Reforge the Glory of the Normal Type!

Though it wasn't the same time, nor the same place.

At this very moment, it was exactly like that moment back then.

Xia Chen didn't hesitate and firmly commanded, "Eevee, Swift!"

"Vee!" Eevee responded. Having rolled aside to evade Doduo's Quick Attack charge, she was in a far better situation than last time.

She steadied herself slightly, focused, gathered energy, and instantly fired a cluster of glowing white, star-shaped energy blasts, striking the flustered Doduo from behind.

Doduo's Trainer, Gao Muyang, also panicked.

He had never encountered a Quick Attack being dodged before, and for a moment, he had no idea how to counterattack.

Teacher Tang shook his head slightly from the sidelines. This was a common flaw among rookie Trainers.

They might start off with overwhelming momentum, but once something unexpected happened and they fell into a disadvantage, they no longer knew how to fight.

Commonly known as being single-threaded.

In contrast, Teacher Tang turned to observe the calm and composed young man, Xia Chen.

He had made a firm prediction at the start, even luring the opponent into a trap. Then, he seized the opportunity and counterattacked decisively.

The entire sequence had flowed smoothly, all in one go.

And you called this a rookie?

The more Teacher Tang watched, the more impressed he became, even feeling faintly excited.

The Normal-type class he led had been languishing for a long time. Though it had many students, its overall annual results always ranked at the bottom among all the classes.

He had analyzed the reasons before, and the most important one was still the quality of the students.

He wasn't trying to shift the blame. This was a problem everyone acknowledged existed.

Most Normal-type Pokémon were fairly common, and unless they received special training, they lacked the innate ability to breathe fire, spray water, or command thunder and lightning.

Right from the start, they were less popular than the major types like Water, Fire, and Grass.

Many times, Trainers chose Normal-type Pokémon not out of affection, but out of necessity.

After all, if they had a choice, few people would hesitate between Charmander and Minccino.

Take the most obvious example: there were so many regions, so many Elite Four level Trainers, and so many Gym Leaders in the world.

There weren't no top Trainers who specialized in the Normal type, but they were few and far between.

As far as he could remember, there were only two Gym Leaders proficient in the Normal type: Whitney of Goldenrod City in the Johto Region, and Norman of Petalburg City in the Hoenn Region.

Back to the school.

Thus, the Normal-type class was usually the reluctant choice of rookie Trainers whose family circumstances were less than ideal.

Of course, there were exceptions, like Munchlax. Its appetite was not something an ordinary family could afford.

But setting aside special cases, it was an indisputable fact that the Normal-type class was routinely beaten up during the "exchanges" between the various type classes.

And as the teacher leading them, Teacher Tang found it hardest to save face.

No matter how embarrassing his students were, they only stayed at school for a year, while he had been mocked by teachers from every other class for a full six years!

Six years!

Sometimes, Teacher Tang truly wanted to find someone to vent to. Did you know how he had spent those six years?

Three years after three years—he couldn't even hold his head up in front of the female teachers he liked.

But this year, in Xia Chen and Eevee, he seemed to see hope for the rise of the Normal type!

Although Eevee's opening had been wonderful, this battle lasted even longer than the first group's.

It wasn't because Doduo had rallied and turned the fight around. The main reason was that Eevee still suffered from being too young.

She didn't have enough energy inside her, so the power of her Pokémon moves wasn't all that impressive.

And while Doduo was a little simple-minded, even relying only on its muscular instincts, its speed and strength, both a level above Eevee's, could still cause her considerable trouble.

Xia Chen didn't give excessive commands like "Dodge quickly!"

Eevee's reactions were faster than her Trainer's by who knew how much. He only needed to make the key tactical decisions.

And against Doduo's reckless charges, the kiting tactics Eevee had practiced through a month of balance and evasion training were precisely what she excelled at most.

In fact, though it might sound hurtful, aside from being a little faster, Doduo's completely unstructured attacks were truly inferior to the training machine's beginner difficulty.

Eevee had originally planned to pretend to get hit twice, but as she watched Doduo charge straight at her, she felt that continuing the act would be a little rude.

So, Eevee perfectly "demonstrated" the results of her month of hard work to Xia Chen.

She dodged Doduo's charges left and right while cleverly weaving in Swift counterattacks.

Only after four full uses of Swift did Doduo collapse to the ground, completely losing its ability to battle.

Looking at the utterly silent crowd below, Eevee calmly dusted herself off, then leisurely jumped back into Xia Chen's arms and enjoyed his comfortable post-battle massage.

Hmph, I barely even tried, and you were already all intimidated?

Sure enough, how could a Caterpie understand Rayquaza's ambitions?

An ordinary victory had no impact on Xia Chen and Eevee, though for some reason, Teacher Tang's gaze after the battle seemed a little strange.

Xia Chen didn't think much of it. Among the four Pokémon, Eevee's performance had been outstanding by far.

It seemed that the targeted training over the past month really had worked, but neither he nor Eevee could become complacent.

After all, he had long heard that the Normal-type class ranked at the bottom among all type classes.

The current Eevee could barely be considered a mere chicken head.

But every journey had to be taken one step at a time. Xia Chen wasn't in a hurry. Compared to strength, he cared more about Eevee and Feebas's evolution research.

The good news was that when Xia Chen went home for lunch at noon, he received the friend request he had been waiting for all morning.

[Iron Will has sent you a friend request. Message: Pewter City's Brock. Source: Number Search]

He was here, he was here—at last, that man was here!

Xia Chen immediately accepted the request, then opened the profile of the dark-skinned young man with narrowed eyes at lightning speed and sent him a message.

I'm Not Cooing Pigeon: [Hello, Teacher Brock! Eevee greeting.jpg]

Whether in the content creator field or the Breeder field, Brock was his senior. Besides, Brock had helped him so much. There was nothing embarrassing about taking the initiative.

Iron Will: [No need to be so polite. Just call me Brock. Pigeon Master, I'm a fan of yours too! Steelix smiling.jpg]

I'm Not Cooing Pigeon: [Alright, then neither of us needs to be polite. Just call me Xia Chen. Eevee nodding seriously.jpg]

Iron Will: [That form of address reminds me a little of a friend. I'm getting off track—back to business. Xia Chen, you're interested in that seminar, right? Should I sign you up? Steelix confused.jpg]

[Yes, yes! Thanks for looking out for me, boss!]

Xia Chen typed the sentence, then thought it over and decided not to add the Eevee Charm sticker.

It wasn't that it wasn't cute enough. It was too cute, and somehow made him look a little gay.

Brock didn't notice that detail and sent over a link.

It was colorful, and at a glance, Xia Chen seemed to spot something indecent. It didn't look like a proper website at all.

Before Xia Chen could inspect it closely, he saw [The other party has recalled a message].

Then Brock sent another website link, this one from the official World Breeders Association website.

Iron Will: [I've sent you the seminar website link. Someone's here to challenge the Gym, so I won't chat for now. Talk later. Steelix turning away.jpg]

Xia Chen: "..."

Forget it. It was Brock, after all. He should leave his senior some dignity.

Xia Chen didn't investigate whether Brock really had something to do or was merely using an excuse to flee the scene.

Pretending he had seen nothing, he casually sent an Eevee farewell sticker, then opened the link Brock had sent.