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Even after losing one of the Klang, Luo Dayou and his team still didn't make a move on the Probopass. Instead, they focused entirely on attacking the remaining Klang.
It was obvious—they wanted to secure at least one Klang before competing with Li Xiang's group for the final Probopass.
Better to play it safe than end up losing both the prize and the battle.
Watching Luo Dayou's eyes burning with rage, Song Jie furrowed his brow. Although he had expected conflict during this competition, he hadn't anticipated that their first clash would be with Luo Dayou.
That was a surprise.
"Bronzong's pinning ability is limited. You'll need to be quick."
Song Jie whispered to Li Xiang as Bronzong, using its hollow body, forcibly suppressed the two Nosepass that had foolishly approached it, sealing them within its form.
At the same time, it used psychic power to sever the link between Probopass and the Nosepass, while also defending itself from Probopass's counterattacks.
But this kind of control couldn't last forever. Staying on the defensive too long would eventually spell trouble.
"I know."
Li Xiang raised his hand and caught a PokéBall flying toward him. He shrunk it down and slipped it into his belt pouch.
These guys didn't even know Haze, and they were still trying to take on powered-up Pokémon head-on? What a waste of time.
"Haze!"
With a snap of his fingers, a plume of black smoke erupted out of thin air, rapidly expanding in all directions!
In an instant, everyone's field of vision was completely obscured.
Luo Dayou and his teammates' expressions changed again.
Inside the haze, flashes of light flared up repeatedly, accompanied by muffled booms—but none of the spectators could see what was happening.
One of them shouted in panic, "Be careful! Use Psychic to locate it!"
Psychic scanning was something most Psychic-type Pokémon could do. A few that knew Psychic could also pull it off. Unfortunately for them, even Riolu—with its Aura Vision—would instinctively overlook a Greninja.
If your Ghost-type Pokémon actually finds it with Psychic, then you've got real ghosts.
"Heat Wave!"
The trainer of Darumaka shouted. An orange whirlwind, laced with embers, swept through the area, quickly dispersing the choking haze!
The air cleared in an instant, but unsurprisingly, Golurk still didn't manage to locate Greninja.
What caught Luo Dayou and his teammates even more off guard, however, was that the Probopass had vanished.
From the moment the haze was deployed to when it was cleared by Heat Wave, less than twenty seconds had passed. And in those twenty seconds, the five-point Probopass had mysteriously disappeared!
They didn't even hear the sound of a PokéBall opening!
Li Xiang idly rubbed the PokéBall that had been slipped into his hand and looked toward Luo Dayou and the others.
"Only one left now. Shall we each rely on our own ability?"
Despite its intimidating appearance, Probopass was quadruple-weak to both Ground and Fighting types. Once Bronzong immobilized it, and its Nosepass disappeared while its stat boosts were removed by Haze...
Greninja had used just a single Low Kick to take out the nearly 400-kilogram Pokémon.
That thing weighed well over 200 kilograms—Low Kick's power scaled to the maximum against it.
The PokéBall had been prepared in advance. Li Xiang had chosen Greninja specifically for its elusive abilities. Having Greninja capture the Pokémon was all part of the plan.
Hearing Li Xiang's words, Luo Dayou's lips trembled.
The tall, lanky boy had never been in such a passive position before.
Even though Golurk and the others had exhausted themselves, collapsing in a heap around the fainted Klang...
Every time they threw a PokéBall, Bronzong would simply bat it away with Psychic.
So they tried to have Golurk and the others carry Klang over toward them, and they ran toward it too.
If only he'd thought to have his Pokémon hold onto the PokéBall earlier.
But hindsight is 20/20.
Yet just as Golurk was moving toward them, a soft pink glow shone from Klang's body—then it froze in place, as if stuck in time.
It was Bronzong's Psychic!
It had formed a mental barrier around Klang, preventing any PokéBall from touching it.
Luo Dayou stopped in disbelief and turned back to Li Xiang, his voice strained. "You're really going this far?"
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. It sounded too much like surrender—like he was hoping for mercy from Li Xiang.
A Trainer should never yield without a fight!
"…"
Li Xiang couldn't quite understand his intent. He raised an eyebrow and said, "You really want it? Sorry, but I want it more. Even if you manage to steal it, I'll challenge you after the match and win it back."
Saving up to buy a shiny Metang—every single point mattered. Even one short, and someone else might beat him to it.
Luo Dayou's mouth fell open. "All this… just for three points?"
He prided himself on being magnanimous. If it weren't for pride, he'd never fight tooth and nail over a mere three points.
Totally unnecessary.
But Li Xiang's domineering attitude genuinely shocked him.
Was it really worth it? Just three points?
The other two teammates saw the chance while they were talking. They rushed to Golurk's side, trying to tag the Klang with their PokéBalls.
But just before they could get close, a flash of white light flared up from Klang's body—and it vanished into thin air.
Intercepted again!
The two of them nearly exploded with rage and clawed around the spot where the light had disappeared.
"Come out! Hiding like a coward, what kind of Trainer are you?!"
"Show yourself!"
They shouted angrily, but it was all useless.
Greninja had already returned to Li Xiang's side and handed him the PokéBall.
"The third one," Li Xiang said as he waved it toward Luo Dayou. "Feel free to challenge me after the match."
Then, ignoring their furious and conflicted stares, the two of them turned and left with Bronzong.
The two stopped to rest on a massive bluish boulder.
Li Xiang finally had time to tally his score.
