"Really?"
Si Bing'an asked cautiously, her bright eyes revealing a faint hint of expectation.
"Of course!"
"I, Guo Yi, always keep my word."
Guo Yi replied with a relaxed smile.
After all, it was just tennis—not as complicated as teaching Pokémon to play tennis.
For him, this was nothing at all.
However...
in Si Bing'an's eyes, Guo Yi's casual promise translated directly into a willingness to accept her as a disciple.
"Disciple Si Bing'an greets Teacher!"
Seeing that Guo Yi intended to pass on his skills, she immediately dropped to her knees without another word, performing the formal kowtow ritual.
Transmitting knowledge, skills, and dispelling doubts!
Such was the role of a true teacher, not merely a coach.
Just as Guo Yi was trying to make sense of Si Bing'an's sudden and dramatic gesture—the system's prompt rang out clearly in his mind.
[Ding! Congratulations to Host for recruiting your first student with exceptional talent.]
[Ding! Awarding one Template Pokémon Egg and a Student Linked Template.]
[Ding! Awarding Pokémon Tennis Technique Inheritance Device.]
Wait, this counts as taking a disciple?
A look of genuine surprise appeared on Guo Yi's face.
Heaven and earth be his witness—he genuinely had no intention of taking another disciple!
After Su Qingxue and the others, Guo Yi had thoroughly entered a state of Zen-like passivity.
Because training students was, in itself, a huge project.
After all, once he accepted a disciple, he absolutely couldn't leave them unattended.
Yet—Guo Yi never would've imagined Si Bing'an would suddenly act like this.
Even more unexpectedly, the System had immediately recognized the apprenticeship.
Could it be that the system saw how lazy I've gotten lately, and decided to force a sale on me?
Guo Yi couldn't help speculating inwardly.
Previously, the system's disciple-acceptance process had been rather complicated.
But now—the moment someone knelt and bowed, he accepted instantly without a second thought.
This was clearly acting first and reporting later!
Still, now that the System had acknowledged it and handed out the rewards, Guo Yi couldn't exactly pretend nothing had happened.
"You… can get up now."
Since the matter was settled, there wasn't much left to say.
"Yes, Teacher!"
Si Bing'an stood up, her face full of smiles, softly muttering to herself:
"My uncle finally did something reliable for once."
"Uncle?"
Guo Yi asked in surprise, his face showing clear confusion.
If he remembered correctly, Si Bing'an had addressed Tang Ming earlier as "Director."
Si Bing'an hadn't expected her muttering would be overheard by Guo Yi, so she quickly leaned in and quietly explained:
"I don't want others to know about my relationship with my uncle, so I rarely call him that at school."
"Ah, I see!"
Sudden realization dawned on Guo Yi.
No wonder Tang Ming had spoken to Si Bing'an earlier without his usual authority.
Apparently, there was this hidden relationship between them.
"Alright, everyone, gather around!"
"From now on, Teacher Guo will be our Pokémon Tennis Club's coach."
Si Bing'an clapped her hands and announced Guo Yi's identity to the club members.
Everyone quickly formed into neat rows, greeting Guo Yi with earnest solemnity.
"Hello, Coach!"
"Hello, Coach!"
...
After witnessing the earlier tennis match, they knew perfectly well how terrifyingly skilled Guo Yi was.
Naturally, no one dared to show the slightest disrespect.
"Hi, everyone."
Guo Yi smiled casually, waving to them as he continued:
"No need to be so tense—I'm pretty easygoing."
"How about each of you briefly introduces yourself?"
The group nodded, starting introductions one by one.
Standing furthest left, a chubby guy spoke first:
"My name's Xiong Li. My tennis Pokémon is Ursaring."
Beside him, a tall and slender youth quickly followed:
"My name's Chu Tai, and my Pokémon is Sceptile."
"Fatty and I are doubles partners," Chu Tai explained briefly.
Guo Yi hadn't expected these two to form a doubles team.
Immediately afterward, the boy standing in the center stepped forward eagerly:
"Hello, Teacher Guo! My name is Hou Xi."
"My tennis Pokémon is Reuniclus."
"Teacher Guo, your performance earlier was super cool!"
"Oh, and I'm also your fan! Last time, I even attended your lecture."
"But unfortunately, there were only two hundred spots. I couldn't grab one, so you probably don't remember me…"
"And another thing…"
Hou Xi clearly had the gift of gab—once he started talking, he couldn't stop.
Fortunately, the only girl besides Si Bing'an, Huang Zining, quickly stepped in to stop him.
"You can tell your story later."
"Let me introduce myself first."
Hou Xi immediately shut his mouth obediently, covering it with his hands.
It seemed he was particularly afraid of Huang Zining.
"Teacher, my name's Huang Zining."
"My tennis Pokémon is Feraligatr."
"And as for this chatterbox here, he's my doubles partner."
But as soon as her voice fell, Chu Tai interjected from the side:
"And her boyfriend."
Hearing that, Guo Yi's eyebrows shot up with interest.
"Oh?"
"A couples team, huh!"
No wonder.
Whenever Huang Zining opened her mouth, Hou Xi reacted like a mouse confronted by a cat, obediently closing his mouth.
