The group lingered in the private room at the restaurant for a while longer. Gong Xiaoyun then stood up, "Little Hu Nao, shall we go for a walk to help digest our food?"
Li Qiufeng reminded Xia Hu Nao, "Assistant Instructor Xia, be careful, Xiaoyun's Pokémon are very strong."
Xia Hu Nao turned to him, "Come on, who do you want to win between us?"
Seeing the mischievous smile on Xia Hu Nao's face, Li Qiufeng panicked. What should he say? If he said he wanted Xia Hu Nao to lose, given Assistant Instructor Xia's personality, he would surely make things difficult for him later. But if he wanted his own girlfriend to lose, what kind of ridiculously straightforward man would that make him?
The group arrived at the small battle arena behind the restaurant.
"Come on, Little Hu Nao, let me show you my Infernape!"
Looking at the lively Infernape on the field, which occasionally spat out small flames, Xia Hu Nao asked, "Sister, you got a new Pokémon again."
Gong Xiaoyun threw a couple of punches forward, "That's right, isn't this lively Infernape great?"
"System, take a look at this Infernape."
The system refused, "No need, what's there to see? It's just a starter Pokémon, you won't have any difficulty fighting it."
Xia Hu Nao threw out his Poké Ball, and the battle began.
"Froakie, use Bubble for close combat."
"Eager to attack, Infernape, use Leer and Scratch."
Froakie hopped forward, spitting out bubbles, while Infernape stared with wide eyes and lunged forward. Infernape's movements were swift, and it actually charged through the bubbles, landing a scratch on Froakie's face.
Hit by Leer, Froakie took considerable damage from the scratch, but Xia Hu Nao wasn't without a counter-measure, "Froakie, use Growl!"
Froakie opened its mouth and let out a growl, while Gong Xiaoyun had Infernape use Leer and Scratch again.
Xia Hu Nao truly detested moves like Leer and Scratch. Was it considered one move or two? However, Xia Hu Nao had a certain method for dealing with such moves; one didn't necessarily have to close their eyes to dodge it.
"Froakie, use Bubble on Infernape's eyes."
Froakie flicked bubbles from its hands, accurately smearing them onto Infernape's eyes. Infernape felt discomfort in its eyes and quickly lowered its head to rub them.
"Now, Froakie, use Bubble Beam."
"Infernape, your next move!"
While rubbing its eyes, Infernape raised its hands, attempting to block Froakie's Bubble Beam in its blinded state. However, Froakie's attack didn't come from above, but from below, pushing upwards. It was less of a beam and more like flipping a table.
Infernape, bracing for an attack from above, was instead knocked over by this move.
"Froakie, jump on it and finish the battle with Bubble."
Froakie leaped onto Infernape, pinning it to the ground, and unleashed a Bubble attack.
Although Infernape struggled and resisted, it eventually lost the ability to battle under Froakie's onslaught.
After returning Infernape to its Poké Ball, Gong Xiaoyun patted Xia Hu Nao, "Not bad. I heard there were some issues with your batch, and you're all using Pokémon hatched from eggs. To have trained them to this level within a few months, you're quite capable."
Xia Hu Nao picked up Froakie, "You worked hard too."
After the battle, they noticed it was past nine o'clock. If they didn't return soon, Six Spirits University would be closing its gates. The group then left the restaurant and headed back to school.
...
The next morning, Xia Hu Nao went out onto the balcony to wash up again. He enjoyed watching the morning sun's rays glinting on the lake.
"G-Good morning, Little Xiazi..."
Xia Hu Nao turned around and saw Tong Ruo standing by the balcony, greeting him. Xia Hu Nao spat out the water in his mouth, "Oh, Sister Ruo, did you two switch today?"
Tong Ruo pulled Zheng Xiaoxiao, who was beside her, forward to greet Xia Hu Nao. Xia Hu Nao waved his hand, "I won't disturb you two's bonding time. I'm off for my morning training."
With that, Xia Hu Nao turned and left the balcony. After tidying himself up, he went for his morning training, while Zheng Xiaoxiao once again disappeared from the balcony.
After his morning training, Xia Hu Nao arrived at the cafeteria. He noticed everyone in the cafeteria was looking at him. Xia Hu Nao looked down at himself; his attire was fine. He touched his face; nothing unusual there. Why was everyone staring at him like that?
Just then, Wang Hu, who had been sitting nearby, walked over, "Assistant Instructor Xia, you haven't seen today's news, have you?"
Xia Hu Nao blinked in surprise, "News? What news?"
Wang Hu looked at Xia Hu Nao, "Assistant Instructor Xia, you really are no ordinary person, to pretend you don't know about something so significant."
As he spoke, Wang Hu took out his phone and placed it in front of Xia Hu Nao, "Assistant Instructor Xia, take a look."
Xia Hu Nao glanced at it. It turned out the news was reporting on the attribute compatibility adjustments he had discovered, and it also confirmed his identity as an honorary researcher. Regarding the news, Xia Hu Nao commented, "Oh, that. Nothing strange about it. Go eat your breakfast."
Xia Hu Nao's composure once again earned him admiration from everyone. Similarly, his standing at Six Spirits University rose again, and for a time, he was the talk of the town.
