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May.
Life was smooth sailing, with nothing eventful happening.
Torracat and the other two Pokémon had their own gains, taking another step forward.
During the Labor Day holiday, Li Xiang participated in a small-scale exhibition match in front of a large supermarket, earning several high-value coupons and the latest model of a newly released smartphone.
He also scored a lot of candies, putting him in a great mood.
Early June.
Qingcheng was peaceful and tranquil, with the weather gradually heating up as the rainy season arrived. The overcast days outnumbered the sunny ones.
Torracat's appetite waned, its firepower decreased, and with [Flare Blitz] still out of reach, it was hit hard from multiple angles.
The poor cat was practically half-useless.
Additionally, Froakie had long met the level requirement for evolution but still hadn't evolved.
Frustrating.
Around the same time, Song Jie's Aron naturally evolved, significantly boosting its strength and transforming it into a physical tank. Even after Torracat used [Bulk Up], its [Double Kick] with eight times the effect couldn't take it down, and it was knocked out by a [Head Smash].
Ridiculous!
.....
The next day.
Qu Sheng's Dewpider evolved into Araquanid, with a flat, menacing head still encased in a water bubble, a relatively smaller body, and blue orbs at the joints of its six legs.
It looked pretty cool.
Its durability also greatly improved, with no real weaknesses except for its slow speed.
The day after that, Yang Tianwang's Gastly evolved into Haunter, a triangular balloon-like face with two skeletal hands.
Its offensive power increased, and its hands could detach and move over ten meters away, making it absurdly hard to defend against.
For three consecutive days, Pokémon evolved.
It was as if they had all agreed to deal a fatal blow to Li Xiang and Froakie's morale.
The mood was gloomy.
Li Xiang's team entered a semi-useless phase.
Only Riolu was still struggling, being tricked by Meowstic into practicing a bunch of strange techniques.
Mid-June.
The qualification battle for the Trainer Qualification exam officially began.
Over two hundred people signed up, meaning practically everyone who met the requirements participated.
Li Xiang's slightly gloomy mood instantly brightened. This meant at least five or six battles!
If he played his cards right and made it to the revival round, he might even hit ten battles.
A rare opportunity indeed!
For Li Xiang, every candy was precious.
Moreover, battling more Pokémon would help Torracat and the others gain valuable combat experience.
It's like playing a game—no matter how many videos you watch, your rank won't improve. Experience comes from actual battles. Understanding their strategies alone isn't enough.
"Here, don't say I never look out for you."
Yang Tianwang handed Li Xiang a stack of papers. "I could sell these for a thousand each."
Li Xiang was momentarily stunned. Flipping through them, he found detailed information on many participants, from their Pokémon's energy levels to the moves they used.
Even his own data was included.
"How... how did you manage this?"
Li Xiang's mouth hung open. Was Yang Tianwang really twelve and not twenty?
"Money. There's nothing in this world that money can't solve."
Yang Tianwang smiled. "Collecting, organizing, and summarizing information. Spend some cash, and plenty of people are willing to provide intel. Verify it, and that's it. Simple."
Is this what it means to be a media family's golden child?
Li Xiang gulped. He had thought about doing something like this, but thinking and doing were two different things.
Only Yang Tianwang knew how much effort, time, and money had gone into compiling this stack of papers.
"...Can I share this? Just with two people."
Li Xiang hesitated but ultimately asked the presumptuous question.
He expected Yang Tianwang to get angry, but instead, his smile widened as he pulled out two more copies from behind him. "Lin Feng from the next class and Song Jie, right? I already prepared them for you."
"!!!"
Li Xiang's pupils dilated in disbelief as he stared at Yang Tianwang.
Then he quickly stood up and gave Yang Tianwang a tight hug, deeply moved.
"Tianwang... no, Brother Yang!!! I don't know what to say. I'll follow you from now on!"
"Get off me! You only call me 'Brother Yang' now? Why didn't you say that yesterday when I treated you to dinner?"
Yang Tianwang pushed Li Xiang away, feigning disgust. "Take them and go. Don't just stand there."
"Got it!"
Li Xiang grinned and left with the three sets of intel.
Yang Tianwang watched him leave, and soon Qu Sheng's voice came from behind.
"He actually asked?"
"Of course he did. We've been friends for almost a year. Don't you know his personality?" Yang Tianwang said calmly. "If he could leave those two out, he wouldn't have gotten involved in your mess before."
Qu Sheng fell silent for a moment before nodding. "True. But was it really okay to test him like that?"
"Test? I was always planning to give him everything. I just wanted to see if he'd ask for it himself."
Yang Tianwang declared righteously, "Li Xiang's actions proved that my impression of him has always been accurate! He's truly a rare and good friend, not some selfish, self-centered person!"