With that, Guo Yi had met all of the club's members.
But wait—everyone here was playing doubles, so where were the singles players?
Could it be that Si Bing'an was the club's only singles competitor?
Curious, Guo Yi spoke up directly:
"Si Bing'an, how come your club doesn't even have enough singles players for tennis?"
The moment he asked, everyone's faces turned oddly embarrassed.
"Is there something wrong?"
Seeing their strange reactions, Guo Yi pressed further.
After hesitating briefly, Si Bing'an finally asked carefully:
"Teacher, don't you… already know the rules of Pokémon Tennis?"
Rules?
Right—of course!
This was Pokémon Tennis, not regular tennis from his previous life. Naturally, the rules would differ.
Since he had just finished a match against Si Bing'an personally,
his mind hadn't adjusted to the difference yet.
Perfect timing.
He could use this opportunity to clearly understand the rules of Pokémon Tennis.
Thus, Guo Yi answered frankly:
"Not really!"
"Si Bing'an, why don't you explain it to me?"
"Alright, Teacher."
Though Si Bing'an couldn't understand how someone with Guo Yi's astonishing tennis skill didn't even know the rules of Pokémon Tennis, her teacher had asked, so she naturally replied honestly.
"Teacher, Pokémon Tennis matches come in two types: Team Matches and Individual Matches."
"In Team Matches, there are five sets: two Pokémon singles, two Pokémon doubles, and one human singles match."
"As for Individual Matches, there are three sets: two Pokémon singles, and one human singles."
"These four members here are doubles players, while the singles matches—all of them—are handled only by me and my Pokémon."
Si Bing'an patiently explained the current tennis rules of this world.
Actually, it wasn't just Shanghai Pokémon University.
Pokémon Tennis clubs at other universities mostly adopted similar arrangements.
Typically, four people formed two doubles teams, while one skilled individual would handle all singles matches alone.
The reason for such an arrangement was mainly because of Individual Matches.
After all, the Individual Matches format meant you needed at least two strong Pokémon, and at the same time, your personal tennis skill couldn't be weak.
For convenience and practicality, most Pokémon clubs had one single individual cover all the singles matches.
Of course, there were exceptions—some clubs only aimed for Team Matches, without bothering with the Individual Matches.
"So that's how it is?"
After Si Bing'an finished her explanation, Guo Yi felt as if the clouds had parted before his eyes.
To be honest, these rules were quite reasonable.
They highlighted not only the Pokémon's strength but also the athlete's personal skill.
Though there was only one human singles match, in tennis competitions, every match was critical to achieving victory.
Thus, even if there was only one human match, no team dared to underestimate its importance.
"Teacher Guo, if you don't even know the rules, how is your tennis skill so strong?"
Hou Xi, ever the chatterbox, couldn't suppress his curiosity any longer and blurted out.
Guo Yi casually gave an extremely Versailles reply:
"Oh, tennis? I just played around casually in my spare time."
Played casually!?
Everyone's mouths dropped open in shock at his words.
If this was his casual level—then wouldn't he be a world champion already if he'd practiced seriously?
Guo Yi: World champion? Is that supposed to be impressive?
Nobody doubted his absurdly casual statement.
With Guo Yi's displayed strength, he had no reason to deceive them.
Besides, judging from Teacher Guo's genuine confusion, he really didn't seem to know the rules.
"Teacher, how should we proceed with training now?"
At the side, Si Bing'an was already impatiently excited.
With a tennis powerhouse like Guo Yi joining them, she could already imagine just how dramatically the club's strength would improve.
"Hmm… Hold off on training for now," Guo Yi replied calmly.
"Why don't you all play a practice match first? I want to see your skill levels clearly."
Although Guo Yi had only officially taken Si Bing'an as a disciple, his role here was now the club's coach.
Therefore, he naturally couldn't ignore the other members' growth.
"Yes, Coach!"
Hearing Guo Yi wanted to assess their strength, everyone became instantly energized.
Shortly after, both pairs of doubles players took their positions on the court.
On the left side:
Ursaring and Sceptile.
On the right side:
Reuniclus and Feraligatr.
Their trainers stood ready at either side of the court, ready to offer instructions whenever necessary.
As for Si Bing'an, she took on the role of referee at the center of the court.
"One match—first to seven points wins,"
Si Bing'an announced clearly to the players and their Pokémon.
To save time, they would play under a simple tiebreaker rule.
"Let's do this, President!"
"Just watch—we'll utterly crush them today!"
Hou Xi, as usual, couldn't resist bragging loudly.
But this time, Xiong Li and Chu Tai made the rare choice of not retorting.
From this alone, Guo Yi could already roughly judge which doubles pair had the upper hand.
"Alright, Ursaring serves first."
"The match—begins now."
As club president, Si Bing'an knew precisely how skilled each of her members were.
Thus, she directly gave the serving rights to Ursaring's side.
Ursaring lifted the tennis ball high into the air.
With a powerful push from its legs, it leaped upward—
Bang!
With Ursaring's ferocious smash serve, the Pokémon Tennis doubles match officially began!