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Today was not Li Xiang's lucky day.
This was evident from the constant mishaps during the battles and encountering Abigail, whose strength was as profound as an abyss.
The subsequent use of Sleep Talk further confirmed his suspicion.
Astonish.
A Ghost-type physical move, letting out a startling cry to attack the opponent, with very low power.
Especially for a specially offensive Rotom.
'Screw this!'
Li Xiang looked at Rotom, who was screaming shrilly with its eyes tightly shut in the sky, and really felt like hitting someone.
Fortunately, after using Astonish, Rotom also woke up, gradually descending in altitude.
Sleep had restored its stamina to its peak, but Gunk Shot had drained a significant amount again. However, the most critical issue now wasn't stamina, but attribute energy.
Using move after move, each one with all its might, naturally led to exceptionally high consumption.
In this situation, the attribute energy within Rotom was probably nearing its limit.
Luckily, the Electric Terrain was still active; that wasn't something that could be destroyed by an explosion.
And the Alolan Muk didn't know Iron Roller either.
Li Xiang began calculating the consumption again and found he only had two chances left for Discharge, maybe even less.
'Dammit!'
In all this time, except when fighting those with super high rankings, this was the first time he had fought to the point of depleting attribute energy!
'It ran out too quickly!'
Indeed, energy level was also an important foundation determining combat power. Relying solely on Candies didn't seem to be enough.
Li Xiang looked at the Alolan Muk in the distance. That guy had used Stockpile and Swallow to recover most of its stamina.
Simultaneously, its physical and special defense were starting to develop in an outrageous direction.
Alolan Muk's special endurance was already quite good. After two Stockpiles, unless Rotom used Nasty Plot, even Discharge under Electric Terrain probably couldn't hurt this guy much.
But after Nasty Plot, Rotom would only have one chance left to attack.
Should he bet on both Discharges hitting Alolan Muk and taking it down? Or use Nasty Plot first, then a single Discharge to finish off Alolan Muk?
'So difficult!'
He had been too overconfident. If he had known this would happen, he would have done more homework and watched more of Abigail's matches.
His own performance was also poor; the gap in battle experience was quite significant.
'... No use crying over spilled milk now.'
Li Xiang sighed helplessly. Not daring to delay too long, he decisively chose the latter option.
Having lost the chance to use Electroweb, whether Discharge would even hit Alolan Muk was a question. Better to use Nasty Plot and then bet on a critical hit with Discharge!
'Believe in the critical hit!'
Even if the stat boosts were erased by Haze, as long as Discharge was launched, it wouldn't matter!
'Don't underestimate the bond between me and Rotom! Let this pile of sludge witness the power of the friendship system!'
The plan was set into motion.
On the other side, after Alolan Muk's defenses increased to a certain level, its tankiness had clearly improved tremendously.
But since it hadn't held back on using moves—like Mud-Slap, Poison Gas, Smog, etc,—it hadn't skimped at all.
Therefore, even though its level was higher than Rotom's, the attribute energy within it was also nearly depleted. Without using items, there was no possibility of recovering attribute energy.
It probably only had three or four chances to attack left.
"It's time to decide the outcome," Abigail said calmly, "Haze."
This was the safest method. Instead of attacking rashly, it was better to erase the opponent's stat boosts. As long as the opponent couldn't damage them, Alolan Muk would win!
Both sides unleashed their moves almost simultaneously!
Nasty Plot took effect first!
Rotom, hovering close to the ground, stared at the Alolan Muk releasing a large amount of icy black mist. Blue electricity swirled around its entire body, making it look like a ball of lightning.
Then, it released it with full force!
'Take this! This is my last Discharge!'
The moment the lightning was released, the black mist also spread to Rotom's position, reducing the Special Attack it had painstakingly raised.
But it didn't matter anymore.
Because at this moment, Rotom was completely drained, unable to squeeze out even a drop more attribute energy.
In the distance, under Alolan Muk, blue light waves rippled out. Several streaks of racing lightning surged up like a large tree formed of electricity, with a thick central trunk as the main body, crashing down with a KACHA!
Discharge hit!
Li Xiang watched Alolan Muk's contorted expression, desperately hoping for a critical hit at this moment, striking its vital spot.
'Super Luck, Super Luck!'
A critical hit ignores stat stage modifications!
However, Lady Luck wasn't always watching over him. For an insignificant battle like this, she couldn't even be bothered to lift an eyelid.
Alolan Muk withstood it. It even seemed to have plenty of stamina left. Although smoke rose from its body, its sharp gaze made it clear that Discharge hadn't done much to it.
'It didn't take it down!'
What was there left to fight?
Li Xiang glanced at Rotom; Rotom was also looking at him.
A Pokémon without attribute energy, in the games, only had the option of using Struggle.
In this world, perhaps it could use Fly to buy time and recover some energy, but that would be too pathetic. Not to mention, the opponent still had a Honchkrow that could also fly.
