Xia Huanao arrived at Gate Four and saw Zheng Xiaoxiao leaning out of the window of a minivan, waving at him. "Over here."
As Xia Huanao approached, he asked, "Why just a minivan? Where are we going?"
Zheng Xiaoxiao gestured to the rear door. "Get in first, we'll talk in the car."
Xia Huanao got into the car, and it started, driving into the night. Inside the minivan, Zheng Xiaoxiao, sitting in the passenger seat, introduced them. "Little Xia, let me introduce you. Sitting on the same row as you are Captain Li Qiufeng and Vice-Captain Wei Chiting."
Xia Huanao quickly greeted them. "Greetings, brothers. I am Xia Huanao."
Li Qiufeng and Wei Chiting returned the greetings, and Zheng Xiaoxiao continued, "Sitting in the back row are Yan Chunyu, who is in charge of the team's recovery, and the second-year ace, Lu Bingming."
Xia Huanao greeted the two in the back as well, then asked, "Where are we going?"
"To eat, of course. We were going to invite the whole team, but that would be too large a scale, so I just wanted you to meet the key figures now."
Xia Huanao nodded. "I see. It's a pleasure to meet you all."
Yan Chunyu, sitting in the back, reached out and pinched Xia Huanao's cheek. "Our Assistant Coach Xia is so cute. You're completely different from how you are during battles."
Xia Huanao's face was contorted as Yan Chunyu pinched it. Wei Chiting and Li Qiufeng merely watched with amusement. Although Xia Huanao asked Yan Chunyu to let go, his voice was distorted, and nothing discernible could be heard.
The atmosphere was lively on the way to a restaurant. As they got out, Xia Huanao saw the "Lin Yun" sign on the restaurant and paused, then a smile spread across his face. "The boss has a good imagination with names."
The group went to a private room and sat down. Li Qiufeng handed Xia Huanao the menu. "Assistant Coach Xia, please order whatever you like. Don't be shy."
Xia Huanao, however, passed the menu to Tong Ruo. "Let the ladies order first. I eat everything, and please don't call me Assistant Coach; it makes me uncomfortable..."
Everyone chuckled, and Tong Ruo began ordering. If Xia Huanao was merely an indiscriminate eater, then Tong Ruo was truly unrestrained, ordering the most expensive and luxurious dishes. Each time she spoke or turned a page, Li Qiufeng's heart skipped a beat.
When Tong Ruo finally put down the menu, Li Qiufeng breathed a sigh of relief. Unexpectedly, Tong Ruo added, "Let's start with these. We can order more if it's not enough."
Before the food arrived, someone was banging on the private room door. Li Qiufeng covered his face and went to open it. A girl stood there with her hands on her hips, pointing at Li Qiufeng's nose and scolding, "Li Qiufeng, are you really here to mooch off us? I said you can treat us occasionally, but what's with ordering so much food! You can't just freeload like this!"
Li Qiufeng couldn't hold his head up in front of the girl. "It's not like that, Xiaoyun, listen to me..."
Lu Bingming leaned in towards Xia Huanao with a smirk. "See? This girl is Gong Xiaoyun, our captain's girlfriend. Our captain might seem mighty on the team, but he's quite timid here."
Xia Huanao watched Gong Xiaoyun with interest, his gaze making Lu Bingming shiver. "No, Little Xia, a friend's woman is not to be trifled with. You don't have designs on Xiaoyun, do you?"
Xia Huanao pushed Lu Bingming's face away. "Brother Lu, based on what you just said, I have to show you..."
"No, Little Xia, you..."
Xia Huanao stood up. "Alright, alright, Brother Li. Given your henpecked demeanor, I'll treat this meal. Is that okay?"
Upon hearing this, Li Qiufeng quickly turned around. "Little Xia, those dishes were especially expensive. You don't need to worry. With me here, I won't let you pay."
"Right. In this place, you might not have as much say as I do, right, Sister Yun?"
Gong Xiaoyun looked at Xia Huanao's face and was momentarily stunned, then realized. "It's Little Huanao! We haven't seen each other for two or three years. Is Aunt Jing still so busy?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "Yes, they've been busier and busier these past two years, never coming home. I suspect they've almost forgotten about me, their own son. If Little Meng didn't take care of me, I probably would have starved to death at home."
Li Qiufeng, who had become transparent, looked at the scene. "You, you know each other?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "She's my cousin, three years older than me. But we really haven't seen each other in years."
"Little Huanao, have you seen this scoundrel? He comes to our house to freeload every day. You must never become a man like this in the future."
...
After a bit of comical banter, another person joined them at the table.
Li Qiufeng stood up. "Come, everyone, raise your glasses. Welcome our Assistant Coach Xia."
Everyone raised their glasses and clinked them. After putting down his glass, Gong Xiaoyun asked, "Little Huanao, aren't you supposed to be in high school? How did you become an assistant coach?"
After Xia Huanao explained the circumstances, Gong Xiaoyun nodded. "Yes, that's indeed Aunt Jing's style of doing things. But you're not bad yourself, becoming an assistant coach."
"Well, thanks to these two sisters."
The atmosphere at the table was warm and harmonious. After dinner, they continued to chat in the private room.
"Chiting, it's your turn."
Li Qiufeng was powerful but not very skilled in tactics, especially large-scale strategies. Although he had been trying to learn, he just didn't have the talent.
