Not long after Guo Yi left the Azure Dragon Society, both the Flying Eagle Gang and the Azure Dragon Society began energetically spreading news of his upcoming battle with Lie Ke.
In just a single morning, practically every influential group in Shanghai learned about Guo Yi's impending battle against Lie Ke.
After all, whether it was Ling Si from the Flying Eagle Gang or Ye Qing from the Azure Dragon Society, both clearly understood:
This was a battle destined to decide the future of both gangs.
Whoever won—the other side would have no chance to ever rise again.
Therefore, for this final confrontation, both sides deliberately stirred up enormous publicity.
Because both were utterly confident of their victory.
...
In the Leng family's residence.
"Ice King" Bing Dehai broke into a slight smile upon hearing the news.
"Interesting."
"That old fellow Lie Ke actually went and picked a fight with a junior."
Bing Dehai chuckled softly.
Truthfully, if it had been only about Lie Ke alone,
he wouldn't have been interested at all.
After all, Lie Ke was someone from the same generation as himself.
Bing Dehai knew Lie Ke inside and out.
However—though the two men belonged to the same era, their relationship wasn't particularly friendly.
Although Lie Ke had been an Elite Four-level Fire-type specialist—holding a type advantage over Bing Dehai, an Ice-type trainer—there had always been a significant gap in their actual strengths.
Moreover, Lie Ke's hot-headed personality often sparked conflicts between them.
As a retired Champion, Bing Dehai was well aware that Lie Ke's retirement was far from honorable. Rather, Lie Ke had been forced out by the Pokémon Alliance due to certain unsavory matters.
Already unfriendly with him, Bing Dehai's opinion of Lie Ke plummeted even further once he learned of these hidden circumstances.
The only reason this particular news had grabbed his attention at all was due to Guo Yi.
"Guo Yi's teacher, huh?"
"If Yue'er hasn't made a mistake, his teacher is the same 'Bug Master' who made such a shocking appearance some time ago."
"If that's true, Lie Ke is in for some serious trouble."
As for this mysterious figure who had defeated even the legendary Pokémon Zapdos—
Bing Dehai was genuinely looking forward to meeting him someday.
As for the outcome of the upcoming battle…
If this news about Guo Yi's teacher was real, Lie Ke's defeat was certain.
After all, "Bug Master" wasn't just a title given casually by netizens; it symbolized absolute strength.
Meanwhile, major families in Shanghai, like the Tang family, Bai family, and Zhou family, began making their moves as well.
To put it bluntly—
the outcome of this battle was bound to drastically reshape Shanghai's current power structure.
...
That afternoon.
Just when Guo Yi thought he could finally relax, lazing around in his villa, enjoying Miss Qun'er's massage services—
Tang Ming suddenly called, urgently requesting his presence at the university, claiming someone from the Pokémon Alliance had arrived.
And so—
Guo Yi's life of decadence came to an abrupt end before it even began.
In truth, Guo Yi couldn't care less whether someone was from the Alliance or not.
But since Director Tang had personally called to ask, Guo Yi still decided to grant him face.
Besides, Guo Yi had already seen the university's clarification announcement.
If he guessed correctly, the announcement was Tang Ming's doing.
Of course, Bai Cai's help had likely played a key role as well.
Otherwise—
Guo Yi wouldn't have believed for a second that a spoiled rich kid like Bai Lin, who thrived on chaos, would voluntarily step forward to admit fault.
At this moment, in the university's administration office—
Tang Ming, having just hung up the phone, was now smiling awkwardly at an elderly visitor.
"Professor Sun, my apologies!"
"Teacher Guo doesn't have class today, so he wasn't at school earlier."
"But I've already informed him. Teacher Guo is on his way right now."
Tang Ming wore an embarrassed expression.
He truly hadn't expected that Professor Sun would visit without any advance notice.
This elderly gentleman, named Sun Derong, was a senior professor from the Shanghai Pokémon Research Institute.
His primary research field was studying how different Pokémon items impacted Pokémon themselves.
In the Pokémon academic world, he held considerable status.
Indeed—
More importantly, Professor Sun himself had once studied at Shanghai Pokémon University.
Being both an alumnus and a senior scholar, Tang Ming naturally treated him with utmost respect.
Sun Derong took the offered teacup, sipped slowly, and replied gently with a smile, "It's no trouble at all."
"Rather, it's my sudden intrusion that's caused you inconvenience, Director Tang."
Tang Ming quickly responded, "Professor Sun, please don't call me 'Director.' Just call me Xiao Tang."
In front of a scholarly authority like Sun Derong, Tang Ming's attitude was inevitably humble.
"Since you insist, Xiao Tang, then I won't stand on ceremony," Sun Derong placed down his cup, continuing, "You must already know why I've come here today."
"I just want you to tell me honestly—the news circulating online, that Teacher Guo's Nidoking can negate the recoil from Life Orb—is this really true?"
The topic of negating Life Orb recoil had previously been a key research project led by Professor Sun.
However—
After years without meaningful progress, the project had eventually been put on hold.
Facing Professor Sun's inquiry, Tang Ming naturally wouldn't dare mislead him, and answered truthfully, "Professor Sun, to be honest with you—"
"As for whether the claims about Life Orb are true or not, I can't fully guarantee yet."
"Although Teacher Guo mentioned he'll publicly reveal this secret soon, we haven't independently verified it."
"If not for the escalating situation online, I originally intended to wait until Teacher Guo's formal disclosure before announcing it officially."
Although Tang Ming himself had faith in Guo Yi, believing he wouldn't have made such claims without certainty—
when faced with Professor Sun, Tang Ming still refrained from being absolute.
