The First Lesson Changed Four Things, and None of Them Were Misfortunes

The Basic Partnering Class officially began for the first time, with only three groups attending.

A-Li and Lillipup took the Number One Tag, while Master Shi and Timburr took the Number Two Tag. Bibi Dong personally accepted the Number Three Tag, with Absol at her side, as though it had long grown used to the Pope never being first in matters like this.

Yue Guan and Ghost had also arrived, but they had no tags.

"We'll watch from outside," Yue Guan said.

"Don't stick your heads in," Yan reminded them.

Yue Guan looked toward Xia Che's empty seat in the shop. "Did he teach you that line too?"

"It was already there yesterday." Ghost found him a bench in the outer room.

There were exactly six people in the classroom. Hu Liena was in charge of teaching, Xie Yue watched the passageway and equipment, and Yan guarded the water bowls and rest area. All three partners had come today. Eevee lay at Hu Liena's feet, Pawniard stood beside the equipment cabinet, and Magby sat on the observation mat behind Yan.

Its activity level was still gradually increasing after its recovery. Today, it could follow along for two rounds or merely watch. The choice was entirely its own.

The first problem appeared at the entrance.

The long-item rack Xie Yue had added yesterday could hold short umbrellas, medicine baskets, and flowerpot bags, but Timburr's wooden beam extended far beyond it. If leaned diagonally, the beam blocked half the doorway.

Master Shi tried carrying the beam in two different directions, but neither worked.

The venue instructor stood outside and said, "If the very first thing can't fit, does that mean it isn't suited for this class?"

Timburr hugged its lumber tightly and snorted heavily through its red nose.

"It's the rack that isn't suitable," Xie Yue said.

He gave up on forcing the beam into the rack and instead drew a rectangular space on the floor against the inner wall. It neither blocked the door nor sat near the water bowls. Timburr laid the beam flat inside it, leaving exactly a palm's width of space on every side.

"From now on, ask for the dimensions of long items when they sign up." Hu Liena wrote down the first revision on the back of the course card.

The second problem came with Group One.

The wooden floor in the rest hall had just been waxed the night before. It was clean and shiny, but it carried an unfamiliar oily smell. Lillipup refused to proceed once it reached the stop line, lowering its head to sniff the floor over and over.

A-Li called to it once. It looked up at her, but still remained where it was.

"Should I carry it inside?" A-Li asked.

Hu Liena crouched to one side. "Wait a little longer first."

After sniffing the stop line, Lillipup walked half a circle along the edge of the doorway. The smell of fresh wax filled the entire room. In the end, it returned to A-Li's feet and bit down on the old cloth bag at her waist.

A-Li took out the familiar old cloth and gave it a gentle shake in front of herself. Catching the scent of home and the old shoe cabinet, Lillipup finally crossed the white line, though it only went as far as the first mat near the entrance.

"We'll stay here today," A-Li said.

It lay down and pinned the old cloth beneath its front paws.

The venue instructor looked puzzled. "Was cleaning the floor a mistake too?"

"No," Hu Liena said. "Next time, open the windows half a day in advance and tell everyone at registration that the floor was just waxed."

The second line read: Give advance notice of new smells.

The third group entered without trouble.

Bibi Dong crossed the stop line, with Absol keeping half a step behind. When they reached the window, a shaft of afternoon sunlight fell directly across the middle of the passageway. Absol stopped and shifted slightly toward the shadowed side.

Yue Guan called from outside, "It won't walk through that either?"

Absol raised its eyes at him.

"I was only asking."

Bibi Dong neither led it nor made it cross the bright patch. She shifted half a step left with it, and the pair continued forward along the shadows cast by the curtains.

Hu Liena lowered the curtain on the left another little way, creating an unbroken strip of shade along the passage.

"Is Absol afraid of light?" the venue instructor asked.

"It is more accustomed to places where the light doesn't glare," Bibi Dong said.

The third revision was written as: Keep both bright and dim routes available. It did not say that Absol feared light.

After all three groups had finished, Yan thought the easiest part, the rest period, would finally pass without issue.

He had prepared three water bowls of the same size, all at the right temperature. Lillipup's bowl was by the door, Absol's was on the shaded side, and Timburr's sat near the rectangular space.

When Timburr returned, it did not drink immediately. Instead, it raised both hands for Master Shi to see.

Its palms were covered in fine wood chips left by the beam.

If it held the bowl directly, the wood chips would fall into the water.

"I forgot the cleaning cloths," Yan said.

Pawniard fetched a dry cloth from beside the equipment cabinet and pushed it in front of Timburr with its flat forearm guard. Timburr carefully wiped both hands, then brushed the loose chips off the surface of the beam before picking up its water bowl.

