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Talking to Anya felt different compared to talking to his senior sister.
Although both were gentle and spoke unhurriedly, Anya's tone of voice was more lively, full of youthful girl energy. She often used modal particles, and a smile never left her face.
It was a bit reminiscent of Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui in her normal state.
His senior sister, however, spoke steadily, with clear enunciation and measured force, her emotions more reserved. Yet, one could still detect ripples beneath her calm surface from her words.
She didn't smile often, but every time she laughed openly, it could make one's heart flutter.
If he had to compare, she leaned more towards Tenshi (Angel Player) from Angel Beats!.
But these two had a common trait.
They both treated Li Xiang like a younger brother.
This was very evident from their tone of voice—affectionate, but not the kind between a man and a woman; it had more of an older generation looking after a younger one feel.
Li Xiang didn't really mind; after all these years, he was used to it. Being young couldn't be helped.
After chatting briefly, Abigail and the others approached from a distance.
Without a doubt, "Tea Girl" was always the most eye-catching among the three. Her height of over 170 cm was striking, her ample bust couldn't be hidden even by a loose sweatshirt, and her fine, dense eyelashes seemed to naturally have eyeshadow.
She also had slightly tanned skin. Compared to her, Zhao Jie and Lu Shu behind her looked like a middle schooler and an elementary schooler respectively.
"Ah! Little Brother!"
Zhao Jie saw Li Xiang, her eyes lit up, and she ran over deng deng deng, seemingly wanting to pat Li Xiang's head.
Li Xiang stood up smoothly, just avoiding her hand. "Hello, senior sisters."
"Mn."
"Yo!"
Abigail nodded calmly, while Lu Shu waved in a boyish manner.
"Eh... Little Brother is so cold."
Zhao Jie expressed regret at not touching that fluffy head.
Li Xiang smiled but didn't respond, slightly bowing instead. "Sorry everyone, I have some matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave now."
With that, he didn't wait for their response and quickly made his escape.
Rather than spending time amidst a group of girls, he'd rather go home and read a couple more cookbooks. Staying any longer risked being dragged along for shopping.
Watching Li Xiang's quickly departing back, Zhao Jie asked curiously, "He left so fast. Is Little Brother a bit afraid of us?"
"He's afraid of you." Lu Shu poked her cheek. "Boys have their pride too. You can't just pat his head the moment you meet him."
"Eh? Really?"
Zhao Jie tilted her head.
Beside them, Anya's gentle and soft eyes turned into tender affection the moment Li Xiang left. She suddenly hugged Abigail, using a near-coquettish tone, "Abi~ I missed you so much~"
As she spoke, she actually started rubbing her face against Abigail's chest like a cat, drawing sidelong glances from passersby.
"Mn."
Abigail responded softly, her face still expressionless, unaware passersby might think this girl disliked Anya.
However, that was just her nature; she didn't like talking or making many expressions.
The four good friends chatted and laughed, got into a car with a professional driver parked in the distance, and went out to have fun.
Meanwhile, Li Xiang was walking home when he happened to see the white-haired youth approaching head-on.
Behind him was a Lycanroc with its tongue lolling in and out, looking excited.
"Is the match over?"
Song Jie asked him proactively.
Li Xiang: "It's over... Did you know your sister is here?"
"Ah?"
"Ah?"
Two confused faces.
Song Jie: "My sister is here?"
Li Xiang nodded: "Yes, your sister is here. Just now."
Song Jie: "..."
Good grief. She was definitely his biological sister, coming to her brother's school without even seeing him.
Looking at the stunned youth, Li Xiang comfortingly patted his shoulder.
"It's fine. She's definitely your real sister. If she weren't, she wouldn't act like this."
The forgotten younger brother twitched his mouth and shook his head.
"Forget it. I still have a match, I need to go."
"Alright then, good luck."
Li Xiang reached out and rubbed Lycanroc's cool hairstyle; the latter returned the favor with a handful of slobber.
Petting this dog required gloves.
...
Morning.
Metagross and Doublade's splendid performances successfully dispelled some more of the negative comments about Li Xiang.
On the forums, posts nitpicking about him had noticeably decreased, leaving only those analyzing his strength, etc.
There was even one post calculating how much time he must have spent training his Pokémon.
The final conclusion was that, excluding those that joined midway and assuming all were trained from between levels 20 to 30, based on the poster's personal standards, it would take at least seven to eight years.
In three and a half years, he simply couldn't simultaneously focus on level, moves, and specialized ability training for all seven of them!
Generally speaking, a graduate from a basic academy having three Pokémon with barely formed combat strength was considered very good.
Therefore, either Li Xiang's Pokémon were all trained by others and given to him, or he was a super genius who could use 24 hours like 48, or even more!
There was absolutely no third possibility!
"There is, how could there not be? Candy."
