Whoosh!
Under Ursaring's explosive serve, a sharp whistle sliced through the air.
Yet—
The moment the ball crossed the net, its fierce speed visibly slowed down.
Watching this strange scene, Guo Yi couldn't help but let out a faint chuckle:
"Psychic-type Pokémon really are pretty unfair, huh…"
Although Reuniclus's movements were extremely subtle, they couldn't escape Guo Yi's sharp eyes.
Reuniclus's pupils flickered faintly with blue light. Invisible psychic power surged forth from its body, spreading out into an invisible net, firmly ensnaring the speeding tennis ball.
The ball was like a moth caught helplessly in a spiderweb.
No matter how violently it struggled, it couldn't break free of the psychic net and helplessly fell toward the court.
As soon as the ball bounced off the ground, Feraligatr, who had been waiting near the baseline, suddenly cloaked itself in roaring waves.
[Aqua Jet]!
Feraligatr instantly accelerated using its skill, rapidly approaching the ball.
After all, combining speed and strength would allow its strike to deliver maximum impact.
Reaching the ball's path, Feraligatr abruptly halted, raised its racket-bearing right arm high, and channeled all its strength and momentum into one violent swing.
Boom!
With a thunderous sound, the tennis ball erupted forth, carried by an unstoppable torrent straight toward the opposing baseline.
Seeing this, Ursaring hastily moved to intercept.
Yet—
He was still a step too late.
The water-cloaked ball shot straight under his racket, bouncing violently off the ground and continuing toward the edge of the court.
Just at that moment—
A flash of green shot through the air.
It was Sceptile.
The exceptionally agile Sceptile swiftly dashed into position, cutting off the ball's escape path.
"Ju-ta!"
With a crisp shout, Sceptile swung its racket horizontally, its arm glowing brilliantly with Leaf Blade energy.
A vibrant emerald slash pierced through the air, instantly dispersing the surging water enveloping the tennis ball.
Then Sceptile struck decisively, returning the ball with a ferocious smash.
However—as the ball once again crossed the net, Reuniclus's psychic energy erupted once more, relentlessly slowing it down.
Immediately after—
Feraligatr lunged forward again, resuming the offense.
And so—both sides exchanged intense blows, rallying back and forth nearly ten times.
But ultimately, Reuniclus and Feraligatr struck first, claiming the first point.
Watching this thrilling exchange, Guo Yi found himself thoroughly captivated.
These flashy, tangible abilities wouldn't lose out even to the murderous tennis moves from The Prince of Tennis!
And honestly speaking—this was Guo Yi's very first time seeing a Pokémon Tennis match.
Previously, all the matches he'd witnessed had been pure Pokémon battles. Even in his previous life, he'd never seen such Pokémon-driven sports competitions.
With his newfound tennis knowledge, Guo Yi could easily discern each team's strengths and weaknesses.
The pair of Ursaring and Sceptile:
Ursaring served as the main attacker, relying on raw power and physical strength. Sceptile used its exceptional speed and agility to cover and support whenever Ursaring missed.
The duo of Reuniclus and Feraligatr was even simpler:
Reuniclus played a completely supportive role, creating openings for Feraligatr's powerful assaults.
The match's outcome was exactly as Hou Xi had arrogantly predicted from the start:
70:0.
Ursaring and Sceptile hadn't even taken a single point.
There was simply nothing they could do.
Neither Ursaring nor Sceptile could break through Reuniclus's psychic lockdown.
Throughout the entire match, they could barely threaten their opponents, forced instead into constant defensive scrambling by Feraligatr's relentless aggression.
As the saying goes:
"A prolonged defense is doomed to fail."
In the beginning—
The teams had seemed fairly evenly matched.
But as the match went on, Ursaring and Sceptile lost points faster and faster.
Of course—
Midway through, Huang Zining had intended to tell Feraligatr to ease up, not wanting the other side to lose too miserably.
But she was promptly stopped by Si Bing'an.
Had outsiders been watching, Si Bing'an wouldn't have minded letting her team preserve some dignity.
But Guo Yi's goal here was clearly to see everyone's true strength.
Going easy would've defeated the entire purpose.
Once the match ended, Ursaring and Sceptile both looked rather dejected.
After all, losing without scoring even a single point was undeniably embarrassing.
Even during their usual training, they'd never lost this badly.
At this moment—
Guo Yi stepped forward, offering comfort:
"Ursaring, Sceptile, no need to feel too down. The reason you didn't score was mainly because of the tiebreaker format."
Then he turned to Xiong Li and Chu Tai and asked directly:
"In your regular training, most of your scores end up around 30:60 or 40:60, right?"
The two exchanged astonished glances.
Only they knew the usual results of their training matches.
How had Guo Yi, a coach who'd just arrived, figured it out?
Xiong Li and Chu Tai immediately nodded repeatedly:
"That's exactly right, Coach Guo!"
"How did you know?"
"Our training matches usually end up about that score."
Chu Tai added, somewhat ashamedly:
"We underperformed today."
But Guo Yi calmly shook his head at him:
"It wasn't that you underperformed, but rather Reuniclus's role became too significant."
"With the match length shortened, Reuniclus could use its psychic powers without reservation."
