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It had been many years since Li Xiang last played games.
As a result, his skills had plummeted to rock bottom. Doublade wasn't much better either; with zero understanding of the game, it played like a complete noob.
The two noobs kept making clumsy moves, getting repeatedly solo-killed by bots.
Metagross stood behind them, letting out merciless laughter.
"Meta ~ meta!"
'You always call me a simple-minded metalhead, but you're not much better!'
'What a feast! A charge straight to the stomach! I could eat a ton of metal with these plays!'
Metagross's face practically twisted into a mocking emoji.
"Ahem, ahem. Being busy with studies, it's normal for skills to decline. Just give me a few more matches to get back into it," Li Xiang coughed awkwardly. His talent for MOBA games wasn't high to begin with; in his previous life, when playing alone, he only dabbled in some "casual" mobile games.
However, now with his enhanced physical abilities, his mechanics would definitely improve.
It was just a matter of getting familiar again.
Doublade looked at the black screen showing a little character holding a long sword, sliding around and looking very fast, then poked Li Xiang's shoulder.
"Huh? Oh, you want this one?" Li Xiang glanced at its screen and understood that it had taken a liking to the "Happy Wind Man" (Yasuo). He wasn't surprised. "Wait a bit. I'll buy it for you when we go out later."
"Doublade excitedly tapped its body upon hearing this.
Metagross, seeing this, picked Li Xiang up and placed him on its head. "Meta!"
'Let's play together! I don't mind if you're bad! Playing alone was different from playing with everyone.'
Metagross had been thinking about climbing the ranks, but now that it saw Li Xiang and Doublade playing, it suddenly felt that playing alone was boring.
"Count me in." Rotom used a nearby speaker to voice its intent.
So, the three Pokémon and one trainer started playing games together.
During this time, the sounds of laughter, teasing, complaints, and joy rose and fell, continuously echoing in the study.
The four of them made different sounds but could still understand each other, losing constantly, winning sometimes. They were having an incredibly fun time.
They got completely absorbed, even forgetting to go to the training facility.
Until 3 PM.
Ding-dong~
The doorbell rang.
Li Xiang pulled his eyes away from the screen, glanced at the wall clock, and was startled.
"Whoa! We've been playing for three hours!?"
"Meta!" (Support! Support! I can't fight five alone!)
Metagross's eyes were still glued to the game, using its hind leg to push Li Xiang.
"Whew... Don't rush. Someone's at the door; there might be something important. Let's pause this game for now." Li Xiang took a deep breath and went to answer the door.
But as soon as he stood up, he saw four pairs of eyes staring straight at him, looking somewhat resentful.
"Whoa!" Li Xiang jumped back two steps in fright.
Incineroar and the others were sitting neatly in a row behind him.
"Roar!?" (Hey, kid! Got some nerve, huh? Playing games without your big brother Incineroar?)
Incineroar poked Li Xiang's chest, its white fangs almost touching his face.
"Riolu~" (You haven't given me my reward for the match yet.)
Riolu hugged Li Xiang's leg, looking up at him with watery, adorable eyes.
Corviknight beside them looked full of sorrow.
"Caw caw caw caw caw caw caw..." (All the happiness is yours, I have nothing...)
"Ninja?" (Are there ninja characters in this?)
Greninja, who usually had low presence, looked at the little characters on the screen with curiosity.
"Sigh..." Li Xiang rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. "Let's talk about whatever it is later. I need to answer the door first."
'Games are such a distraction!'
The doorbell was still ringing.
Pulling his leg out of Riolu's embrace and pushing aside the overly large Corviknight blocking the way, Li Xiang blinked his slightly sore eyes and opened the door.
The human body really couldn't keep up with Pokémon stamina. Playing like this would probably lead to nearsightedness. Better set some rules.
Outside the door.
Su Qian saw the dazed Li Xiang and was taken aback. "Were you taking a nap?"
"No, was just playing some games with my Pokémon. Come in, Senior." He moved aside to let her in.
Su Qian entered, saw Metagross and the other Pokémon peeking out from the study, and smiled. "Entertaining yourself once in a while is good. I've done it too."
"Yeah." Li Xiang nodded and walked to the kitchen. "Tea? Juice?"
"Either is fine." Su Qian sat down on the sofa, looking around. "Your place is much cleaner than the boys' dorms in the reserve team."
Li Xiang walked out with hot tea. "Aren't there cleaning aunties?"
"Exactly because there are cleaners that they mess around freely... Phew..." Su Qian blew on the steam and tea leaves, taking a small sip. "The main reason I came is that the coach asked if you're participating in the second wave of selection matches."
The second wave of selection matches was for reserve members to promote to Regular status.
This year, there were three Regular spots available.
"Of course I'm participating. If I can, I definitely will," Li Xiang said, sitting down in a single-seater sofa. "I was worried I might not be able to."
