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In the stands.
Fujoka Shizuya noisily slurped his milk tea, watching Li Xiang below with narrowed eyes.
"The vice-captain is slacking off openly and drinking milk tea. What kind of example does that set?"
A male voice came from beside him.
Fujoka didn't even bother turning his head, casually replying, "Aren't you just as bad, Captain Tenzoji?"
"Hahaha."
Tenzoji Ki, holding his own milk tea, slowly sat down. "Hey, don't you think it would've been great if he came to Sakura Island? Our coach wouldn't be so stressed then."
"He was personally invited in by an Elite Four, the Abyssal elite no less. Do you think our guy on Sakura Island would lower himself to make an invitation? It's not like he's the one suffering anyway."
Fujoka waved his hand, looking completely unconcerned. "Ultimately, whether this so-called prodigy is as exaggerated as the rumors say is still unknown."
The reserve team was just a test for Li Xiang. If he really was as incredible as the coach said, then next might be the regulars and alternates.
Since he had become an enemy, they needed to gather all possible information.
"That's why we came to see for ourselves."
Tenzoji took a slurp of his milk tea. "To see what kind of person he really is... Mmm, this bubble tea is so good. Where's the coach?"
"The coach is hiding in the broadcast room. He arranged this himself but is now too embarrassed to show his face. Hmph."
Fujoka snorted disapprovingly.
Down below…
Li Xiang had no idea how much attention he was attracting, nor did he care. He was more concerned about his opponent and the match format.
"How are we fighting? Singles? Doubles? Three-on-three? One-on-one?"
"Of course it's three-on-three singles. Unless we're short on time, no one at the school does one-on-one."
Nagayama Kunimi said.
"Alright. Senior, tell them to hurry up."
Li Xiang nodded.
The field was a standard large battlefield, over a hundred meters long and seventy meters wide, enough for an Onix to move around freely.
Across the field, a boy around sixteen or seventeen soon stepped forward, while the others retreated to the sidelines. He was probably a new reserve team student, his face youthful and slightly nervous under the gaze of so many people.
As he took the field, the stands gradually quieted down, the sound of conversation fading.
Yan Hu and the other spectators sat in the VIP seats at the edge of the field, looking up at the dense crowd staring down at them.
An indescribable sense of gravity spread through the air.
Li Xiang rubbed his nose. Since it was the opponent's home ground, these spectators were staring intently at him, which was really annoying.
Fortunately, mere stares didn't affect him much anymore.
Beating up their school team members right in front of these students might actually be quite fun, as long as he wasn't the one getting beaten up.
The referee stepped forward.
Nagayama Kunimi was temporarily acting as referee; he didn't seem to plan on battling Li Xiang himself, choosing to be a tool instead.
Li Xiang didn't mind; with so many people on the other side, one more didn't matter. As the rules were read, both sides selected their Pokémon for battle, placing the extras on trays at the side of the field.
Once both trainers had only three PokéBalls left, returned to the field, and taken their positions.
The rules reading concluded.
Nagayama Kunimi looked at both of them, raised his whistle, and blew it sharply!
"Beeeeep—!"
The match began!
Both threw their Poké Balls at the same time!
"Roar!"
"Caww!"
Two strange cries, followed by a blue and a black figure!
His opponent was using the common powerhouse Gyarados. Its massive body coiled on the ground, eyes glaring fiercely as it released a roar that made the air tremble!
Intimidate Ability activated!
An invisible wave of pressure surged toward the opponent!
However…
Li Xiang had kinda anticipated something similar, so the Pokémon he chose was Mirror Armor Corviknight.
"Caww!"
Facing the roaring Gyarados, Corviknight remained completely unfazed. When the Intimidate hit its body, nothing happened.
Instead, a shimmer of light flashed over its body, reflecting the Intimidate back!
Gyarados stiffened slightly, its Attack lowered!
'Bad matchup! Was he predicted, or was it a coincidence?'
Li Xiang's opponent's expression changed slightly. He shouted, "Dragon Dance! Charge!"
The distance was too far; Taunt would likely fail. They had to get closer to use it.
'Might as well take this chance to recover the lost stat!'
Li Xiang's was also thinking was similar.
"Beep."
As Gyarados roared and slithered forward, making dancing motions, Corviknight also rapidly flapped its wings, moving closer to the opponent while summoning a gentle breeze to accompany it.
Whistle commands—this was Corviknight's special skill.
Both entered each other's effective move range.
"Waterfall!"
"Beep."
After Dragon Dance, the opponent chose a strong offensive, clearly confident in Gyarados's power.
Or perhaps it was a probe.
Gyarados roared angrily, surrounded by a continuous flow of water, and charged fiercely at Corviknight!
Its massive body rubbed) against the air, emitting a rumbling roar, the water on its surface glowing with a faint light, like a high-speed train, it was awe-inspiring!
As a fellow Flying type, while Gyarados couldn't learn Fly, it could still manage low-altitude flight.
Facing this fierce attack, Corviknight didn't dodge or evade, allowing Gyarados to crash into it. A pane of glass illuminated by pink light suddenly appeared in front of it!
