What had Xia Huanao just said, the biggest characteristic of the gacha style was what? That was the size of the gacha pool. The larger the pool, the greater the variability, and naturally, the more variables there would be during the battle. This was how the gacha style's power could be unleashed. Of course, the larger the pool, the greater the difficulty of the gacha style.
In this way, Ditto and Smeargle were, in a sense, quite suitable Pokémon for Xia Huanao's gacha style.
Smeargle's only move, Sketch, learned every ten levels, could directly copy an opponent's move and memorize it. And because of Sketch's uniqueness, Smeargle could have four completely different moves. This would infinitely expand its offensive range.
Ditto was even simpler to use; it could transform into whatever it saw. That day's six-on-six battle, excluding Ditto and Smeargle, there were still ten other Pokémon. How much variability could that bring?
The school team members immediately set their first target on Ditto, because its existence made this battle too difficult.
Wei Chiting sat on a chair, deep in thought.
Lu Bingming asked, "Vice-captain, what else are you worried about?"
Wei Chiting nodded, "What Pokémon do you think Coach Xia will have Smeargle Sketch?"
Lu Bingming thought without hesitation, "Of course it'll be whatever we use, he'll..."
At this point, Lu Bingming paused. Smeargle's Sketch was different from Ditto's Transform. Ditto's Transform required seeing the target, meaning it could only transform into Pokémon present. But Smeargle was different; it could confirm what it wanted to Sketch before the battle began.
The number of moves Pokémon could learn was vast. If you expected to guess the tactics now, you'd exhaust yourself.
...
What the school teachers could see, the school teachers could naturally also see. Furthermore, some enterprising teachers had even opened a betting pool on what moves Xia Huanao would have, with odds varying for guessing one move correctly to guessing all four.
Xia Huanao was unaware of this. If he had known, he would have bet his entire fortune on himself.
...
March 1st, all schools in Minglong Country began their semesters.
Starting today, Xia Huanao and Tong Ruo would no longer be responsible for the combat courses for the first-year students. Instead, they would focus on training the school team. The first-year students also knew this. Although they were reluctant to part with Assistant Coach Xia Huanao, there was nothing they could do; the school's honor was always more important.
In the school team's training room, Xia Huanao watched the members undergoing targeted training designed by him, lounging comfortably on the sofa.
Tong Ruo, standing beside him, playfully teased, "You're probably the most leisurely school team coach in many years. Won't there be any problems?"
Xia Huanao nodded, "The competition format is fixed, and the team members are very hardworking and disciplined, so it's fine for me to slack off a bit."
As he spoke, Xia Huanao picked up an empty plastic bottle from in front of the sofa and threw it towards Lu Bingming. "Lu Bingming, watch out!"
Lu Bingming was training with his Luxray. Hearing Xia Huanao's voice, he and his Pokémon turned and saw the flying water bottle.
"Luxray, use Discharge."
Luxray ran a few steps, then jumped and charged directly at the water bottle. The electricity that enveloped its body tore the bottle to shreds.
Xia Huanao nodded. "Hmm, good reaction, excellent."
Lu Bingming breathed a sigh of relief after dealing with Xia Huanao's sudden attack and continued training with his Luxray.
Having had his fun with Lu Bingming, Xia Huanao stood up, preparing to bother everyone else one by one. He had to do some of the things a coach should do.
Xia Huanao first went to Li Qiufeng. Li Qiufeng was practicing Crunch with his Feraligatr. Under Li Qiufeng's command, Feraligatr was fiercely tearing at something made of an unknown material.
Xia Huanao walked over and asked, "What is Feraligatr biting?"
Li Qiufeng turned around. "Oh, that? That's edible gel. It's very elastic and tough, so I'm using it for Feraligatr to practice Crunch."
Li Qiufeng looked at the strange shape of the gel. "This thing probably needs to be replaced every few days, right?"
Li Qiufeng nodded. "That's right. With Feraligatr's bite force and appetite, it can eat it clean in a few days."
Xia Huanao nodded. "How about this: if you have time, you can go find Guo Shuang'er. A few days ago, she told me she successfully made specialized Poké Puffs for Munchlax that can fill it up with just a few. You could also try adding that recipe to the gel, which might make it last longer."
Li Qiufeng quickly said, "Thank you, Coach Xia."
Xia Huanao waved his hand. "I'm just trying to save you money. Looking at the size of this thing, it must not be cheap, right?"
Li Qiufeng smiled. "It's actually not too bad, and the school reimburses the expenses."
Xia Huanao's eyes widened upon hearing this. "The school reimburses? If it's public money, then it's even more important to save."
