Pokémon: Master System.

Xia Yu's appearance still attracted a lot of attention; someone like Xia Yu shouldn't be in a tenement building like this. Some residents upstairs poked their heads out, their eyes filled with curiosity.

The neighbors upstairs and downstairs knew each other quite well, so when a stranger arrived, everyone came out to see what was going on and wondered who this young man was here for.

"I bet five dollars that it's for Gao Yuwan."

…………

Xia Yu walked to the house at the end of the road. The old wooden door was slightly ajar. Xia Yu stood at the door and gently knocked.

A series of rapid, heart-wrenching coughs came from inside the room, as if the person was coughing up their lungs. The coughing continued for a long time before stopping, followed by a hoarse voice coming from inside.

"Who is it? The door is unlocked, come in."

"I'm Gao Yanxin's friend. He asked me to come and check on you." Xia Yu said as he pushed open the door and entered. His gaze swept into the room, which was dimly lit with no light. The windows were tightly closed, and the room was filled with a pungent smell of Chinese medicine.

"Are you Yanxin's friend? Please have a seat." In the dim light, Xia Yu saw a middle-aged woman come out of the house. She looked haggard, her face was sickly pale, she was thin as a rake, and her eyes were sunken. As she spoke, the middle-aged woman reached for a stool for Xia Yu: "I'll get you some water."

"No need to trouble yourself, please sit down and rest." Xia Yu took a table and sat down, putting down the fruit and milk she was holding. "Yan Xin told me you weren't feeling well, so I bought this fruit and milk for you."

Hearing Xia Yu's words, a smile appeared on the middle-aged woman's pale face: "How is Yan Xin doing? Is he doing well working on the construction site? He told me that he was promoted to team leader recently and his salary increased quite a bit? How did you two meet?"

Xia Yu listened to the middle-aged woman's words with a smile and responded one by one: "He and I are friends. We both work in the same place, and we're all young people, so we got to know each other after a while."

Hearing the middle-aged woman's words, Xia Yu had found the answer to his trip. The fact that he could keep in touch with his family regularly and deceive his mother with a white lie proved that his relationship with his family was at least not too bad.

"That's wonderful." Hearing news of her son, who was far away, was a rare treat for Gao's mother. A kind smile spread across her face. "Yanxin is stubborn, like a mule. He's not very obedient at home. Has he offended anyone?"

"Auntie, let me tell you something." Seeing the genuine smile on Gao's mother's face, Xia Yu smiled as well and said, "Yanxin is doing very well. His superiors appreciate him, and everyone likes him. So please don't worry."

…………

Chapter 222 Gao Yuwan

Xia Yu sat in the chair and chatted with Gao's mother, keeping her smiling non-stop.

Before they knew it, half an hour had passed. Xia Yu spoke up at the opportune moment, "Auntie, I heard from Yan Xin that our little sister Yu Wan is studying at the No. 1 Middle School in the city?"

Hearing Xia Yu's words, a look of pride flashed across Gao's mother's face. Compared to Gao Yanxin, this youngest daughter made her even more proud: "Yes, Yu Wan is studying at No. 1 Middle School, which is a lot of pressure."

"The No. 1 High School is the best high school in the entire Bodao City. Yu Wan must have excellent grades to be able to get into it."

Xia Yu's praise touched Gao's mother's heart, making her smile even brighter: "Yu Wan can calm down and study well; she's more promising than her brother."

“I’ve heard Yanxin mention it before. He said his younger sister is a very good student, unlike him who gets a headache just looking at words,” Xia Yu said at the right moment. “Besides visiting you, Yanxin also asked me to do something for you.”

"What is it?" The middle-aged woman looked at Xia Yu with a puzzled expression.

"Yanxin asked me to rent a new house for you," Xia Yu said. "The house you're renting now isn't in a good environment, and it's so far from the No. 1 Middle School in the city. You spend two or three hours on the road every day, so Yanxin asked me to rent a house for you near the No. 1 Middle School so that it will be convenient for Yuwan to study."

"No need, I'm quite comfortable here, I'm used to it." Gao's mother waved her hand with a smile. School district housing is not cheap, costing tens of thousands of yuan a year, which they don't have.

