May fifteenth, more than two months had passed since the end of the Pokémon Contest. Finally, Xia Hunan, who had stolen a rare moment of leisure, was lounging on a deck chair in the small courtyard of his house at Six Spirits University. He felt the warm and gentle sunlight on his head, squinting lazily as he watched Shen Yu train his Pokémon.
Shen Yu looked at the Zorua in front of him, who was bullying a Fennekin. "Honestly, you're bullying Fennekin again. Aren't you afraid Oshawott will teach you a lesson?"
The Zorua, who had been teasing Fennekin, immediately stopped upon hearing this. It obediently sat back down, its small eyes darting around. Then, it set its sights on a Buneary digging for carrots nearby.
Buneary was completely unprepared for Zorua's sneak attack. It was busy digging a hole with its two short paws, but the little claws were making it difficult. Dawn, a Pokémon skilled in attacking, found it hard to watch.
Dawn walked over gently, wanting to help Buneary dig a deeper hole. But Buneary merely glanced at him and turned away.
It wasn't that Buneary didn't need help. It was just that Dawn had tried to help Buneary once before. If you compared their sizes, Dawn was taller than an ordinary Lycanroc, nearly 1.2 meters tall. Buneary, on the other hand, was only forty centimeters tall. When compared, Dawn's paws were almost as large as half of Buneary's body. The last time Dawn helped, he dug a hole in no time. It was more than enough to bury carrots, and even Buneary itself.
From then on, Buneary decided not to let Dawn help with burying carrots again.
Buneary turned around just in time to see Zorua charge forward with a running start, colliding with Buneary. Both Pokémon crashed into Dawn. Dawn, having been rebuffed by Buneary, turned to leave and was stumbled by the two little ones.
Dawn, who had been about to leave, turned back with a fierce look and saw Zorua, the culprit, trying to escape. He swung his claws to grab Zorua and teach him a lesson.
The two Pokémon ran out of the courtyard, one chasing the other, passing by Yu Longdu and Zhang Hong. Zhang Hong poked his head in and asked, "Boss Xia, what's going on with these two little ones? They just ran out fighting?"
Xia Hunan pushed his sunglasses up to his forehead. "Zorua just can't stand being bored. You'll get used to it. But speaking of which, why are you guys here today? I thought you were all preparing for the college entrance exams."
Zhang Hong spread his hands. "There are only a few days left until the exams. What's the point of cramming now? I just need to ensure my Serperior and I are in good condition."
Speaking of Serperior, a figure suddenly flashed through Xia Hunan's mind. Xia Hunan froze for a moment, then murmured, "That's strange. What was her name? I can't seem to remember."
If he couldn't remember, he wouldn't. Xia Hunan continued to chat with Zhang Hong. "Forget it, I won't think about it. What's the real reason you're here? You didn't just come to tell me this, did you? What do you want?"
Zhang Hong rubbed his hands together. "Well, I know you disappeared for over a month after returning from the island. You must have been out creating the exam questions, right? Can you give me a hint?"
Xia Hunan extended his hand and rubbed his fingers together. "What about the benefits? You're not planning to get something for nothing, are you? Do I look like someone who works hard for no reward?"
Zhang Hong took a CD out of his pocket. "The task you assigned me before is now complete."
Xia Hunan took the CD from Zhang Hong and secretly asked his system, "System, how do you think this CD is? Does it meet your initial expectations?"
The system, which hadn't made an appearance in a long time, lazily opened its eyes. "Oh my, I've been so inactive lately, the whole system has become lazy. Let me take a look."
After glancing at Zhang Hong's CD, the system instantly perked up, sending a surge of electricity and garbled data through Xia Hunan's brain. "Holy cow, this kid's got something! It's pretty much what I envisioned. The key is excellent. Now it depends on what kind of lock you're looking for. However, this CD is good in every way, except for the color, which is a bit annoying."
Xia Hunan looked down and replied to the system, "Indeed. Of the primary colors, red and blue are both nice. He chose this one, clearly trying to cause trouble."
Xia Hunan quickly communicated with the system and then put the CD away. "I'll take it for now. But I have some bad news for you. Although I was taken away for a month and was indeed responsible for matters related to the college entrance exams, I was a proctor, not the one who created the questions."
Zhang Hong exclaimed, "What? You were gone for a month just to attend a meeting and then say you were a proctor?"
Xia Hunan thought for a moment. "More or less. Speaking of which, if you try to get special treatment from me, aren't you afraid your mother will kill you?"