A cleaning basket was added to the fourth line.

The venue instructor looked at the course card, now filled across half its surface. "The first lesson already had four mistakes."

"We discovered four places that needed adjustment," Hu Liena corrected.

"What if there are more next class?"

"Then we'll keep writing."

Bibi Dong set down Absol's shallow water bowl. "If all you wanted was for every part to look correct, yesterday's main venue would have been more suitable."

It was spacious, orderly, and grand enough, yet no one truly wanted to use it.

The venue instructor closed his mouth and took the initiative to move the cleaning basket beside the long-item space.

The lesson did not restart because of the four revisions. A-Li accompanied Lillipup through the remaining time by the door, Master Shi and Timburr practiced lifting and setting down the wooden beam together twice, while Bibi Dong led Absol along both the bright and dim routes. In the end, it still chose the shaded side for itself.

When the dismissal bell rang, the three groups left in turn.

Bibi Dong, however, kept the three instructors behind for a moment.

"Each of you, name one problem of your own," she said.

Hu Liena spoke first. "Yesterday, I checked whether the floor was level. I didn't ask when it had been waxed."

Xie Yue said, "I made the rack's dimensions based only on the short umbrellas and bags that had appeared in the shop."

Yan glanced at the cleaning basket that had just been placed there. "I only prepared water. I didn't consider that hands might need cleaning before drinking."

"How will you change it next time?"

"Confirm smells and ventilation before class."

"Record the longest item at registration."

"Prepare both dry and wet cleaning cloths beside the water bowls."

After listening, Bibi Dong only said, "Do it."

She did not take away the three instructor tags because problems had arisen in the first lesson, nor did she place all four revisions on the venue instructor.

A-Li had already reached the outer room when she heard their review. She led Lillipup back inside. "Until the floor smell fades, we can have class by the door. We'll keep bringing the old cloth too."

Master Shi lifted one end of Timburr's beam. "We'll measure the long item tomorrow and send over the dimensions. If it comes again, it should still go on the floor. Don't make the rack longer than the door."

Timburr nodded in agreement.

None of the three students asked to redo today's lesson. Knowing what would change next time was already enough.

Yue Guan walked in and flipped through the course card. "It's already full on the first day. Will there be enough room later?"

Ghost handed over a stack of blank paper. "The Papal Hall does not lack paper."

"It lacks someone to draw gold borders."

Flabébé flew up from the blue flower and covered the spot he intended to decorate with a pale yellow petal.

Yue Guan had no choice but to put down his pen.

Only after everyone else had dispersed did Magby rise from the observation mat. It walked to Yan's side and pointed at the six soft posts.

"Two rounds?" Yan asked.

It nodded first, then held up one finger.

"One round first."

This round was not timed. Magby left enough distance as it passed every soft post, stopped at the stop line, then returned to the water bowls on its own. After drinking, it still had energy left, but it did not immediately ask for a second round.

Rotom completed its post-recovery growth record, and the screen clearly displayed Level Twenty-Nine for the first time.

"What about one more level?" Yan asked.

"Magby generally gains the conditions to evolve into Magmortar at Level Thirty, Rotom."

Yan's eyes lit up at once.

Magby leaned closer too, seeing the new outline on the screen. Magmortar was much larger than it was, with flames seeming to burn atop its head and greater strength in both its arms and body.

"Will it definitely evolve once it reaches Level Thirty?" Hu Liena asked.

"That is the natural evolution condition. Once the requirements are met, the opportunity to evolve will appear. Whether to accept it remains Magby's own decision, Rotom."

Yan crouched in front of the little one. "Do you want to become like this?"

Magby looked for a long time. It first raised a hand to compare the outline's height, then lowered its gaze to its own round belly. Its new form would have longer arms, and its usual water bowl, training wristbands, and rest mat would all need readjustment.

It neither nodded nor shook its head right away. Instead, it turned the screen toward Indeedee.

Indeedee had already taken out a body-change record sheet. Height, stride length, body temperature, food intake, and flame range were all left blank, to be measured only after it truly chose to evolve.

"No need to fill it out yet." Xia Che's voice came from the other end of the terminal.

Indeedee nodded and clipped the blank form to the back of the record board.

"Do you want to do another round?" Yan stopped himself as soon as he finished asking.

The rest period marked on the record board had not ended yet.

He put the training wristbands back into the bag. "Forget it. We'll talk about it tomorrow."

Magby looked at the soft posts, then toward the cafeteria.

It chose to eat first.

The first lesson had changed four things, and Level Twenty-Nine was not treated by anyone as a gap that had to be forced up to Level Thirty today.