"Amazing, Teacher Guo!"
"To think you could see through Toxicroak's strength at a glance!"
A flash of surprise flickered across Tang Rong's eyes.
Judging a Pokémon's strength solely by appearance wasn't a skill ordinary people possessed.
Guo Yi smiled faintly. "I don't just know its strength. I also know exactly what you're about to ask me."
"You're wondering why your Toxicroak's stamina drains especially quickly on sunny days, right?"
The moment he said this, Tang Rong was utterly astonished.
After all, aside from Ye Qing, she hadn't told anyone else about this—even her own family remained unaware.
Instinctively, Tang Rong glanced toward Ye Qing, suspecting her best friend had revealed Toxicroak's secret to Guo Yi.
Yet Ye Qing's mouth hung open slightly, equally stunned. She even turned to look back at Tang Rong in confusion.
For a moment, the two women just stared blankly at each other.
Guo Yi chuckled softly, breaking their daze. "No need to look so shocked."
"This phenomenon is related to the Pokémon's body to an extent, but it's not solely due to its physical constitution."
The primary reason behind Toxicroak's unusual reaction was its special ability: [Dry Skin].
In the entire Pokémon world, very few species possessed the [Dry Skin] ability—only about seven species in total—and Toxicroak was one of them.
Additionally, trainers who raised these Pokémon were rare, making this particular trait even less understood. If researchers had studied this trait, none had publicly announced their findings yet.
Guo Yi's vague statement left the three women utterly confused.
Tang Rong, being direct as always, pressed him immediately. "Teacher Guo, stop beating around the bush! Just spit it out already!"
Guo Yi finally began to explain patiently.
"Miss Tang, apart from sunny days when your Toxicroak's stamina rapidly declines, haven't you ever noticed anything strange on rainy days?"
"Rainy days?" Tang Rong paused thoughtfully.
"Now that you mention it, I do recall something unusual. During a previous training session, it suddenly began to drizzle. At that time, since the session was almost complete, I decided to continue training despite the rain. Surprisingly, Toxicroak performed exceptionally well."
"Usually, after about ten minutes of intense training, it would be completely exhausted."
"But that day, it lasted twice as long—training a full twenty minutes before collapsing."
Listening closely, Su Qingxue couldn't help asking curiously, "Aunt Tang, weren't you curious about why that happened?"
Normally, when a Pokémon's training duration suddenly doubled without explanation, wouldn't someone investigate further?
Tang Rong laughed. "Of course I checked. Afterward, I found that Toxicroak had just improved significantly. Naturally, I attributed its endurance to its strength increase. It never occurred to me that the rain itself might be a factor."
Though Tang Rong knew some Pokémon could speed up or restore stamina in rain, Toxicroak wasn't publicly documented among them.
All eyes turned back to Guo Yi expectantly.
Guo Yi smiled and patiently shared his knowledge.
"The only officially recognized ability for Toxicroak's species is [Anticipation], which enhances the Pokémon's alertness and helps detect dangerous moves from opponents."
"Whether in the wild or in battle, [Anticipation] is an excellent ability," he added.
The three women nodded in agreement. Indeed, in reality, a Pokémon with [Anticipation] was rarely caught off guard, unlike in games where it only alerted trainers of super-effective or one-hit KO moves.
In reality, Anticipation functioned like a sixth sense, forewarning Pokémon of danger.
"But…" Guo Yi continued meaningfully, "as far as I know, besides [Anticipation], Toxicroak can possess two other abilities."
"Two more abilities?!" The three women were astonished again.
Guo Yi nodded, calmly elaborating, "They're [Poison Touch] and [Dry Skin]."
"[Poison Touch], as the name suggests, gives Pokémon the chance to poison opponents during physical attacks."
"As for [Dry Skin], its effect matches what you've experienced with your Toxicroak. On sunny days, it rapidly loses stamina; on rainy days, it gradually recovers."
Tang Rong, still puzzled, protested, "But my Toxicroak should have [Anticipation]! Its alertness is unmatched in my entire Tang family!"
Guo Yi smiled lightly. "Alertness isn't the same as an ability—it can be significantly enhanced through training. [Anticipation] merely lowers the training difficulty for heightened alertness. On the other hand, [Dry Skin]'s effects cannot be replicated or modified by external training."
Since Pokémon appeared in the real world, some abilities significantly diverged from their game descriptions.
Take [Run Away], for example—in games, it guaranteed escape from wild Pokémon battles. But in reality, could a Rattata with [Run Away] really escape from a Pseudo-Elite Salamence? Obviously not.
In practice, [Run Away] likely enhanced speed potential, giving Pokémon a natural advantage, though other Pokémon could match it with intense training.
"I see now!" Tang Rong finally understood her Toxicroak's condition thoroughly thanks to Guo Yi's explanation.
But another nagging question arose in her mind.
Abruptly, she leaned forward, pushing Guo Yi backward onto the sofa, cornering him aggressively.
"Spill it!" she demanded fiercely. "How exactly did you find out all this information?"
Even professional Pokémon researchers hadn't discovered these traits. How did a simple village teacher like Guo Yi know?
Their faces were dangerously close now—so close, Guo Yi could faintly smell Tang Rong's delicate fragrance.
Mm, quite pleasant…
Subconsciously, Guo Yi took a deeper breath.
Realizing his action, Tang Rong's cheeks instantly flushed bright red. Hastily pulling away, she cursed under her breath, "Pervert!"
