First, there was the issue of who would take the field.
The Mist City University's doubles team, and even its talent pool in general, had a clear gap. There were no viable upperclassmen available, and there were no successors among the second and third-year students.
It was quite glaring.
This situation was undoubtedly a failure on the school's part. The fact that the majority of the school team was female already seemed very unusual.
Mist City University had not received a ticket to the global level for a full seven years now. If it dragged on any longer, it would be an entire decade. It was possible they might even be removed from the Big Six list.
Fortunately, Li Xiang had appeared. Mo Ye had brought him to Mist City University, along with two "bonuses" that would make other schools envious.
Among them, Gong Xu had exceptional doubles talent, which everyone could see. His nickname had even spread. But he was still too young, and unlike Li Xiang, he didn't possess the terrifying "talent" that seemed to transcend time.
Unless they forced him into the lineup, Mist City University was truly short-handed in doubles.
At this point, the doubles pairing of Li Xiang and Su Qian caught everyone's attention.
To say it was good wouldn't be entirely accurate. They had only trained together for a week, which was hardly enough time. It would be a joke to treat the Junior World Tournament so lightly.
But to say it was bad would also be unfair. It was the best and strongest combination the school could put together at the moment.
Therefore, the focus of this meeting was whether to let the two of them actually compete in doubles.
And if they did, whether they should also participate in singles.
The opinions of the two individuals themselves were also very important, as forcing them into a role could easily affect their performance.
Li Xiang remained silent throughout, following the principle of watching, listening, and speaking little. He observed every school board member's remarks carefully.
After about half an hour of discussion, a decision was made.
The two would participate in both doubles and singles.
However, Su Qian would be the primary singles competitor, while Li Xiang would serve as more of a hidden trump card, catching opponents off guard.
The advantage was flexibility; the disadvantage was that Su Qian would have to work much harder.
"I can do it."
The beautiful senior took on the responsibility willingly. After all, she was the captain and had an obligation to take care of her juniors. She winked at Li Xiang beside her, her eyes smiling.
Li Xiang said nothing, indicating he had no objections.
After that, there was the impact of the battle between Su Qian and Li Xiang.
Even though the school had tried its best to prevent the spread of information, news of Su Qian's defeat still spread around campus in the form of rumors.
Fortunately, the school responded in time and managed to curb the momentum from escalating further.
But everyone knew that this couldn't be kept secret forever.
Therefore, the time had come to make a choice. In this higher education institution that valued ability above all else, should Li Xiang, as a first-year student, become the captain of the school team?
Regarding this matter, the school board members on the left side were the most excited.
Li Xiang remembered Abigail once saying that many board members were trying to turn him into a star trainer like Leon, or even a trending trainer.
The gimmick of being a first-year captain was something they were eager to pin on Li Xiang's name, to increase his popularity.
This wasn't really the board members' fault. The other Big Six schools, especially the top three, were doing similar things.
"Trainer stardom" was the trend of the internet age. This was evident from Xia Chunyu. Every time he appeared in public, he was surrounded by at least a few thousand people, causing traffic jams.
If you didn't grab the first opportunity, someone else would, and no one would wait for you.
Unfortunately, Li Xiang currently wanted nothing to do with the position of "captain."
It wasn't that he was being modest; he simply wasn't ready for it.
"As long as I keep winning, whether I'm captain or not doesn't really matter, does it?"
His simple words surprised quite a few people.
After some discussion among themselves, considering Li Xiang's personal feelings, they chose to support him.
After all, if he refused to take the position, what could they do?
The situation now was that they had to provide Li Xiang with resources without expecting anything in return, all while keeping him happy and avoiding any emotional issues.
Su Qian looked at the confident expression on Li Xiang's face. At first, she thought he was just being considerate of her, but then she realized he simply found the captain's role too troublesome, as there were still many responsibilities involved.
Later, she understood that Li Xiang was serious.
As long as he kept winning, what did it matter if he was captain or not? It was just a trivial addition.
And so, this matter came to an end.
The meeting was adjourned.
Li Xiang and Su Qian walked back to the villa area together.
On the way, he said to her, "Senior, you're a natural-born leader, but I'm not cut out for it—at least not yet."
He didn't have the ability to silence so many people with just a smile, like she could. Even during his Youth Training Camp days, he couldn't do that.
To stop others from doing something, he usually had to resort to force.
"Li Xiang, don't sell yourself short. You are a very talented person. I have no doubt about that. I'll hold this flag for you for now, but one day, I'll personally hand it over to you."
Su Qian stood in place, her voice composed.
She was not someone who craved status.
If Li Xiang had said he wanted the position just now, she would have handed it over without hesitation.
The things one desires must be earned through one's own strength. That was the principle she had always believed in.
Time moved forward.
The date of the Summer Tournament drew closer.
The online atmosphere gradually heated up. As usual, the United Universities pushed many topics related to the Summer Tournament onto the trending list, hoping to gain more public attention.
The most talked-about were still the three schools that advanced to the global level last year: Tiandu, Shen Island, and Shanghai.
They even produced personal introduction music videos for each of their team members, with fanbases frantically cheering them on in the comments.
It was entertaining, but Li Xiang couldn't help getting goosebumps just thinking that he might have to go through the same thing.
Watching the fun and being the center of attention were two completely different things.
After the personal videos, Li Xiang browsed other hot topics, such as predictions for the top three.
