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Waiting can be nerve-wracking, but when Li Xiang returned to the dorm and saw Song Jie sitting there calmly, as if nothing had happened, his heart instantly settled.
"You're back?" Song Jie glanced at him, not bothering to get up from his computer. "You got lucky. You're probably in the key nurturing sequence now."
"Key nurturing sequence?"
Li Xiang blinked, sitting down beside him. "What new intel did you dig up this time?"
Song Jie lifted his hands from the keyboard and tapped his phone. "Just found out. The training camp has an internal ranking system. It records certain names—no idea how many spots there are—but those people get prioritized resources."
"And I'm in it?"
Song Jie shook his head. "How would I know? I just know the list exists. But personally, I think the reason Xiang Yangwei made that bet with you is because of this."
Li Xiang frowned slightly. It made sense for something like this to exist, especially in a place like the Youth Training Camp.
What concerned him was whether there was a limit to the number of spots.
If possible, he wanted to get Song Jie and the others in too…
But that was just wishful thinking.
"Don't overthink it. If there's a spot for me, it'll come."
Song Jie shut his laptop and stood, patting Li Xiang's shoulder. "Rest up. Tomorrow's ten battles with completely unknown opponents. You'll need to be sharp."
Fair point.
Li Xiang went next door and released all his Pokémon, briefing them on the upcoming challenge. All five were fired up—especially Incineroar, whose belt glowed like a miniature sun.
"Victory!"
Li Xiang thrust his hand forward, his determined gaze reflecting his unwavering resolve to win.
The others piled their paws, claws, or appendages on top, howling in agreement.
"Victory!"
Six "hands/paws/claws" slammed down, then shot up in unison.
.....
The Next Day
Zhong Qizhi first gathered everyone in the classroom. Standing at the podium, he held a stack of bright red envelopes.
"What I'm holding are your 'Red Packet bonus' for today."
He raised them for emphasis. "But just like real red packets, you won't know what's inside until you open them. So until you do, even I don't know who your opponents are."
He continued, "The packets/bonuses are divided into five tiers. The trainers inside range from strong to weak. A lower tier doesn't mean weaker, and a higher tier doesn't mean stronger. It's completely random."
Huh?
That didn't sound right.
The students exchanged confused glances. Shouldn't the tiers correlate with strength?
Now that they thought about it, Xiang Yangwei had never said lower tiers meant weaker opponents—just that they were divided into five tiers with different point values.
The assumption that tiers equaled strength had been entirely their own doing.
"Instructor, then what's the point of the tiers?" someone shouted. If this was a trap, why expose it now?
"Points, obviously. Higher tiers give more points."
Zhong Qizhi grinned. "You have ten chances to pick packets. Take one, take ten—it's up to you. But once you pick, you must complete the battle. No trading."
Murmurs broke out across the room.
"Alright. Now, come up and pick based on your remaining points."
Zhong Qizhi clapped for silence.
High points always came with privileges in the camp. As the top scorer, Li Xiang was first to choose.
At the podium, he looked down at the five stacks of envelopes, each labeled with a point value:
5, 10, 20, 30… 50?
His eyes widened. The highest tier was worth fifty points?
Well, he did call them "red packets" earlier. But the flip side was, if he lost, he'd be losing big.
"Oh, one more thing—there are special surprises inside some packets."
Zhong Qizhi dropped this bombshell casually.
Li Xiang's outstretched hand froze mid-air. He shot the instructor an exasperated look.
Seriously? Special surprises now?
"What kind of surprises?" someone else asked, saving Li Xiang the trouble.
"You'll have to find out. But trust me, they're good."
Zhong Qizhi shrugged.
Li Xiang refocused. According to the instructor, opponent strength was entirely random—pure luck.
Luck…
Aside from move mastery, Li Xiang considered himself pretty lucky, especially after his stroke of fortune in Saizhou.
So why hesitate?
He went straight for the 50-point packets, grabbing all ten from the top without even picking.
Today, he'd activate his hidden ability—Super Luck!