"Senior.. I concede!"
Li Xiang raised his hand, composedly accepting the fact of his defeat.
Abigail was very strong.
This was undeniable. She could replace those sixth-year students on the team of one of the Big Six universities while only in her third year.
This proved she possessed strength equivalent to, or even surpassing, that of the sixth-year regulars on the Mist City University team.
From this perspective, Li Xiang's loss wasn't unjustified.
She wasn't some power-level benchmark from a fantasy novel where anyone could challenge those above their level; she could do that too.
On the other side, Abigail, seeing this, nodded lightly and recalled Alolan Muk into its PokéBall.
"You are very skilled. At your age, I couldn't compare to you."
She seemed to be praising Li Xiang, though her praise came off as somewhat stiff and arrogant.
Those who dared to use themselves as a power-level benchmark were usually very powerful trainers or held high status.
"Thank you for the praise."
Li Xiang recalled the exhausted Rotom, comforted it a few words, then smiled in response, "You worked hard, Senior."
Battling Abigail was truly more exhausting than fighting tier nines. Her endless stream of tactics made him somewhat question his life.
It felt like battling a more mature version of Song Jie.
Outside the field, the team members, seeing the battle end, gathered around Li Xiang with various expressions, surrounding him.
Even though he ultimately lost, his strength had been proven and acknowledged by the team members.
"Junior, you're amazing! Aby is one of the top three in singles battles in the team!"
"Junior Li Xiang, how exactly did you train your Pokémon? Has it really only been three years?"
"Why is Incineroar so tanky? And Corviknight, it's way too agile!"
"Rotom's attack range is impressive! A godly pick for doubles!"
"Junior, junior! Are your Riolu and Greninja even stronger? Show us, please!"
They chattered noisily, talking over each other.
Their noise gave Li Xiang a headache. Finally, Captain Su Qian came to his rescue again, scolding the others to go battle themselves.
They had watched long enough; it was their turn now.
Only then did Li Xiang breathe a sigh of relief, quietly thanking Su Qian for rescuing him a second time.
"It's what I should do. But, Junior, your strength is really something. You're only a first-year; your future is bright!"
Su Qian's fair face showed an expression of amazement.
"It's alright, there's still room for improvement," Li Xiang said modestly, his gaze sweeping over the other battlefields.
Taking this opportunity, he could mentally rank the team members.
It was necessary to know who were the slackers, and who had real skill or potential.
The key figures to focus on were still Zhao Jie and Lu Shu, these two who were the same age as Abigail and had also been regulars in major tournaments.
He remembered someone saying earlier that Abigail's strength was top three in singles within the team. So, those ahead of her should be Captain Su Qian and Vice-captain Chao.
Both were fifth-year students this year and had two more chances to participate in the Junior World Tournament.
Without a doubt, they were hurdles Li Xiang absolutely had to overcome.
First year: build foundation, increase his own depth and battle experience.
Second year: surpass the three sisters—Abigail and the others.
Third year: surpass Su Qian and Chao, become captain.
It shouldn't be a problem.
Li Xiang rubbed his chin, somehow feeling he was getting a bit full of himself.
But trainers should be a little arrogant, have a little more confidence in their own strength.
"Senior, how many battles have you had?"
Suddenly remembering this power-level metric, Li Xiang turned and asked.
Su Qian was slightly taken aback, scratched her cheek as if thinking, paused for several seconds, then answered, "Probably over ten thousand?"
Over ten thousand?
'If you fought one battle a day, it would take over twenty-seven years to exceed ten thousand.'
Su Qian clearly couldn't have fought only one battle per day. Adding to that, she had been raising Pokémon for seven years, now in her eighth year, exceeding ten thousand wasn't actually exaggerated.
But the number itself sounded impressive and intimidating.
"This isn't really that important," Su Qian waved her hand dismissively. "The number of battles is just a label."
"In university, what truly determines strength is rank, the internal ranking."
From her explanation, Li Xiang learned that higher education institutions held one official match for students every day.
Like online ranked matches in games, strength was calculated based on points; the higher the points, the higher the ranking.
Naturally, those with higher points also received many rewards, and the school was very lenient with high-ranked students.
"Is the current number one ranked player you, Senior?"
"No, it's Bai Xiang."
Su Qian said, "She's a year ahead of me and has fought who knows how many more matches than I have. Unless I started winning every single match from first year without losing once, I really can't catch up to her anytime soon."
Bai Xiang was the short-haired senior on the team who used Grass-type Pokémon. She had the serene, elegant aura of the Kanto Grass-type Gym Leader, Erika.
Her characteristic was a beauty mark at the corner of her eye, making her unforgettable after just one glance.
Earlier, she had also come over and asked Li Xiang in a soft, gentle voice if he was interested in Grass-type Pokémon.
It was really surprising.