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The October Point Competition quietly came to an end.
As expected, thanks to the efforts of the six of them, the final haul exceeded 500 points.
Not only did this push Li Xiang's total past 1,000, but it also brought him dangerously close to the halfway mark, inching toward 2,000.
The only disappointment?
Not a single person came to challenge him for revenge, even though conflicts in the arena had been frequent lately.
'Everyone's being surprisingly cautious, huh?'
Li Xiang sighed deeply at the missed opportunity to farm more points.
This round eliminated 17 students, leaving fewer than 200 remaining.
The number of students promoted to C-Class arenas through the competition soared to over 90.
But B-Class? Still none.
Though many were close. Rumor had it that a girl named Wu Ruoxue from Class 5 had already accumulated 420+ points.
'Guess I'm not the only one hoarding.'
Now, for the main event. As the first student promoted to A-Class, Li Xiang received another reward.
Aside from the same challenge rules as B-Class (where fighting lower-tier opponents still counted as A-Class challenges until a second A-Class appeared), Xiang Yangwei also gave him a tangible bonus—100 points.
At first glance, it might seem meager, but these were free points—equivalent to what Li Xiang would earn in 2-3 days of grinding.
'Free points are still points. No reason to refuse.'
Of course, he had no idea how much heated arguing this measly 100 points had caused between Xiang Yangwei and the Tenth Man.
One side called it unfair favoritism, while the other argued it was healthy competition encouragement.
And since the camp leader had final say, the Tenth Man could only fume silently.
The dispute escalated, and the stakes of their bet rose from 1,000 to 1,500 points.
If Xiang Yangwei lost, he'd have to let the Tenth Man dictate the rules for two future challenges.
The deal was sealed.
Meanwhile, after Li Xiang's promotion to A-Class, his daily fixed arena earnings jumped to 40 points. Factoring in weekends and the three-day monthly competition, his monthly arena income alone neared 1,000 points.
Add another 500+ from the competition, and he was looking at a steady climb.
At this rate, 6,000 points wouldn't take long—at least, not until someone else reached A-Class.
.....
Wu Ruoxue, the girl who had been hoarding points, became the second B-Class trainer.
Unlike Li Xiang's privileges, her challenge points still followed C-Class rules, but her defense points upgraded to B-Class standards—an extra 2 points per win.
A rare perk.
The catch? She was now required to battle Li Xiang daily under B-Class rules—whether or no t it was a mealtime match.
Mandatory.
Thus, Li Xiang inexplicably gained a daily point-dispensing tool. By late October, another trainer crossed the 500-point threshold into B-Class.
Song Jie.
The reason he climbed so fast?
He never spent a single point.
Aside from the 2 points daily he lost to Li Xiang, he saved everything, letting his total snowball until promotion was inevitable.
With his arrival, Wu Ruoxue's privileges vanished. A second B-Class arena opened, pitting the two against each other in a permanent battle for the B-Class throne—until one of them fell below 500 and got demoted.
Naturally, Song Jie was also forced to fight Li Xiang daily.
The rules were getting weirdly specific.
Was the camp trying to stop him from "farming" weaker opponents?
Li Xiang felt a little wronged.
'I've been fighting seriously this whole time!'
Song Jie and Wu Ruoxue always went all out. If not for Incineroar and the others pulling their weight, he might've lost points instead of gaining them.
.....
The October report cards were distributed, and the reward/punishment meeting commenced.
Li Xiang's points officially surpassed 2,500, bringing him closer to 6,000.
This time, there were still dozens with zero or negative points, plus another group teetering on the edge.
He predicted that after the November competition, a large wave would leave, while many others would finally break into B-Class.
At least a few from the lower-ranked classes.
His prediction held true.
November saw 20 students expelled and 7 promoted to B-Class, expanding the B-Class arenas from one to three.
This meant three trainers competing for one throne.
Li Xiang's special privileges disappeared—now, he had to fight for his spot like everyone else.
Luckily, Qu Sheng and the others had been controlling their points, staying in C-Class deliberately.
Their plan?
Wait until more B-Class trainers appeared before promoting, avoiding friendly fire.
Ideally, they'd hold off until four B-Class arenas opened, forcing the camp to add a fifth and sixth. Otherwise, if they all rushed in now, they'd just cannibalize each other's points—reducing efficiency.
No point in teammates fighting teammates.
.....
The B-Class Grind
At this level, certain unavoidable confrontations arose.
