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First match, complete dominance.
Nothing more to say.
It's hard to make up for a gap in raw strength. If Whimsicott had been just a bit stronger, it wouldn't have been taken out after its shield was broken.
Similar situations were very common in the following matches.
Generally speaking, in doubles, there is usually one support or tank, and the other acts as the main attacker.
It's not that there are no double-support or double-attacker teams, but those situations are relatively rare.
However, what's even more special is when the support, while supporting, suddenly steps in to fight.
Stepping in to fight is one thing; you might think it's a secondary attacker. But what's the meaning of having a burst higher than the main attacker?
'If you have this kind of burst, why are you even playing support?!'
Usually, supports are chosen because their support abilities are superior to their offensive capabilities.
Of course, having this happen once or twice to catch the opponent off guard is normal, and everyone can understand that. But what about Li Xiang's side?
It happens all the time! It's commonplace! It's nothing new!
...It's outrageous!
Using a bunch of utility moves, doing things only a support should do, and then when the opponent's attacker targets you, you counter with a move that breaks their shield and smashes the poor, fragile attacker's head.
If you're an attacker, just honestly learn attacker moves.
What's the meaning of learning so many utility moves? Do you really have forty-eight hours in a day?
Similar scenes appeared too often, to the point where others would pull a bitter face upon seeing them, not even wanting to fight.
Gong Xu, on the other hand, fought with great enthusiasm, appearing thoroughly satisfied after each match.
Practice and competition are ultimately different. In competition, opponents will give their all no matter what, and pulling out trump cards is considered basic.
It's very different from practice matches.
'Poor kid, if you were born in the Hoenn region from the anime, you wouldn't suffer so much.'
Their contests are single-player doubles.
Li Xiang couldn't help but pityingly pat Gong Xu's shoulder. Gong Xu, with sweat on his forehead, looked utterly confused.
Regardless, this seemingly professional but actually farcical doubles event, which hardly anyone participated in, came to an end.
The mark it left on Li Xiang's life wasn't even as deep as the previous selection matches.
However, the title "Head of the Four Great Villains" was now firmly cemented, becoming another "laurel" in his life.
Li Xiang listened and let it go in one ear and out the other. It was still better than being called inhuman.
...
Mid-March.
The school gave a week's buffer time.
The internal selection matches for the school team only then slowly began.
Among the reserves, there were thirty-three veteran members, plus the newcomers, making a total of forty-eight people.
The ultimate goal of this selection was to choose three from these forty-eight as alternates.
However....
"I'm not allowed to participate again? Why?"
Li Xiang looked at Xu He in front of him, somewhat not understanding. "Didn't we agree before that I could participate consecutively?"
"That was before."
Xu He said calmly and confidently, "The current school board doesn't want you to expose too much of your strength in public."
The reserve selections are held outdoors, while the alternate selections are indoors.
But both support spectators, both students and teachers, and recording is not prohibited as long as it's not posted on public platforms.
The reason is, they hope students can improve their own abilities by watching their matches.
Whether it's imitation or counter-strategizing, it's all allowed.
"In public..."
Li Xiang chewed on this phrase, feeling inexplicably complicated. Is it really necessary to hide things this much?
"Don't worry, you won't lack practice matches normally. You just can't participate in the selection matches. You exposed enough in the previous selections."
Xu He patted his shoulder. "Not just you, but Song Jie and Gong Xu are the same. You three might become our secret weapons in the Spring Tournament."
"Secret weapons?"
Li Xiang was stunned for a moment, then reacted, asking in a low voice, "You mean?"
Xu He revealed his slightly yellowed smoker's teeth, "That's right, you three are now alternates."
"...Huh?"
...
Misty City University's school board acted swiftly and decisively.
At least after Li Xiang proved himself.
In the original plan, Li Xiang would first enter the reserves after enrolling, then be observed for a while before being placed on the alternate list depending on the situation.
Note: this is only the alternate list.
That list exists outside of the formal selection tournament. Names are added based mainly on Xu He and Miao Shuang's personal judgment.
If a student performed exceptionally the following year, they could skip the selection tournament entirely and directly become an alternate.
However, some years, nobody made it onto that list. Xu He's standards were extremely high, and almost no one met them.
But now the plan changed. No need for fancy stuff. Li Xiang's trio directly entered the alternates, gaining the opportunity to personally attend the Junior World Tournament, even if just sitting on the bench.
—They're only first-years!
In all the years since the Junior World Tournament was established, there haven't been many first-years ascending this stage as players.
If something were to happen, Misty City University would definitely be cursed to death by the people of Misty City.
[What are they doing! Putting first-years on! Are they out of their minds!]
[Are the funds allocated every year being embezzled!]
[What's this person's background? Investigate!]
Similar comments wouldn't be few.
And this time, the school board directly placed three people into the alternates, sufficient to prove their courage and determination.
Some "mistakes" only need to be made once.
That's why Li Xiang's trio directly skipped the reserve platform and arrived at the school team's alternate position.
They didn't even need to attend regular classes anymore. Every day, they just needed to head to wherever the school team players were training.
Once this news came out, it made who knows how many students eat lemons, jealous to the point of being unrecognizable.
But no one opposed it, regardless of whether it was useful or not.
They made it into the reserves in their first year purely on strength, beating their seniors so badly that the upperclassmen cried and begged them to join the reserve team immediately—just so they wouldn't have to be tormented anymore.