Li Xiang took an ordinary triangular candy from his pocket and popped it into his mouth.
With candy, he only needed to focus on raising energy levels and learning moves. Emphasis on ability training was just a bonus while leveling up.
It was like EVs given by wild Pokémon while grinding levels in the games.
'Mn. This candy was quite sweet.'
"Riolu~"
Riolu came to Li Xiang's side, placed its chin on his belly, and slightly opened its mouth.
"Won? Here."
Li Xiang glanced outside the floor-to-ceiling window where a large crow was glaring at them jealously.
He picked up a chocolate from the table, mixed it with some stored Speed Candy, and put it into Riolu's mouth.
"Rio!"
Riolu closed its little mouth, locking the chocolate inside, constantly licking it. Feeling the smooth, sweet taste in its mouth, it held its cheeks, showing a blissful expression.
Li Xiang couldn't help but smile and scratch its chin.
The dog still loved chocolate as always, especially reward chocolate after a victory.
Outside the window, the big crow was green with envy. It didn't like chocolate, but it also wanted to be hand-fed by Li Xiang!
"Caww!"
'Dammit! Again!'
It shouted angrily.
Just as Riolu finished the chocolate, still wanting more, it heard this and ran out the door, and continued fighting with Corviknight.
"Youth is wonderful."
Li Xiang looked up at these two youngsters under five years old, clicking his tongue.
Suddenly, a commotion came from the study. Doublade flew out flustered, followed by an angrily gliding Metagross close to the ground!
"Metta!" (Don't run!)
Metagross roared. If it weren't for its concerns, the floor might have been shattered to pieces by now.
Doublade decisively flew to Li Xiang's side, used its tassels to lift him up, slipped under him, and played dead.
Metagross angrily slid over, the golden X on its face beginning to glow.
"Wait, wait, wait, what happened now?"
Li Xiang put his foot on Metagross's head, somewhat头疼 (headache). "use your words! This house can't handle you two messing around!"
"Metta!"
'You judge! You need to back me up!'
Seeing Li Xiang, Metagross's simple, honest face actually seemed tearful, wronged as it roared.
In the study, Rotom flew out in fan form, then slipped into Li Xiang's phone, activating its voice pack. "Doublade pressed Metagross's Flash. It was the deciding match of its promotion series on a new account."
Li Xiang: "..."
No wonder Metagross was so irate.
After reaching the top rank (equivalent to Challenger) on one server, this guy somehow got the dream of being the top rank on all servers. The account it was playing now was its second one.
Diamond to Master promotion match.
If it were Li Xiang from his previous life, he'd be furious too.
He sighed, pushed Metagross a bit further away with his foot, gave it a "calm down" look, put down his phone, sat up, and pulled Doublade out from under him.
"What's your problem? Why touch its computer?"
Doublade's eyes shifted around, its guilty conscience all too obvious.
Actually, it was just curious why pressing those square buttons made the little person on the screen perform various actions. Unable to suppress its curiosity, it just tried pressing one tentatively.
Who knew it would turn out like this.
"Apologize. Now."
Li Xiang didn't really understand what it meant, mainly because it couldn't speak. Maybe after evolving into Aegislash, it could communicate like its ancestors.
But no matter what, it was in the wrong this time.
So Li Xiang decisively moved Doublade in front of Metagross.
The two Steel-type Pokémon faced each other.
One was shaking awkwardly, the other's eyes full of resentment and reproach, as if it had been wronged.
'My promotion match! I finally found teammates who knew how to get carried, do you know how hard that is?!'
'Some people can't even get carried properly! They just feed!'
Doublade chose to apologize, clinking its hilts and sheath together to make sound.
Although Metagross couldn't understand what it was saying, it could more or less read its expression. Its anger subsided slightly.
"Metta!"
The simpleton snorted and slid away like skating.
Rotom left too.
This guy was starting to get a bit of a gaming addiction.
Looking at Metagross's retreating back, Li Xiang felt that the method originally intended to make it less might be backfiring.
When a game shifts from entertainment to a pursuit, and its importance in one's heart gradually increases, what does it mean?
It means the guy is lonely, and games have become its only means of dispelling loneliness.
If he paid more attention to this guy, then perhaps a single promotion match... no, the game itself wouldn't matter so much anymore.
Thinking this, Li Xiang put down his phone.
"Do you want to learn to play games?" he asked Doublade. "Like the one Metagross was playing just now."
Doublade looked full of confusion, hesitated for two seconds, then nodded.
"Then let's go!"
Li Xiang picked it up and walked towards the study, shouting as he went, "Hey, simpleton! Let's play together! Playing alone is no fun!"
Games like these are only fun when played together, when you can complain together.
Think back to the five-person LAN parties back in the day; they never won, but weren't they still incredibly happy?