"Kii!"
The newcomers, of course, caught Zapdos's attention.
But Zapdos only gave them a single glance before going right back to basking lazily in the warm sunlight.
Zapdos: With that annoying bug here, if anything troublesome comes up, he'll handle it.
Ever since Beedrill stepped into Master Tier, his growth rate had slowed compared to before.
After all this time, he'd only gone up a single level, reaching Lv. 92.
And that was only thanks to the Template Beedrill carried—an aggregate of every version of Giovanni's Beedrill.
Otherwise!
Even that one level… who knew how long it would've taken.
Even if it was only one level… If Tapu Koko from back then saw Beedrill's current strength, it would probably get a good scare!
It's only been a short time. How did this guy get stronger than him already?
Zapdos had grown a bit over this stretch as well.
But he still hadn't crossed that Master Tier threshold.
Which meant Zapdos was now fully in "salted-fish mode."
If Guo Yi didn't say the word, he couldn't be bothered to move!
Click!
The villa's front door suddenly opened.
A figure everyone recognized stepped out.
"Little Bai Cai?"
"Why are you here?"
The woman let out a startled cry.
Bai Cai herself was just as shocked.
"Grandpa Du, Grandpa Sun, Sister Yixue—why are you all here?!"
Because of Bai Cai's grandma, she was on good terms with all of them.
After all, the number of Pokémon Professors in all of Dragon Country could be counted on two hands.
And academic research rarely involved scheming and backstabbing, so the professors generally got along quite well.
If Sun Derong showed up, Bai Cai wouldn't have been that surprised.
His institute was in Shanghai, and he already knew Guo Yi—so seeing him here was perfectly reasonable.
But Bai Cai never would've imagined Grandpa Du would be here too.
His institute was in the Capital City!
And it was right next to Dragon Country's Pokémon League General Headquarters.
That kind of status and privilege—only Du Ruiguang enjoyed it.
Which went to show just how much the Dragon Country Pokémon League valued him.
"Bai Cai, kid, why are you here?"
"And what's in that bag you're holding? Why do I feel like I'm smelling something burnt?"
Sun Derong asked curiously.
Maybe because he was older, he took a real interest in what the younger generation was up to.
Especially a kid with as much potential as Bai Cai.
"N-nothing…"
At that, Bai Cai's small face flushed red, and she tightened her grip on the trash bag.
Like she was afraid he'd see what was inside.
Seeing Grandpa Sun was about to keep asking, Bai Cai hurried to cut in. "Grandpa Sun, Grandpa Du—you're here to see Guo Yi, right?"
"He's inside. Just go in."
"I've got a little thing to take care of. I'll be back in a bit."
With that—Bai Cai didn't even look at the others' expressions. Tense all over, she headed straight out.
Watching her, Qin Yixue spoke up. "Teacher, I'll go take a look."
Du Ruiguang nodded, and Qin Yixue jogged after her.
"What's up with that kid?" Sun Derong muttered, baffled.
In his memory, he'd rarely seen Bai Cai act this shy.
"Old Sun, let's go."
"Let me meet this promising young talent."
So, With Sun Derong leading the way, the two elders walked into the villa.
...
Inside, Guo Yi heard footsteps from the entrance and couldn't help but tease. "Bai Cai, you're back already? You already cleaned up your masterpiece?"
Then a familiar voice sounded.
"Xiao Yi, long time no see!"
Guo Yi froze, then looked up.
"Professor Sun? It's actually you?"
"And the one next to you is… Professor Du? I'm not seeing things, am I?!"
Du Ruiguang was practically a textbook-level figure—of course Guo Yi recognized him.
That was exactly why his face filled with surprise.
He could understand Professor Sun coming here.
After all, they were old acquaintances.
They didn't meet often in person, but Sun Derong frequently chatted with Guo Yi online about details like Life Orb and the Sheer Force Ability.
But a heavyweight like Du Ruiguang showing up really was beyond his expectations.
"Please, have a seat."
Guo Yi got up from the couch and motioned for them to sit, then called toward the kitchen, "Lilligant, stop cleaning for now."
"Go brew a pot of hot tea."
"Lilli!" (Okay!)
Lilligant nodded, then stepped out of a kitchen that looked like it had just survived a warzone to find tea leaves and make tea.
"Xiao Yi, you don't mind me calling you that, do you?" After the two elders sat down, Du Ruiguang asked with a smile.
His salt-and-pepper beard, the faint wrinkles, and those perpetually smiling eyes all made him seem like a gentle, approachable old man.
"Not at all."
"Professor Du, call me whatever you like."
Guo Yi smiled back.
After all, Du Ruiguang's status in Dragon Country was basically what Professor Oak was in the Pokémon world.
Guo Yi wouldn't dare show the slightest disinterest.
He genuinely respected professors who devoted themselves to research without holding nothing back.
