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May.
A month that was both calm and yet anything but, because finally, the efforts bore fruit. The long wait and persistence proved worthwhile.
After enduring countless hardships, Greninja, who had always been quiet but constantly internalizing its struggles, finally reaped its rewards.
—The Three-Blind Perception Method had reached initial mastery.
The things that had always troubled it were now, one by one, being resolved.
First, the [Giant Water Shuriken].
Greninja had never been able to merge two Water Shurikens at the most opportune moment; it could never find that precise timing.
But now, it succeeded, as if a flash of inspiration had struck.
As if guided by an unseen hand, it merged two Water Shurikens into one, successfully expanding the "container."
Preliminary tests showed that with enough charging time, the Water Shuriken created by Greninja was virtually identical in appearance and size to the one carried on the back of Ash-Greninja.
Making it any larger would likely require merging a third shuriken, but doing so would not only increase the difficulty again but also drag out the preparation time far too long.
It would require a significant amount of time to practice.
Similarly, the [True Substitute] also saw progress.
As mentioned before, the difficulty lay in Greninja needing to seize the moment when the Substitute separated from its body to channel attribute energy across.
Previously, due to the Substitute's recovery time, it had never managed to grasp the trick, but after reaching initial mastery, the difficulty melted away.
Even if it was just a little progress, it was still better than none at all.
Not only that, but the ability to multitask and simultaneously control two bodies also seemed to become more harmonious.
At the very least, it could now perform simple actions like patty-cake, rock-paper-scissors with different gestures to decide a winner.
At a glance, it looked like two real Greninjas were competing against each other.
Of course, the fake Greninja was a miraculous construct made of attribute energy and part of its stamina. It wouldn't automatically recover stamina; after being active to a certain limit, it would vanish without a trace.
Everything fell into place naturally. And these two weren't even the biggest gains.
The biggest gain was the "Stealth Talent."
Actually, at this level, the title [Divine Concealment] was more fitting.
It meant—as if hidden by a god, its presence completely vanished.
After initial mastery, Divine Concealment also improved, reaching a point where as long as the Substitute existed, even if observed up close, as long as no one looked carefully, the real body would basically be overlooked.
However, all along, while "Divine Concealment" brought Greninja great benefits, it also caused some trouble in its daily life.
After all, having its trainer unable to see it even when it was right in front—though Greninja never said anything—actually hurt deep down.
Who didn't want more attention and affection?
Unfortunately, Divine Concealment always stood in its way.
But, there eventually came a day for resolution.
After the Three-Blind Perception Method reached initial mastery, Divine Concealment did become stronger, but it could also now be consciously controlled.
Even if it couldn't be completely turned off, it was still much better than before.
At the very least, if Greninja stood in front of Li Xiang without making a sound, Li Xiang wouldn't act like a blind person, utterly failing to see it, having to call out while looking around.
At most, it would still be the same from a distance.
And since the hardest part was getting started, now that there was a breakthrough, complete mastery was inevitable.
It was like Incineroar's temperature control.
Just a matter of time. Having persevered for so long, it was essential to keep going.
Beyond that, there wasn't much else.
Frontal assassination techniques weren't something the Three-Blind Perception Method could enhance; they still had to be practiced through battles.
Overall, Li Xiang was very satisfied.
This was the best possible outcome.
Achieving so many gains from initial mastery was something ordinary people could hardly imagine.
Greninja's combat power grew at a visibly rapid pace. It was now entirely possible for it to challenge Incineroar and even occasionally take it down.
Of course, overall, Incineroar still won more often.
The wide range of Burning Jealousy and Heat Wave was a factor, and after entering 'Sage Mode', its sensitivity to temperature became even sharper.
Greninja's camouflage couldn't make its body temperature identical to the environment.
Getting caught was normal.
Incineroar was also very good at seizing opportunities; once it spotted Greninja, it wouldn't delay.
It knew deeply that after seeing Greninja, there was only one chance to attack—after the first glance, it would have to look again to find it a second time.
Therefore, if it could finish it off in one move, it would never use a second.
Greninja occasionally beat Incineroar by taking advantage of the moment before it was found, using its highest-power special move to take it down in one shot.
Otherwise, one would just have to watch what it meant to grow stronger with each battle.
Incineroar was the stamina monster of the team, the most enduring one. In terms of endurance, no one could compare.
As for battling Riolu, Greninja was at a slight disadvantage.
It wasn't that the dog was stronger than Incineroar.
It was just that the Aura Sense after initial mastery… was too effective against camouflage, Substitute, and Divine Concealment.
Basically, it would be caught every time, every time it would distinguish between the Substitute and the real body, and every time it would fire an Aura Sphere.
In the games, Aura Sphere had a guaranteed hit characteristic, meaning it was a homing missile-type move.
Either block it with a move or something else, or just take the hit like a good boy.
But in either case, it would allow Riolu to detect Greninja.
After that, what awaited Greninja was a storm of moves from Riolu.
This also meant that unless one day Greninja's frontal assassination techniques surpassed Riolu's, or Divine Concealment reached a level where it truly erased all presence, it stood no chance against Riolu.
