Dawn was just breaking.
The sky stretched wide and clear, and daylight slowly pushed back the lingering edges of darkness.
Guo Yi was already up. After a quick wash, he made his way to the villa where Su Qingxue was staying, and waited until he saw her leave.
Then, moving ahead of her, he hurried to the riverside pavilion and placed the training plan he'd written onto the stone table inside.
"…No good!"
"It's too conspicuous on the table. Better to leave it on the ground."
"Oh, right—I'll step on it a few tis."
He wanted it to look like it had been accidentally dropped.
To complete the illusion, Guo Yi deliberately stamped a few footprints onto the clean sheet of paper.
Once he was satisfied, he turned and left without looking back.
Back in his room, he waited in silence.
Whether this works or not... it all depends on whether fate brings and Su Qingxue together as teacher and student.
If she ca to seek him out—perfect. Su Qingxue would gain the most accurate training plan for her Nidoran♀, and Guo Yi would gain a prodigiously talented student.
If not—
Well, then it simply wasn't ant to be.
And he'd just go back and recruit Wang Xiaobao instead.
That was just the kind of person Guo Yi was—laid-back, not overly attached.
The reason he'd gone to all this effort wasn't solely because of Su Qingxue's remarkable potential.
More importantly, it was because of the [Newcor Gift Pack] tied to the first student.
He was truly curious to see just how generous the reward could be.
Of course, if he gave it his best and still failed, then so be it.
Even if he had to settle for the "Team Rocket Elite Captain" template, it was still… tolerable.
---
Shortly after Guo Yi left, Su Qingxue arrived at the pavilion.
"Uncle Ye, I'll admit… this countryside view really has its own charm."
Breathing in the crisp morning air, Su Qingxue felt her mood lift considerably.
Standing beside her, Uncle Ye smiled warmly. "Naturally, young miss. Back when the chairman had this villa built, he personally ca to inspect the location."
Originally, this villa was ant to be a sumr retreat for the chairman—sowhere quiet and scenic to relax when ti allowed.
Who would've thought—
It would beco a safe haven for his daughter, a place to retreat from the political storms of Magic City.
Such is life—always full of surprises.
"Mm…"
"What's this?"
As Su Qingxue glanced around, she spotted a sheet of white paper by the stone stool.
Lines and lines of text filled the page.
Uncle Ye gave it a passing glance and said casually, "Probably so kid's sumr howork. Looks like they dropped it."
Back when he was young, Uncle Ye loved coming to pavilions like this to write his howork with his childhood friends.
When they got tired of writing—
They'd go play in the stream, trying to catch little fish or flip rocks to find crabs.
Looking back now…
Those were the carefree days.
"Sumr howork, huh?"
"Poor kid who lost this—they're probably in for it," Su Qingxue said with a chuckle as she bent down to pick up the paper, intending to set it on the stone table.
But the mont she saw what was written—
Her whole body froze.
"Hidden ability... [Hustle]?"
"I thought Nidoran♀ only had [Poison Point] or [Rivalry] as its abilities?"
"Where did this Hustle ability co from?"
"And this bit about nullifying the Life Orb's recoil... Damn, it cuts off right here!"
She stared at the sudden stop near the bottom of the page, clearly unsatisfied.
Hidden Ability: [Hustle]. Nidoran♀ has that?
In her mory—
Both Nidoran♀ and Nidoqueen were only known to have [Poison Point] and [Rivalry].
So what was this [Hustle]?
After all, it had only been a few centuries since Pokémon first appeared in this world.
Things like egg groups, battle tactics, and abilities were still being explored and studied.
Many abilities—including [Hustle] and [Sheer Force]—hadn't yet been publicly docunted.
Though Su Qingxue still had doubts about the authenticity of this "Guo Yi's" explanation, there was no denying her own Nidoran♀ was different from the norm.
From the beginning—
Her mother had gifted her this Nidoran♀ because its power was far greater than others of the sa level.
But during training, Su Qingxue noticed that for all its overwhelming power, its accuracy took a serious hit.
She'd always assud that was simply a flaw in Nidoran♀'s control of its strength.
But now… it seed there might be more to it.
"Guo Yi?"
"Who is this so-called 'Professor Guo'? I've never heard of him."
She murmured the na written at the bottom of the page.
"Miss? Is sothing wrong?" Uncle Ye asked, seeing her frozen in place, staring at the paper.
"Ah—no, it's nothing!"
Startled, Su Qingxue quickly hid the paper behind her back.
She didn't do it because she distrusted Uncle Ye.
It was just—this paper clearly contained the hard-earned insight and effort of soone else.
Reading it for free already felt like crossing a line. Publicizing it further would only make things worse.
And besides...
She had questions. She needed to find this Teacher Guo and ask them herself.
"I'd like to find soone in the village," she said suddenly.
Uncle Ye blinked in surprise.
"You've only just arrived, and you already want to find soone?"
Still, despite his confusion, he nodded. "No problem. Yesterday Madam Wu introduced to the village chief. I can ask him for help."
"Who are we looking for, miss?"
Su Qingxue responded quietly:
"Guo Yi."
...
"You're asking about Guo Yi?"
"Sure, I know him—he's in the village right now."
Inside the villa, the village chief spoke with his usual cheer.
"Need sothing from him?"
Hearing that Guo Yi was still nearby, Su Qingxue's heart lifted.
If he was still here, then maybe—just maybe—she could get her hands on the rest of that plan.
She explained, "It's like this, Village Chief. This morning, we found sothing in the pavilion that had his na on it."
"So we wanted to return it—and also ask him about it."
"Oh, and Village Chief, do you know what he does?"
"What he does?"
The chief thought for a mont, then said, "Can't say I know exactly, but I think he called himself a Pokémon instructor."
"Oh! And yesterday, he had gather all the village kids. Looked like he was hoping to take on a student."
"But in the end, he didn't seem to find anyone he liked."
Pokémon instructor?
So that plan… it was ant for a student?
Now that she knew Guo Yi's background, Su Qingxue was more determined than ever to et him.
She imdiately asked for his address.
"Where does Guo Yi live?"
"Not far," the village chief said with a grin. "Just behind your villa—in that thatched cottage back there."
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