Once a Pokémon makes up its mind, it can truly accomplish many things it couldn't do before.
Li Xiang initially thought it would take a long time, at least a month, for the Galarian Meowth to complete the journey from the conservation base to his home.
Unexpectedly, on the third day, it began attempting the trip alone.
Of course, it did so while entering its cooking state. Carrying a wooden jar, whisking cream as it walked, it actually managed to make it.
This showed how serious it was. However, there was still no progress with the leader of the Iron Cats Gang.
The Galarian Meowth was worried that if it told Perrserker, it might be grounded, so it held off for the time being. It planned to wait until it was completely familiar with its new environment.
Li Xiang personally felt this was a bit passive, but seeing that Incineroar and the others had their own plans, he didn't interfere too much.
Wednesday. The school team meeting.
A total of twenty-one official members gathered here, and four teachers appeared.
"Captain, is everyone here?" Xu He tugged at his collar and asked.
Su Qian nodded. "Everyone is here."
"Very good."
Xu He scanned the people below and turned on the loudspeaker.
"Early July is the time for the Summer Tournament. I'm sure all of you who experienced the Spring Tournament are already familiar with it."
The Summer Tournament was the first half of the regional level. The biggest difference from the Spring Tournament was the mobility.
At the divisional level, with only nine teams, matches were always held in a fixed location.
The regional level was different due to the large number of participating teams and matches. As a result, it was divided into two parts.
The first part was the singles team competition.
The organizers would draw lots to determine two schools, and then draw again to decide which of the two would travel to the other's location for the match.
This was the so-called home game and away game.
Like the Spring Tournament, the Summer Tournament only had five matches, and each match was scored based on wins.
The second part was the doubles competition, which, like the Spring Tournament, would be held in a fixed venue.
It would also take place before the singles competition.
A total of twenty-seven teams and eighty-one pairs would compete. The Summer Tournament would determine the top sixteen, and the rest would be settled in the Autumn Tournament.
The process was slightly cumbersome but full of highlights—at least, the audience thought so.
It also helped prevent aesthetic fatigue.
Meanwhile, the doubles competition venue would allow all schools to appear in one place.
Xu He spoke while looking at everyone.
"I called you here today to decide on the doubles lineup. Three groups, six students. Zhao Jie and Lü Shu will be the first group, Shen Qing and Bai Xiang the second group. Any objections?"
Below, everyone shook their heads in unison.
The problem lay with the third group.
In the Spring Tournament, the third group consisted of Feng Laiyi and a substitute senior, and they were eliminated in the top eight.
This result clearly did not satisfy Xu He. Their actual performance was indeed lacking.
The coordination between the two was genuinely poor.
If it weren't for Feng Laiyi being capable enough, they might not have even reached the top eight.
Doubles in the Xianan (South Summer) Division was notoriously a contest of weaklings.
Of course, Xu He had given them a chance, allowing an entire month for them to adjust and improve their coordination, but the results were not ideal.
On the surface, the type matchups of their Pokémon were decent, with clear role divisions, but these were superficial. Their compatibility was terrible.
The coordination between the two pairs was only mediocre at best. After a month, there was hardly any improvement. Therefore, Xu He began considering a new group.
His gaze fell on Li Xiang.
"For the third group, are there any volunteers?"
Hmm? Why look at me when asking for volunteers? Are you putting me in doubles?
Li Xiang glanced beside him.
Gong Xu would undoubtedly raise his hand. It was hard to tell whether this guy was confident or overestimating himself.
Besides him, Feng Laiyi and the previous substitute senior also raised their hands. Then, four more senior sisters raised their hands, and that was it.
Out of seventeen substitute seniors, only five dared to compete?
Li Xiang's gaze swept over Su Qian, Chao, Abigail, and Ruan Jingjing.
These four were representatives of self-improvement and had never had doubles experience before.
Xu He had not considered them from the start, otherwise he wouldn't have been agonizing over this for so long.
It was normal for the more capable to do more. The key was that these four were not good at doubles, or rather, could not find suitable partners.
Just as Li Xiang was pondering, Xu He's voice came through.
"Li Xiang, do you want to give it a try?"
As soon as he said this, it caused an uproar among the others. While the senior sisters knew Li Xiang was very strong, they also knew that there was no place for Li Xiang in the Summer Tournament.
Everyone had pinned their hopes on his future.
And now, the wind had shifted? This first-year student was going to compete in the Summer Tournament?
Li Xiang looked around. Gong Xu's eyes were filled with undisguised envy, while Song Jie looked as if it was only natural.
The others were either surprised or encouraging.
"I'll give it a try." He nodded. "But, Coach, who will be my partner?"
Should it be Feng Laiyi?
He looked at this slightly tall and sturdy but still youthful and pretty girl.
Seeing him look at her, she gave him a bright smile, then turned to comfort the substitute senior who had previously partnered with her.
This girl had a complicated expression and looked a bit pale, clearly feeling that she was about to be replaced by Xu He.
Sure enough, Xu He opened his mouth.
"Feng—"
"Coach, could I try?"
