In the evening, Xia Huna tossed sat by the bonfire, watching everyone tease Xia Pingdong and couldn't help but grin. "That unlucky fellow, is that how he learns from me? Although I'm a bit mischievous at times, I've never botched a plan."
Time rewound to the afternoon. Xia Pingdong instructed Poka-man to finish the battle with Bubble, then throw a Poké Ball to capture the Growlithe. Unexpectedly, the Growlithe, for reasons unknown, suddenly went berserk. The Growlithe, questioning its life choices, spun on the spot and then bit Poka-man's wing, flinging it away.
Taking advantage of Poka-man's lack of purchase in mid-air, Growlithe immediately launched a Spark attack, sending Poka-man further through the air. It then turned and fled, unstoppable.
Witnessing all of this, Xia Pingdong, though desperately wanting to stop Growlithe, let it go to catch his Poka-man. Although, in the end, he didn't catch Poka-man either…
After Growlithe escaped, Xia Pingdong asked Yu Linglong, "Linglong-jie, you could have helped me stop him, why didn't you?"
"Help you with what? I'm only responsible for blocking falling rocks from the sky. For any other services, you'll need to pay extra."
"Sister, you're really…"
"Alright, alright. Aren't you going to chase him now? Growlithe hasn't run far, you can still catch up." Yu Linglong said, pointing in the direction Growlithe had run, urging Xia Pingdong to hurry.
Although Yu Linglong and her team helped Xia Pingdong search for Growlithe for quite some time, they still couldn't find its exact location. Only when the sky within the secret realm gradually darkened did they lead them back to the gathering point.
Upon returning to the gathering point, everyone began to share their afternoon's gains. For many of them, this was their first time out exploring a secret realm, and it was incredibly novel.
Watching the conversation shift from teasing Xia Pingdong to discussing the afternoon's experiences, Xia Huna stood up and left the bonfire, leaning against a large tree alone.
Cai Rou, sitting next to Li Han, chatted with everyone for a few more moments before turning to look at Xia Huna, who had stood up. "I'm going to see what Coach Xia is doing. I'll be back soon."
Li Han glanced at Xia Huna, who was calmly contemplating, and nodded. "Okay, and could you perhaps find out what we'll be doing tomorrow? So we can be prepared."
Cai Rou glanced at Li Han. "Why don't you ask yourself? I think Coach Xia would tell you if you asked."
"That's hard to say. With Boss Xia's personality, do you think he'd tell us the truth? Besides, I'm worried that if we ask, it'll increase the intensity of our future training. You understand."
Cai Rou shrugged. "Alright, I'll go ask."
Cai Rou walked towards Xia Huna, and Yu Linglong also stood up and walked towards Xia Huna. This combination was quite eye-catching. Xia Pingdong quickly interrupted everyone's gaze. "Alright, alright, you guys really don't mind stirring up trouble, do you? Aren't you afraid Boss Xia will get annoyed and retaliate? Let's just talk amongst ourselves. I didn't get anything this afternoon, but you must have some, right?"
Everyone returned to their discussion, while Cai Rou and Yu Linglong arrived beside Xia Huna. Cai Rou looked at Xia Huna's expression, puzzled. "What's wrong with Coach Xia…?"
"Shush, he must be up to something. Let's wait a moment."
Just then, a figure dropped from the tree and stood beside Xia Huna. Xia Huna shook his head. "Holy hell, this is a real interesting way to do things…"
Cai Rou disagreed with this assessment. "Is that so? But where did you pick these Pokémon from? There's even an albino specimen?"
Hearing these words, Xia Huna immediately realized. "Oh, you encountered that little white bear? How was it? Very cute, right? And it knows how to act adorable."
Xia Huna's words didn't help; Cai Rou became angry. "Don't talk about it. Isn't something that big acting adorable very cute? And why would a bear cub use an axe? It almost chopped up Xiao Yi, you know."
"That axe was thrown by you!"
Yu Linglong's sudden interjection made Cai Rou pause. "An axe? I didn't. Although, Xiaobai did lose both its axes. Did they fly over to your side? That's incredible. And speaking of which, why does this bear use an axe?"