Zhang Hong sat down on the side. "Actually, it wasn't absolutely necessary for me to come today. I mainly came with Adou."
Xia Hunan looked at Adou again. "Adou, you don't have to take the college entrance exams. With your status and strength, what university wouldn't accept you? Why are you looking for me?"
Yu Longdu held out his arm, revealing an empty wristband. Xia Hunan glanced at it. "Don't blame me, but our agreement with the Diamond Kingdom started right after the competition in mid-March. It's been two months now. We had a certain number of challenge opportunities in the first month, and you still haven't passed the assessment to get your Key Stone..."
Yu Longdu spread his hands. "I couldn't help it, so I came to you. I was hoping I could get a Z-Crystal from you before I try again."
Xia Hunan cupped his chin. "I know. You originally wanted to borrow my Key Stone to challenge directly. But last month, some fool named Li Xing borrowed Duwell's Key Stone. Not only did the challenge fail, but Her Majesty also placed a lock on all Key Stones, right?"
"Yes, but Key Stones are different from Z-Crystals. You are the assessor for Z-Crystals. I should be able to get a Z-Crystal from you, shouldn't I?"
Xia Hunan nodded casually. "Yes, but in Minglong Kingdom, besides me and Mu Zhishui, there's also Chu Xiaodie who is a Z-Crystal assessor. Isn't it the same for you to challenge Chu Xiaodie?"
Hearing this, Zhang Hong couldn't help but laugh. "Do you think he hasn't tried? He thought he would face Chu Xiaodie's four butterfly Pokémon, but Chu Xiaodie sent out Tapu Lele directly..."
"Tapu Lele insisted on coming out to play with Chu Xiaodie, what could I do?"
Xia Hunan said as he picked up Diancie, who had been staring at him, "Alright, little Diancie, why are you staring at me like that? It's no use for you to look like you're about to cry. I promised your mother that I wouldn't reveal a single word of what we discussed that day. You've asked for two months, and even if you ask for another two months, I can't say anything. I'm sorry."
Diancie listlessly tried to get off Xia Hunan. Xia Hunan pointed to Yu Longdu. "How about this, Adou wants to have a battle with me. Why don't you take all your anger out on him?"
The unhappy little princess glanced at Yu Longdu. Yu Longdu quickly waved his hands. "Forget it, forget it. It's best not to provoke girls when they're in a bad mood. I learned my lesson last time I provoked Yu Rui. Maybe next time, definitely next time."
Xia Hunan shrugged. "Okay, Diancie, it seems like it will have to be next time. But don't worry, when he comes next time, I'll let you vent."
As they were all talking, Xia Hunan's phone on the table suddenly rang. Xia Hunan unlocked it and saw it was Mu Zhishui calling.
Xia Hunan answered, "Hello, is that Zhishui? What's up?"
Mu Zhishui on the other end sounded very pleased. "Is this Xia Hunan? I have good news for you. Although I don't know where the information you gave me came from, the experiment was successful! When can you come over?"
Xia Hunan calculated the time. "If I take him with me now, can I get out before then?"
Mu Zhishui on the other end was silent for a moment, then the sound of rapid keyboard typing could be heard. After a while, Mu Zhishui on the other end said, "It's difficult. If it's here with me, there's probably a seventy to eighty percent chance. So, do you still want to come?"
Xia Hunan thought for a moment and then replied, "Okay, I'll pack up and go with Xiao Yu right away."
They chatted for a few more minutes and then hung up. Yu Longdu and Zhang Hong on the side were completely confused. Finally, Zhang Hong, who was more familiar with Xia Hunan, asked, "What is it? Can I tag along and take a look?"
Xia Hunan nodded. "Of course, you can all come with me. Just consider it a novelty. This is something that can overturn your worldview."
Xia Hunan said as he turned his head. "Strange, where's Xiao Yu? Wasn't he just watching Fennekin and the others? He's gone in such a short time, and Fennekin is gone too?"
Zhang Hong pointed outside. "You're still talking. When we came in, she had already gone out with Zorua. Were you only paying attention to us?"
Xia Hunan pulled out a strand of hair from his head. "Is that so? Then I need to go find her."
As soon as he finished speaking, Shen Yu returned with Zorua in tow. "Good thing I followed them out in time. This little guy almost caused a big mess. My allowance for this month would have been spent entirely on compensation for the ice cream shop."
Xia Hunan took out a Poké Ball and recalled Dawn. "Alright, don't worry about that. Quickly get ready, we're going out. I have something to show you."
Shen Yu also recalled Delphox and the others. "Okay, I'll go pack my things now."