Only a fool would pass up easy benefits.
"Alright then." Su Qian nodded, hesitating slightly before continuing, "About the forum..."
"It's fine. I've said it before, I'm not afraid of that." Li Xiang waved his hand dismissively. Back on the day he became the target of public criticism, Su Qian and the others had already come to see him.
They were mainly concerned about his mental state.
Unlike the school team members who had already experienced storms of praise and criticism online, Li Xiang, as a fifteen-year-old teenager with a not yet fully mature mindset, might not be able to handle so much targeted negativity.
At least, that's what they thought.
But now, it seemed Li Xiang's mentality was much more optimistic than they had imagined.
Hearing this, Su Qian's expression relaxed considerably. "I asked Uncle He. He said that after you finish all your first-wave selection matches, the forum will start being regulated."
The school forum was managed by the Academic Affairs Office, which answered to the School Council.
The fact that Li Xiang was so well-known on the forum was likely 80-90% due to the School Council's tacit approval.
As for why they allowed some of the comments to run wild...
Firstly, the forum was a place for students to speak freely. Unless comments violated rules, they couldn't be deleted or result in bans.
Secondly, this was also a deliberate exercise to train Li Xiang's mentality and develop his resilience.
Right now, those targeting Li Xiang were only some students within the school, and the Academic Affairs Office would manage inappropriate remarks.
But in the future, when Li Xiang truly stepped onto the big stage of the Junior World Tournament, he would face scrutiny and even insults and slander from countless people.
They could be supporters of rival schools, former supporters of Misty University, or even just random passersby. Including reporters, they would all unleash verbal attacks on Li Xiang.
Even if Misty University was willing to be his backbone and sue those who spread rumors, slandered, or insulted him, they couldn't stop the endless chatter of the masses.
Moreover, words once spoken were like thorns stuck in Li Xiang's flesh; they couldn't be pulled out.
This was evident from fan communities in his previous life, like those for League of Legends.
No one is perfect, and even perfect people would face insults due to differing allegiances.
No one could stop it. So, it was better to let Li Xiang experience it earlier.
If his mentality broke within the "home" of Misty University, they could still help him back up. No big deal.
But if his mentality broke during an international event like the Junior World Tournament, then it would be a real disaster.
Of course, their goal wasn't to crush Li Xiang into an bottomless abyss. So, after the selection matches, once Li Xiang had proven his strength and made the students genuinely acknowledge him, they would naturally start enforcing rules.
After all, the support of the student body was also important. The school couldn't always act unilaterally.
"Okay, I understand." Li Xiang nodded. He naturally understood this reasoning. To gain prestige before others, one must suffer behind the scenes.
Nothing more to say.
Compared to the pain of facing death powerless, struggling in despair, mere verbal attacks weren't much. They just made him angry and motivated him to advance even faster.
Even the Champion, Xia Chunyu, had been cursed by many people in his early years.
Even now, some still thought Xia Chunyu was unworthy of his position—a Champion in his early thirties, a leader standing above millions in the region, was just too young and seemed somewhat unreliable.
.....
Evening.
The fourth round concluded.
As the quality of opponents increased, another graduate from the Youth Training Camp lost.
Bai Zhou was one of them.
He unfortunately encountered a seed-level student whose strength was beyond what he could handle at the moment.
Very regrettable.
After four rounds, only twelve Youth Training Camp graduates remained standing. Who knew how many would make it into the final fifteen spots?
Li Xiang personally thought no more than five, maybe even fewer. After all, this was only their first academic year.
That young guy, Gong Xu, showed little interest in singles. Although he participated, he was always thinking about doubles.
However, doubles matches would only start after singles concluded, and the selection criteria for doubles were even stricter than singles.
Even if he ranked high in the end, they might not necessarily agree to let him join the school team.
It mainly depended on overall strength.
.....
The next day.
The fifth round began.
The number of remaining participants kept decreasing, and the quality of opponents kept increasing, mostly comprising upperclassmen.
Having more training time was definitely an advantage. And just as he had thought, this time his opponent's specialty type happened to counter the Poison type.
—Psychic type.
This matchmaking system was seriously questionable.
"A sixth-year student... probably someone planning to participate consecutively too," Li Xiang thought as he entered the arena, recalling his opponent's Pokémon and commonly used strategies.
Was this thanks to the reliable third-year regular, Senior Sister? The intelligence she provided clearly included the opponent's commonly used tactics.
This basically meant Li Xiang knew the opponent's playstyle like reading a strategy guide.
There was almost no chance of an upset unless the opponent pulled out some new strategy.
The rules announcement period.
Just like in the original Pokémon world, trainers specializing in Psychic-types always seemed a bit mystical, like spiritualists. The girl before him was no exception.
Holding prayer beads, wearing robes so wide they looked like gowns, a red dot on her forehead between her eyebrows.
This...
Li Xiang found it hard to comment.