“You don’t need to worry about the money. Gao Yanxin and I are very good friends. I will pay for it.” Xia Yu knew that Gao’s mother was worried about the money: “I’m also thinking about Yuwan’s studies. We can delay anything, but we can’t delay the child’s studies. Auntie, pack your things and we’ll move today.”

"Never mind, this place is quite nice." Hearing that Xia Yu would pay for it, Gao's mother was tempted, but she resisted the temptation and refused with difficulty.

"Please don't stand on ceremony with me, Auntie. Yanxin and I are friends. You are Yanxin's family, and you are my family too."

…………

The Gao family, mother and daughter, didn't have much stuff, so Xia Yu hired a super-powerful moving company, and they moved everything in one trip. He also generously rented a large three-bedroom apartment in the best school district near the No. 1 Middle School in the city, without even haggling over the price, and paid two years' rent upfront.

Sometimes, being rich can be so extravagant, and of course, the rent was just a drop in the ocean for Xia Yu.

After helping the Gao family mother and daughter move, Xia Yu left them some money and left Bidao City without seeing Gao Yanxin's sister one last time.

…………

At six o'clock in the afternoon, around dusk, Gao Yuwan walked out of the school gate after school. At this time, she needed to go to the bus stop to take the bus home. It would take an hour to get back to the tenement building.

"Yuwan, wanna grab something to eat tonight? I know a really good new barbecue place." A boy invited Gao Yuwan, "It's on me."

"No, I'm going home." Because of her family's financial situation, Gao Yuwan almost never attends these kinds of classmate gatherings, and she doesn't like to let others treat her or pay for her meals.

After declining her classmate's kind invitation, Gao Yuwan had just stepped out of the school gate when she saw a familiar figure standing at the entrance.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Gao Yuwan walked quickly towards her mother and couldn't help but ask. Usually, when her mother came to the school to see her, it meant something important had happened. She felt a little uneasy.

"Yuwan, come on, let's go home. Mom's here to tell you, we met a benefactor today, your brother's made it big!" Gao's mother's face was beaming with excitement, even her pale complexion had turned rosy, as if her long-standing lung disease had been cured.

"Mom, don't get excited, tell me slowly." Gao Yuwan frowned, took her mother's hand, patted the back of her hand and said, "What do you mean by meeting a benefactor, or how my brother became successful?"

"Come with Mom, Mom has a surprise for you."

"Mom, the bus stop is over there, you're going the wrong way."

"Mom knows."

Gao's mother held her daughter's hand and walked along the street for a hundred or two meters until they arrived at the front of an upscale residential area near the No. 1 Middle School. Then she took out her access card and swiped it to enter.

Seeing this, Gao Yuwan looked surprised: "Mom, where did you get this access card?"

Seeing her daughter's surprised expression, Gao's mother was very pleased. She waved the access card and key in her hand and said, "Look what this is?"

Gao's mother took out the duplicated key and gave Gao Yuwan one key and one access card: "Take these, these are the keys to our newly rented house."

Numbly holding the keys, Gao Yuwan looked at her mother with surprise. She knew her family's financial situation very well; they absolutely could not afford to rent this place.

"Mom, where did you get so much money?" Gao Yuwan asked.

"Go home first, and Mom will explain everything to you in detail."

Following her mother back to the newly rented apartment, Gao Yuwan gradually felt numb as she looked at the spacious and bright space. This was the first time she had ever lived in such a neighborhood.

"Yuwan, let me tell you, someone came to our house today. He said he's your brother's friend..."

With an excited expression, Gao's mother recounted the events of the day, telling Gao Yuwan every word of how she met Xia Yu. At the end, she even took out a stack of banknotes: "This is the money Xia Yu left behind. He also called to order some furniture and appliances, which will be delivered tomorrow."

"Wait a minute." Gao Yuwan heard the name Xia Yu and felt a vague sense of familiarity. She thought of that scientific genius and wondered if it was the same person. "Mom, what did you say that person's name was?"

“Xia Yu,” Gao’s mother repeated, “is very handsome, tall, and has a very good appearance.”

"How tall?" Gao Yuwan couldn't help but ask.

"At least 1.8 meters tall, I estimate it to be around 1.9 meters." Gao's mother estimated Xia Yu's height, and it has to be said that Xia Yu's height is quite distinctive.

