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Classroom.
Qu Sheng and the others first criticized the guy who had wrongfully accused Li Xiang, then shifted to a heated discussion about Frogadier's foam rope.
After all, the toughness of that thing was something everyone had witnessed.
Even a Gyarados that had used Dragon Dance couldn't break free immediately, which showed just how strong it was.
Back when it was still a Froakie, the foam's strength wasn't nearly this high.
Who would have thought that after evolving, it would undergo such a transformation!
Meanwhile..
Li Xiang didn't join in the discussion, silently reflecting on the thermal imaging video he had seen earlier.
In the video, Frogadier's movements were as magical as Spider-Man's.
As for the foam rope, it was actually quite easy to counter—just wash it away with water, and it would gradually dissolve, though not as quickly as when Frogadier dissolved it itself.
Of course, Li Xiang wasn't going to tell Qu Sheng and the others this directly. They'd have to figure it out themselves.
"Ah, what a shame."
Li Xiang clicked his tongue and returned to his seat.
Frogadier's Camouflage didn't work on moves. Whether it was rocks created by elemental energy, or fire, water, or plants, none of them fell within the scope of Camouflage.
This disappointed Li Xiang.
If it had worked on moves, Frogadier would have been truly unstoppable.
But alas, it wasn't possible.
Still, Frogadier's Camouflage was already impressive enough. Ordinary Camouflage couldn't even make the user completely invisible, let alone make others invisible.
Can't be too greedy.
Currently, there were only fifteen people left in the revival round.
With fifteen people, it was impossible to pair everyone up, so in the next round, someone would inevitably get a bye.
Li Xiang just hoped it wouldn't be him. After all, there was a candy at stake!
Sure, it might be tiring, but earning candy? Nothing to be ashamed of!
And so, the match schedule was released.
Reality always loves to mess with you—the more you don't want something to happen, the more it does.
"Congratulations, you got the bye."
Song Jie, after checking the group chat, delivered a verbal "stab" to Li Xiang's heart.
"Pfft—!"
Li Xiang nearly spat out the water he was drinking, quickly swallowing it before snatching Song Jie's phone.
"H-How did I get the bye?"
On the match schedule, everyone else had a line connecting them to their opponent, but Li Xiang had none. He went straight into the top eight, preparing for the final three-on-three decisive match.
Damn it!
What you fear always comes true!
My precious candies!
Song Jie took his phone back, "Why do you look so upset? Isn't this a good thing?"
All three of the early starters were in the revival round, and Li Xiang getting a bye was definitely a good thing.
Coincidentally, Ni Wei, who had also made it to the top fifteen, was paired against Yang Tianwang.
Among the early starters, the one with the Luxray and the one with the Crobat had clashed, leaving Zhu Huihui as the lucky one.
As for the others... Li Xiang didn't recognize them.
Once the match schedule was out, many in the class congratulated Li Xiang, and some even jokingly demanded he treat them.
Treat them? Not a chance!
Li Xiang ignored those guys and started flipping through the information, looking for the most threatening opponents.
In the end, he found that the ones he wasn't confident against were still the three early starters.
Yang Tianwang had two Pokémon weak to Fire and one that couldn't hit Normal types, so Li Xiang wasn't worried about him.
"Hmm... this feels a bit tough."
Li Xiang stroked his chin.
The early starters had already gone beyond the norm with one Pokémon, so naturally, they wouldn't stop at just one. They had multiple over-leveled Pokémon.
Most of them were around level 30.
"That's why I told you to stick to the regular matches," Song Jie said quietly.
This guy had defeated the Luxray user in the regular matches with a three-on-three battle, so he knew more about that opponent than what the intel suggested.
He was also confident that the Luxray user would defeat the Crobat user, so he assumed Li Xiang's next opponent would be the former.
"I'll trust you on this."
Li Xiang started taking notes, planning to use them as reference when he got home.
As for Yang Tianwang, he wasn't worried about his match against Ni Wei. He could just send out Grovyle without a second thought. If Ni Wei sent out Toxel, it would be a free win, and even if he sent out Elekid, Yang Tianwang wasn't worried.
But he was worried about facing Li Xiang or the early starters.
In their past sparring matches, Yang Tianwang had lost more often than not to Li Xiang, rarely managing to beat Torracat.
If they ended up facing each other, or if he had to face an early starter, Yang Tianwang figured he'd really have to wait another year.
Thinking about this, the young man couldn't help but feel anxious.
...
The next day.
The top 15 to top 8 revival round officially began.
Li Xiang specifically went to watch the Luxray user's match. Both sides undoubtedly used their strongest Pokémon.
The outcome was a complete landslide, with no suspense whatsoever.
Sure, Crobat was fast, but it couldn't compare to the wide-range Thunderbolt.
Even if it used moves to block moves, most of its moves were single-target, so it couldn't block Luxray's Discharge.
In the end, it fell just before it could use Roost.
Luxray advanced smoothly.
As for Yang Tianwang, his situation was similar.
Ni Wei tried to use Heliolisk to outspeed Grovyle, but Grovyle had the homing Magical Leaf.
Although Ni Wei managed to dodge with some risky maneuvers, it gave Grovyle the chance to use Grass Whistle.