Wei Chiting was different. His role in the team was that of the strategist; he often turned the tide of battles.
Seeing that they seemed to have something important to discuss, Gong Xiaoyun asked, "Then I'll take my leave? You seem to have something to talk about."
"No need, this isn't classified. Right, brother-in-law?"
Li Qiufeng, who was called brother-in-law, quickly nodded. "Yes, it's not classified. Xiaoyun, you can listen in."
"Assistant Coach Xia, will there be any problems with today's second match?"
Wei Chiting got straight to the point, and Xia Huanao was equally direct. "No, they don't have poison or steel-type Pokémon."
"No, I mean, can we skip directly to the situation of the third and fourth matches?"
"So what? My strategy for the third and fourth matches won't change, and I'm sure they'll send out a ghost-type Pokémon first."
"Oh? How so?"
Xia Huanao looked at Tong Ruo. "I have a plant. Sister Ruo is my plant. To them, the only way to quickly understand this skill is to rely on Sister Ruo. And Sister Ruo will specifically remind them that it's a normal-type skill."
Yan Chunyu interjected. "Indeed, if it's specifically pointed out, most people will subconsciously think along those lines."
Xia Huanao finished a glass of juice. "Actually, it doesn't matter if we switch. If they use the fourth match's strategy in the second match, I'll at most lose one game, and then win it back in the third. The skill will be exposed no matter what."
Lu Bingming continued, "Once it's exposed, they'll use ghost types to counter, as they won't have any other options. That would be three wins and one loss."
Wei Chiting nodded. "Even if they adopt the fifth match's strategy in the fourth match, borrowing Pokémon won't help much. After all, after a two-two tie, they'll use a different Pokémon, right?"
Xia Huanao smiled and nodded. "As expected of the team's strategist, truly impressive."
"Thank you for your compliment, Assistant Coach Xia. But may I ask, if the opponent were the school team, what would Assistant Coach Xia do?"
Everyone's spirits rose at Wei Chiting's question, as there was a difference between the first-year Class Five students and the school team.
Xia Huanao thought for a moment. "Although my trailing moves will have some advantage, for the sake of authenticity, I'll go first."
"Are you gambling on what Pokémon I'll send out?"
"Yes, and it doesn't matter if I lose the gamble. I'll use this strategy anyway. It's to let you know my entire plan for this match."
Wei Chiting thought for a moment and then said, "For the second match, I'll probably send out Gastly with a Sitrus Berry."
Xia Huanao nodded. "Just as I thought. Everyone on the school team will surely realize that my strategy involves equivalent substitutions, and no matter if I win or lose the first match, I'll adjust my strategy. This is the best way to deduce my skills. After this match, all four of my skills will be exposed. However, due to type advantages in this match, I can still win, and the worst outcome would be a one-one tie."
Wei Chiting nodded. "Indeed, Gastly can only be used to identify skills. The third match will still be the assistant coach's initiative, right?"
Xia Huanao nodded in confirmation, but Wei Chiting seemed to have some difficulty this time. "The best way to counter this strategy is to knock out the opponent's Pokémon in one go, but..."
"There's no decisive difference, unless you use skills like Self-Destruct or Explosion, but those mutually destructive tactics are not allowed by the rules."
"Although there are Fire-Steel or Fire-Poison types, there aren't any within the Ming Long country, so you'd have to bring a berry no matter what..."
Suddenly, Wei Chiting seemed to have an idea. "First move, Knock Off!"
"That's one way, but if you dare to use Knock Off, I'll switch. Then it will be the same as before."
At this point, Yan Chunyu, the team doctor, spoke. "Perhaps we could use Pokémon with built-in recovery."
Xia Huanao agreed with Yan Chunyu's idea. "Yes, that's another method. In that case, you'll win the third match. In the fourth round, I'll send out my third Pokémon."
"Your third one?"
"Yes, didn't I say that if anyone asks, I'll tell them I've borrowed all the Pokémon? As team doctor, Sister Chunyu should know the specific data."
"Indeed, although a bit rare, our Six Spirits University does have three of them."
Xia Huanao smiled. "Due to abilities or skills, carrying a berry becomes meaningless. In this case, Chansey has a skill called 'Helping Hand,' which can replace its ability. After four rounds, we should achieve a two-two tie."
Indeed, as long as Xia Huanao intended to drag the game out, a two-two tie could be achieved after four rounds.
"It's the final round. How do you plan to make your move? I must state beforehand that after the fourth round ends, I will definitely recall my Pokémon and then release them again. This way, it will be your turn to guess the strategy."
Wei Chiting pondered for a long time and finally said, "These half-and-half gambles are the most troublesome."
"You've been misled by me. You've overlooked a problem: I should only have one Toxic Orb left, as the Flame Orb was thrown."
Wei Chiting nodded vigorously. "That's right. As long as I send out a poison or steel-type Pokémon in the final round, I won't have to gamble."
After saying this, Wei Chiting suddenly felt something was wrong. Xia Huanao smiled. "You were still led astray by me. I brought three Pokémon. The second one is specifically to counter poison and steel types. You saw me bring out two Pokémon, but you don't know I have three."
This theoretical tactical deduction ultimately gave Xia Huanao a slight advantage.
Wei Chiting gave Xia Huanao a thumbs-up. "Assistant Coach Xia is amazing."
Xia Huanao smiled faintly. "After all, it's what I'm most familiar with now."