As dawn lifted the night's veil, spilling brilliant morning light, a new day began.
Today marked Guo Yi's first class, and he'd specially taken care to dress neatly.
Just as he was about to head for the classroom, Zhou Yue suddenly asked from the side, "Teacher Guo, how many students registered for your class?"
To avoid scheduling conflicts, students had to select their courses online in advance.
The university would then arrange classes without time clashes, allowing students to maximize their schedules. Additionally, classrooms were allocated according to the number of registrations.
"How many? Let me think..." Guo Yi pondered for a moment, then replied, "Last night, just before sleeping, I checked—it seemed about twenty or thirty students signed up."
For a newly-arrived teaching assistant, attracting twenty or thirty students on the very first day was already quite impressive.
Yet Zhou Yue felt differently—only twenty or thirty didn't reflect Guo Yi's true worth at all.
Thus, he immediately offered, "Teacher Guo, want me to get some people to boost your numbers?"
Although yesterday's opening ceremony had made Guo Yi famous for his Elite Four-level Ninetales, a teacher's personal strength was just one consideration for students. They cared far more about teaching ability.
After all—
A powerful teacher was impressive, but only by personally growing stronger could students truly benefit. Therefore, most students placed greater importance on a teacher's title and reputation.
Thus, despite Guo Yi's strength, his class likely wouldn't attract too many people.
Had Guo Yi possessed a formal teacher's title, given his abilities, at least sixty or seventy students would've shown up.
Unfortunately, Guo Yi decisively refused Zhou Yue's kind offer.
"No need, no need! This number is actually perfect."
"Quality over quantity. Once my reputation grows, students will naturally come."
Zhou Yue could only shake his head regretfully.
"Well then," he smiled, "I wish you a smooth first class, Teacher Guo!"
"Thanks for your good wishes!"
...
Meanwhile, at the girls' dormitory—Wu Yao and Ding Pan came down together, seemingly planning to attend class together.
However...
Right outside the dorm entrance, they suddenly parted ways.
Seeing Wu Yao heading in the opposite direction, Ding Pan hurried to catch up.
"Xiao Yao, Teacher Li's classroom is this way—why are you headed there?"
Teacher Li, whom Ding Pan mentioned, was a Special-Grade teacher at Shanghai Pokémon University, around fifty years old. Specializing in Ghost-type Pokémon, Teacher Li's classes were ones Wu Yao never missed.
But this time it seemed Wu Yao had registered for another teacher's class instead.
Wu Yao quickly waved her hand at her friend, jogging away.
"Sorry, Ding Pan, I forgot to tell you yesterday!"
"I signed up for another teacher's class, and it conflicts with Teacher Li's."
"No time to talk, I'll be late!"
Wu Yao's figure soon vanished around a corner.
In truth...
Wu Yao hadn't forgotten at all; she'd deliberately avoided mentioning it.
After all, yesterday Ding Pan had spent half the day grilling her about Guo Yi. If her best friend found out she'd signed up for Guo Yi's class, their entire dorm would explode in gossip.
For the sake of her peaceful life, Wu Yao had kept quiet.
But clearly, Wu Yao underestimated a girl's curiosity. The more mysterious she acted, the more Ding Pan wanted answers.
"Hmph! Just wait—I'll get to the bottom of this after class!"
Ding Pan unhappily wrinkled her nose. Her intuition told her Wu Yao's sudden change of courses was far from simple.
Sadly...
She'd already committed to Teacher Li's class. Otherwise, she would've definitely followed Wu Yao to find out what was going on.
Although Shanghai Pokémon University allowed students to choose courses freely, once registered, students couldn't switch classes for at least one month. Skipping class resulted in deducted credits.
University credits didn't impact graduation, but they directly affected access to resources.
Credits could be exchanged for valuable items like Pokémon items, high-quality Pokéblocks, and even rare Pokémon.
So typically, even if a chosen class wasn't satisfying, students would tough it out until they could switch classes a month later.
Of course—if your family was wealthy enough to disregard these credits, that was another story entirely.
Unfortunately, Ding Pan wasn't so fortunate.
After separating from Ding Pan, Wu Yao quickly arrived at a classroom.
Inside, several students were already waiting.
Among them, one particular figure immediately caught Wu Yao's attention.
"Leng Yue? Why's she here?"
