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The Spiritomb was defeated quickly.
Or rather, the Sylveon's move combinations were even faster.
The Swift that followed the Hyper Voice seemed to have no start-up lag. With a flick of its ribbon-like feelers, it flew faster than a missile, like playing an unrestricted fighting game.
Just two words—"smooth."
But for some reason, Li Xiang felt that Su Qian and Sylveon were very afraid of this Spiritomb and didn't dare let it stay on the field for long.
On the other hand, Abigail's refusal to use Protect to block moves also confused Li Xiang a little.
Intentionally throwing the match?
'Probably not. Eighty percent chance she was holding back some big move that just didn't get launched.'
Noticing that the battlefield seemed to brighten considerably the moment Spiritomb left the field, as if dark clouds had dispersed, Li Xiang had a feeling.
Abigail's sixth Pokémon was revealed.
—A Shiny Milotic.
Blue ears, golden scales, a pale yellow body, radiating an intoxicating light of elegance and luxury. The expression on its face was one of confidence, arrogance, and nobility.
It had an extremely noticeable contrast with the cold-styled Abigail.
'Speaking of which, most of her Pokémon seemed to have this kind of personality, right?'
Like the Houndoom and Honchkrow from before, each prouder than the last. As for the Alolan Muk, its facial features were too blurry to really tell anything from its sludge face.
"Competitive Milotic, from the Milotic tribe deep in the Misty Lake... Wow."
Li Xiang browsed through a post on the Mist City University internal forum.
[Forum.]
[United Universities Forum — Mist City University Subforum].
He only learned about this thing when chatting with Su Qian in the morning. It was similar to NGA from his previous life, heavily supported by the united universities, and its traffic was said to rival that of social media apps.
Li Xiang was currently reading a post about Abigail.
Unfortunately, he could only see the first post; the rest required logging in, which needed a student ID and real identity information.
School hasn't even started yet, where was he supposed to get a student ID?
However, even with just the first post, the amount of information was substantial. It said that Abigail's Shiny Milotic came from the depths of the Misty Lake.
The original poster claimed to have seen her riding Honchkrow into the white mist, and when she came out, she was riding a Shiny Milotic.
'The post time... two years ago?'
So it was a Pokémon she acquired just two years ago. No wonder she hardly used it during the Junior World Tournament.
In the arena.
Milotic displayed its exceptionally high Special Defense.
It easily withstood Sylveon's Hyper Voice and used Mirror Coat to reflect all the damage back.
Looking at Milotic's nonchalant expression, Li Xiang knew this guy was definitely built defensively, possibly even as a mixed wall.
And that was indeed the case.
As a Pokémon with excellent sustain, Milotic was highly skilled at taking hits and recovering health.
Sylveon found itself completely unable to do anything to it. Its moves couldn't hurt it much, and any accumulated damage would be healed back by Recover.
Of course, Milotic was the same. Being defensively oriented, its offensive capability wasn't strong to begin with. Trying to poison Sylveon would be removed by Refresh.
It couldn't really annoy the opponent, so it could only slowly wear Sylveon down with Muddy Water like this.
At least it could use the mud in Muddy Water to dirty Sylveon's face, making this clean-freak lose its composure. If the opponent was flustered, naturally, there was a chance to win.
Both sides fell into a war of attrition.
War of attrition matches had low entertainment value. Li Xiang watched for a while, gradually found it boring, so he started recording with his camera while playing on his phone.
"Little Brother, why do you carry a camera with you? And such a long tripod?"
The voice came from Zhao Jie, the pink-haired girl.
Li Xiang glanced at her and casually explained the reason.
He carried the camera mainly because he was afraid Riolu might evolve; the little dog could glow blue anytime, anywhere.
If he missed it, there would be no material for memories later.
Recording the little moments of his Pokémon, waiting until Riolu became an old dog and he became an old man, curled up on the sofa, squeezed together watching the past on a small screen—that would definitely be interesting.
Li Xiang always thought so.
"Junior Brother, you're so thoughtful!"
Even Lu Shu was moved by his words and couldn't help but pat his shoulder vigorously.
Zhao Jie felt the same. She leaned close to the camera, bending her slender, soft waist, staring at the screen. "So skilled at such a young age, what will you be like when you grow up?"
Li Xiang didn't understand what she meant.
Suddenly….
"Little Shu Shu, come here quick! I found something interesting!"
Zhao Jie excitedly waved Lu Shu over.
Lu Shu hurried over, and the two girls pressed their heads together, looking at the screen smaller than a palm.
"Has Sister Aby gotten bigger again?"
"... Seems like it."
"Wow! That's too much! Still growing at nineteen!"
"She just has that kind of physique."
"Poor Little Shu Shu, you can still wear the children's size."
"Huh? What do you mean? Personal attack?"
The two girls started play-fighting as they talked.
Li Xiang was speechless, but when his eyes swept over a certain prominent feature of Abigail, he also felt a lingering fear.
'Big—Ahem.'
He shifted his gaze, looking towards the field where Song Jie and Chao were battling.
Chao was one of the rare trainers without a type specialty. The Pokémon in his team were varied, and while not numerous, each was extremely powerful.
Almost every one was worth noting.
Song Jie facing him was basically similar to Li Xiang facing Abigail. On the surface, it seemed like an even match, but in reality, the momentum was one-sided.
