In a lush, green valley.
Birdsong echoed as morning mist, thin as gauze, slowly lifted away. Vivid crimson kapok blossoms floated in the valley, glowing like red-tinted clouds.
Beneath a waterfall deep within the valley sat a stern-faced man, a crimson cloak draped around his shoulders.
He sat cross-legged, eyes gently shut, meditating quietly.
Beside him rested a robust Pokémon, round-bodied, covered in smooth orange scales.
Atop its head grew two long, slender antennae and a small horn. Its large eyes were gentle and grey, and its cream-colored belly stretched all the way to the tip of its sturdy tail.
But perhaps most striking were the mismatched, undersized wings spread behind its bulky body.
Anyone with basic knowledge could immediately identify this Pokémon:
Dragonite!
A pseudo-legendary among Dragon-types.
At this moment Dragonite, eyes similarly closed, rested beside the man, a gentle glow shimmering faintly between them.
A full half-hour passed.
Finally, the faint glow faded.
Opening his eyes slowly, the man's expression lit up in joy.
"My Dragon Mastery's duration has increased by five minutes."
"Roaar!"
Dragonite echoed his excitement with a cheerful roar.
Longer Dragon Mastery meant their peak battle state now lasted five additional minutes.
One shouldn't underestimate these mere five minutes.
For top-tier trainers, five minutes were enough to completely change the course of a battle.
Gently stroking Dragonite's antennae, Jin Peng smiled. "In a bit, let's head out and celebrate with a nice feast."
Feast!
Dragonite's eyes immediately lit up upon hearing those words.
Saliva uncontrollably trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Perhaps nobody knew that Jin Peng's ace Dragonite was actually a complete glutton!
Of course this side of Dragonite was something only Jin Peng had ever seen.
If others were present, Dragonite would always restrain himself no matter how hungry he felt.
"You glutton."
Jin Peng laughed and stood up, preparing to leave Dragon Valley.
This valley was the Jin family's Secret Realm, home to numerous Dragon-type Pokémon.
It was the very foundation of the Jin family.
Its importance could never be overstated.
Thus, security here was extremely strict.
Even Jin family disciples could only enter to select their initial Dragon Pokémon or when receiving special rewards.
But for someone of Jin Peng's status and strength, these restrictions naturally didn't apply.
The reason he cultivated his Dragon Mastery here was the valley's incredibly dense Dragon-type energy, which significantly boosted the effectiveness and duration of his training.
"Dragonite, let's—hmm?"
Jin Peng suddenly paused.
"Xiaoxuan? Why's she calling me all of a sudden?"
Just as Jin Peng prepared to mount Dragonite and leave, his communicator rang unexpectedly.
The caller was none other than Su Xiaoxuan, the Psychic-type Elite Four.
"Xiaoxuan, what's up?"
"Why the sudden call?"
Curious, Jin Peng picked up.
Usually, it was he who reached out to Su Xiaoxuan. This was the first time she'd proactively contacted him.
It couldn't be helped despite already being among the Elite Four, Su Xiaoxuan was merely twenty-five years old—the youngest of all the Elite Four members.
She had achieved her incredible status at such a young age solely due to her astonishing psychic powers.
Rumors said from birth, Su Xiaoxuan had possessed an extraordinary psychic talent.
By the time she was seven or eight, her personal strength already matched Qualified-tier trainers.
A prodigy, through and through.
Even more absurdly, Elite Four-tier Psychic Pokémon would sometimes voluntarily seek her out.
In fact all of Su Xiaoxuan's Pokémon had willingly joined her of their own accord. She'd never caught one herself.
Even the weakest among them was at least Gym Leader-tier.
Combined with the Su family's considerable background this explained how Su Xiaoxuan had risen so swiftly to the ranks of the Elite Four.
But precisely because of her youth, she usually avoided League responsibilities whenever she could.
Thus it was rare for Su Xiaoxuan to call any of the other three Elite Four herself.
"Hey, Big Bird Peng, hurry up and check Douyin!"
"That Guo Yi you've been so interested in lately—he's lecturing right now about Dragon-Slaying tactics!"
Big Bird Peng.
This was Su Xiaoxuan's personal nickname for Jin Peng.
After all, among Jin Peng's Pokémon, not every one was truly a Dragon-type.
Several, such as Aerodactyl, Gyarados, and Tropius, lacked actual Dragon-typing but possessed names implying otherwise.
However, practically all his Pokémon had Flying-typing in common.
Thus, Su Xiaoxuan had jokingly dubbed him "Big Bird Peng."
From her tone, Jin Peng could clearly sense the mischievous glee in her voice.
"Dragon-slaying tactics?"
"Are you serious? Xiaoxuan, you wouldn't be pranking me again, right?"
After all, she'd done similar things to him many times before.
This forced Jin Peng to remain cautious.
Annoyed by his skepticism, Su Xiaoxuan shot back, clearly displeased, "Believe it or don't."
"Hmph!"
With an irritated huff, she abruptly hung up.
"Sigh..."
"Already an Elite Four member, yet she still acts like a spoiled child."