Guo Yi could only helplessly spread his hands in innocence.
Pervert?
Who exactly pushed whom onto the sofa?
Who's the real pervert here?!
As expected…
When arguing with women, logic always failed to prevail.
"You—!"
Tang Rong momentarily struggled to think of a comeback.
"Alright, Tang Rong," Ye Qing quickly intervened. "You already know Teacher Guo's capabilities. He's always hiding his true strength. Besides, those two abilities pale in comparison to Nidoqueen's [Sheer Force]."
After today's events, Ye Qing no longer dared underestimate Guo Yi.
Two Perfect-Grade [Evolutionary Stones] casually produced, along with detailed information about unknown Pokémon abilities—every action revealed Guo Yi's extraordinary depth.
As for Guo Yi being from the countryside… did that even matter anymore?
It could only mean he was a hidden master, hiding in plain sight.
"Teacher Guo, haven't you considered publishing your findings?" Ye Qing suggested earnestly. "If you did, obtaining a Researcher title would be effortless for you."
Normally, discovering and thoroughly documenting an unknown Pokémon ability could easily earn someone a Researcher qualification. Such credentials would undoubtedly boost Guo Yi's career as a Pokémon Instructor.
However, Guo Yi shook his head firmly, rejecting Ye Qing's idea outright.
The reason?
Simple—too much trouble.
Academic achievements were never as simple as merely stating a few facts; they required extensive, verifiable data.
Even though Guo Yi knew he was right, outsiders would likely dismiss Tang Rong's Toxicroak as merely an anomaly. To establish widely accepted results, he'd need considerable investments of both time and money.
Money wasn't the issue—he could easily redeem rare items worth billions of yuan with [Mentor Points]—but time was precious.
Rather than spend time personally researching, he might as well find a talented disciple with potential like Professor Oak or Professor Elm and let them handle it. Wouldn't that be far easier?
As for fame…
If his disciples became famous, wouldn't their teacher naturally gain recognition too?
"Well, since Teacher Guo has his own plans, I won't insist," Ye Qing relented with a smile.
Actually, she'd had her own motives for suggesting Guo Yi publish a paper.
As the Azure Dragon Society's leader, Ye Qing understood the extensive resources academic research demanded. If Guo Yi agreed, she would happily provide all funds, manpower, and Pokémon for their own research facility.
With Guo Yi's talents, establishing a prestigious research lab would decisively curb the Flying Eagle Gang's arrogance—after all, influence in academia was no laughing matter!
Unfortunately, Guo Yi showed no interest, so she could only abandon the idea.
"Miss Tang, could you release your Pokémon so I can take a look? Perhaps I could offer some advice."
He figured he might as well follow through completely since he'd already started helping—repaying Tang Rong's kindness for arranging his assistant position at Shanghai Pokémon University.
"You don't need to keep calling me 'Miss Tang.' Just Tang Rong is fine."
Tang Rong puffed her cheeks slightly, clearly still irritated by Guo Yi's earlier behavior. Yet her actions remained obedient, promptly releasing all her Pokémon.
In addition to the previously shown Toxicroak—
The second Pokémon was also a Poison-type. It resembled a giant frog, a large flower blooming impressively on its back.
Indeed, it was one of Kanto's iconic starter Pokémon—the fully-evolved Venusaur.
[Venusaur (Grass/Poison)]
[Gender: ♀]
[Level: Lv67 (Pseudo-Elite Four)]
[Ability: Overgrow (Boosts Grass-type moves by 50% when below 1/3 HP.)]
[Moves: Poison Powder, Sleep Powder, Leech Seed, Synthesis, Petal Blizzard, Solar Beam]
[Tutored Moves: Sludge Bomb, Energy Ball, Giga Drain]
[Egg Move: Grassy Terrain]
[Held Item: Black Sludge (Elite Four-Grade)]
[Potential: Pseudo-Elite Four]
Seeing Venusaur's stats, Guo Yi couldn't help but silently ridicule:
Truly worthy of being the "Garlic Toad"—its moveset is disgustingly effective!
From its moves alone, Tang Rong clearly favored an attrition strategy.
[Sleep Powder] + [Leech Seed] + [Synthesis] + [Giga Drain]—
As long as Venusaur wasn't knocked out instantly, it would slowly grind opponents to death. With excellent endurance and low-cost raising requirements compared to Blastoise and Charizard, Bulbasaur was indeed a popular starter Pokémon.
After [Mega Evolution], Venusaur even gained [Thick Fat], further bolstering its resilience. Except against Flying or Psychic-type attacks, few moves could significantly harm it.
Following Venusaur, Tang Rong released two more Pokémon.
A Water-type Poliwhirl and a Poison/Dragon-type Skrelp.
Poliwhirl's strength had reached Ace-Level, needing only a suitable [Water Stone] to evolve. Skrelp, meanwhile, had just recently attained Qualified-Level, clearly a newer addition to her team.
"Teacher Guo, you probably don't recognize this Pokémon, right?" Tang Rong lifted Skrelp proudly, challenging Guo Yi. "Curious about it? Well, I'll tell you!"
She'd discovered this Pokémon recently within a Secret Realm owned by the Tang family. Even identifying its name required extensive research in ancient records.
Yet, before she could even start bragging, Guo Yi casually interrupted her.
"Skrelp, a Poison/Water-type Pokémon. Its evolved form, Dragalge, even gains the Dragon-type. Quite a rare Pokémon indeed."
Tang Rong froze in mid-boast, speechless.