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The match in the afternoon successfully proved that Li Xiang's performance in the main tournament was an act, not a reflection of his actual skill.
Li Xiang himself was called into Sun Chengbin's office for a brief inquiry and some ideological education.
First, Sun Chengbin asked about the situation during the main tournament, and then he asked Li Xiang what his thoughts were.
His thoughts...
Li Xiang honestly told Sun Chengbin that he just wanted to fight a few more matches.
"A few more matches? Do you even understand what kind of competition you're participating in?"
Sun Chengbin tapped the desk in frustration. "If you miss this opportunity, you'll be a whole year behind others! How many years does a trainer have!?"
"I had it under control," Li Xiang replied calmly. If he couldn't even defeat his peers, how could he hope to challenge those above his level in the future?
He would inevitably have to face higher-grade students later on.
If he was already afraid to fight opponents who were stronger or had Pokémon that were one evolution stage ahead, then he might as well forget about joining the school team or competing in higher-level tournaments.
Courage is something that needs to be cultivated from a young age.
In Pokémon battles, level is an important factor in determining victory, but it's not the absolute factor!
"Under control..."
Sun Chengbin twitched his mouth. In his impression, Li Xiang wasn't the type to make empty boasts.
And acting to get a few more battles... wasn't really a big deal. As his homeroom teacher, what could Sun Chengbin do besides scold him a bit?
Unless Li Xiang was taking bribes to throw matches, that would be a completely different matter.
In the end, Sun Chengbin couldn't bring himself to say anything too harsh to Li Xiang and simply waved him off.
Back in the classroom.
Li Xiang confronted the gossipmongers, grabbing them by the neck and shaking them while telling them that he had been summoned by Old Sun and nearly got chewed out.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
The main culprit quickly apologized. He hadn't expected things to blow up to this extent.
He had only mentioned it to a few close friends from other classes. Who knew they would spread it further, and it would eventually reach this point?
"If there's a next time, I'll rip your tongue out!"
Li Xiang glared at him and then ignored him.
Fortunately, most people only knew his name and not his face, so it didn't cause him much trouble.
At most, there were just more spectators during his matches and a bit more noise in his ears.
The guy nervously laughed a few times. Even if he wasn't in the wrong, he wouldn't dare argue with Li Xiang.
He had seen Li Xiang take on five people at once, watching the entire process from the moment they charged at him to when they were knocked out one by one.
In summary, the matter was over.
The students of No.1 Middle School weren't idle all day. They had their own things to do. After a few days, the novelty would wear off, and no one would care who Li Xiang was.
---
In the main tournament, the top six had already been decided.
They were the two early birds, along with Lin Feng, Xu Wan, Song Jie, and Qu Sheng.
Yang Tianwang was unlucky. He ran into one of the early birds and was eliminated, so he had to join Li Xiang in the revival matches.
Additionally, Zhu Huihui, who always picked on Lin Feng, was also eliminated, having lost to one of the early birds. This guy was the classic example of someone who couldn't beat opponents at his own level and could only bully those a tier below him.
In any novel, he'd be the standard measuring stick for power levels.
Incidentally, there was also that guy who used a Luxray, whom Qu Sheng had faced before. He was eliminated by Song Jie.
That kid eliminated two early birds in a row. It was terrifying. Li Xiang felt like no one in the first grade could stop him now.
Even he, with his cheats, felt like he wasn't improving as fast as Song Jie.
This guy was riding a rocket!
More importantly, Lin Feng, whom Li Xiang had high hopes for to make a name for himself in this tournament, had advanced to the top six without any hiccups.
The top six wouldn't fight anymore. The purpose of this tournament was to qualify for the exam, not to determine the strongest among the students.
So, Lin Feng's path to glory ended here?
Ugh!
The plot isn't right!
Li Xiang's expression was strange. He had thought this tournament would make Lin Feng famous—
Well... it seems like he himself became famous instead.
Although not in a good way, being called an "actor" by the idiots in the group chat and getting mocked by that jerk Song Jie.
"Hey! Stop spacing out! I'm analyzing your next opponent for you!"
The jerk's voice brought Li Xiang back to reality.
Since Song Jie had made it to the top six, he had become Li Xiang's strategist, specializing in analyzing opponents' information and battle strategies.
"Listen, I've fought this guy before. He's not weak," Song Jie said, tapping the table for emphasis. "You need to take him seriously."
Li Xiang silently flipped through the information. His next opponent was a student from another class who had risen from the regular class. His Pokémon was the easily accessible and powerful Gyarados.
Level 25.
The other two Pokémon were lower level, likely recently caught, so they probably wouldn't be used in a one-on-one battle.
Therefore, the best choice for this match was undoubtedly Riolu.
"Meow!"
Torracat, hearing Song Jie recommend Riolu instead of it, immediately slapped the metal side of the table, making a loud noise.
Hey, watch what you say!
How could I, Torracat, not be the one to fight?