Listening to the disconnected tone, Jin Peng shook his head helplessly.
Though doubtful, he still opened Douyin to check anyway.
He didn't even need to search, the livestream of Guo Yi's class was being pushed prominently to the front page.
Currently Chu Nan's livestream had already surpassed ten million viewers, easily topping the popularity charts. It was impossible to miss!
"Azumarill can learn Belly Drum?"
Inheriting both Huge Power and Belly Drum, Azumarill was utterly terrifying against Dragon-type Pokémon.
To put it bluntly:
At equal tiers no Dragon Pokémon could survive even a single Ice Punch from Azumarill.
But Belly Drum…
I recall the clan elders researching this skill and concluding that Azumarill couldn't learn it at all…
Jin Peng lowered his head, deep in thought.
Ever since Azumarill was discovered to have Huge Power, the Jin family elders had realized the threat it posed to Dragon-types.
But after extensive research, they concluded that although Huge Power Azumarill was dangerous to Dragon-types, its threat level remained manageable.
Forget Belly Drum, a move that drastically boosted attack power—Azumarill couldn't even learn weaker stat-boosting moves like Swords Dance or Bulk Up.
Without boosted attack, Huge Power Azumarill simply wasn't frightening enough.
Just as Jin Peng pondered viewers in the livestream were also furiously citing evidence to refute Guo Yi's claim.
"Guo Yi, let's see how you prove Azumarill can learn Belly Drum!"
Jin Peng sat back down, watching the stream intently.
...
At Shanghai Pokémon University the students in the classroom were completely baffled by Guo Yi's contradictory statements.
Just moments earlier, he claimed Azumarill could master Belly Drum, yet now he said it couldn't.
Wasn't he blatantly contradicting himself?
Seeing everyone's confusion, Guo Yi didn't keep them guessing any longer.
"Azumarill indeed cannot learn Belly Drum through ordinary training methods."
"But don't forget—there are moves known as Egg Moves."
Egg Moves.
Every country had conducted research on this topic, but Pokémon genetics were notoriously complicated.
So far, research on Egg Moves remained at a preliminary stage.
Even Egg Groups—Critical knowledge for Egg Moves—had yet to be fully publicized.
"Egg Moves?"
Hearing this, nearly everyone in the classroom and livestream audience was utterly lost.
How did a lesson on move tutoring suddenly become about inheritance?
Guo Yi didn't intend to explain Egg Moves in-depth, either.
Not because he was unwilling but because the topic was far too complex.
Even with memories from his previous life, he wouldn't easily delve into such extensive subjects.
However though he wouldn't discuss Egg Moves broadly, he could reveal exactly which Pokémon, when bred with Azumarill, would allow its offspring to learn Belly Drum.
"To inherit Belly Drum—"
"The father must belong to one of three evolutionary families: Poliwag, Slowpoke, or Spheal. Moreover, the father must have already mastered Belly Drum."
"Of course, once Azumarill learns Belly Drum, any future offspring it breeds will also inherit the move."
"However, to breed an Azumarill with both Belly Drum and Huge Power—"
"It would take at least two to three years from scratch."
After all this was reality, not a video game.
In games, trainers only needed to walk around for Pokémon eggs to hatch.
But in reality hatching a single Pokémon egg took at least two to three months—sometimes half a year or even a full year.
Breeding an ideal Azumarill definitely wasn't a simple task.
The investment of time, effort, and resources would be immense.
"Umm…"
After hearing Guo Yi's explanation of inheritance, most people were only half-convinced.
Then, one student finally asked:
"Teacher, do you actually own such an Azumarill yourself?"
Everyone's eyes lit up.
That's right!
If Teacher Guo personally owned one, wouldn't that immediately prove his claims?
Unfortunately under everyone's hopeful gazes, Guo Yi shook his head.
"Sorry."
"Although I know the breeding method, I haven't bothered raising one myself."
"After all, Dragon-types are nothing special. If I want to defeat them, I have plenty of other ways."
"Besides, the Dragon-Slaying Hero Azumarill is just the weakest of my dragon-slaying strategies. It's hardly worth my effort."
Everyone: "…"
Hearing Guo Yi's blatantly boastful response, the crowd momentarily didn't know how to react.
"Alright, I've explained the training method for our Dragon-Slaying Hero."
"Whether you decide to breed it is entirely up to you."
"That concludes today's dragon-slaying lesson. Next week, I'll introduce you to another dragon-slaying weapon—what I call the Dragon-Slaying Blade."
"Teacher," one student asked timidly, "Can I ask why you dislike Dragon-types so much?"
The student who asked happened to own a Dragon Pokémon himself.
Guo Yi laughed in response, "I don't have anything personal against Dragon-types."
"But recently, I encountered a particularly arrogant Dragon-type trainer who irritated me."
"Since he takes pride in his Dragon Pokémon, I decided I'd crush that pride to dust!"
"Alright, let's return to today's main topic—Snowy Weather tactics!"
Having finished discussing Azumarill, Guo Yi returned to explaining weather-based battle tactics.
Meanwhile—When Jin Peng heard Guo Yi's final remark, his brow furrowed deeply once more.