Yet Professor Sun smiled, shaking his head slightly, "Xiao Tang, there's no need for such modesty."
"I've already watched the battle videos of Teacher Guo's Pokémon, and I can confirm that Nidoking was indeed equipped with a Life Orb."
"My only confusion is—even accounting for the Life Orb, the power of Nidoking's moves seems far beyond the publicly acknowledged 30% increase."
"That's why I wanted to come and ask directly if Teacher Guo used some special method to boost the Life Orb's effects."
As an expert in Pokémon items, Professor Sun had only needed to watch the video briefly to confirm that Nidoking was indeed equipped with a Life Orb.
But what surprised him wasn't merely the negation of recoil—rather, it was the extraordinary boost in move power granted by the Life Orb.
Over the years, Professor Sun's team had conducted extensive research into the Life Orb. Even if they hadn't solved its recoil problem, their data was impeccable.
The 30% power increase was supported by hundreds of thousands of experimental trials.
Professor Sun simply couldn't understand—with such robust data backing their research, how could their findings still be incorrect?
It was precisely to clear up this discrepancy—that Professor Sun had hurried here in such haste.
If the error lay in their experiments, Professor Sun would have to devote significant time identifying the problem, ensuring future research didn't repeat these mistakes.
For scientists like them—failure wasn't scary.
What was terrifying was failure without knowing the cause.
That was what truly required attention.
...
About fifteen minutes later—
Knock, knock, knock!
Someone suddenly knocked on the door of the administration office.
Guo Yi's voice came from outside the door:
"Is Director Tang here?"
"It's Guo Yi."
Recognizing Guo Yi's voice, Tang Ming immediately rose to open the door, greeting him enthusiastically.
"Teacher Guo, you're finally here!"
"Come, let me introduce you—this is Professor Sun, a leading expert in Pokémon item research."
Before Guo Yi could even react, Tang Ming led him straight to Professor Sun and swiftly introduced him.
"Nice to meet you, Professor Sun."
"My name is Guo Yi."
Although Guo Yi hadn't fully grasped the situation, he politely offered his hand for a handshake.
Professor Sun shook his hand warmly, his face filled with kindness.
"Teacher Guo, it's a pleasure."
"I apologize for dropping by so abruptly."
Facing Guo Yi, Professor Sun showed no airs whatsoever. His first words expressed sincere apologies for his unexpected visit.
"Professor Sun, you're too kind."
"It's an honor that you took the trouble to visit me personally," Guo Yi replied with a polite smile.
Of course, Guo Yi was already very familiar with Professor Sun's name.
After all—the "Complete Guide to Pokémon Items," currently one of the most popular journals in the Dragon Nation, was compiled by Professor Sun's team.
From the moment it was published—this book brought enormous convenience to countless Pokémon trainers.
Before Professor Sun's team had cataloged and published their research—trainers exploring Secret Realms were practically blind when identifying valuable Pokémon items. Most relied purely on instinct, taking everything indiscriminately, hoping it had some use.
However—doing so often meant missing valuable treasures while picking up useless trinkets.
Take the Miracle Seed, for example.
Ordinary trainers wouldn't easily recognize that a small seed could be a potent Pokémon item.
The guide even advised clearly which Pokémon to pair with specific items.
Furthermore, the journal was regularly updated, making it an invaluable resource to the community.
Given such a prestigious expert's sudden appearance, Guo Yi had quickly guessed his intentions—undoubtedly, it concerned the Life Orb.
Thus, Guo Yi spoke up proactively:
"Professor Sun, you've probably come regarding how I negated the Life Orb's recoil, right?"
Just as he was about to explain, unexpectedly—
Professor Sun shook his head gently and corrected him:
"You've misunderstood, Teacher Guo. While I'm indeed curious about that matter—"
"Since you've already decided to reveal it publicly, I naturally won't press you."
"My visit today is to confirm something else—whether the Life Orb's increase to move power actually surpasses 30%."
Fearing Guo Yi might misunderstand further, Professor Sun quickly elaborated:
"In previous extensive experiments, we consistently confirmed the Life Orb's maximum power increase at exactly 30%."
"So, I needed to verify this with you clearly. If our data is flawed, we can correct our teaching materials accordingly."
As a distinguished scholar, Professor Sun had no intention of claiming Guo Yi's research.
If Guo Yi had shown no willingness to disclose his findings publicly, Professor Sun might've approached him privately, hoping he'd openly contribute his insights to benefit Pokémon academia.
But since Guo Yi already intended to make his findings public—there was nothing more Professor Sun needed to say.
As for timing...
If someone generously shared their research, why quibble over precisely when?
Given Professor Sun's own research background, he clearly understood the immense value behind eliminating Life Orb recoil.
Thus, he greatly admired Guo Yi's willingness to freely share his knowledge.
Guo Yi shook his head repeatedly upon hearing Professor Sun's concerns.
"You misunderstand, Professor Sun."
"The Life Orb's power boost indeed remains exactly 30%. The reason my Nidoking's moves appear so powerful is due to his Ability."
"Ability?"
Professor Sun lowered his head thoughtfully, then asked after a brief pause:
"Could it be Rivalry?"
According to Professor Sun's memory, Nidoking's known Abilities included Poison Point and Rivalry.
Among these, only Rivalry could enhance move power, increasing it by 25% when facing Pokémon of the same gender.
However—
Guo Yi shook his head once more, directly clarifying the truth:
"No, not Rivalry."
"It's Nidoking's Hidden Ability—Sheer Force."
Professor Sun stared at him blankly.
"Sheer Force???"