Xia Huanao and Yan Chunyu went to find Tong Ruo, who was their advisor. After Tong Ruo reviewed Xia Huanao's training plan, she was also shocked by the bold proposal.
"Your idea is wild and imaginative, but not entirely unfeasible. Let's discuss it with them tomorrow. If they agree, we can begin the training."
With Tong Ruo's permission, Xia Huanao and Yan Chunyu left the office. On their way back, Xia Huanao said, "Sister Chunyu, you must keep this a secret for me. We need to maintain a sense of mystery until tomorrow."
"Alright, I'm truly impressed by you."
...
The morning of March 2nd.
"Assistant Instructor Xia, what are you doing here?"
Xia Huanao dangled a Poké Ball in his hand. "See? I brought another Pokémon."
Looking at the Poké Ball in Xia Huanao's hand, Feng Bing chuckled awkwardly. He had already lost half a month's allowance because of this Poké Ball before. There was no way he would inquire about it again this time. However, Feng Bing's unwillingness to inquire couldn't dictate whether Xia Huanao wanted to cause trouble for him.
The moment Xia Huanao saw Feng Bing, he had already devised eighteen schemes to trap him.
"Feng Bing, how is it? Have you found a girlfriend yet?"
"Of course! I didn't participate in the Contest Spectaculars for nothing. In the Contests held in my hometown in January and February, Xiao Die and I even won badges."
Xia Huanao scrutinized Feng Bing, making appreciative "tsk tsk" sounds. "I never expected that you, kid, would become so capable after just a few months. You actually managed to chase after Chu Xiao Die. But don't you two argue? Chu Xiao Die probably has a lot of Bug and Flying-type Pokémon, right? Yours are primarily Ice-type. Is that okay?"
"It's fine. We have a good relationship. And it's all thanks to Assistant Instructor Xia."
"Since you want to thank me, then do me a favor."
"A favor? What kind of favor?"
Xia Huanao reached out and grabbed Feng Bing. "Just come with me. I'll speak to the teachers, so it won't count as you skipping class."
Feng Bing was dragged all the way to the foot of the mountain behind the campus of Six Spirits University. Looking at the waiting team members right before him, Feng Bing asked, "Xia, Assistant Instructor Xia, what are you doing?"
Xia Huanao held up his hand. "Silence. Don't speak. Just listen, observe, and think."
He brought Feng Bing before everyone. "Everyone, starting today, we will be implementing a new training plan. You should all recognize this person next to me. He's a freshman from the first year, and he'll be cooperating with our training today."
Yan Chunyu and Tong Ruo both looked over. You didn't mention this yesterday.
Xia Huanao gave them a reassuring look. "Do you remember what I wrote on the whiteboard yesterday?"
Everyone echoed in unison: "As swift as the wind, as gentle as the forest, as fierce as fire, as immovable as a mountain, as mysterious as darkness, as thundering as lightning."
Xia Huanao nodded. "Excellent. We will now conduct specialized training based on these twenty-four characters. Li Qiufeng, step forward."
After Li Qiufeng stepped out, Xia Huanao pointed to the mountaintop. "Your main training will be 'as fierce as fire' and 'as thundering as lightning.' Your task today is to climb to the top of the mountain and then charge down with your Pokémon. I will place a target at the foot of the mountain. Your goal is to charge down and hit that target. Understand?"
Li Qiufeng nodded. "I understand."
"Good, go back. Next, Lu Bingming."
When Lu Bingming stepped forward, he heard Xia Huanao say, "Your training today is very simple: you'll be the target at the foot of the mountain for me."
Upon hearing this, Lu Bingming immediately looked at Li Qiufeng. "Wait, you want me to be the Captain's target?"
Xia Huanao nodded. "That's right. I'll designate a spot, and you'll stand there and watch him charge down, getting closer and closer, closer and closer..."
The more Xia Huanao spoke, the more pressure Lu Bingming felt, his legs trembling like a sieve. "Coach Xia, no, please don't. I haven't provoked you."
Xia Huanao looked at Lu Bingming with disdain. "Look at you. If he attacks, won't you run? Do you just stand there and take hits during battles? Can't you counter-attack and make him miss you?"
Lu Bingming was taken aback. "You want me to fight back..."
"Nonsense. If you were to face Li Qiufeng head-on, you'd be beaten to death, do you know that?"
Hearing that Xia Huanao allowed counter-attacks, the heavy stone in Lu Bingming's heart was lifted. "I will train diligently."
After dismissing Lu Bingming, Xia Huanao called out Tan Yue. "Tan Yue, how is your 'heart like still water, immovably like a mountain' training going? Your task today is to stand behind Lu Bingming. If Lu Bingming dodges the attack, you are responsible for making Li Qiufeng brake. If Lu Bingming can't withstand it, you are responsible for catching Lu Bingming. Understand?"
Tan Yue nodded. "Understood."
Xia Huanao added, "Also, only you can keep your eyes open during training. Your Pokémon cannot."
"Why?"
Xia Huanao took out a black cloth and handed it to Tan Yue. "Don't worry about it. I'll explain it to you after the training is over. Next, Tu Zhuanghai."