And you?
What were you doing in your first year? Having fun with others?
Can you compare with them?
Since you can't compare, then there's nothing more to say. Just go quietly chew on lemons on the side.
Of course, some students in the reserves were also dissatisfied, but since the promotion of Li Xiang's trio didn't take their spots, they didn't have much to say.
Once you're in the candidate pool, whether you get to go on the field still depends on strength, right?
And so, amidst this jubilant atmosphere, the story of Li Xiang and the school team at Misty City University could be considered completely over for now.
In late March, the three students promoted from the reserves to the alternates were also selected.
Two fifth-years, one sixth-year.
—All girls.
This brought the total number of official entrants for Mist City University's main and junior teams to twenty-one, the largest in history.
Four boys, seventeen girls.
No problem, Misty City University is practically a girls' school; its backbone is supported by male god Chao and a group of iron ladies. Oh, another thing to mention…. the male-to-female ratio in the reserves were about three to seven.
When Li Xiang saw this, he just wanted to clap and shout "Good gracious".
Other schools have more boys, but here girls can hold up the entire sky.
...
End of March.
School team assembly classroom.
Everyone gathered here.
Xu He stood on the podium, looking at the students below.
"In mid-to-late April, we will welcome the Spring Tournament, that is the divisional-level competition of the Junior World Tournament. At that time, we will compete for the three qualifying spots from the total of ten teams in the Southern Xia Division."
He narrated slowly.
Zhu Xia's five capitals, nine provinces, and thirteen islands have a total of eighty-seven higher institutes, located in various cities.
The Spring Tournament divides these eighty-seven institutes into nine divisions, with nine to ten schools per division, competing for those three qualifying spots.
Ultimately, twenty-seven are selected to participate in the Summer and Autumn Tournaments, that is the first and second halves of the regional level.
The division Misty City University is in is called the Southern Xia Division, including places like Jizhou, Misty City, Dianzhou, etc.
Among them, Jizhou's capital is Daxing City, Dianzhou's capital is Jincheng. The higher institutes in these places, while not as good as the Big Six, still deserve vigilance.
"When the time comes, apart from the fixed three doubles matches, the selections for singles can all be changed. So, please all students focus on honing yourselves, do not slack off just because you are not the guaranteed starters."
Xu He looked at the twenty-some people present and said clearly.
In the Spring Tournament, five players are selected for singles. The side that first defeats the opponent's five wins, and points are tallied based on wins, ultimately deciding champion, runner-up, third place and other rankings.
For doubles, three pairs of doubles partners are selected for a knockout tournament, ultimately deciding champion, runner-up, third place, also tallying points based on wins.
Finally, the two are added together. The schools with the top three total points advance to the Summer Tournament.
This means being exceptionally strong in one aspect is useless; you must develop in both directions to securely advance your school.
This fills the Junior World Tournament with various unknown charms. And this also gives the regulars, who originally had at most eleven players, more possibilities.
At least the five singles spots aren't necessarily fixed.
Many people below became their minds started to churn with possibilities.
Gong Xu was lacking interest. He only loved doubles, and the chances of him playing doubles in the Spring Tournament were really not high.
After all, if singles underperform, doubles become the point-pulling category, capable of bringing a school back from the brink of the abyss back to life.
Truly turning the tide.
Such an important position couldn't be given to a freshman like him.
"Then next, for the fixed three doubles matches, today we need to select six students. Anyone volunteer?"
Xu He scanned the people below.
Gong Xu's eyes lit up, and he raised his hand forcefully, waving it constantly..
However, Xu He didn't even acknowledge him, picking others who raised their hands. "Good, then this year we'll follow convention, deciding playing opportunities by strength. Best of three. Any objections?"
"O-b-jec-tion!"
Gong Xu, who kept waving but wasn't acknowledged by Xu He, stood up and shouted loudly, both hands waving frantically. "Coach! I have an objection!"
Assistant coach Miao Shuang looked at this young man's comical appearance and couldn't help but hide the lower half of her face behind a folder.
"For now, doubles only considers upperclassmen."
Xu He's one sentence shut Gong Xu down. He then continued, glancing at him calmly. "Objection overruled."
Instantly, Gong Xu became like a petrified statue, dejectedly sitting down.
"You shouldn't have had that fantasy in the first place."
Li Xiang beside him, mocked. "We haven't even coordinated for a month. If they put you in, would you dare to play?"
Winning previous matches relied entirely on the Pokémon's own high quality.
As for coordination, there really wasn't much.
It was just the most basic one giving skills, the other frantically attacking, occasionally paying a bit of attention to the teammate.
"I know!"
Gong Xu squinting dissatisfied, grabbing the stool with both hands and shaking it hard. "But I just can't help it!"
"You're beyond cure."
Li Xiang shook his head speechlessly, then looked at Xu He, who was talking to the participating students.
If he wasn't overthinking, Xu He's earlier words might have been hinting that he had a chance to play.
After all, he had mentioned secret weapons before.
And the Spring Tournament, this relatively "low-level" competition, was the perfect way to cultivate new members like them.
Other universities mostly did the same.
It's just that their new members were fourth and fifth-years, while Misty City had three first-years.
So they need to pull up the score with doubles...
Li Xiang glanced at Lu Shu and Zhao Jie below. The latter two noticed his gaze and smilingly gave him a peace sign.
'Seriously…'