But the moment the soda hit her stomach...
Hu Yan'er's spirits shot up, and every trace of fatigue vanished without a trace.
"This soda is amazing!"
"I feel like I could run five more laps right now!"
As expected of the big city, even the soda was different from the countryside's.
"Really?"
Half-skeptical, Su Qingxue took a few sips.
The next second, her eyes widened, staring at the bottle in disbelief.
She could feel her stamina returning at a rapid pace.
A moment ago, even standing had been hard for her.
Now she felt like running another lap wouldn't be a problem at all.
She had never imagined a small bottle of soda could have such an effect.
Curious, she asked, "Teacher, what soda is this?
"Where did you buy it? I'm stocking up—at least a few crates."
This soda was clearly a training weapon!
Guo Yi smiled faintly.
"Buy?"
"This is made by me, your teacher. One and only—no second shop in the world."
The drink was called [Soda Pop], a functional beverage that could quickly restore a Pokémon's stamina.
Trainers could drink it too—they just couldn't overdo it.
At most, one bottle per day.
After all, a human body was still different from a Pokémon's.
Of course, that rule didn't include Hu Yan'er.
Her future growth ceiling was that of a humanoid legendary beast.
Treating her like a Pokémon wasn't really wrong.
As for Bai Cai—she had fallen completely silent by now.
If this Guo Yi has nothing to do with that "Bug Master," I wouldn't believe it even if you killed me.
A Beedrill of terrifying strength, top-tier training methods, mysterious crafted drinks...
Plus the Perfect-Grade [Evolution Stone] earlier.
Could an assistant instructor take out things like this?
As for whether Guo Yi came from a famous clan...
Bai Cai was blunt about it: In Dragon Country, any family with the slightest name or influence, she knew of.
There was no Guo family among them.
And besides, if he were from such a family, there was no way he could give away a Perfect-Grade [Moon Stone] at a birthday banquet.
What, you think a family's resources are decided on one man's whim?
No, all the signs pointed to Guo Yi being connected to that mysterious Bug Master.
...
After half an hour of rest, both trainers and Pokémon were fully recovered.
Guo Yi began the next round of training.
"Pikachu, you'll be doing the same as before."
"Keep up high-speed movement while maintaining four [Double Team] clones."
"Pika pika!"
No problem.
As the saying went, once is strange, twice is familiar.
Having been through the special training once, Pikachu brimmed with confidence.
But, she hadn't expected that in only the second session, Guo Yi would raise the difficulty.
"Qingxue, you have a task this time too. Every five minutes, command Nidoqueen to attack Pikachu on the field."
"Limit the moves to [Thunderbolt], [Ice Beam], and [Water Pulse]."
"You get five tries."
"If you don't land a hit in those five, prepare for punishment."
This time, it wasn't just Beedrill.
By having Su Qingxue attack, he was also training her combat insight.
Insight.
One of the most important qualities a trainer could have.
Good insight meant finding an opponent's weakness quickly and striking it.
Of course, Hu Yan'er also got a mission.
"Yan'er, yours is the opposite of Qingxue's.
"When Nidoqueen attacks, you decide whether Pikachu should dodge."
"If Qingxue's Nidoqueen attacks a clone and you order a dodge, you'll be punished too."
"And during this period, Pikachu cannot dodge Nidoqueen's attacks on her own without your command."
"If she does, it's still counted as your failure."
"Ah!"
Hearing her task, Hu Yan'er's face immediately fell.
"A problem?" Guo Yi asked.
"Teacher, Pikachu moves so fast, and there are her [Double Team] clones on the field, I can't tell which is real."
At the start, maybe she could tell, but after a while she couldn't anymore.
Guo Yi's tone grew serious.
"Yan'er, that's where you're wrong."
"As a trainer, you can't just use your eyes to follow your Pokémon. You have to use this."
He pointed to his heart.
"You have to feel Pikachu."
"That way, no matter how many clones there are, you'll know which one is real."