For example—
Fang Xin, the leader of No. 2 Middle School.
Li Xiang had long been curious about his true strength, and the feeling was mutual. But Fang Xin, prioritizing steady point gains, had never challenged Li Xiang directly.
Meanwhile, Li Xiang, forced into daily defenses by Song Jie and Wu Ruoxue, couldn't challenge Fang Xin either.
Their showdown had been delayed indefinitely—until now.
With only three B-Class arenas available, and Li Xiang once again defending his arena after a morning match with Song Jie…
Fang Xin finally stepped forward.
"I've waited almost two months for this." Fang Xin, clad in a crimson hoodie with messy brown hair, sighed dramatically. "Guess there's no escaping it!"
Fifty meters away, Li Xiang squinted.
"HUH? SPEAK UP! I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
B-Class arenas were 100 meters long and 60 meters wide, with trainers starting 55 meters apart.
Conversations required yelling.
Fang Xin's mumbling was inaudible.
"...Never mind!"
Fang Xin's face reddened slightly. He hadn't expected Li Xiang to notice his monologue.
"COME ON, LOUDER! DID YOU SKIP ALL THE DRILLS OR SOMETHING?!"
Li Xiang's voice carried a hint of impatience.
'Nothing worse than seeing someone talk but not hearing a word.'
"I SAID NEVER MIND!"
Fang Xin shouted back, cheeks burning.
He had just wanted to dramatize the moment—a pre-battle habit. But the embarrassment was real.
The referee's whistle blew.
Both trainers released their Pokémon.
Thanks to Yang Tianwang's intel, Li Xiang had a decent grasp of Fang Xin's capabilities.
With two soft pops, the Pokémon materialized.
Fang Xin's choice?
A Blaziken—tall, avian-humanoid, with flaming wrists and powerful legs.
His ace, with the Speed Boost Ability.
Li Xiang had expected this. Most trainers led with their strongest against formidable foes.
So he had chosen—
Greninja.
Fang Xin blinked in surprise.
'Not Incineroar?'
But seeing the Water-type advantage, he didn't panic. He'd studied Li Xiang's battles.
Incineroar and the others were strong, but not unstoppable.
His Blaziken could win this.
"Agility!" Fang Xin ordered.
"Smokescreen!" Li Xiang countered.
The moment Greninja landed, it vanished into thin air—its Camouflage now so seamless it required no startup.
Meanwhile, Blaziken's flame-jet legs launched it forward in gigantic leaps, covering 7-8 meters per bound.
In seconds, it had halved the distance.
"This jumping power is insane…"
Li Xiang muttered.
In the games, Blaziken could clear 30-story buildings. Here, that required insane energy levels.
Fang Xin's Blaziken likely maxed out at 3-4 stories—still 15-meter verticals, but not game-breaking.
As Blaziken closed in, thick gray smoke erupted, rapidly spreading across the field.
Li Xiang backpedaled, staying clear to avoid collateral damage.
Then, he closed his eyes.
Finding Greninja visually was pointless—his brain would instinctively overlook it. Only through heightened perception could he detect even a hint of its presence.
Ironically, as its trainer, he had to hunt his own Pokémon.
But that was Greninja's natural advantage.
Maybe one day, if their bond reached Ash-Greninja levels, this wouldn't be an issue.
On the opposite side, Fang Xin raced toward the smoke, mind working furiously.
He knew about Greninja's invisibility. The question was—how to break it?
"Feather Dance!"
Blaziken's head feathers flared, releasing a shower of glowing white plumes into the smoke. Without a wide-area attack, this was his best bet to reveal Greninja's position.
And it worked.
As the feathers dispersed, the smoke rippled unnaturally—revealing a distorted outline where something invisible had been tagged by the feathers.
"Found you!"
Fang Xin's eyes lit up. "Sky Uppercut!"
"BLAZ!"
Blaziken leaped, flames jetting from its wrists as it swung a glowing fist toward the disturbance.
—Whoosh.
No impact.
Just the sound of a fist cutting through empty air. A Greninja afterimage flickered, then dissolved.
"Double Team? Impossible!" Fang Xin's eyes widened.
Before he could react, dozens of feather-covered Greninja clones emerged from the smoke, each hurling glowing blue shurikens at Blaziken.
Only one was real.
Only one shuriken would strike true.
'Which one?!'
Fang Xin gritted his teeth, nerves taut.