After repeatedly reminding Li Qiufeng to be economical with the school team's expenses, Xia Huanao went to Wei Chiting. He had assigned Wei Chiting the task of cooperating with his Pokémon to create a graphic by using their moves. This was a method to train skill control.
Although this method seemed more like a technique for Pokémon Showcases, Xia Huanao explained that it was to expand the variations of Wei Chiting's moves. Combat tactics were closely related to move variations. The more variations there were, the wider the selection.
However, it was evident that Wei Chiting's practice was not going well. Xia Huanao had asked Wei Chiting to simply create a circle, but Xia Huanao saw an abstract graphic in front of Wei Chiting. "What have you created here?"
Wei Chiting tilted his head. "I don't know either. Maybe a portrait?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "Don't joke. Although the human brain has the ability to subconsciously interpret various shapes as faces to some extent, this scene is too bizarre. If it looked like this at birth, it would have been killed by its parents... Keep practicing. I can't help with your and your Pokémon's coordination. By the way, where is Tan Yue?"
Wei Chiting pointed to a figure outside the window. "Over there. Didn't you tell him to train 'serene as a mountain' and 'immovable as a mountain'?"
Looking at Tan Yue, who was sitting motionlessly outside, Xia Huanao became annoyed. "Is this how he does it? Wei Chiting, have everyone gather first."
After instructing Wei Chiting to call everyone back, Xia Huanao went outside and approached Tan Yue. "I say, what are you doing?"
Tan Yue turned his head. "I'm practicing the 'serene as a mind' that Coach Xia mentioned."
"You're talking nonsense. You're sunbathing and calling it serene? It's March, what's the point of sunbathing? If you want to practice being serene like this, I suggest you go to Yanhai City in August and sit on the beach all day. I guarantee you'll be serene, without a ripple. Come inside with me."
...
The school team members reassembled in the training room. Xia Huanao wrote the following twenty-four characters on the whiteboard:
Swift as the wind, quiet as the forest, fierce as fire, immovable as a mountain, mysterious as the night, swift as thunder.
Pointing to the content on the whiteboard, Xia Huanao looked at everyone. "We're going to study the content on the whiteboard. These twenty-four characters, in a certain sense, are reflections of various trainers."
After discussing the "essence" of the twenty-four characters with everyone, Xia Huanao said, "You should continue practicing according to yesterday's designated goals. I will modify the training plan, and tomorrow we will follow the new plan."
After sending everyone off to their own training, Xia Huanao began to devise a new training plan. Tutor Tong Ruo also came to Xia Huanao's side. "How is it? The coach position isn't easy, is it?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "Yes, my thoughts yesterday were a bit too wishful. I still need to continue improving."
Tong Ruo sat down. "You don't need to rush. In fact, these team members are all quite skilled. Continuing to train with last semester's methods won't cause any major problems. Don't be too impatient."
Xia Huanao nodded again. "Perhaps I'm just too eager to achieve some results."
Tong Ruo took the notebook from Xia Huanao's hand. "You've already achieved results. Your classification of trainers yesterday opened a new door for our school's teachers. Coupled with these twenty-four characters today, you've done very well. By the way, did you come up with these twenty-four characters yourself?"
Xia Huanao thought for a moment. "This? Yes, I came up with it. What do you think, it's quite catchy, isn't it?"
Tong Ruo praised, "Of course, not only is it catchy, but it's also very comprehensive. I need to tell the other teachers. I'll be going now."
Watching Tong Ruo push open the training room door, Xia Huanao reopened his notebook and began formulating a new plan.
As for Tong Ruo's comment that these twenty-four characters were very comprehensive, Xia Huanao felt that it was only natural. How famous were these twenty-four characters? They were from the Art of War by Sun Tzu. That book was filled with wisdom, and who knew if Xia Huanao could find further inspiration from it.
However, Xia Huanao's imagination was always boundless. Looking at the school team members, Xia Huanao's pen moved quickly, and soon he had written about one to two thousand words for the first phase of the collective training plan.
Looking at the training plan before him, a wicked smile spread across Xia Huanao's lips. Yan Chunyu, the team doctor, was resting nearby. She happened to see Xia Huanao's wicked smile and felt a shiver.
Yan Chunyu walked up to Xia Huanao and asked, "Coach Xia, your smile just now was quite frightening."
Xia Huanao turned his head. "Really? I've always thought my smile was very kind. But it's good that you're here, Chunyu Jie. I have some questions for you."
As Yan Chunyu listened to Xia Huanao's questions, her expression changed from time to time. "No, Coach Xia, isn't this idea of yours too risky?"
Xia Huanao shook his head. "It's not risky. Don't you have the school doctor? Moreover, we have Teacher Tong here. Nothing will happen."
"Alright then, I'll trust you this once."