Hu Yan'er, after all, had the talent for Aura.
It hadn't awakened yet, but she already had the basics.
If she understood his meaning, reaching that level was completely possible.
"Feel… with my heart?"
Hu Yan'er's eyes grew thoughtful.
The new round of special training began again.
"Pika!"
Wrapped in a white glow, Pikachu's figure streaked across the field like lightning.
Her speed was even faster than before.
Then, [Double Team] activated.
Five Pikachu darted back and forth across the training ground.
At the side, Su Qingxue locked her eyes on them from the start.
At first, "The one on the left is real."
...
Three minutes later...
"Bottom right seems real."
...
By the fifth minute...
"Top right… no, bottom right… no—should be the top left one!"
...
As time went on, her certainty gave way to hesitation, until finally she lost the real one completely.
With time almost up, Su Qingxue shut her eyes and gambled.
"That one!
"Nidoqueen, [Thunderbolt], center Pikachu!"
Even if she missed, she had four more tries.
"Nido!"
Hearing her trainer's command, Nidoqueen charged a powerful current in her mouth.
A blazing Thunderbolt shot toward the center Pikachu.
Hu Yan'er's eyes tensed, she too couldn't be sure which one was real.
Only when the [Thunderbolt] passed through the Pikachu harmlessly did she breathe a sigh of relief.
Su Qingxue, on the other hand, was disappointed.
"Sbaa!"
As Nidoqueen's attack missed, Beedrill suddenly moved.
In a blink, it was right in front of one Pikachu.
But this time, Pikachu's face lit with confidence.
You're not blocking me again!
A twist of her body, she slipped past the blocking Beedrill.
That one movement was enough for both Su Qingxue and Hu Yan'er to know which Pikachu was the real one.
"Yan'er—Pikachu is your Pokémon."
"If you can't even tell real from fake, how can you be an excellent trainer?"
"If your eyes can't tell, use your heart."
"Trust the bond between you and Pikachu."
Guo Yi's voice rang in her ears.
"Bond… use my heart…"
Under his reminder, Hu Yan'er slowly calmed herself.
She began to feel Pikachu's presence, instead of simply tracking her with her eyes.
Pikachu… where are you?
Seeing Hu Yan'er getting into the rhythm, Guo Yi turned to remind Su Qingxue:
"Qingxue, battles are never set in stone."
"If right now you can't find Pikachu's position, then think of a way to make it easier for you to tell."
"But the rule is the same—five minutes, you can only use one move."
These words left Su Qingxue feeling foggy.
If her Pokémon couldn't get close, and she could only use one move every five minutes, how was she supposed to help herself locate Pikachu?
Clueless, she could only keep watching the five Pikachu on the field, trying to understand the deeper meaning of her teacher's words.
Soon, another minute passed.
Su Qingxue still hadn't found Pikachu's real body, and could only go with her gut.
Pointing at one of the Pikachu, she shouted to Nidoqueen:
"Nidoqueen, [Water Pulse]!"
"Nido!"
The moment her voice fell, a blue orb of water condensed in Nidoqueen's mouth and shot toward one of the Pikachu on the field.
However, it struck yet another clone.
The surging power within the water ball passed right through Pikachu's false image and slammed into the ground.
Bang!
The orb burst instantly, sending a spray of water outward.
The once dry, flat arena now had a small puddle in it.
"Missed again…"
Seeing Nidoqueen's attack once more hit a clone, Su Qingxue couldn't help getting anxious.
Step!
Just then, the real Pikachu stepped into the puddle, making a subtle sound.
A spark of inspiration flashed through Su Qingxue's mind.
"I think I understand what Teacher meant."
The reason she couldn't pinpoint Pikachu's real body was because the battlefield was too flat and open, with nothing to help her distinguish between them.
But, if there were no landmarks, couldn't she make her own?
Like that puddle just now, if it was a clone, stepping on it wouldn't make a sound.
Pokémon's [Double Team] was different from the Naruto Shadow Clone Technique.