At this very moment, Xia Hu Nao, the person in the spotlight, was chatting with his girlfriend, a smile on his face. However, Xia Hu Nao kept his becoming an assistant instructor a secret from her. He decided to tell her only after he became a proper teacher, ideally luring Shen Yu to Six Spirits University. At that time, Shen Yu's expression would surely be priceless.
After finishing his conversation with his girlfriend, Xia Hu Nao adjusted his attire, "Let's go, class time."
Xia Hu Nao's week was quite leisurely. Although Tong Ruo was a lecturer at Six Spirits University, there were only seven first-year classes in total. And each class only had one battle class held in the battle arena; the remaining courses were in the teaching buildings.
Just as Xia Hu Nao was about to head to class, he received a text message from his parents. Reading the message, Xia Hu Nao chuckled, "I really didn't expect this."
Xia Hu Nao walked out of the cafeteria and began looking around. He had only been here for three days and was completely unfamiliar with Six Spirits University, so he had no idea where the Pokémon Center was. Just then, Xia Hu Nao spotted Feng Bing.
Feng Bing watched Xia Hu Nao approach him with a mischievous grin, "Hey, Assistant Instructor Xia, what are you up to? Class is about to start soon, and it's Teacher Tong's class."
Xia Hu Nao nodded, "I know. I'm just asking you where the Pokémon Center is."
Feng Bing was relieved. He had thought Xia Hu Nao was going to drag him to skip class. After pointing Xia Hu Nao in the direction of the Pokémon Center, Feng Bing hurried towards the teaching building.
Like "the farther you look, the farther it is," Xia Hu Nao ran for five minutes before reaching the Pokémon Center, "Ah, Six Spirits University is too big! I'm exhausted. Excuse me, I need to pick up a Poké Ball."
The Poké Ball transfer system on Ling Yao Star was very ingenious. By placing the Poké Ball into a transfer machine and entering the destination, the Poké Ball could be transmitted. To retrieve a Poké Ball, one needed to enter the verification password generated during the transfer and their trainer identification number, ensuring it wouldn't be claimed by others.
After entering the verification password and trainer number, Xia Hu Nao retrieved a Poké Ball from the machine. Taking the Poké Ball, Xia Hu Nao took a deep breath and then sprinted towards the teaching building...
Rushing as fast as he could, our classmate Xia Hu Nao was still late. Seven minutes into the class, Xia Hu Nao finally knocked on the door and entered the classroom.
"Sorry, Sister Ruo, I'm late."
Tong Ruo, standing at the podium, looked at the panting Xia Hu Nao and angrily tapped the blackboard with her pointer, "I say, where were you? You're only arriving now that class has started?"
Xia Hu Nao raised his hand, showing Tong Ruo the Poké Ball in his hand, "I, I went to the Pokémon Center."
"Is your Pokémon injured? Is it serious?"
Xia Hu Nao shook his head, "It's not injured. I went to receive a Poké Ball."
Tong Ruo looked at the Poké Ball in Xia Hu Nao's hand, "You have a third Pokémon? Don't you only have two? When did you get a third one?"
"It grew up with me since I was little. My parents were worried about me, so they sent it over."
Feng Bing, sitting in the back row, raised his hand, "Assistant Instructor Xia, can we see your Pokémon?"
This request was not unusual, as the Pokémon Xia Hu Nao used in yesterday's battle were all rented. He had never shown his own Pokémon to the students before.
Xia Hu Nao paused, then looked at Tong Ruo. Tong Ruo nodded, "It's fine, you can release them all, as long as you don't release Pokémon like Rhydon."
"Are you sure you want to see?"
His demeanor made the classmates confused. What Pokémon was there to be shy about? So, they all urged Xia Hu Nao to release his Pokémon.
Xia Hu Nao had no choice but to take out his Poké Balls and release Froakie and Rotom. To be fair, although Froakie was a common Pokémon, Rotom's rare status was different. A significant portion of the students present were seeing a Rotom in person for the first time and immediately took out their phones to take pictures.
Feng Bing then egged Xia Hu Nao on to release his third Pokémon. Xia Hu Nao pointed at Feng Bing, "Are you sure? You might get beaten up doing that?"
Feng Bing was taken aback: beaten up? Could it be that Assistant Instructor Xia's Pokémon was a Primeape, known for its fiery temper? But he quickly dismissed the thought. What Pokémon could possibly cause trouble here under Teacher Tong Ruo's watch?
Feng Bing said righteously, "Assistant Instructor Xia, don't worry, I'm not afraid."
Xia Hu Nao sighed inwardly. If you don't seek death, you won't die. Still, he took out a Poké Ball, "Come out, Little Meng."
Hearing the Pokémon called "Little Meng," the classmates assumed it was a very cute Pokémon. But when they saw the Pokémon that emerged was a Chansey, the entire class let out a collective groan. Feng Bing, doubting his sanity, asked, "Why is it a Chansey?"
Xia Hu Nao shrugged, "I said before that Chansey is the Pokémon I'm most familiar with. Do you understand why now?"
Seeing that the classmates were showing signs of PTSD, Xia Hu Nao said, "Alright, that's all for my Pokémon display. If any of you feel uncomfortable, blame Feng Bing, since he's the one who asked me to release the Pokémon."
Looking at the angry gazes of his classmates, Feng Bing trembled in a corner seat of the classroom, "So, this is the beating I was going to get?"