Heliolisk, despite its incredible agility, couldn't dodge sound-based attacks and was forced into sleep.
Then, it was taken out by Grovyle's Leaf Blade, which seemed to have landed a critical hit.
Putting opponents to sleep is such a dirty tactic!
Yang Tianwang advanced smoothly.
At noon.
All seven single battles had concluded.
The final eight were selected, and the last qualification battles began.
This would determine whether these four could get a head start, allowing them to raise more Pokémon two years earlier than others.
A strange sense of unease stirred in Li Xiang's heart. He knew it was nervousness.
While he claimed not to fear failure, he was actually a bit scared.
If he lost, he'd really have to wait another year, watching as Lin Feng and the others got more Pokémon during that time.
That feeling, would definitely be... interesting.
"Relax, you've done all the preparation you can. What's there to worry about?" Song Jie poured Li Xiang a glass of water, speaking in a firm tone, "Just stay calm. I know what you're capable of."
Li Xiang smiled at him but didn't respond.
Time passed minute by minute.
Finally.
The teacher from the academic affairs office posted the match schedule on the bulletin board.
A crowd immediately swarmed over, packing the area so tightly that not even a drop of water could seep through.
Li Xiang glanced at the tightly packed crowd and decided to check the schedule later.
There was no way to get through now, but just as he was about to stop Song Jie from going over.
"Yes—!!"
A loud cheer suddenly came from the crowd.
Then, Yang Tianwang squeezed his way out of the crowd, typing something on his phone.
Li Xiang looked down and saw that Yang Tianwang had posted the match schedule in the group chat.
The reason he was so excited was that his opponent was neither Li Xiang nor one of the early starters.
He had dodged both landmines.
No wonder he was so happy.
Li Xiang chuckled helplessly, his gaze shifting downward—
"...It's actually this guy."
Li Xiang muttered in surprise, and Song Jie beside him also raised an eyebrow.
"Whoever arranged these matches is really something. They didn't pair you against the Luxray user but threw Zhu Huihui at you instead."
Yes.
Li Xiang's opponent was none other than Zhu Huihui, the guy who had frequently picked on Lin Feng last semester and had been causing trouble this semester as well!
Come to think of it, the two of them did have some history.
After all, when submitting evidence back then, Li Xiang had even served as a witness, the lead witness in fact.
If it weren't for the fact that Li Xiang often hung out with Qu Sheng and the others, he might have been targeted by this guy too.
"Your luck isn't bad. Out of the five, he's the weakest."
Li Xiang let out a slight sigh of relief. He had a pretty good idea of Zhu Huihui's capabilities.
He was definitely weaker than the Luxray user.
You could tell just by looking at the level of his Pokémon.
His first Pokémon, a Chesnaught, was only level 36 after almost a full school year.
His second, a level 30 Fletchinder, a Fire/Flying type that looked like a mix between a nightingale and a shrike, with an orange-red upper body, grayish-white chest, black wings with gold accents, and two black-and-white striped tail feathers.
And his third, a level 29 Grapploct, an eighth-generation Fighting-type Pokémon with a blue and black body, a yellow butterfly-like pattern on its face, and yellow suction cups all over its body.
No pseudo-legendary?
Li Xiang had thought Zhu Huihui would have at least raised one pseudo-legendary.
Moreover, his Pokémon were close-combat types. They had some ranged moves, but they weren't proficient in them.
Hmm... this could be tricky.
"Torracat can go ranged for this match. Against Chesnaught, just change up your strategy and avoid getting hit by Rollout. That's the only move it has that can threaten Torracat."
Song Jie analyzed the situation for him, "As for Fletchinder, Riolu can fight it in the air. Aside from Ember and the slow-starting Razor Wind, all its moves are contact-based. But be careful of Tailwind—its speed boost is terrifying."
"Grapploct... doesn't have any wide-range moves, so Frogadier can handle it. Fairy-type moves are super effective against it, but watch out for Taunt. If Frogadier gets hit by Taunt, it won't be able to use Camouflage."
"Also, its Octazooka has a very short wind-up. If it hits, it could disrupt your vision, so be careful not to get caught in it."
Li Xiang nodded. Grapploct's Taunt was indeed a problem.
After a quick calculation, Li Xiang figured his chances of winning were around 70-80%.
Sure, the level difference was there, but as long as he played it safe, it wasn't a big deal.
A small level gap could be made up for with stat-boosting moves. The candies Torracat and the others had been eating for nearly a year had already boosted their stats to the equivalent of level 28-29, or even level 30.
Frogadier was slightly behind, equivalent to around level 24.
A mere 5-6 level difference could easily be bridged with stat-boosting moves.
The rain they had trained in and the energy blocks they had eaten weren't just for show.
Besides, Li Xiang still had plenty of aces up his sleeve.
The burnt catnip had recently been confirmed to be harmless—even beneficial—to Torracat in small doses.
Just like how arsenic can be used medicinally, taking it in controlled amounts could have benefits.
In the afternoon.
Lin Feng came over to share his experience battling Zhu Huihui with Li Xiang.
Lin Feng knew most of Zhu Huihui's Pokémon inside and out, including their strategies and quirks.
With this, Li Xiang's confidence in winning grew even stronger.