Tu Zhuanghai was a very strong-looking young man. In Xia Huanao's classification, he was a typical "turret" type attacker.
"Tu Zhuanghai, you choose. Will you bombard Lu Bingming from the mountain or bombard Li Qiufeng from the foot of the mountain?"
Tu Zhuanghai answered without hesitation, "I choose to bombard Lu Bingming from the mountain."
Lu Bingming pointed at Tu Zhuanghai. "Hey, you're not planning to offend the Captain, so you're choosing to target me, right?"
Tu Zhuanghai didn't directly answer Lu Bingming's question. Instead, he turned to Li Qiufeng, as if to say he was the Captain's solid support.
"Alright, then you stand behind Li Qiufeng and bombard downwards from a distance."
After arranging for Tu Zhuanghai, Xia Huanao continued, "Wei Chiting, it's your turn."
After calling Wei Chiting out, Xia Huanao didn't speak to him. Instead, he looked at Feng Bing. "Feng Bing, you've hit the jackpot today. You have a chance to fight alongside Wei Chiting."
Feng Bing looked at Wei Chiting. "Really? Is there such an opportunity?"
Xia Huanao nodded, then said to Wei Chiting, "Wei Chiting, your training today is to cooperate with Feng Bing and influence the training of the others. However, you can only choose to interfere with or assist the training of one person today, and you cannot let the trainees guess who you are interfering with or assisting."
Wei Chiting nodded at his teammates. "I understand."
"As for the other team members, you can rotate freely and replace any of the players present. Understand?"
The remaining team members responded in unison: "Understood."
"Very good, let's begin training."
With that, Xia Huanao, along with Tong Ruo, Yan Chunyu, and Xiao Shui, another female team doctor, watched the training from the side.
Of course, in addition to the team members, Xia Huanao had also borrowed the school's broadcasting team and was observing the training from high above with a drone.
The first round of training began quickly and ended just as quickly.
Xia Huanao used the walkie-talkie to call everyone down to the foot of the mountain. Looking at the team members before him, "Let's review the training we just did. Please."
The broadcasting team projected the footage captured by the drone. Xia Huanao pointed at Li Qiufeng in the image. "Li Qiufeng, your momentum is strong, which is good, but you need to learn to conserve your stamina. Aggressive offense focuses on attack, but not to the point of leaving no room for maneuver. Otherwise, all aggressive offense Pokémon would have Self-Destruct or Explosion.
Look at you. I asked you to charge down the mountain, and you climbed all the way to the summit. With that position, do you still have stamina?"
Li Qiufeng looked somewhat embarrassed. "I was so focused on 'as thundering as lightning' that I forgot..."
Xia Huanao then pointed at Tu Zhuanghai. "You also forgot that you have Tu Zhuanghai behind you, didn't you? I put him behind you, so if you went to the summit, he'd have to be at the summit too. From that position, what could he see? Could he launch skills downwards?"
As he spoke, Xia Huanao patted his chest and took a breath. "Let's talk about Lu Bingming. You charged down from the mountain. You should have been able to accurately judge his approach from that distance. Why did you dodge the moment he started accelerating?"
Saying this, Xia Huanao planted a flag on the path Li Qiufeng was charging down. "Let me tell you, you are not allowed to dodge before Li Qiufeng crosses this flag, or I'll replace him with a Rolling Pokémon to train you, or..."
As he spoke, Xia Huanao released Miltank from its Poké Ball. "Niuniu, long time no see. I'm telling you, you might get to run to your heart's content today."
Upon hearing Xia Huanao's words, Niuniu stomped its front hoof, appearing somewhat excited.
Xia Huanao pointed at Niuniu. "Lu Bingming, do you see? If you don't cooperate, either Niuniu will come down from the mountain, or Niuniu will chase you up the mountain. It's up to you. Actually, I wanted to use Tauros or Bouffalant, but they wouldn't create the right atmosphere, you know?"
Lu Bingming's mouth hung open. "I know."
It was no joke. With these three Pokémon, he wouldn't be able to withstand any of them if they came at him. If he really took a hit, his Pokémon would have to go to the Pokémon Center.
Xia Huanao then looked at Tan Yue and Tu Zhuanghai. "There's nothing much to say about your performances, because you two couldn't perform at all just now... You need to put in more effort next time."
Finally, Xia Huanao asked Feng Bing, "Feng Bing, how was it working with Vice-Captain Wei Chiting?"
Feng Bing shook his head. "I didn't feel anything. He didn't do anything."
Xia Huanao nodded. "That's exactly right. That's Wei Chiting's ability. He understands his teammates very well. From the moment Li Qiufeng started charging down the mountain, he knew Li Qiufeng's stamina wouldn't be enough. He didn't need to interfere with this training, and it still wouldn't work out. You can learn a lot from him."
After briefly summarizing the first special training session, Xia Huanao clapped his hands, telling Li Qiufeng and Tu Zhuanghai to go back up the mountain, and also asked Li Qiufeng to properly control his distance.
As Li Qiufeng began to ascend the mountain, Xia Huanao walked over to Lu Bingming. "You and Luxray should step aside for now. I want to alleviate your concerns and, at the same time, test Li Qiufeng's adaptability."