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After a night of heavy drinking and being completely immersed in an ocean of alcohol, when Jacob woke up the following day, he felt his head spinning wildly and throbbing with intense pain.
Sitting on the soft, comfortable bed and looking down at his changed clothes, Jacob fell into deep contemplation about the previous evening's events.
He tried desperately to recall exactly what had happened the night before, but his memory felt significantly chaotic and frustratingly blurry.
Jacob vaguely remembered that last night, Eleanor had enthusiastically invited both him and Nina to her house for drinks and celebration. The three of them had readily agreed to the invitation and went to Eleanor's house to cook hotpot together, eat a late supper, and enjoy a few alcoholic beverages.
Initially, all three of them had been quite restrained and moderate in their drinking, but as the drinks went down one by one throughout the evening, they gradually loosened up and started chatting freely about various topics.
Eleanor had put one arm around Nina's shoulder and her other arm around Jacob's shoulder, calling Jacob her honorary brother and praising him extensively, especially highlighting his exceptional talent and brilliance in scientific research fields.
Under the significant influence of alcohol, Jacob had also made a bold and confident declaration: his upcoming new experimental project, if it didn't completely surpass Mega Evolution in importance, would at the very least be entirely on par with its groundbreaking impact.
Thus, under the admiring gazes of both Eleanor and Nina, along with their constant flattery and encouraging words, Jacob had gotten completely drunk and passed out entirely.
After that pivotal moment, Jacob couldn't remember anything else at all. His alcohol tolerance was truly, embarrassingly poor.
The High School Cup National Finals were about to officially begin, with sixty-eight contestants representing thirty-four provincial-level administrative regions from across the entire country competing intensely for the ultimate championship title.
Among these sixty-eight talented contestants, four were designated as national seeded players who could advance directly to the top eight bracket without preliminary competition.
These four crucial seeded players would be selected through comprehensive voting from all participating contestants, tournament officials, certified referees, the Four Heavenly Kings, and the attending audience members.
The remaining four top-eight positions would be determined from the remaining sixty-four contestants through four grueling rounds of elimination matches.
Amid everyone's eager anticipation and excitement, the four seeded players were finally announced three days before the official start of the Finals tournament.
Undoubtedly, Jacob, with his brilliant performance record and unprecedented introduction of Mega Evolution, became one of this year's seeded players with an enormous advantage. He was also considered a strong contender for the championship title in this High School Cup competition.
His strongest supporter Noivern, combined with Mega Sceptile and Mega Charizard, represented combat power that was quite explosive on a national scale.
Furthermore, Jacob also possessed a Gym Leader level Drakloak as his ultimate trump card. His Drakloak's strength had surged dramatically after successfully learning powerful moves like Flamethrower and Thunderbolt.
Setting aside the Mega Evolution advantage entirely, the current Drakloak was undoubtedly Jacob's strongest individual Pokémon - a unique Gym Leader level Pokémon coupled with Master level potential. It would undoubtedly serve as an absolute main force within Jacob's competitive team.
With such a luxurious and impressive team lineup, Jacob wanted nothing more than to shout triumphantly to the sky: "Who can possibly stop me now?!"
However, while other competitors might not pose significant threats to Jacob's chances, the Fairy-type specialist Julia still remained capable of challenging Jacob effectively. Fairy-type moves counter Dragon-type Pokémon - this represented a type disadvantage that simply couldn't be changed or overcome.
But as long as Julia was eliminated by someone else during the competition, then all the other remaining competitors would be nothing to fear. He absolutely had to develop a comprehensive tactic to crush Julia decisively!
Strategically, one must always despise enemies and underestimate their capabilities, but tactically, one must take all enemies seriously and prepare thoroughly.
Besides focusing on himself, Jacob also carefully studied and analyzed detailed information about the other three seeded players. The first was Jacob's old acquaintance, Julia from Magic City. As a dedicated Fairy-type Trainer, she surprisingly possessed a powerful Dragonite, and by relying on its devastating Extreme Speed attack, she had directly swept through her previous opponents.