Qu Sheng looked disdainful. "You think he won't flip out if he finds out? Idiot!"
"Are you going to snitch?"
Yang Tianwang glared at Qu Sheng.
"If you ever piss me off, I'll tell Li Xiang everything!" Qu Sheng stuck out his tongue and then turned to run.
Yang Tianwang immediately chased after him.
...
Back in April, Qu Sheng had a conflict with someone from another class. At the time, it seemed resolved.
But that person stewed over it and, when Qu Sheng and Li Xiang went out for milk tea after school, brought along some dropouts—a few high schoolers—to jump Qu Sheng.
Of course, it was a fistfight. Using fists and using Pokémon were two different things.
Before things escalated, these troublemakers thought they were being smart and restrained.
But Li Xiang single-handedly took down five of them.
When the remaining ones, furious and humiliated, tried to use their Pokémon, the school teachers arrived in time. Everyone involved, including Li Xiang and Qu Sheng, was sent to the police station.
After that, it was a series of tedious procedures: reviewing surveillance footage, interrogations, and so on.
Unlike the usual school policy of "fighting is always wrong" and "why did they target you and not others," the Trainer Academy strived to distinguish right from wrong and administer appropriate criticism, punishment, or encouragement.
The reason was that young trainers were often impulsive and hot-tempered. If the school handled things poorly, it could provoke rebellious attitudes.
In the ordinary world, rebellion might not be a big deal—what could a teenager really do?
But in the Pokémon world... you know how it is.
Right was right, and wrong was wrong. Sweeping things under the rug would turn one resentful kid into two, and one of them might have been the victim.
The League invested so much in education every year, not to raise a bunch of anti-social trainers.
Qu Sheng and Li Xiang were both victims, with milk tea shop surveillance and staff testimonies as evidence.
After being lectured by the police officers about running away first in such situations, they were let go.
As for what happened to those troublemakers, the two didn't know, but from the next day onward, that person never showed up again.
Honestly, Li Xiang hadn't expected his first trip to the police station to be under such circumstances.
Young people really shouldn't let their tempers get the best of them.
Li Xiang, who had just beaten five people to the ground, sighed inwardly.
...
After successfully sharing the intel with the other two and reminding them not to spread it, especially Lin Feng, Li Xiang faced his first-round opponent.
—Class 3, Number 32, Zou Tan.
His main Pokémon were the two evolved forms of Nincada:
The Bug/Flying-type Ninjask.
And the Bug/Ghost-type Shedinja.
The former wasn't too bad—the fastest Pokémon outside of Legendaries, with decent attack power. Aside from being fragile, it wasn't a big deal.
The latter... in a world where learning moves wasn't restricted, Shedinja, weak to five types, had been nerfed too hard.
Everyone learned a variety of moves for coverage, and everyone learned indirect attacks.
Shedinja's only remaining purpose was for gimmicky strategies. Almost no one used it as a main Pokémon.
His third Pokémon was a dopey-looking Quagsire, stronger than the other two, at level 21.
Is this the level of the bottom-tier students in the advanced class?
Li Xiang was curious.
That's right, Class 3's Number 32 meant he had barely scraped into the advanced class during last semester's finals.
It seemed there were many academic underachievers in the regular classes, otherwise, he wouldn't have made it into the advanced class after the entrance exam.
The match began.
Third-year students were already preparing for higher education, and since they were old enough, they didn't need qualifications.
Thus, only first and second-year students were competing.
And since the competition was close, the audience wasn't just first-years—there were plenty of second-years too.
These students had an extra year of training, so their strength was unknown.
As Li Xiang warmed up on the battlefield, he pondered silently.
The first match format was a self-selected three-on-one, single battle.
The rules were the same as usual.
Considering his opponent might know about his Pokémon and would likely send out Quagsire, Li Xiang changed his initial plan of leading with Torracat.
Instead, he sent out Riolu.
On the other side, Zou Tan indeed sent out his Quagsire.
The blue, dopey-looking salamander appeared cute and harmless, but Li Xiang had no intention of going easy.
"Begin!"
The referee blew the whistle!
"Agility!"
"Water Gun!"
Li Xiang immediately chose to boost Riolu's speed but didn't expect his opponent to attack right away!
Riolu dashed forward, but before it could close the distance, Quagsire's water jet shot toward it!
Whoosh—!!
Dodge!
At the last moment, Riolu twisted its body, narrowly avoiding the Water Gun while successfully boosting its speed!
The distance between the two Pokémon closed by at least ten meters in an instant!
"Ice Punch!"
The opponent continued attacking, seemingly determined to go all out. Unfortunately, Riolu had no intention of walking into a punch.
"Magnet Rise!"
Riolu kicked off the ground, its small body leaping into the air!
Three orbs spun around it, allowing it to float mid-air!