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What should he say?
Li Xiang's feelings were incredibly complicated right now.
He just felt like the world had gained another pair of true lovers, and... two single dogs.
A wealthy young lady like Anya was probably the goddess in countless people's hearts. It's a pity she was "taken" internally, giving others no chance at all.
"Does your dad know?" he asked curiously.
In TV dramas, when this kind of situation happened, the father would usually yell, "I don't have a daughter like you! Get out! We're cutting ties!" followed by a family soap opera.
But with Song Jie's family, it was hard to say.
Sure enough, Song Jie shook his head. "My dad doesn't care."
The white-haired youth's family situation was somewhat complicated. His mother had passed away when he was very young, and since then, his father had rarely come home, immersing himself entirely in his work. Sometimes, Song Jie wouldn't even exchange a few words with his father in a month.
Besides Anya, his older sister, Song Jie also had an older brother who was pursuing a business path and would eventually take the helm of their family.
Li Xiang didn't feel it was right to pry too much into other people's family matters, so he didn't press further.
However, through this, he also understood why, when he asked for Abigale's WeChat, he got a fake account impersonated by Anya instead.
If someone was trying to steal your significant other, how many people could remain indifferent?
If someone asked Li Xiang for his senior sister's WeChat account, while he might not do what Anya did, he definitely wouldn't hand it over obediently.
He'd definitely tell that person to get lost, far away.
But then again, if Anya's initial replies were meant to lure him in, force him to say some stupid things, and finally expose him to make him embarrassed...
Then what was the deal with the daily sharing afterwards?
Using him as a practice target? Writing a novel from Abigale's perspective?
It wasn't impossible.
'Forget it. Better not to dwell on these things.'
He quietly waited for the treatment to end.
The two of them returned to their respective villas with their Pokémon.
In the evening...
Li Xiang quite proudly displayed his cooking skills to Song Jie. After receiving the high-quality review of "This is edible?", he smilingly forced two entire bowls of it down his throat.
'If you like it, eat more! Why so polite with your big bro? This kid is really acting like a stranger.'
After seeing off Song Jie, who looked pale and was holding his stomach and the wall as he returned next door, Li Xiang received a call from Bai Wanhua.
It was about Xu He.
After watching the battle between him and Song Jie, the head coach seemed overly excited. He had called Bai Wanhua five or six times in a row, chattering nonstop about a bunch of things.
The moment Bai Wanhua heard, she knew Xu He had been in contact with him, so she called.
"You didn't discuss those conditions you agreed to for me with Coach Xu?" Li Xiang was a bit confused. The agreement contents included things related to the school team. Bai Wanhua should have, at the very least, informed Xu He, the head coach.
But from the sound of it now, Xu He didn't seem to know much about him.
"We discussed it; he brushed it off," Bai Wanhua said with a bitter laugh. "Coach Xu... how to put it? He's quite stubborn, has his own ideas. No matter what others say, it's not as good as him seeing it once for himself. So..."
Meaning he was seen as all talk until proven otherwise.
Li Xiang's expression remained calm. Ever since his name and photo were published and his information spread everywhere, he knew this day would come.
And Xu He's personality was typical of the kind that would eventually get a reality check from him.
But the problem was, this person was a bit off. School hadn't even started, the team members weren't even here, and he had already convinced himself, and at a time when Li Xiang was completely unaware.
This was fatal.
It directly cut off any potential plotlines of Li Xiang showing off, playing dumb and then devouring the tiger.
With the head coach and the principal backing him, others would only be jealous of him; the probability of someone causing trouble was very small.
"Being the protagonist these days isn't easy either. With no achievements to speak of, the 'Delusional Empowerment' phenomenon is just too severe," Li Xiang sighed silently after hanging up.
If only there were more people without brains, each rushing forward to deliver themselves, his supply of candies wouldn't be so tight.
"Now everyone knows you're a tiger, they all respect and fear you. How are you supposed to play then?" Li Xiang tapped Incineroar's chest.
Incineroar, seeing this, raised an eyebrow at him, its two pectoral muscles twitching like drums.
"Oh, not bad," Li Xiang chuckled. "When did you learn to do that?"
"Roar..?" (This needs learning? Isn't it self-taught?)
Incineroar picked its ear, its expression completely nonchalant.
"Showing off," Li Xiang laughed and scolded. He then turned around and lay down with his head on Incineroar's lap. "In a couple more days, all the senior students will be back. You guys might have to work a bit harder then."
Whether someone would pick a fight and whether someone would battle him were two different things.
There might not be many, but one or two battles per person was absolutely inevitable.
"Roar..." (Don't worry, bro knows.)
Incineroar extended its fleshy paw and began gently massaging Li Xiang's temples.
The pressure was just right, the technique skilled and refined.
"Mmm... Where did you learn this?" Li Xiang let out a comfortable sigh, slowly closing his eyes.
"Roarr~" (Told you, self-taught~)
Incineroar responded in a low voice, actually managing to lull Li Xiang to sleep with its massage.