Naruto's clones had physical form, but Pokémon's [Double Team] was purely for visual misdirection.
With this clear in her mind, Su Qingxue began deliberately studying the battlefield.
After all, she only had three moves left.
No… really only two, since the last one she needed to use to attack Pikachu directly.
She started searching for the best spot to make her move, how to alter the terrain in a way that would make Pikachu slip up and reveal herself.
Soon...
A minute passed.
"Nidoqueen, center position.
"[Ice Beam]!"
After her observation, Su Qingxue had finally found the perfect location, right in the middle of the five Pikachu.
The reason she kept losing track of the real one was because the real body and the clones constantly switched and crossed paths.
And the dead center was the point they crossed the most.
"Nido!"
Nidoqueen seemed to sense her trainer's confidence.
The [Ice Beam] she fired this time was even stronger than the two moves before.
The pale beam blasted straight into the ground, and in a blink, a solid chunk of ice rose up in the middle of the five Pikachu.
Immediately, two clones ran right into it, shattering themselves and exposing their falsehood.
"Sbaa!"
With two clones gone, Beedrill instantly appeared next to the real Pikachu.
This time, Beedrill didn't make any threatening moves, just stayed by Pikachu's side.
That alone was enough to indirectly tell Su Qingxue where the real Pikachu was.
"Pika…"
Helpless, Pikachu had to burn more stamina to make fresh clones.
Normally, a single [Double Team] could last about five minutes.
So the stamina drain from using it wasn't huge, even if clones were destroyed one by one.
But now...
With that ice pillar in the field, Pikachu had to spend extra effort controlling the clones.
The pressure on her skyrocketed.
Once there were five Pikachu again, Beedrill silently withdrew.
"Qingxue has pretty much figured out the key.
"Now… let's see if Yan'er can pull it off."
Guo Yi smiled, his gaze landing not on Hu Yan'er herself, but on her stat panel—
[Aura Power: Awakening]
Of course, it was only awakening. Using Aura freely was still a long way off.
But, even a small awakening was enough to locate the real Pikachu without too much trouble.
...
Time passed again.
Another five minutes.
This time, Su Qingxue didn't have Nidoqueen make another ice pillar.
Instead, she planned to destroy the old one.
"Nidoqueen, [Water Pulse]!"
At her command, the ice column exploded under the force of the water, scattering into chunks.
In an instant, the entire battlefield was left wet and slick.
And such a field made it even easier for Su Qingxue to observe.
"Perfect."
"Now Pikachu's position is locked. All that's left is the finishing strike."
She looked at the little splashes rising here and there, her face showing the confidence of someone holding a winning hand.
Only five minutes left.
Meanwhile...
A faint ripple of unknown energy began to appear around Hu Yan'er.
In her mind, she also began to sense a vague shadow, moving quickly.
"Is that you, Pikachu?"
But, the shadow gave no answer, only kept running.
Hu Yan'er focused harder.
Gradually, the shadow grew larger, clearer.
"Pika!"
With a cry from Pikachu, Hu Yan'er's eyes flew open.
"There you are!"
At that exact moment, the five minutes were up.
"Nidoqueen, [Thunderbolt]!"
Perhaps to lessen the damage to Pikachu, Su Qingxue chose [Thunderbolt] as the finishing move.
Crackling lightning roared forth.
Victory already gleamed in her eyes.
But then, Hu Yan'er's voice rang out for the first time.
"Pikachu, jump and dodge!"
"Pika!"
Hearing her trainer's command, Pikachu leapt up, barely avoiding the [Thunderbolt].
And with that successful dodge, This round of training ended in Hu Yan'er's victory.
"Yes! Pikachu!"
"I felt it—"
"I felt your presence!"
Hu Yan'er ran over, scooping Pikachu into her arms, sharing her joy.
Meanwhile, the defeated Su Qingxue wore an unwilling expression.
Just as she was about to argue with Guo Yi, a dazzling white light flared not far away…