After recording his selections, he returned to his seat.
Song Jie, as the second-highest scorer, strode up and—without hesitation—also took ten 50-point packets before coolly walking back.
No nonsense.
Absolute legend.
Li Xiang hadn't even opened his first packet when Qu Sheng, the third-highest, went up.
"That decisive?" Li Xiang glanced at Song Jie.
"No reason to hesitate."
Song Jie tossed his packets onto the desk. "They're all the same anyway."
"...True enough."
Li Xiang silently opened his first packet.
Inside was a slip of paper listing:
Arena number
Start time
Battle format
That's it.
Of his ten packets: 4 D-Class, 4 C-Class, 1 B-Class, 1 A-Class
'Did the arena class indicate opponent strength?'
Li Xiang wasn't sure.
Qu Sheng returned with six packets—three 50-point, two 20-point, and one 5-point.
His logic was simple: even if he lost some, he'd stay in C-Class.
Yang Tianwang and the others made similar choices. Falling to D-Class would waste too much time.
While others took their turns, the group compared notes.
Lin Feng's luck was, as always, bizarre. Two of his packets were B-Class, one was A-Class.
Qu Sheng and the others had one B-Class each.
Song Jie? Four B-Class, the rest D-Class. Extremely polarized.
"Just my luck… No wonder I pulled three SSRs yesterday. I thought I was blessed."
Lin Feng groaned. "Turns out my luck was being saved for this."
"You were playing gacha games before a tournament?"
Li Xiang was in awe. Only Lin Feng would dare tempt fate like that.
"It was impulse!"
Lin Feng whined. "I just tapped without thinking. What was I supposed to do?"
Classic Lin Feng.
Li Xiang shook his head, though his own luck wasn't stellar either. Once everyone had their packets, they dispersed to their assigned arenas.
Li Xiang had four battles today—a mix of B, C, and D. His first was the B-Class match, starting in twenty minutes.
No time to waste.
...
B3 Arena
When Li Xiang arrived, only the referee was present.
'Opponent running late?'
He stepped inside. The moment his foot crossed the threshold—
SCREEEECH!
The referee's whistle pierced the air.
"Opponent's Pokémon are unable to battle! Li Xiang wins! B3 match concluded! Proceed to your next battle!"
'…What?'
Li Xiang froze at the arena's edge.
"Match over. You won. Move along."
The referee waved him off.
'But I just got here…'
Expression shifting, Li Xiang pulled out his phone and checked the class group chat. Sure enough, after a minute, someone @'d Zhong Qizhi:
[Instructor, I walked in and was told I won. What gives?]
[Duh. The "surprise" is an auto-win!]
[No way! That's a thing?!]
[Lucky bastard…]
Zhong Qizhi finally chimed in: [Correct. It's a surprise.]
Followed by a smug yellow emoji.
Li Xiang lowered his phone. His emotions were… complicated.
His first match ended like this? Actual freebies existed?
For a moment, Xiang Yangwei's scheming face seemed almost… kind.
So. The heavens do drop free meals.
+50 points, zero effort.
He checked his next slip—start time after 9 AM.
'Plenty of time. Might as well watch Song Jie's match.'
Pulling up his photo records, he saw Song Jie had a B-Class battle in ten minutes, two arenas over. He strolled over just as the white-haired teen was entering the arena.
His opponent?
A girl who looked about 16 or 17—young, pretty, clearly a high schooler.
'Wait.... Is she… from Qingcheng High?'
Li Xiang's eyes narrowed. That made sense.
The camp probably brought in Senior student trainers to hand out "red packets" to their future juniors.
As he pondered, the match began.
Single Battle, 3v3.
Song Jie's lead?
His ace—Aggron.
The girl countered with a Pokémon resembling a regal, humanoid figure crowned with a leafy green "hairdo," its skirt-like lower body resembling mangosteen segments.
Alolan Grass-type—Tsareena.
A formidable Pokémon with an exclusive Ability.
Game on.