Unlike those big clans—who'd hide any Pokémon-related discoveries like buried treasure, terrified outsiders might learn something—
These professors were different.
Whether it was Sun Derong or Du Ruiguang, the moment they had findings that benefited the public, they'd publish them as soon as possible.
No joke—Dragon Country's rapid rise owed a huge debt to researchers like them.
As for certain extremists whining about why it wasn't all free and why you had to pay for monthly journals…
Guo Yi could only scoff.
If you wouldn't even spend that much, you might as well give up on becoming a professional Trainer.
"Xiao Yi, are you living together with Bai Cai?" Sun Derong glanced toward the kitchen, then waggled his eyebrows at Guo Yi with the air of an old prankster.
Guo Yi shook his head helplessly. "Professor Sun, you've got the wrong idea."
"I just made a bet with Bai Cai. If she could cook one edible dish, I'd answer her question about Azumarill's Egg Moves."
"But as for the results…"
As he spoke, Guo Yi spread his hands.
Sure enough, for Bai Cai, the kitchen really was hell on earth.
At that, Du Ruiguang hesitated a moment before asking, "Xiao Yi, we came for the same question."
"Could you explain it a bit?"
"Of course. No problem."
Guo Yi's easy agreement made Du Ruiguang blink.
Wasn't Bai Cai the one asking earlier, and he'd demanded this and that condition?
Why was it different when it came to him—nothing at all?
"Is it because of who I am?" Du Ruiguang thought.
But Guo Yi caught the meaning immediately and explained, "Professor Du, it's not that I'm unwilling to explain it to Bai Cai."
"It's just… Egg Moves is the kind of thing where, if you're discussing it with someone who doesn't understand, the difficulty in explaining is…"
"I see."
Guo Yi didn't spell it out, but Du Ruiguang understood.
True.
Breeding and Egg Moves—without the necessary foundational knowledge, talking about it was like speaking in heavenly script.
The other person wouldn't understand, and it was a pain to explain.
It was like—
You're teaching advanced math, and your student asks you what one plus one equals.
Anyone would get a headache.
Just then—
"Guo Yi, so that's what you really think!"
Bai Cai's dissatisfied voice came from the doorway.
She walked in with her lips pursed, Qin Yixue at her side.
And the look Bai Cai gave Guo Yi was full of grievance.
"Ahem."
"Bai Cai, you're back? By the way, this is…?"
Guo Yi coughed a few times to cover his awkwardness, then immediately changed the subject.
"Hmph!"
Bai Cai gave a disgruntled snort. "This is your creditor—here to settle accounts with you!"
Creditor?
Guo Yi blinked.
With his finances, how could he possibly have a creditor?
Could it be… the previous me had some forgotten old lover?
The thought popped into Guo Yi's head.
He'd inherited the former owner's memories, but that didn't mean he could clearly remember every single person.
So he asked directly, "Miss, do we know each other?"
Who would've thought—
Qin Yixue only stared at him with furious eyes and didn't answer at all.
Guo Yi instantly got stuck in an awkward silence.
"Yixue, don't be rude!" Du Ruiguang scolded.
Only then did Qin Yixue look away.
Seeing that, Du Ruiguang sighed, a bit helpless. "Xiao Yi, don't be angry."
"The reason Yixue is like this is because the information you published about Azumarill a few days ago happened to be the results she'd just managed to research."
"That's why she's hostile toward you."
So that was it.
Guo Yi understood immediately, and he also felt a little guilty.
After all, unlike him—who was drawing on memories from a past life—
Researchers like Qin Yixue might have to spend two years, even several years, to reach a conclusion they wanted.
That was time and youth traded away, one day at a time.
If it were Guo Yi himself—
If something he was about to publish got snatched away at the last moment, he'd definitely come knocking for an explanation.
Qin Yixue's attitude now was already giving him plenty of face.
But still.
He'd already said everything publicly. There was no taking it back now.
I'll have to find a way to make it up to her somewhere else.
Guo Yi could only do his best to compensate Qin Yixue for what she'd lost.
Seeing Guo Yi fall silent, Du Ruiguang assumed he was blaming himself, so he tried to comfort him. "Xiao Yi, you don't need to take it too much to heart."
"Academic research works like this—whoever publishes first, gets it."
"And besides, what you said was far more comprehensive than what this girl had."
After all, for any academic question, plenty of researchers might be working on it at the same time.
Who gets there first and who comes later—
That's a matter of ability, not something you can blame on others.
Especially when the other person's work is better than yours, there's even less room to argue.
Even though Qin Yixue was Professor Du's disciple, when it came to matters like these, he was still scrupulously fair.
---
T/N: hmmm yeah just switching inheritance to egg moves, at first i was gonna keep inheritance but the pokemon fan in me couldnt do it