Hearing her mother's words, Gao Yuwan's heart skipped a beat. She had also seen Xia Yu's photos on her classmates' phones.

Xia Yu is currently quite popular. He may not be particularly popular in other provinces, but he is definitely the most popular contestant in this year's College Cup in Xishu Province.

A scientific genius, the champion of Xingguang City, and with his exceptionally good looks, Xia Yu has amassed a large following of female fans. Many of Gao Yuwan's classmates are die-hard fans of Xia Yu, having snapped up tickets online for his provincial-level university cup competition to cheer him on in person.

Gao Yuwan remembered that Xia Yu was 1.9 meters tall. The fact that they shared the same name and were about the same height made Gao Yuwan almost certain that the person who helped her rent a room today was Xia Yu.

"What? You know him?" Mrs. Gao asked suspiciously.

"Wait a minute." Gao Yuwan then picked up the remote control, turned on the TV, and switched the channel to Xishu TV, replaying the finals of Xingguang City.

When Xia Yu appeared on screen, Gao Yuwan paused the video and asked her mother, "Mom, is this the person?"

"Hey, that's him!"

…………

Chapter 223 The First Match of the Main Tournament

Xia Yu returned to Starlight City and reunited with Zhao Ruohan and the other two. They then traveled together to Tiandu City to participate in the upcoming provincial-level main competition of the University Cup.

Xia Yu gained a lot from this month-long training camp for the patrol team. First, he caught Aerodactyl, and Zhao Ruohan caught Tyranitar, two Pokémon with Champion-level potential.

Due to rule restrictions, these two Pokémon did not meet the requirements for participating in the High School Cup, nor were they registered with the Pokémon Association, so they could not participate in the High School Cup. Otherwise, Xia Yu and Zhao Ruohan could have dominated the competition with just this Aerodactyl. Therefore, Xia Yu handed the Aerodactyl over to his older brother Xia Luo, as a means of self-defense and a trump card for the Xia family.

Besides these two Pokémon, Xia Yu's biggest gain was Diancie and the Diancie Mega Stone. Xia Yu didn't tell anyone about Diancie, not even his family.

Not telling them about this is actually a way of protecting them, as the preciousness of mythical beasts is self-evident.

Finally, Xia Yu's Pokémon's physical attributes were greatly improved, and their strength also increased rapidly.

Baby Dragon broke through to the Lord level and evolved into Armored Dragon, learning the Guard skill.

Of course, the most crucial point is that Draco Messia's strength at the Overlord level is still growing rapidly, and it is about to reach the level of a Gym Leader. Xia Yu estimated that with Draco Messia's current strength, it could evolve at any time. Once it evolves into Draco, its strength will increase dramatically.

This made Xia Yu realize that the Punishment Jar was indeed incredibly powerful, truly deserving of its status as a divine artifact.

…………

Tiandu City.

The provincial-level main competition of the Sichuan Provincial University Cup is about to begin.

The entire city of Tiandu was filled with a festive and lively atmosphere, with enthusiastic fans posting posters of their favorite contestants on the streets and wearing stickers of their supported cities on their faces.

Some die-hard fans even rented giant screens outside buildings and advertising screens in subway stations to support their favorite players.

There are a total of eighteen martial arts schools in Xishu Province, each corresponding to one of the eighteen attributes. Each martial arts school corresponds to a city that has the qualifications to participate in the competition.

There are 72 provincial-level main competition contestants, with four finalists from each of the eighteen cities (18 x 4). In addition, there are the champion and runner-up from the social category in Xishu Province, making a total of 74 contestants in the provincial-level main competition.

The champion from each city will be seeded and directly advance to the top 32 in Xishu Province, thus eliminating 18 spots from the top 32.

The remaining 56 players will compete in a 3V3 singles elimination tournament. After two rounds of competition, 14 players will be selected to join the 18 seeded players to form the top 32 in the main tournament.

As the champion of Starlight City, Xia Yu naturally did not need to participate in the first two rounds of the competition and directly advanced to the top 32.

Therefore, he was given three days of rest, which allowed him to relax and observe other players' matches, thus gaining a better understanding of himself and his opponents, ensuring victory in every battle.