Looking at the youth's serene sleeping face on its lap, it couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
The Eighteen Strokes of Cat Petting?
'Amateur! Before my, Incineroar's, Hypnotic Holy Hand, you're still not qualified!'
'This long and arduous research wasn't in vain, hahahaha. If Li Xiang ever quits being a trainer, maybe I can open a massage parlor.'
The thought flashed through Incineroar's mind but was quickly dismissed.
'What massage parlor?! This is the Hypnotic Holy Hand!'
Incineroar revealed a fierce grin, drawing a sidelong glance from Riolu, who was meditating nearby.
'Is Li Xiang going crazy again, a common occurrence? And now you're going crazy too?'
Greninja has chuunibyou, Corviknight is foolish, Rotom is a shut-in and tsundere, Metagross is a simple-minded iron fool, Doublade is overly sentimental.
And now Incineroar has become as stupid as Li Xiang.
'We're doomed. I'm the only sane one left in this family.'
Riolu sighed, feeling that being the only normal one in the household was just too difficult.
...
Just as Li Xiang had said.. after Song Jie's arrival, the senior students gradually returned to campus. The number of people moving around the school increased, and the previously quiet environment was gone for good.
Mist City University.
It was a higher education institute with six grades. The average number of students per grade was over 600, totaling around 4,000 students.
While this number might seem small, in reality, only about 20,000-plus trainers graduated from higher education institutes each year.
As one of the top six institutes in Zhu Xia, its campus area was naturally large.
Averaged out, each student enjoyed over 5,000 square meters.
However, most of this land was used for battlefields, battle stadiums, and training facilities. The actual building area was pitifully small.
Higher education institutes themselves were places where academic classes were secondary. If you were strong enough, and as long as you didn't care about awards or honors, it didn't matter if you failed every academic class; the teachers would pull your grades up.
"So, you still need to put in a lot more effort in battling, junior," Su Qian said, smiling while sipping her milk tea. This girl wasn't afraid of gaining weight; a trainer burned far more calories in a day than one cup of milk tea contained.
Today was early February. Most of the regulars and backups of the school team had already returned to school.
She had come knocking on Li Xiang's door early, wanting to take him to meet his future teammates.
"Oh," Li Xiang understood, then asked, "Senior, what am I considered now? A regular, a backup, or a reserve?"
"None of those," Su Qian replied calmly. "School team selections are in March. Your status will only be determined then."
"Pre-selected?"
"Of course, pre-selected. In principle, school team selections are only for second-year students and above. But if you want to compete with others for a spot, I don't mind, and Coach He definitely won't mind either." Su Qian laughed. "You have no idea how much hatred arranging backdoor entries can attract."
"Ah, this..." Li Xiang scratched his head. To be honest, he was actually a bit tempted. After all, the school team selections would definitely have many strong opponents. He could earn a lot of candies and also avoid giving people reasons to talk.
But on the other hand, he found it a bit troublesome and was worried about capsizing in a seemingly safe situation...
No... How can a trainer think like that?
What is there to fear? Just plow through them. Regardless of whether they're in their second, third, fourth, fifth, or sixth year, you'll have to battle them eventually.
"Let's not do the pre-selection," Li Xiang said. "Getting in through my own battles is pretty good too. It'll save me from gossip; that's really annoying."
He thought Su Qian would be surprised. Instead, she laughed. "Just as Coach He said, you're not one to sit still."
"Ah?" Li Xiang was dumbfounded.
"He looked through most of your information. He said you love battling more than anything and would absolutely not pass up something like the school team selections." Su Qian drew a circle on the table with her slender, jade-like white finger. "Coach He is always very accurate in judging people."
'Love battling the most... I'm actually just in it for the candies.' Li Xiang thought to himself, then looked towards the door as Song Jiejust then) walked in.
"Been waiting for you forever! Were you putting on makeup? So slow."
"You think I wanted to be late? Lycanroc chewed through the electrical wires again. Took forever to fix." Song Jie rolled his eyes, then bowed slightly to Su Qian. "Hello, Senior."
"Hello, Junior." Su Qian responded with a smile. "You're quite cute, Junior. You'll definitely be very popular."
"Thanks for the compliment," Song Jie replied offhandedly; he was used to this kind of teasing.
Lycanroc had a habit of chewing on wires. Relying on its tough skin and thick flesh, it often attacked power strips, data cables, fiber optics, and similar things.
It was an old problem.
Last year at the training camp, Li Xiang often experienced situations where the internet would suddenly cut out while he was watching something on the computer, or the screen would go black.
'Thankfully, my Pokémon are relatively normal and don't have such hobbies.' Li Xiang couldn't help but shudder.
With the two new juniors assembled, Su Qian stood up and led them towards the meeting hall.
Today was the school team's assembly day. Regulars and backups had to be present, while reserves had no mandatory requirement.
This would also give the two of them a chance to meet their future teammates.
He hoped their skill levels would be reasonably high.