Surprise flashed across Wu Yao's face.
Both second-years, Leng Yue and Wu Yao were considered top students of their class. During previous university Pokémon tournaments, they often ended up competing directly for first and second place, making them familiar rivals.
At the same moment, Leng Yue showed equal surprise seeing Wu Yao walk in.
"Wu Yao? Isn't Teacher Li holding class today? What's she doing here?"
Could it be that yesterday's news of Guo Yi having an Elite Four-level Pokémon made her curious enough to show up?
This was Leng Yue's assumption based on available information.
After all—right now, aside from herself and Bai Cai, probably only Guo Yi's direct students knew he was the disciple of the mysterious "Bug Master."
Thinking this—Leng Yue glanced toward Su Qingxue and her two friends, who were sitting upright in the front row.
They must also know Guo Yi's true identity.
If even an outsider like Bai Cai could figure it out, how could these direct students remain ignorant?
Although puzzled by Wu Yao's sudden appearance, Leng Yue welcomed it.
After all she and Bai Cai had been racking their brains over how to make Guo Yi famous. Wu Yao's arrival—a well-known top student—was the best advertising they could've asked for.
Meanwhile, Wu Yao had initially wondered whether she should quietly hide in a corner somewhere.
But now—with Leng Yue here, she decisively took the empty seat beside her.
"Wu Yao, I seem to recall Teacher Li having class today. You've never missed his class before—"
Leng Yue teased, smiling warmly.
Wu Yao calmly replied, "I heard this T.A. has an Elite Four-level Pokémon, so I'm here to see if he has anything valuable to say about Pokémon training."
"If his class proves useless, I'll just switch back to Teacher Li next month."
Leng Yue found her explanation perfectly reasonable.
Given Wu Yao's strength, missing Teacher Li's class for one month wouldn't significantly impact her abilities. And Leng Yue herself believed Wu Yao might gain more by attending Guo Yi's class.
Gradually, more students filtered into the classroom.
Aside from Wu Yao and Leng Yue, everyone else was a first-year student, having enrolled purely because they'd heard of Guo Yi's Elite Four-level Ninetales at yesterday's opening ceremony.
However, the atmosphere immediately stirred when Bai Cai suddenly appeared.
"Teacher Bai? Why's she here too?"
"You haven't heard? Teacher Bai and Teacher Guo are dating!"
"What?! Really? How do you know?"
"My cousin's brother-in-law's second cousin teaches here—he told me personally. The rumor has spread everywhere already!"
"Oh my god! I literally enrolled here just for Teacher Bai! Heavens, why must you torture me like this?"
The whispers and laments spread quickly throughout the classroom…
For a moment—several male students let out heartbreaking cries, expressions as if they'd just lost their true love.
Hearing their noisy gossip, Su Qingxue felt increasingly irritated. She slapped her desk lightly, turning around with a cold rebuke, "We're in class. Keep quiet."
One male student, hearing her reprimand, immediately scowled in displeasure.
"What gives you the right—"
Before he could finish, his roommate hurriedly clamped a hand over his mouth.
"Do you wanna die? You're actually provoking her? She's the Azure Dragon Society's young miss!"
Since the student had come from another region, he wasn't familiar with Shanghai's power dynamics. Still irritated, he muttered defiantly, "So what? Does this Azure Dragon Society dare to cause trouble inside the university?"
After all universities everywhere strongly resisted outside forces meddling in their affairs. If discovered, such behavior would be severely punished.
Thus, the student wasn't worried at all.
However...
His roommate's next words instantly turned him into a meek little quail.
"She has an Ace-tier Nidoqueen."
"Tch, isn't that just... Wait, an Ace-tier Nidoqueen?! You're kidding, right?"
"Who's joking? The entire Shanghai knows about it."
Hearing of Su Qingxue's strength, the student no longer dared utter another word.
Though the university resisted outside interference, it didn't forbid student duels; in fact, it encouraged them. If this student didn't want to get trapped in his dorm room, he'd better behave.
Yet—little did they know that Su Qingxue not only possessed an Ace-tier Nidoqueen but also an Ace-tier Beedrill, making her strength nearly on par with upperclassmen.
Had they known that, they probably wouldn't have dared breathe loudly.
