Su Wen's knowledge of Wu Yan came about by pure chance. When Su Wen was six or seven, he remembered a very talented Trainer visiting the Gym, and the Pokémon he used was a Jolteon.
After that Trainer left, Su Chuan, for the first time ever, muttered to himself with a sigh, wondering if the current Electric-type Elite Four member would have been someone else if Wu Yan hadn't had his accident.
Afterward, Su Wen specifically looked up Wu Yan on the forums and discovered that even now, people were still discussing this Trainer who had been active over a decade ago.
More than ten years ago, Wu Yan was one of the most talented Trainers in the Xia Nation, and his signature Pokémon was his Jolteon.
Wu Yan's Jolteon had the Ability [Quick Feet]. Combined with his paralysis strategy, he dominated the Trainer circuits throughout the Xia Nation.
However, when Wu Yan participated in the World Cup Team Battle that year, several countries conspired against the Xia Nation's team. In the end, to cover the retreat of the Xia Nation's elite members, Wu Yan chose to stay behind alone. The result was that all three of his participating Pokémon were killed, which naturally included his Jolteon, which had already reached the Semi-Elite Four Level at the time.
From then on, Wu Yan vanished from the public eye and was never active in the Pokémon world again.
He just never expected that Wu Yan would actually become the supervising teacher for the Trainer course of their year at Cloud City High School. No wonder Wu Yan was the supervising teacher for all five classes; Su Wen had no doubt that Wu Yan was more than capable.
But for a Trainer from over a decade ago who hadn't made a sound in so many years, it was only natural for the current era to have forgotten him.
"Dad, do you know why Wu Yan is our supervising teacher?" Su Wen asked, seeing that Su Chuan didn't look surprised at all. He knew his old man must know something.
Su Chuan shook his head. "I have some guesses, but I'm not entirely sure. You don't need to know why. The three of you just need to know that if you study hard under Wu Yan, you'll definitely learn a lot."
Chen You didn't quite understand Su Chuan's serious tone and retorted, "Uncle Su, you're a Gym-level Trainer too. There's no way this Wu Yan is stronger than you."
Chen You's words made Su Chuan a bit embarrassed, but he didn't try to puff up his chest. He lightly slapped the back of Chen You's head. "Little You, don't say that in front of others. Your Uncle Su might get flamed so badly he'd have to commit seppuku to atone."
After all, Wu Yan had ended up this way for the sake of the Xia Nation and his teammates. Besides, Wu Yan's fans from back then were still alive and well. If word of this got out, some Elite Four-level Trainer might just show up to knock Su Chuan out.
Chen You said sheepishly, "Got it, Uncle Su."
After seeing the three of them to their respective classrooms, Su Chuan gave Su Wen some final instructions and left the school.
Su Wen watched Su Chuan's retreating figure, knowing he probably wouldn't see his dad for a long time.
"Dad, we both have to be stronger the next time we meet," Su Wen thought to himself. He knew his dad would never leave him home alone for a reason as simple as going on a trip.
Taking a step back, even if his dad had such an idea, his mom would make sure Su Chuan knew why the flowers were so red.
For both his mom and dad to leave at the same time, his dad must be trying to find a way to break through to the Elite Four level.
When Chen You found out Su Chuan was leaving, he slung an arm around Su Wen's shoulder and lamented, "Now the three of us are truly unloved by our parents."
Su Wen pushed aside his touch of sadness and put Chen You in a headlock. "Fess up. What starter Pokémon did you get? You've been so secretive all day, and we didn't see you all summer."
Chen You frantically slapped Su Wen's arm, begging for mercy. "I was wrong, I was wrong! Let go and I'll tell you."
Hearing this, Su Wen released Chen You, cracked his knuckles, and waited for an answer.
Chen You took out his phone, and just as Su Wen was feeling confused, two eyes suddenly opened on the phone.
"What the hell!" Su Wen was so startled he lurched backward and almost fell, but luckily Chen You was quick enough to grab him.
"Tsk, tsk, haven't seen this before, have you?" Chen You teased mercilessly.
Su Wen recovered, met the gaze of the two eyes, and instantly understood. "Rotom!"
Rotom was an extremely rare Pokémon, an Electric/Ghost-type whose body was made of plasma.
Its orange body was Rotom's core, surrounded by a blue, translucent aura of electricity that could materialize as its hands.
What made Rotom so prized was its ability to possess various appliances and change its form. The five appliances currently known to grant it combat capabilities were microwaves, washing machines, refrigerators, electric fans, and lawnmowers.
These five appliances corresponded to Heat Rotom, Wash Rotom, Frost Rotom, Fan Rotom, and Mow Rotom, respectively.
When Rotom transformed into these five appliance forms, both its form and typing would change.
And even without possessing those five appliances, it could enter other electronic devices like phones, computers, and tablets, giving them many different new functions.
"Ahhh, you lucky bastard." Su Wen's eyes were green with envy. He had always wanted a Rotom in his phone to auto-reply to messages, update apps on its own, and wake him up with a cute voice.
Wait a minute...
Su Wen stared at Chen You, his gaze deep and haunting. "It wasn't Rotom I was chatting with this whole summer, was it?"
Chen You shook his head repeatedly. "No, no, no, Rotom was just helping me keep an eye on various news and messages."
Su Wen finally understood why Chen You was always the first to know about everything, even noticing posts that were deleted within a minute. It turned out he had the ultimate assistant.
"Where did you catch this Rotom?" Su Wen gently touched the red, lightning-bolt-shaped protrusion on top of Chen You's phone, which was Rotom's sensory organ.
"It's a long story," Chen You sighed, though his eyes shone with pride. "I awakened a special ability."
Seeing Chen You's mouth practically grinning up to the heavens, Su Wen shot him down. "Wan-jie and I both awakened one too." That brought Chen You back down to earth.
"Huh? What are your abilities? Wait, I think I guessed Wan-jie's. It's Martial Resonance, right? What's yours?" Chen You had thought he was on the classic protagonist path, only to find that his friends all had their own special abilities.
Su Wen's ability was also complicated to explain, so he said simply, "It's a bit like Wan-jie's, so I've been training in combat with her recently. Hurry up and tell me what you were up to this summer."
"It all started when I awakened my ability at the beginning of summer vacation," Chen You said, still a little shaken by the memory. "I was at home, thinking about where to get a summer job, when a Gengar passed through the wall and scared me so badly I fainted. When I woke up, I was in a dark, gloomy forest."
"You went to the Spirit World?" Su Wen frowned.
Chen You looked dumbfounded. "You know about that too?"
Su Wen said helplessly, "It's not like I don't go online. That girl from the Imperial Capital with maxed-out Ghost-type affinity? Your description is exactly the same as hers, except she probably walked in on her own."
Chen You thought about it and figured that made sense, so he didn't dwell on it. "Anyway, I was scared to death at the time. I had no idea where I was, my phone was dead, and I couldn't contact you guys. I was completely helpless."
"Just when I was about to give up hope, I ran into Rotom. At the time, I wasn't even thinking about catching it; I just wanted some company," Chen You said, stroking his phone.
"Later on, after I calmed down, I figured I was probably in the Spirit World. So I asked Rotom how to get out. Rotom led me to a short Pokémon, and it told me through telepathy that if I wanted to go back, it could send me back."
"But it also told me that I had awakened a Ghost-type related ability and suggested I stay in the Spirit World a while longer to stabilize it," Chen You said, shrugging to indicate he was finished with his story.
"A short Pokémon?" Su Wen was no longer in a hurry to ask about Chen You's ability; instead, his interest was piqued by that Pokémon.