After lunch, Su Qingxue couldn't wait any longer and hurried to discuss with Guo Yi.
"Teacher, what should my second Pokémon be?"
"Should I pick one of the three starters unique to the Dragon Nation—Charmander, Squirtle, or Bulbasaur—or maybe a pseudo-legendary like Dratini or Bagon?"
Wow!
She really was the heiress of the Azure Dragon Society.
Even her baseline choices started with the starters.
But Su Qingxue truly did have the resources to raise Pokémon of that caliber.
Unfortunately, all of her suggestions were immediately shot down by Guo Yi, who shook his head.
"Teacher, then what Pokémon is it?" Su Qingxue asked, confused.
In her mind, a starter or a pseudo-legendary should be her best option.
But Guo Yi didn't keep her guessing—he simply pointed at the Beedrill nearby.
"Qingxue, your second Pokémon will be its base form."
"Weedle."
At this answer, Su Qingxue couldn't help but yelp in surprise.
"What? Weedle?!"
"Teacher, why Weedle?"
"If you like Bug-types, aren't there way better choices?"
Su Qingxue's reaction wasn't because she disliked Bug-types...
It was just that, clearly, there were better options than Weedle.
Scyther, Pinsir, Heracross—weren't they all much better?
Zzzt! Zzzt!
Off to the side, Beedrill, hearing Su Qingxue's disdain for Weedle, buzzed irritably.
Its twin stingers scraped together with a metallic screech, as if to say, Let's see you call me weak to my face.
Realizing she'd put her foot in her mouth, Su Qingxue quickly bowed to Beedrill in apology.
"Sorry, Beedrill! I wasn't looking down on you!"
"It's just…"
She trailed off, unable to find a way to explain herself, and could only look helplessly at her teacher.
Guo Yi chuckled and stepped in to rescue her.
"All right, Beedrill—Qingxue didn't mean anything by it."
"And besides, there really are plenty of Bug-types stronger than you."
Zzzt! Zzzt!
Beedrill buzzed indignantly, refusing to concede.
Seeing Beedrill's desire to prove itself, Guo Yi changed his tone.
"But! I believe you, Beedrill, are absolutely the strongest Bug-type there is."
He didn't say this just to soothe Beedrill's feelings.
Right now, thanks to the [Giovanni's Beedrill Template] feedback, Beedrill's strength was growing at a staggering pace.
In just over half a month, Beedrill's power had reached levels most would find unbelievable.
Guo Yi simply had Beedrill keep its true strength disguised as "Excellent" to avoid drawing attention.
Hearing his trainer's praise, Beedrill finally tucked away its stingers, clearly satisfied.
"Heh—Teacher, you really don't hold back on the self-promotion, do you?"
Watching her teacher hype up his own Pokémon, Su Qingxue couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Strongest Bug-type? Forget that—she doubted Beedrill was even the best among its own evolutionary line!
After all, one of the current Elite Four in the Dragon Nation, the Bug-type Master Lin Feng, had an Elite Four-level Beedrill.
That Beedrill was probably the true pinnacle of its kind.
"Self-promotion?"
"Your teacher never exaggerates!" Guo Yi replied, deadly serious.
Seeing her teacher act so earnest, Su Qingxue didn't argue. She shifted the topic back to her second Pokémon.
"Teacher, does it really have to be Weedle?"
"Can't I pick something else?"
She put on a pitiful, pleading face, looking to Guo Yi for mercy.
It was only because she now fully accepted Guo Yi as her teacher that she'd even try this approach.
Otherwise, Su Qingxue would never have cared what he thought.
"All right, all right."
Guo Yi sighed and shook his head.
"If you really don't want Weedle, then we'll skip it."
"Pity, though. That Weedle has Champion potential."
Su Qingxue was just about to cheer when she heard his first sentence.
But the moment the words "Champion Potential" landed, she froze.
"Champion Potential?"
"Teacher, seriously? Did I hear that right?"
She quickly pressed for confirmation.
Who could blame her?
Any Pokémon with Champion potential—even a Caterpie—would be a rare treasure.
"Of course it's true."
"Too bad, though—someone doesn't want it."
Guo Yi stood up, brushing the dust from his clothes with a look of regret.
"Let's go. Back home, you can pick your starter or your pseudo-legendary."
Seeing her teacher about to leave, Su Qingxue quickly chased after him, protesting righteously, "Teacher, I thought about it just now—Weedle really is the best fit for me."
"See, you have a Beedrill, so as your student, I should have one too, right? That just makes sense!"
Guo Yi gave her a half-amused, half-skeptical look.
"Really?"
For a moment, Su Qingxue's cheeks flushed red, and she buried her face in her hands.
Seeing her like that, Guo Yi decided not to tease her any further.
"All right, I won't mess with you anymore."
"In a few days, I'll take you to catch that Weedle."
Su Qingxue's face immediately brightened with joy.
Knew it—teacher really is the best!
She didn't know why, but in front of Guo Yi, she always showed her truest self.
"All right, enough joking around."
"Let's talk about Nidorina."
Guo Yi chuckled and shifted the conversation back on track.
Now that Nidorina's training was progressing smoothly, he just needed to pass along a few notes to Su Qingxue.
No need for him to keep watch over every little thing.
"Go ahead, teacher."
At the mention of Nidorina, Su Qingxue straightened up, serious once again.
"Even though Nidorina can't learn [Flamethrower] just yet, you should still add some Fire-type Pokéblocks to her meals from time to time."
"That way, once she evolves into Nidoqueen, she'll pick up [Flamethrower] much faster."
"Also, you can start her training with [Sludge Bomb] now."
"And about the [Moon Stone]—your family should start looking for the highest-grade one possible."
"If you can't find one, let me know and I'll figure something out."
Technically, Guo Yi could buy a top-tier [Moon Stone] from the system's [Shop]...
But the price was an astronomical 30,000 [Mentor Points] each.
In the short term, scraping that together would be tough for Guo Yi.
And not only did Su Qingxue's Nidorina need one—so did Guo Yi's own Nidorino.
He couldn't play favorites.
That meant he'd need 60,000 [Mentor Points] total.
The pressure was real.
So if Su Qingxue could use her family's connections to secure a [Moon Stone], that would be ideal.
If not...
Then Guo Yi would just have to find another way, either by saving up points or watching for an [Opportunity] related to a top-tier [Moon Stone].