The sudden voice attracted everyone's attention.
It was Su Qian.
The captain of the Mist City team was smiling faintly, her hand raised. Not far away, Abigail frowned slightly, her right arm trembling slightly.
Lü Shu and Zhao Jie beside her looked at her in surprise, then at the distinguished Su Qian.
Many people let out sounds of surprise. The captain, a singles specialist who had never known what doubles was, suddenly wanted to partner with someone?
Their gazes suddenly turned strange.
On stage, Xu He was also a bit surprised.
"Su Qian, you want to do doubles?"
"If it's possible." Su Qian's smile remained. "I think if I coordinate with my junior, maybe we'll get good results."
As she spoke, she winked her right eye at Li Xiang, who had a strange expression.
Xu He looked at the two and fell into thought.
"...It's worth a try."
He made the decision and looked at the other pairs.
"Same rules as always. Let your strength speak. I'll give you one week to prepare."
"Yes!" A chorus of responses came from below.
After that, Xu He talked about some more matters regarding the Summer Tournament.
This year, the main venue for the Summer Tournament was on Shen Island, the birthplace of Xia Chunyu.
It was said that during the opening ceremony, the champion would appear, holding a torch to light the competitive flame.
Not only the champion, but the Elite Four would also show up.
This explosive news sparked a flurry of discussion. The Junior World Tournament had never received such treatment in the past.
Last year, it was said the champion would appear, but it turned out to be false information. What was the situation this year?
Below, Li Xiang and his two friends huddled together and whispered.
"...Last year, the three schools that advanced to the global level had unsatisfactory results, so the association wanted to provide a boost," Song Jie explained.
Li Xiang asked, "A boost?"
"An exhibition match, three-on-three. The top three winning teams can each select a representative to battle against the champion or any one of the Elite Four."
Gong Xu seemed uninterested. "I'm not interested, but the school teams from other schools seem very excited."
Because you're a doubles fanatic.
Li Xiang rolled his eyes.
Having a public battle against the champion or an Elite Four member was definitely an honor, the kind you could brag about for a lifetime.
Although Lin Feng had battled Xia Chunyu before, it was a one-on-one private match.
The champion had given a public lecture at Yuzhou University, then gone to eat in the city wearing a mask, where he happened to be recognized by the avid fan Lin Feng.
To keep him quiet, Xia Chunyu took selfies, signed autographs, and battled Lin Feng, fulfilling his wishes.
Lin Feng said that day was the happiest day of his life.
That's how obsessed fans are.
That was still a private battle. If Lin Feng could battle Xia Chunyu in a public three-on-three match, he might just faint from happiness.
"Ultimately, it's to motivate students to work harder and improve. In recent years, Zhu Xia has been consciously cultivating more professional trainers. The higher education institutions will likely expand enrollment this year," Song Jie said slowly.
Scattered trainers are unstable factors for society, but organized and disciplined trainers become a powerful fighting force.
Trainers from academic backgrounds are certainly easier to manage than traditional trainers. This is also the reason why traditional trainers have nearly died out in recent years.
Yet, even so, the unstable temperaments of young trainers remain a headache for many.
The sudden support and expansion of enrollment inevitably invite speculation.
"I heard that at the alliance, North America and us have been arguing for some time," Gong Xu said, his hands behind his head, his expression flat.
"There might be some changes."
A change... there will be, but definitely not the kind you're thinking of.
Li Xiang opened his mouth but dared not reveal anything about Mewtwo.
Not only because the walls might have ears in such a setting, but also because it would be difficult to explain in a short time.
Back to the Junior World Tournament.
Last year's three qualifying teams placed runner-up, top four, and top eight respectively in the global level competition.
These results clearly could not satisfy people. Who wouldn't want their region's representative team to win the championship?
As a result, online there was praise, regret, and comfort, but there was also no shortage of abusive comments.
In this world where the concept of nations is vague, regions are undoubtedly equivalent to countries. It is inevitable to place high hopes on a group of students in an international competition.
Although they wouldn't go so far as to publicly apologize, the pressure on the top three was immense.
It was hard to break through above, while below others were eyeing them covetously.
This made the atmosphere within these three schools very tense.
The strong were exceptionally strong, while the weak were completely demoralized. Students who could not recover from a setback were often expelled by the school.
After all, resources were limited. If you were unwilling to fight, give the resources to those who were willing to strive.
Competition became increasingly fierce. The psychological counseling rooms being at full capacity was a daily occurrence.
Mist City University was slightly better off, but not by much.
Li Xiang lived a carefree life, but other students did not have his strength and were desperately struggling just below the surface, waiting for the annual school team selection trials to turn their fortunes around.
Additionally, there was a peculiar school among the Big Six: Dragon City University (Longdu).
This school, which online legends said discriminated against outsiders and considered Dragon city residents the elite, also seemed to favor Dragon city residents in school team selection and substitute choices.
This could be seen from the fact that many participants shared the same surnames.
It was said the competition there was not very fierce.
Outsiders would not be considered for matches anyway.
Many online encouraged students who disliked competition to go to Dragon City to retire.