Seeing the class finally quiet down, Su Qingxue nodded in satisfaction and sat back down.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
As the class bell rang, Guo Yi walked in, right on time.
"You've all arrived early."
He greeted the students with a smile, gaze lingering briefly when he spotted Wu Yao sitting in the crowd, his expression becoming amused.
Interesting.
Just yesterday she was trembling in fear—now she's boldly attending my class.
Feeling Guo Yi's gaze, Wu Yao's heart pounded nervously.
Although she'd followed Gengar's advice to attend, her courage faltered the moment she actually faced Guo Yi.
Fortunately—Guo Yi's gaze shifted away after only a brief pause, letting her breathe out in relief.
After quickly comparing faces to his registration list, Guo Yi skipped roll-call entirely and began the lesson.
As far as he was concerned—his course was far more precious than mere school credits. Those who'd registered but didn't show were missing out greatly.
He couldn't even be bothered to deduct their credits.
"All right."
"My class is split into two parts: theoretical lectures first, practical combat training second."
"Any questions?"
Guo Yi asked from the podium.
Seeing no raised hands, he promptly began the lecture.
Turning to the blackboard, Guo Yi neatly wrote two characters—"战术" (Tactics).
Then, with a faint smile, he turned back to the class.
"As everyone knows, due to the variety of Pokémon species and their abilities, tactics available in battles are virtually endless."
"In my classes, we'll first examine the most widespread battle tactic—weather."
He then wrote "天气" (Weather), followed immediately by "雨天" (Rain), "雪天" (Hail), "晴天" (Sun), and "沙暴" (Sandstorm).
Turning again, he asked the students directly, "These four represent the current mainstream weather strategies. Which one would you like me to cover first?"
The moment he finished speaking—
Su Qingxue immediately blurted, "Sandstorm!"
After all, the team Guo Yi had planned specifically for her was a [Sandstorm] team. Naturally, she wanted to hear more about it.
"Sandstorm it is, then."
Guo Yi didn't mind picking her choice openly, despite their connection as student and teacher. He planned to cover all four anyway; order wasn't important.
He continued smoothly, "For any weather tactic, the most crucial role is the weather-setter."
"Can any of you name Pokémon possessing the [Sand Stream] ability?"
Immediately, students answered in succession.
"Tyranitar!"
"Hippopotas!"
"Hippowdon!"
"Gigalith!"
The Sandstorm team was a famous weather-based lineup, and its weather-setters were widely known.
Guo Yi nodded approvingly, continuing, "Good, you're clear on the weather-setters. Next, let's understand the characteristics of [Sandstorm]."
"Does anyone know how [Sandstorm] weather affects Pokémon battles?"
Compared to his previous question, this one was notably more difficult.
Forget these students—
Even Bai Cai, a fully-fledged teacher, only knew vague basics about this topic.
Right now—this world's research on Pokémon abilities was still in its infancy; even less was understood about the precise effects of weather conditions.
Seeing no hands raised, Guo Yi didn't keep them in suspense. He immediately began elaborating clearly:
He systematically explained which Pokémon types benefited under Sandstorm conditions, how certain moves were influenced, and which Pokémon abilities had synergy with [Sandstorm].
The entire class listened, utterly mesmerized by his clear explanations.
Only when the bell signaling the end of the theoretical lecture rang did they reluctantly snap back to reality.
At this moment, Bai Cai's eyes sparkled with newfound admiration and respect for Guo Yi.
As the granddaughter of a renowned professor, Bai Cai understood very clearly:
The depth and fluidity of the knowledge Guo Yi had just demonstrated were impossible without profound expertise.
Abilities, moves, Pokémon themselves—even Pokémon items.
Guo Yi had seamlessly integrated everything, delivering the information clearly, logically, and comprehensively.
Had Bai Cai herself tried, she absolutely couldn't have matched his performance.
Yet...
Even Bai Cai hadn't realized one thing:
Despite the extensive content, Guo Yi had deliberately withheld much more advanced knowledge.
After all—to avoid causing unnecessary commotion, he'd meticulously prepared beforehand, ensuring everything he shared was publicly available knowledge.
Any undiscovered Pokémon, abilities, or subtle interactions he carefully omitted.
Yet even this restricted information was enough to greatly benefit everyone present—
Enough that some students were already considering forming their own [Sandstorm] teams