Julia's popularity and recognition could be said to rank second only to Jacob himself. During the Magic City finals, Julia's Dragonair had successfully evolved into the mighty Dragonite, and with Dragonite's overwhelming strength, she had completely swept her opponents and easily claimed the Magic City championship title.
She would prove very tricky to handle.
The third seeded player was Augustine, a dedicated Water-type Trainer from Aetherion City, whose signature Pokémon included Ferrothorn, Pelipper, and a comprehensive host of Water-type Pokémon like Swampert and Kingdra.
Jacob wasn't particularly worried about Augustine as a threat. His Charizard could Mega Evolve at any strategic moment, immediately seizing the crucial weather advantage, and could be said to possess an absolute advantage in terms of weather control. Augustine's core Pokémon Ferrothorn was completely countered by Charizard's Fire-type attacks, so it represented nothing to worry about - just a bunch of relatively weak opponents.
The fourth player presented a bit more of an annoying challenge. He was Vicente, an Electric-type Trainer from Thornbridge City, whose signature Pokémon was Jolteon - definitely not an easy opponent to deal with effectively.
Originally, there had also been Julien from Lunaport City, who was equally strong and had been a popular candidate for one of the four seeded player positions. However, because of Jacob's sudden emergence and overwhelming performance, he had effectively stolen Julien 's seeded player spot. Now Julien could only fight his way up through the brackets step by step.
Besides these particularly powerful players, there were several other competitors Jacob needed to pay close attention to and monitor carefully.
First and foremost was Ariana, who had lost during the Frosthollow Province finals. Even though she had been defeated by Jacob, she still shouldn't be underestimated in any way.
If it hadn't been for encountering Jacob and his seemingly unfair Mega Evolution advantage, she certainly would have been one of the designated seeded players.
Besides Ariana, there was also Isaac, that formidable Flying-type Trainer who had once decisively defeated Jacob in previous competition. He remained very strong, and his signature Pokémon, Salamence, was genuinely impressive and dangerous.
Finally, there was an Ice-type Trainer from Tidehaven City named Chaim. Compared to the other notable competitors, he wasn't particularly famous or well-known, but his competitive record could be described as extremely brilliant and impressive. His Pokémon lineup was also exceptionally good, featuring extremely powerful Pokémon like Alolan Ninetales, Abomasnow, and Mamoswine.
These eight competitors also represented the top eight candidates in the audience's collective mind. Each of them possessed at least one Gym Leader level Pokémon. The overall strength and high skill level of this year's contestants were the highest in the tournament's entire history.
Similarly, this year's High School Cup had been officially designated and called a "star-studded year" by organizers and media. In the promotional poster released by tournament officials, it was composed of these eight elite players plus the coveted championship trophy. The central positions of prominence were occupied by Jacob and Julia.
As time passed steadily, Jacob's reputation and fame continued to grow exponentially, and he also became increasingly busy with various obligations. During the past several days, people had often come to visit him at his residence. Jacob naturally tried to decline these meetings as much as possible, but when visitors included members of the Four Heavenly Kings, he naturally couldn't refuse them.
Furthermore, there were even numerous Champions among his distinguished visitors.
Given their elevated status and influential backgrounds, he really had no practical way to refuse their requests for meetings. This represented what people commonly called being unable to control oneself when operating within certain social circles.
After several exhausting days of socializing and networking obligations, with the official start of the High School Cup Global Finals, Jacob finally had precious free time available to train his Pokémon properly and develop comprehensive strategies.
Since Jacob held seeded player status, his first match would begin in exactly one week, providing him with a full week to prepare thoroughly.
His likely opponent in the top eight bracket was very probably Isaac, and Jacob felt genuinely full of anticipation for this upcoming match.
You were the one who broke my winning streak several months ago, weren't you?
As the saying goes, thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river - fortunes change over time. Now let me see exactly how strong you really are.
Besides his signature Pokémon Salamence, Isaac also possessed a tricky Corviknight and a Grass-type Serperior that could present challenges.
Although this lineup appeared quite intimidating and formidable, Jacob's Mega Charizard Y could easily crush both Corviknight and Serperior with its devastatingly powerful Fire-type moves.
As for Salamence, that particular Pokémon was indeed somewhat tricky to handle effectively.