So what if it's at a disadvantage? What can a mere Gyarados do? What is it even worth?
"This is a serious battle, not an anime!"
Song Jie glared at Torracat, then turned to Li Xiang. "This isn't the time to spoil your Pokémon. Riolu is fast, has boosting moves, can dodge, isn't afraid of water, and has Thunder Punch for coverage.
"Gyarados' durability isn't low, but it's not that high either! If you send out Riolu, victory is guaranteed!"
Did it make sense?
Absolutely, and Song Jie's thoughts aligned perfectly with his own.
However...
"I already promised Froakie," Li Xiang said helplessly. "I have my own difficulties. I need to balance things out. These three of mine are too competitive."
Riolu had fought twice, and Torracat had also fought twice if you counted carefully.
Only Frogadier had fought once.
Considering itself Li Xiang's best partner, it had been protesting his favoritism for a while now.
What could Li Xiang do?
"Frogadier..." Song Jie opened his mouth, then flipped through the Gyarados information again. "Hmm... no area-of-effect moves..."
Without wide-range attacks, Frogadier, who relied on Camouflage, could definitely fight, but it was strange that this Gyarados didn't even know Twister.
Under the table.
Torracat, hearing that it wasn't going to be the one fighting next, was quite displeased but didn't say much.
After all, there would be more battles later. Fighting over this one would make it look bad and undermine its leadership image.
Thus, the time came for the next afternoon.
---
This time, the number of spectators increased even more, truly reaching a point where the place was packed. Since the main tournament had ended, all they had left to watch were the revival matches.
And many of the revival matches were painful to watch, pure noob fights. Naturally, they wanted to see something more interesting.
Huh... You say they were also eliminated or didn't even qualify?
That's hilarious. Does one need to know how to make a fridge to judge one?
Even if their skills were indeed lacking, their matches were still painful to watch! Everyone thought so!
Who wanted to watch that?
Anyway, that's how it is.
More and more spectators came to watch Li Xiang, along with the support group formed by Lin Feng, Song Jie, and others.
The spectacle grew even larger.
"Bro Feng will give you a buff."
Lin Feng began chanting blessings. His mother was a devout follower of the Ho-Oh Temple, and through her influence, he had picked up quite a few mystical practices.
"Get lost!"
Li Xiang kicked this idiot who was setting him up for failure, though he only hit the wire mesh and didn't actually land the kick.
The two were separated by a layer of wire mesh, making it impossible to even shake hands, as the mesh was too dense.
Lin Feng laughed. "Who told you not to take the tournament seriously and instead put on an act? Wasn't all the practice with me enough?"
When it came to Li Xiang's love for battles, the tragic toolman Lin Feng felt he had a lot to say.
Honestly, Li Xiang was the only trainer he had ever seen who was almost fanatical about battling.
Even when he was sick of it and had long grown tired, he would still force himself to keep going.
Lin Feng felt that if someone like this couldn't become strong, then hardly anyone in this world deserved to be strong.
Therefore, Lin Feng wasn't surprised at all by Li Xiang's actions. In fact, he felt a sense of relief.
—This guy really never changes.
"Can't be bothered with you."
Li Xiang rolled his eyes, exchanged a glance with Song Jie, and then returned to the battlefield.
Soon after, the referee blew the whistle.
The match began!
Both sides released their Pokémon at the same time and gave their orders simultaneously.
Gyarados landed, its massive body taking up a significant portion of the field. Even in this medium-sized arena, its size was hard to ignore.
"Roar—!!!"
A landing roar! Intimidate ability!
As soon as Frogadier landed, a large amount of black smoke erupted from its scarf, quickly enveloping the entire battlefield!
The mist swallowed up the spectators' vision!
"Hey! What kind of strategy is this?"
"How are we supposed to watch this? Let's go, there's a final-stage match next door."
"Cough cough cough, this smoke is so strong!"
"Come on! Why won't you let us see how the battle goes?"
The spectators complained, but the smoke wasn't going to dissipate anytime soon.
On the field.
Frogadier, under the protection of Camouflage, set up traps with foam while using Work Up to boost its attack.
Li Xiang moved around the edge of the field, not giving his opponent a chance to guess his Pokémon's location based on his position.
Many clever trainers, when they lose sight of their opponent's Pokémon, try to guess its location by judging where the trainer is standing.
"Dragon Dance!"
A voice came from within the mist.
Soon after, a water-blue dragon began to dance around the field at high speed, its massive body stirring up the surroundings and quickly clearing away the smoke!
Using Dragon Dance to dispel the mist.
This was something that could only happen in reality. In the games, if you didn't have Defog, you could forget about it.
But soon, something happened that turned the opponent's joy into sorrow.
The field was now filled with sticky foam ropes, which had attached themselves to the wire mesh and the ground, successfully entangling the Gyarados as it moved around!
The terrifying stickiness and toughness of the foam made it impossible for Gyarados to break free immediately, causing it to writhe and twitch like a caterpillar!