"How many points?" Song Jie asked, watching as Li Xiang pulled out a notebook and began jotting down numbers.
"Eighty-three. Not bad at all."
He smiled at the white-haired boy. If they split it, that'd be a little over forty each—not much.
But for a solo run? Completely different.
Li Xiang checked his watch. From the start of the points competition to now, about an hour and a half had passed.
Time was short, and the remaining wild Pokémon were bound to be few.
After all, over a hundred people had been combing this area. Except for those sneaky ones hiding underground or in trees, most of the Pokémon had probably already been caught.
For over a hundred people to divide such a small pool of Pokémon, it wasn't easy for Li Xiang to rack up over 80 points.
Especially since most Pokémon were worth just one point, three-point ones were rare, and five-point ones were nearly nonexistent.
"There should be a water-type zone nearby. Let's check it out."
Li Xiang stood up, recalling how, during his own test, Greninja had caught his final few Pokémon from a lake.
Song Jie nodded lightly. Bronzong could still be useful underwater.
…
The water zone was located at the southernmost part of the competition field—a stream nestled between two forest patches. The shallower parts revealed the riverbed; the deeper sections looked like bottomless pits.
There was no one around.
Apparently, very few had thought to catch Pokémon in an aquatic environment like this.
"Greninja, I'll count on you. Same as last time—defeat them and bring them up."
Li Xiang gave the command, and Greninja responded immediately.
Song Jie patted Bronzong, which gently wobbled its two massive "hands."
The two Pokémon jumped in and Greninja slipped in silently.
Bronzong? More like a depth charge—splash! Water sprayed everywhere!
The two boys had to take several steps back from the sudden wave. Then, Li Xiang turned and asked, "Your Bronzong can come back up, right?"
"Levitate ability. What do you think?" Song Jie gave him a look.
Not being able to come up from this depth would be seriously underestimating Levitate.
"Alright, fair."
Li Xiang said casually, though he suddenly remembered the Sun & Moon anime episode with the Flygon that was amazing at butterfly stroke.
Levitate working underwater... sure, no problem.
Since they couldn't enter the water themselves, the two sat by the riverbank, chatting while waiting for Greninja to find its prey.
As they waited, they spotted Qu Sheng and Yang Tianwang drifting closer, riding on a Blastoise's back.
Next to Blastoise was a bright red Crawdaunt.
Qu Sheng and Yang Tianwang also saw Li Xiang at the same time.
Yang Tianwang waved excitedly. "Hey! You guys are here too! Finally ran into someone!"
Li Xiang waved back. "How's the haul?"
"Twenty each."
Yang Tianwang sighed, "Too many people grabbing at once. Couldn't catch any more."
Before coming in, everyone had thought this place would be crawling with Pokémon—easy points.
"And you guys?" Qu Sheng asked back.
Li Xiang glanced at Song Jie, who gave a subtle nod.
"Eighty total. Song Jie gave me all of his."
That sentence left Qu Sheng and Yang Tianwang stunned. Not because of the eighty, but because of the second part.
"Why?" Yang Tianwang looked at Song Jie. "You don't want forty points?"
Song Jie's expression was calm, like they were talking about a few bucks. "Li Xiang needs them more urgently, so I gave them to him."
Qu Sheng immediately looked at Li Xiang. "What's the emergency? Why didn't you say anything? If we four teamed up, we'd be way more efficient than just two."
He meant that if Li Xiang had said something earlier, they'd have given him all their points too.
Yang Tianwang nodded. "Exactly! Why didn't you say anything? Points can't be transferred now."
"It's just for trading a Pokémon, really no big deal. Don't stress it." Li Xiang was touched but waved it off. "I've got my eye on that shiny Metang in the shop. Afraid someone else might grab it, so I want to trade for it early."
Hearing this, Qu Sheng didn't even hesitate. "Then from now on, we four stick together. All points go to you. Much more efficient that way."
Yang Tianwang nodded furiously.
"Eh? No, really—no need. It's not that serious. I already feel bad dragging Song Jie into this. Can't take your points too."
It's not like anyone owed him help.
But Qu Sheng and Yang Tianwang were clearly upset by Li Xiang's polite decline. They exchanged a look, then marched up and each grabbed one of his shoulders, pinning him in place between them.
One sighed dramatically, "Sigh… it's faded, our bond has faded. Clearly, we don't matter to him anymore. Might as well bury him."
The other added, "Exactly my thought."
"I was wrong! I was wrong! We'll act together! I was just talking nonsense!"
Li Xiang quickly surrendered, realizing he might've hurt their feelings. After all, when he had helped them before, they never refused—they just accepted his help cheerfully because Qu Sheng and the others truly saw him as a good friend, and helping each other out was natural.
But now that they wanted to help him, and he refused to avoid troubling them—it felt distant.
Hearing his plea for mercy, the two finally eased up a little, but they didn't intend to let him off that easily. With serious faces, they dragged Li Xiang in and began thumping him in the stomach.
"You're always saying we talk too much, but now it's you who's full of nonsense!"
"If I wanna give you my points, you got a problem with that?!"
"You got something important going on and didn't even tell us!"
"What do you take us for? Sidekicks? If I wanna give, I give! Just take it and stop whining!"
Each punch made Li Xiang's core muscles twitch a little—but inside, he was deeply moved.
Not everyone was willing to give up precious points to help him.
On the side, Song Jie watched silently, a faint look of satisfaction and pride on his face.