challenge, shouldn't you have been prepared for my surprise attack?"
Saying this, Xia Hunaò jumped off the stage. "Everything said before was just for laughs. Come on, now let's have a proper match. One-on-one, you go first."
The male student sent out a Farfetch'd. Xia Hunaò countered with Diancie, his "little princess." Within thirty seconds of the match starting, Xia Hunaò was dominating the student. "Seriously, did you buy your admission notice? You only know how to attack with no other counters? Diancie, use Dazzling Gleam with a Meteor Shower!"
Diancie twirled and leaped, her arms spread wide, continuously attacking Farfetch'd with Rock Slide. Farfetch'd was unable to dodge Diancie's attacks and was defeated with ease.
Xia Hunaò recalled Diancie and walked over to pat the student on the shoulder. "Practice more. Farfetch'd has good speed and attack power. Don't just focus on attacking."
Afterward, Xia Hunaò picked up the microphone again. "Alright, everyone, you're dismissed. Go do what you need to do."
After the crowd dispersed, Xia Hunaò approached Zheng Xiaoxiao. "Sister Xiaoxiao, why are you dressed as a Meowth again?"
Zheng Xiaoxiao took off her headpiece and told Xia Hunaò, "I had no choice. Only Meowth comes in pairs."
Xia Hunaò pondered this. While Nidoran and Nidorina, Plusle and Minun, and Shellos could be considered pairs, it seemed only Meowth truly fit the temperament of these two.
"So, this one is Sister Ruo then?"
A large headpiece hit Xia Hunaò's head, leaving him momentarily stunned. "You're the one who's 'in batches,' Little Xiazi!"
"Aren't you two sisters hot? This looks even less breathable than the Da Mengmeng costume from before."
"Yes, that's why to cool down, we're wearing even more revealing outfits than when we dressed as Da Mengmeng."
Cold sweat broke out on Xia Hunaò's forehead. "Are you kidding me? What outfit could be more revealing than a swimsuit? That would mean wearing nothing at all!"
Seeing Xia Hunaò's puzzled expression, Zheng Xiaoxiao raised her hand and pulled a Pokémon out of the Meowth costume. "I'm not teasing you. This little guy is cooling me down."
Xia Hunaò breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the Kyurem in Zheng Xiaoxiao's hand. "Thank you. But Sister Xiaoxiao, you could have used a Castform and just used its Snow form."
"Hail hurts when it hits you! You have no regard for a delicate woman!"
As they were talking, Tong Ruo, standing nearby, glared resentfully at Zheng Xiaoxiao. "Xiaoxiao, you tricked me! You're using Kyurem!"
Xia Hunaò turned to look. "So, Sister Ruo, you don't have a Pokémon to help you? That means you..."
"What nonsense are you talking about? How could I be so bold! I'm using this..."
Saying this, Tong Ruo pulled several ice packs from the Meowth costume. The ice in the packs had mostly melted and was dripping.
"You know, to cool down, I have these all over my body. I'm completely soaked now."
"Sister Xiaoxiao, you should take Sister Ruo to change. I need to go see how far the competition has progressed."
Zheng Xiaoxiao smiled and took Tong Ruo to change clothes, while Xia Hunaò went to Wei Chiting and Lu Bingming to check the backstage data.
"How is it? Besides the match I just fought, are there any other students who have urgently started their battles?"
Wei Chiting shook his head. "No, everyone is being very cautious. No one has started their first match yet."
Just then, the computer screen flickered. Wei Chiting blinked. "There is now. Coach Xia, do you want to see?"
Xia Hunaò nodded. "Of course, I do. This is the first match of this mini-tournament; it's very significant. We have to watch it."
They pulled up the match recording. It was a battle between Pelipper and Snover.
Upon seeing the combatants, Xia Hunaò was stunned. "Holy crap, it's Feng Bing again! Why is it always him?"
Seeing it was Feng Bing, Xia Hunaò decided he didn't want to watch anymore. He felt annoyed just seeing him, regardless of whether he won or lost.
Xia Hunaò stood up. "I'm not watching. You guys can just tell me the result later. I'm going out for a walk; my challenges for today are over anyway."
As Xia Hunaò pushed the door open to leave, he saw a male student standing hesitantly at the entrance.
Xia Hunaò asked, "Is there something you need, student?"
The boy nodded. "Yes, Teacher Xia, you just said I could challenge Captain Wei an unlimited number of times, so I've come."
Upon hearing this, Xia Hunaò's mouth curved into a wide smile. He excitedly patted the student's shoulder. "That's great, young man! You're excellent. You'll definitely become a pillar of our school team. Let me tell you, Wei Chiting's Pokémon are..."
Xia Hunaò became animated, analyzing Wei Chiting's Pokémon for the student right there at the doorway. Wei Chiting, inside the room, couldn't help but turn his head upon hearing Xia Hunaò's loud analysis. "Coach Xia, who are you talking to?"
Just as Xia Hunaò finished his brief analysis of Wei Chiting, he walked behind the student and pushed him into the room. "Wei Chiting, someone's here to see you!"