Xia Huna scratched his head. He actually knew the story. It happened when Xia Huna was planning this operation. He saw the bear towards the latter half of his search. After a friendly negotiation with Xiaobai, Xia Huna agreed to exchange two weapons for Xiaobai's assistance.
As for why axes, it was mainly because when Xiaobai lived in the mountains, it had a good relationship with a lumberjack. However, that lumberjack wasn't a trainer, so he didn't have any means to chop trees with a technique like Iai Strike. Instead, he used an axe.
One day, the lumberjack encountered Xiaobai while chopping wood. Xiaobai, who was not very afraid of people back then, jumped out to greet the lumberjack. Xiaobai, of course, had good intentions, but this scared the lumberjack half to death, and he raised his axe defensively.
Xiaobai was not afraid of the object at all. Not only did it not retreat, but it walked towards the lumberjack, snatched the axe, and started playing with it.
It must be said that a two-meter-tall Xiaobai found it no difficult at all to use a human axe. An axe that a human needed two hands to grip, Xiaobai could wield with one hand. Seeing that Xiaobai had no fierce nature, the lumberjack simply started chatting with Xiaobai. Over time, they became familiar with each other. When the lumberjack chopped wood, Xiaobai would also chop wood with the axe.
To fully utilize Xiaobai's playful nature, the lumberjack specially prepared two axes for it. As the relationship between the lumberjack and Xiaobai rapidly grew, one summer, the lumberjack went out to chop wood and encountered a heavy rainstorm. The lumberjack couldn't find a cave, so he had to find a large tree to shelter from the rain. But then…
That was almost a hundred years ago. Xiaobai's own memory wasn't very clear. If Xia Huna hadn't actively asked, Xiaobai probably wouldn't have mentioned it.
After Xia Huna finished telling this story, which could rival "A Bear's Departure," Cai Rou touched the Poké Ball containing Xiaobai. "So that's how it is. Xiaobai must have had a tough time."
Xia Huna nodded. "Yes. It seems it encountered some problems when it was born. Otherwise, for a normally growing bear cub, due to genetic limitations, it wouldn't have grown to this size."
"That's so pitiful."
Xia Huna didn't comfort Cai Rou but asked, "By the way, you didn't just come to find me about this, did you?"
Cai Rou shook her head. "Originally, I just wanted to ask about Xiaobai and see what you were doing. But now there's an additional task: to find out about your next plan."
Xia Huna spread his hands. "Plan? No plan."
Yu Linglong, listening from the side, couldn't help but laugh. "No plan? You're quite bold. If there was no plan, would you have had Froggy go scout around?"
Xia Huna nodded. "Of course. Caution is always necessary. A careless trainer is not a good trainer."
Although Xia Huna said this, judging by the expressions on the two girls' faces, they clearly weren't listening or believing him.
"With your personality, you wouldn't do such unnecessary things. You'd find it troublesome and tiring."
They both spoke in unison, but Xia Huna clicked his tongue. "Where did you two get your intel on me? Your source seems a bit…"
At this point, Xia Huna sighed. One of them was Yu Longdu's sister, and the other was Mu Zhishui's prized student. It was too easy for them to find out about him.
"Alright, you're right. There is a plan. Don't sleep too soundly tonight. Heaven knows, earth knows, and the three of us know. Just don't spread it around."
Saying this, Xia Huna and Yu Linglong both looked at Cai Rou. Cai Rou took half a step back. "Why are you looking at me? I won't tell anyone."
"That's good. I'm going to rest. I have to stand guard tonight."
Xia Huna said this and returned to his tent. Not far from Xia Huna's tent, by the bonfire, Xia Pingdong and Li Han exchanged a knowing smile. "Plan complete."
"Then, the only remaining problem is how to get that mini-recorder off your girlfriend?"
"What do you think? Of course, I'll handle it. But speaking of which, you've made invaluable contributions to knowing Boss Xia's plan in advance this time."
Meanwhile, in his tent, Xia Huna hugged a cute pillow of Shen Yu, a peculiar smile on his face.