These posts usually had the highest engagement, but the comments mostly favored the original top three, with few predicting other schools.
After all, online discussions often said that the other three schools in the Big Six were also strong contenders for the top three, but there was a hint of self-promotion in that.
Why was it considered self-promotion? Because the top three had held their positions in the global tier for a very long time. Even the weakest among them, Shanghai, had held its spot for five years.
In contrast, Mist City University hadn't been to the global level in seven years, Yandu in eight, and Dragon City (Longdu) was slightly better at five years before being knocked down by Shanghai.
It was a miserable situation.
The latter three all wanted to find talents that could break the "monopoly," but they frustratingly found that talented individuals preferred to go to the top three.
As a result, the top three grew even stronger, gained more resources, and produced more talent.
The monopoly seemed to become more entrenched by the day.
Last year, Mist City University came close to surpassing Shanghai in points, which left many people lamenting.
Everyone thought they were about to see Shanghai dethroned.
But in the end, they lost by two points.
This was a textbook case of greater hope leading to greater disappointment.
This year, Li Xiang, a rookie who had risen during the Spring Tournament, was seen by many as a strong contender for the Summer Tournament.
But some said that Mist City University was saving its "great general" for the future and wouldn't let him play in the Summer Tournament.
There was a difference between a fierce general and a king. Being a first-year student was still too early. The Spring Tournament was just a debut to show off a little and establish a presence.
When the monster truly matured in the future, releasing it then would have a much better effect.
The more tournaments one participated in, the more information was exposed, and the higher the chance of being countered.
This was very detrimental to a trainer who needed time to grow.
On the other hand, there was a lot of discussion about his Spring Tournament performance, such as the strength of his Pokémon and the habits of each one.
Corviknight, with its habit of hurling insults, was mentioned the most frequently, even being turned into GIFs with captions and images.
There was no doubt that the "cawing chicken" had become a small online sensation.
After all, a Pokémon cursing out loud had never happened before, especially in front of so many people.
The internet loves to stir up trouble and add fuel to the fire.
"Are you happy?"
"Caw!"
Li Xiang looked at Corviknight's dazed, silly expression and knew that it had no idea what memes were.
But the ban on swearing was something he had to reiterate.
The internet was buzzing, and Li Xiang was thoroughly entertained by it all.
He was looking forward to what would happen when he actually took the stage.
But he hadn't been watching for long before something he dreaded arrived.
—The music video shoot.
As usual, Su Qian came to inform him in person, smiling as she said he would definitely look good on camera and tried to drag him away.
Besides himself, he was allowed to bring one Pokémon as his partner.
This honorable task was snatched up by Incineroar, who thought that as the "leader," it was the most suitable for the role.
The other Pokémon weren't particularly interested in being on camera, but they were very interested in the idea of filming something with Li Xiang.
They absolutely did not accept Incineroar's reasoning.
To be fair, Li Xiang had to use a random draw app to decide. Whoever won would get to go.
The winner—the simpleton, Metagross.
Even Metagross itself was stunned when it was chosen. Then it realized what had happened, let out an excited roar, and started dancing.
A crab dance.
It drove the other Pokémon crazy with jealousy.
It could be so arrogant sometimes, really asking for a beating.
But regardless, Li Xiang's "representative" Pokémon had gone from Incineroar to Shiny Metagross.
If only it had silver-blue hair, he could pretend to be someone like Steven Stone.
The filming process was relatively simple, mostly just posing and doing nothing else.
Song Jie and Gong Xu were no exception; they had to be on camera too. There were just too few male members on the school team. Each one was a treasure not easily found.
After the filming, Bai Wanhua called him, saying she had something to discuss with him in person.
So Li Xiang went to her office.
When he arrived, there were unexpectedly quite a few people inside.
They all smiled warmly when they saw Li Xiang.
Bai Wanhua was still sitting at her desk, with a small box in front of her.
"Li Xiang, come over here."
She stood up.
Li Xiang approached and was guided by the principal's assistant to sit down.
"Open it and take a look."
Bai Wanhua smiled as she pushed the small box toward him.
This is...?
Li Xiang took it in surprise, not quite understanding what they were up to.
He casually opened it and glanced inside. Then he quickly closed it.
He looked up in astonishment at the group of school board members, all grinning happily.
"This... for me?"
Li Xiang couldn't quite believe it.
"To be precise, this is a reward."
Bai Wanhua's eyes curved like crescent moons. "A reward for when we advance to the global level. Consider it encouragement, and also motivation to keep moving forward."
"Yes, yes. We put a lot of effort into getting this, so do your best, Li Xiang!"
The principal's assistant chimed in, adding, "And it just so happens to be something you can use."
A reward for advancing to the global level...
So that's it.
Looks like I really have to work hard now.
Li Xiang opened the small box again and looked at the gemstone, which was like an oversized marble. Inside the gem were golden and white wisps of material.
"Metagrossite. This isn't easy to come by, you know."
The vice principal's voice of admiration sounded beside him.
Although it was often said that Mega Stones were common while Key Stones were rare, the general market price for a Mega Stone was still in the tens of millions. Those particularly useful in Mega Evolution could be even more expensive.
A high-value item like Metagrossite could easily be hyped up to over fifty million.
He never expected the school to give him a Mega Stone, and one worth tens of millions at that.
So generous...
Li Xiang swallowed hard.