Among them, the one that left the deepest impression on Li Xiang was a male Pyroar. Its body was wrapped in high-temperature flames, the breath it exhaled was cyan-blue, and its expression was excited to the point of madness while battling Lycanroc.
'Is the Competitive Ability this exaggerated?'
Li Xiang looked at Pyroar's face, quite curious about Competitive Ability. He wondered how much weaker it would be when fighting the opposite gender.
'Punching hard against the same gender, hesitating against the opposite gender?'
...….
The opening battle lasted almost three hours.
Li Xiang also mentally ranked the strength of all the team members.
Surprisingly, there were no slackers.
Everyone's strength was quite good. Even the six reserves had strong battle aptitude.
One by one, they were so experienced they didn't seem like teenagers, more like those thirty-something uncles and aunts from the clubs. This made him start to look forward to the strength of the reserves.
After it ended, they went as a group to the school's Pokémon Center.
The losers took the opportunity to buy bubble tea or treat the winners to a meal later.
Li Xiang originally planned to treat, hoping to get more information through Abigail and the others.
But seeing the faint look of pain on Song Jie's face, he thought it over and decided to forget it. There would be time later. He bought bubble tea for Abigail and the others to smooth things over.
Zhao Jie and the other initially wanted to complain on Abigail's behalf, but seeing they also had a share, they didn't say anything.
Noon.
They went their separate ways.
Abigail and the others were all leaving the campus to go play in the city district. They wouldn't have time like this after school officially started.
Li Xiang and Song Jie were still very curious about the campus, so they went to the cafeteria to eat.
With the older students back, all the multiple cafeterias on campus were open, offering plenty of choices.
Things like the attribute-customized food from the Youth Camp were just the lowest tier here, available to any student.
Higher quality ones required points from the school's internal rankings and also cost credit points to purchase.
[Credit Points].
The currency within Mist City University, obtained through internal rankings or other methods. It could be exchanged for many things, including Pokémon.
Back when Li Xiang was choosing his Pokémon, weren't there breeding facilities specifically providing Pokémon for universities?
It's just that the person in charge said the Pokémon there weren't suitable for him and skipped over it.
At Mist City University, credit points were the most important thing, even for reserve students on the team.
Only the reserve and regular team members could break free from the restraints of credit points and be trained uniformly by the school.
Of course, if team students wanted to enjoy extra things, they also had to spend their credit points.
After eating and drinking their fill, the two wandered around the campus.
Mainly, Song Jie talked about things related to Mist City University, and Li Xiang listened quietly.
"See over there? Beyond that mountain, that's the Conservation Base."
He pointed at a distant large mountain. "You should be pretty familiar with this facility, right?"
"Yep."
Li Xiang nodded, then asked in surprise, "Is it located next to the school because of the Misty Lake?"
"Right. The Misty Lake is a mysterious place in Mist City, protected by the Conservation Base. Even in this day and age, the situation inside the white mist hasn't been revealed to the outside world."
Song Jie brought him to a high slope. The seemingly endless Misty Lake was right before their eyes.
After all, it was the world's third-largest inland sea. The calm water surface stretched all the way to the other side of the horizon. Shrouded in white mist, it appeared incredibly mysterious.
But closer up, there were many Pokémon and boats.
Li Xiang even saw people rowing boats.
"The school authorities seem to have some understanding of the Misty Lake's interior, but they are very tight-lipped. Basically, no information gets out."
Song Jie took a deep breath.
"You don't know either?" Li Xiang was somewhat surprised.
"I'm not a information seller; how could I know so much!"
Song Jie glared at him, "What I know, I mostly heard from others."
"True."
Li Xiang nodded, watched the shimmering Misty Lake for a while, and said, "By the way, why are you so afraid... or should I say, resistant to Senior Abigail and the others?"
If he disliked them, he could just ignore them completely.
But why endure it? It didn't seem like Song Jie at all.
Hearing this, Song Jie was stunned, pondered for a long time, and then said:
"...I just don't know how to interact with them. I'm not resistant to them."
"Is that so?"
"Of course. They are my sister's good friends, and they treat me alright too."
Song Jie sighed, "But when I see them, I really don't know what to say. It feels very awkward, especially when they greet me."
'This... social anxiety? Depression?'
Li Xiang thought about it and realized Song Jie was indeed like this.
It wasn't just with Abigail and the others.
Back in the Youth Camp, Song Jie didn't communicate much with Yang Tianwang and the others, whether in reality or on WeChat.
Usually, if Li Xiang didn't talk to him, this guy was basically in a state of using few words.
His mind was completely focused on his Pokémon. He usually didn't play on his phone either, had very few friends on WeChat, and not many people in his contacts.
A young master from a wealthy family, without his own social circle?
"Buddy, you don't have depression, do you?"
Li Xiang's heart skipped a beat. He grabbed Song Jie's shoulders and shook him vigorously. "This illness can't be delayed! It can kill!"
Depression wasn't something to joke about online; it could really lead to death.
"Don't talk nonsense! What are you thinking!"
Song Jie pushed Li Xiang's hands away, rolling his eyes. "It's a personality issue, not an illness! Get it straight! If I had depression, I wouldn't be here talking to you!"
"...Alright then."
Li Xiang pouted, feeling inexplicably disappointed, though he didn't know what he was disappointed about.