And once Riolu evolved, it would be even less of a match.
So, there was no absolutely invincible talent or ability in the world. There was always a way to counter it.
After the first three achieved initial mastery, next were Corviknight and Rotom.
To be honest, Li Xiang found it hard to imagine what they would gain after reaching initial mastery.
It probably had something to do with what they were training. After all, three had already achieved it, so the pattern should be clear by now.
The more they desired something, the more likely it would be realized after the Three-Blind Perception Method reached initial mastery.
Actually, thinking about it, it was because the desired thing was realized that the Three-Blind Perception Method reached initial mastery.
Looked at this way, the Three-Blind Perception Method seemed more like a bonus gift.
"Looking forward to you!"
Li Xiang scratched Corviknight under the chin, then pressed his whole face into the fluffy feathers on its chest, taking a deep breath.
Sniffing cats, sniffing dogs, sniffing crows.
This was something he wouldn't have dared to imagine in his previous life.
It was hard enough to support himself, let alone keep pets—that would've been a joke.
"Count on me! Caw!"
Corviknight spread its huge wings, its expression extremely serious. To be honest, the time it had spent practicing the Three-Blind Perception Method was only half a year less than the first three.
If Incineroar could achieve initial mastery in the Three-Blind Perception Method in half a year, then me, Corviknight, achieving it before graduation is no problem!
"Alright! I'll be waiting!"
Li Xiang patted its chest firmly. He loved hearing the Pokémon's bold declarations.
The sense of anticipation during the process and the satisfaction after completion were almost like catnip—utterly captivating.
Naturally, Rotom and Metang weren't to be outdone, each making their own bold declarations.
However, for the latter, the urgent task was to reach level 42, the minimum evolution threshold.
Many Pokémon weren't much before evolution.
Only after evolving, when they could learn more moves, would their strength improve by leaps and bounds.
Currently, Metang was at level 38.
It was obtained in early January, and now it was late May.
Seven levels in five months.
Progress wasn't fast, but it wasn't slow either. If leveling up Pokémon were that easy, there wouldn't be the concept of a trainer's career cycle.
The remaining four levels should be achievable before August.
Actually, there was no need to rush that much. The entrance exams for higher academies were held from August to January of the following year.
During this period, students would take the written unified exam and the first round of practical exams.
After preliminarily meeting their requirements, they would receive invitations from higher academies for the second stage of practical exams.
After the second stage of practical exams concluded, there would be interviews.
Due to the complexity of the process, and the fact that many people from society also wanted to take the higher academy exams, every year the higher academies spent half a year recruiting.
The academic year also officially started in the spring of the following year.
At that time, the students who officially entered would be exactly fifteen years old, and eighteen after three years.
And this meant that if Li Xiang and the others passed the higher academy interviews in August, they would have a vacation lasting up to half a year.
Half a year.
Not long, but not short either—enough time to change many things.
.....
Late May.
The same procedure as in April.
Usually, those above would take points from those below, and running would also cost points.
Many people wanted to save up some points but found that they were being deducted faster than they could save.
This time, Li Xiang and the others once again tearfully earned over 600 points, sending 17 classmates back to their schools.
Only 51 people remained in the training camp.
To be honest, those at the very top, like Li Xiang and the others, weren't short on points. With their strength guaranteed, they could earn a large amount at the beginning of each month, and usually had dozens of points from arena matches.
But for those below, life was tight.
They were afraid that if they used a little too much, they might become the reward given to the top students at the end of the month.
But similarly, when those who were lucky enough not to be eliminated realized that the next round would be them, many chose to give up.
Since there was no way to struggle, and they simply couldn't beat those stronger people, they might as well use up their points while they still had them.
Why leave them for others? Why make a wedding dress for someone else?
There were countless people with similar thoughts, which led to by the end of June, a full 15 people had zero points left.
They had all prepared to leave the training camp.
Li Xiang felt somewhat bored, thinking that it was already the end of June, and the three-camp joint exam still hadn't happened.
It meant that with fewer people, the joint exam was no longer necessary.
'Principal Xiang Yangwei, don't you have any other new challenges?'
As it turned out, at this stage, extra challenges were no longer needed. With fewer people, it was hard to organize anything.
What the students should do most was improve their own strength and prepare for the final moment.
After the points competition in early July,
—The decisive exam arrived.
The rules were single battles, 3v3. Each person had to fight five battles, each worth 100 points.
After all 500 points were deducted, those with zero or negative points would be eliminated.
And now, the number of students with over 500 points, maintaining their position in B-class or above arenas, was only 17.
How many could stay after this round?
The answer was… exactly 20.
That's right.
Under the deliberate arrangements of the training camp, people of similar strength did not face each other.
It was common for A-class and B-class to fight C-class.
There was no situation of same-level fighting same-level.
Naturally, those who could reach A-class and B-class were stronger than those in C-class. There was no situation of the weaker defeating the stronger.
Thus, after ten months, the training camp elimination competition concluded perfectly.