Boom!
Waterfall hit!
The terrifying impact instantly sent Corviknight flying!
Cheers came from the stands, but Li Xiang's expression didn't change at all, as if it wasn't Corviknight that had been hit.
This was because that level of attack was utterly useless.
In the sky….
Corviknight, sent flying, flapped its wings slightly and stabilized itself in an instant. Looking at the distant Gyarados, its initial vigilance turned to disdain.
'Is that it? The school team reserves, is this all you've got?'
The spot where Gyarados's horn had hit didn't even have a dent, just some minor scratches that would heal on their own after a couple of berries.
It had deliberately taken the hit to test the opponent's strength.
It had even used a shield to prevent a upset, and even employed a newly learned force-dissipation technique—it had shown so much respect, and this was the repayment?
'Gyarados? Pah! Gyaraworm!'
Corviknight spat in disdain and flapped its wings, flying back.
Across the field….
The opponent stared at the completely unharmed Corviknight, stunned.
Although he knew Li Xiang wouldn't be easy to deal with, he never expected Gyarados's Waterfall to do zero damage.
It clearly sounded and looked like a hit!
"Rain Dance!"
He bit his lower lip and shouted.
Unfortunately, Corviknight wouldn't give Gyarados another chance.
By the time it returned to its position, a waterfall of insults was already pouring toward Gyarados. (Taunt)
In a short time, Gyarados's friends and family had all become ash boxes, and even it itself had been accidentally run over by a truck after being cheated on by its girlfriend.
Gyarados's pure blue face gradually turned discolored, its eyes staring at Corviknight becoming covered in dense blood vessels.
Rain Dance?
'Rain dance my ass! I'll fight you to the death!'
"Roar!!"
Gyarados roared, almost losing its mind!
Without a doubt, it had fallen under Taunt status; status moves were now unusable.
All it wanted now was to tear Corviknight into eight pieces!
The opponent's expression changed slightly. He hadn't expected Corviknight's Taunt to be so fast. Sensing something was wrong, he quickly tried to switch.
However….
"Beep!"
Corviknight flapped its wings fiercely, its entire body covered in cyan flames, and pounced fiercely at Gyarados!
'Such fast execution speed!'
Gyarados, seeing its "nemesis" charging forward, was too enraged to let this opportunity slip.
Without needing its trainer's command, the massive dragon beast, wrapped in water, charged back at Corviknight!
Boom—!
They collided head-on!
Water mist instantly expanded, spreading outward and covering half the sky above the field!
But immediately, Gyarados cried out in pain, breaking through the smoke and falling from the sky.
Behind it, Corviknight's beak gleamed with a dark light. It flapped its wings hard, accelerating its descent, and crashed into Gyarados's body at high speed!
Boom!
Instantly slamming it into the ground!
Assurance!
Gyarados twisted and groaned on the ground, soon falling still. One misstep, and every step after fails.
The gap between them was too large, their endurance worlds apart, resulting in Gyarados being completely unable to withstand Corviknight's Brave Bird, suffering an extremely severe impact.
And Corviknight didn't even bother with Gyarados's Waterfall; completely unscathed, it hit back with Assurance, directly finishing off Gyarados.
Though the Crow-cum-Chicken was built as a big tank, that didn't mean it lacked offense.
The first round of the first match, ended in such a crushing manner. The opponent silently recalled his fainted Gyarados.
In the stands…
There was also an uproar.
Mainly because Corviknight's endurance seemed ridiculously exaggerated, as if their Pokémon were dozens of levels apart.
But they weren't.
"A level forty-six Gyarados's Waterfall can't even scratch Corviknight... It makes sense, since there was Reflect, but it still doesn't add up."
Tenzoji Ki gripped his milk tea, his gaze serious. "Even the smallest damage is still damage. It shouldn't be to that extent. Is his Corviknight fully invested in bulk?"
"Do you think that level of offense comes from a fully bulky build?"
Fujoka Shizuya pointed at the recalled Gyarados and shook his head. "Obviously not. Keep watching. It's not that simple."
Second round.
Because the rain hadn't been set up, the opponent's strategy was half ruined. But fortunately, it wasn't completely over.
His second Pokémon was the pure Water-type Vaporeon. It had a circle of white fins around its neck, an azure body, and a fish-like tail, looking incredibly cute.
"There really are a lot of Water-type specialists."
Li Xiang mused, having Corviknight use Bulk Up.
"Caww!"
Corviknight stretched its body, enveloped in a faint red glow.
Meanwhile, the Vaporeon on the other side, the moment it landed, immediately started with Rain Dance, summoning a rain cloud that covered most of the field.
Actually, by levels forty to fifty, the rain clouds Pokémon could create were already quite sizable.
The reason for shrinking them was to conserve energy.
The weather's range just needed to be sufficient; unless specifically required, there was no need to make it too large.
Rain poured down.
Corviknight coldly watched Vaporeon as its body melted into a puddle of water, disappearing into the pouring rain.
Rain Dance + Acid Armor strategy.
Disgusting to the extreme.