"That's why things turned out like this."
The moment he finished, Hou Xi exclaimed admiringly:
"As expected from Teacher Guo—you saw through the core issue instantly!"
"Normally, because the matches are longer, Reuniclus must strictly control its psychic usage."
"If it exhausts its psychic powers, the match essentially becomes two-on-one!"
Hou Xi truly hadn't expected Guo Yi to grasp the key issue after watching just a single game.
As expected from my idol—he's amazing!
For a moment, Hou Xi's admiration for Guo Yi soared even higher.
At this point, Xiong Li and Chu Tai finally realized what had happened.
Usually, their matches rarely started with a tiebreaker rule, so they hadn't mentally adjusted to the format.
Understanding this, Sceptile's and Ursaring's moods noticeably improved.
At this moment—
Si Bing'an approached Guo Yi apologetically:
"Teacher, my Machoke and Electabuzz just had a match earlier, so they'll need a bit more time to recover."
Guo Yi waved off her concern casually.
"No worries!"
"Actually, this is perfect timing—I can first discuss the issues I noticed in both doubles teams."
Seeing that Guo Yi was about to start lecturing, everyone eagerly perked up their ears to listen.
Just based on his earlier performance, they'd already fully accepted Guo Yi as their coach.
Guo Yi then began calmly analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of Ursaring's and Sceptile's pairing.
"First off, the pairing of Ursaring and Sceptile."
"I highly approve of this combination of strength and speed," Guo Yi began calmly.
"But there's an issue with your teamwork—your roles are far too rigidly defined."
"Ursaring attacks, while Sceptile only steps in to rescue difficult shots."
"This simplistic pattern makes it easy for opponents to pinpoint your weaknesses."
Perhaps because Ursaring and Sceptile belonged to different trainers, their coordination wasn't as seamless as expected.
Most of the time, it was like watching two separate battles happening at once.
Yet, the entire point of doubles was precisely to rely on combined strength.
In contrast, Reuniclus and Feraligatr had excelled at that exact synergy.
Xiong Li and Chu Tai were keenly aware of this coordination issue, but had never figured out how to fix it.
Even increasing joint training sessions between their Pokémon had yielded little improvement.
Since Guo Yi had directly pointed it out, the pair immediately seized the chance to ask:
"Coach, how exactly do we improve our coordination?"
"We've tried before, but nothing seems to help."
"Don't rush," Guo Yi replied with a reassuring wave. "Let me first explain the issue with Reuniclus and Feraligatr, then I'll address this together."
Continuing, Guo Yi turned to the second pair:
"While Reuniclus and Feraligatr have excellent synergy, Reuniclus's psychic abilities are used too narrowly."
"It only slows down the tennis ball, creating attacking chances for Feraligatr."
"Once you encounter a strong opponent and enter an extended stalemate, defeat becomes inevitable."
Hou Xi and Huang Zining both nodded solemnly at this.
Because in past matches, whenever they entered a drawn-out tiebreaker, they always ended up losing.
"You're right, Coach—I've also thought about this issue before," Hou Xi admitted openly. "But I've never found a good way to diversify Reuniclus's psychic abilities."
After all, Hou Xi was hardly a tennis beginner himself. He'd certainly noticed these problems before—but noticing them and solving them were two completely different matters.
"Actually, this problem isn't difficult," Guo Yi said casually.
"You just need to train actual tennis techniques."
In this world's tennis—perhaps because Pokémon were naturally powerful—most trainers only focused on strength and speed. Almost no one seriously studied tennis techniques.
Of course, this was mainly because techniques suited for humans didn't always translate well to Pokémon.
But for Guo Yi, this wasn't a problem at all.
The [Pokémon Tennis Technique Inheritance Device] he'd received from the system had clearly outlined how to convert Pokémon moves into tennis skills.
For instance:
Fire Punch could be shaped into [Aggression of Fire]. Ice Punch could become [World of Ice]. And psychic powers like those of Reuniclus would be perfect for executing [Zero-Shiki Drop Shot], or even [Yips]—the complete suppression of an opponent's senses.
In short—many of the legendary tennis skills from The Prince of Tennis could become reality here. And in the hands of Pokémon, their destructive potential would far surpass even the anime's "killer tennis."
After all, Pokémon were leagues above humans in raw strength. Even lethal tennis skills paled by comparison.
Of course—Guo Yi himself wouldn't directly teach these skills.
This was Pokémon tennis, after all.
Naturally, the teacher should also be a Pokémon.
…
"For today, continue training as usual," Guo Yi instructed.
"Si Bing'an, I'll send you a list shortly. Get the training equipment prepared accordingly."
As the saying goes:
To accomplish great things, you must first sharpen your tools.
Right now, they had no special training gear. No matter how many ideas Guo Yi had, none could be implemented yet.
Everyone clearly understood this, nodding enthusiastically as they began their regular practice routines.
Only—after Guo Yi's explanations, everyone was even more excited and eager to see his future training regimen.
After informing Si Bing'an about the necessary equipment, Guo Yi didn't linger in the tennis club.
For now—he had other pressing matters to attend to:
like obtaining the new template, and figuring out what exactly this newly rewarded [Template Pokémon Egg] was supposed to be!