On September 1st, as per the customary schedule in the Minglong Kingdom, all schools were set to commence their academic year. The Lingliu University had planned its schedule as follows: make-up exams for returning students would conclude on August 28th. August 29th and 30th were designated for the enrollment of new students, with August 31st being the last day of holiday before the start of term.
Today happened to be the 31st. Xia Huanao woke up early and observed the excited new students exploring every corner of the campus. He chuckled, "Are all students like this? Once they arrive at a new school, they spare no effort to wander through every inch of it?"
Xia Huanao pushed his wheelchair out of his room. "Since that's the case, I'll pretend to be a new student and explore the school too."
Driving his electric wheelchair, Xia Huanao took a circuit around the lake. "By the way, how did last semester's mini-tournament go? Did we confirm any new team members?"
As he pondered this, Xia Huanao rounded a corner and saw a girl standing by the roadside, seemingly occupied with something.
Xia Huanao steered his wheelchair over. "Miss, are you having any trouble?"
The girl turned around. "Ah, classmate, do you know where the school team's training room is?"
Xia Huanao blinked. The girl was looking for the school team's training room? Could she be a new member of the school team? That shouldn't be right; no student at Lingliu University would be unaware of the training room's location. Could she be a freshman? If so, why would a freshman be looking for the school team?
Though puzzled, Xia Huanao decided to point the girl in the right direction. "Just go straight this way..."
"Um, could you possibly trouble yourself to guide me there?"
Xia Huanao glanced at her. "Are you directionally challenged?"
The girl blushed. "No, I just..."
"Alright, follow me..."
Xia Huanao led the girl towards the school team's training room, and on their way, he managed to glean all sorts of information from her. It had to be said that Xia Huanao's current appearance made it difficult for anyone to be wary; he was, after all, a young boy in a wheelchair.
"So, why are you going to the school team's training room?"
"My boyfriend said he wanted to see the strength of Lingliu University's school team."
Upon arriving at the training room, Xia Huanao pushed the door open. The girl beside him gasped. "Ah? Are we just going in? We don't need to knock?"
"It's fine, your boyfriend is already inside."
The sound of Xia Huanao and the girl entering immediately drew the attention of everyone in the training room. Xia Huanao glanced around. "There are only two people here. Is that your boyfriend?"
"Yes, it's him."
The boy saw Xia Huanao and the girl enter and was momentarily taken aback. He paused for a moment, only to be ambushed by one of the school team members. Seeing the fainted Pokémon lying nearby, the boy was stunned. Xia Huanao tilted his head, "So my life is just t/"
Xia Huanao pouted, thinking to himself that his Water Pulse had a power of sixty, his Dark Pulse had a power of eighty, and with his Froakie's dual-type attacks, the combined power of Water and Dark Pulse would be at least one hundred and forty. Even with a four-times super-effective attack against the Litwick, and a direct divebomb, if he couldn't defeat it, then his Froakie was simply not cultivated well enough.
The boy who challenged Xia Huanao, seeing his Litwick instantly defeated in one move, became so enraged that he actually fainted. Xia Huanao quickly, along with Feng Bing and the girl, took the boy to the school's infirmary.
In the school infirmary:
Xia Huanao sighed. "What is this all about? Classmate, what's going on with your boyfriend?"
The girl shook her head. "I don't know. Fu Chun isn't like this at school."
Hearing the name, Xia Huanao took out a tablet from the net pocket beside his wheelchair. "Fu Chun, I think I've heard this name before. Let me check."
Xia Huanao's fingers slid across the screen. "Ah, found him. Fu Chun. Oh, he's even a top scholar, the top scholar from Shuiyang. I never would have expected it."
"Fu Chun studied very hard in high school, always doing practice problems at school. He never played games or watched movies. The teachers at school all liked Fu Chun very much."
When Xia Huanao heard the words "practice problems," he instinctively asked, "Practice problems? This wouldn't be from Yuehe Middle School, would it?"
The girl nodded. "Yes, he is indeed from Yuehe Middle School. How did you know, classmate?"
Feng Bing sighed. "Miss, the person in front of you is not a member of our school team, but our coach."
"C-Coach?"
Feng Bing was surprised. "Don't you guys watch the Collegiate Pokémon Tournament?"
The girl shook her head. "I wanted to, but our school teachers didn't allow us to watch. Fu Chun also said that watching such things was meaningless and that it was better to improve himself."
Hearing this, Xia Huanao chuckled. "I knew it. Only Yuehe Middle School could cultivate this kind of bookworm. And judging by Fu Chun's demeanor, he's also an overconfident student. He probably also said that if Ming University hadn't been disbanded, he wouldn't have come to our Lingliu University, right?"
The girl looked at Xia Huanao. "Teacher Xia is amazing. That's right, Fu Chun's first choice was indeed Ming University, followed by Jiangling University and Lingling University. Because these two schools didn't admit him, he came to Lingliu University."
Feng Bing looked at Xia Huanao. "Xia Laoda, hearing this is really annoying."
Xia Huanao suppressed Feng Bing's rising temper. "How should I put it? Jiangling University needs more technological talent, and Lingling University isn't stupid. They probably have a way to weed out all those bookworms from Yuehe Middle School. Only our Lingliu University, with Sister Xiaoxiao influenced by Old Master Zheng, practices 'teaching without discrimination' and accepts everyone."
Saying this, Xia Huanao glanced at the girl. "I'm sorry. I'm not talking about you."
"I don't mind. I do feel like the two of us are a bit..."
Xia Huanao tore off a piece of paper from a notebook beside him. "I'll give you a contact number. You can occasionally look for this girl; I believe she can offer you some assistance."
The girl took the slip of paper from Xia Huanao. "Thank you, Teacher Xia."
Xia Huanao waved his hand. "Alright, you stay here and take good care of him. His skills aren't great, and his mental fortitude isn't either. You need to persuade him properly."
Leaving the school infirmary with Feng Bing, Xia Huanao turned his wheelchair and led the way. "Coach Xia truly lives up to his reputation as Xia Laoda among netizens. Even crippled, he's still so formidable."
Xia Huanao looked at Feng Bing. "What are you implying, you brat?"
Feng Bing smiled. "I'm just praising Coach Xia's might. Coach Xia, can you tell me how you learned that skill just now?"