Amidst the applause of the audience and the excited shouts of the commentators, Corviknight carried Sylveon, retreating on the wind.
With a sharp tilt of its wing, it skillfully dodged the Thunderbolt fired by Duraludon.
Unfortunately, Thunderbolt looked like light but wasn't actually light; otherwise, it could have tried to reflect it with Mirror Armor.
"Damn it!"
The blond-haired trainer gritted his teeth in frustration.
He thought he had been fast enough—recalling Magnezone just moments earlier and sending out Duraludon to attack immediately. But Corviknight and Sylveon seemed to have extra eyes, retreating the moment their attack landed.
It was too late.
The tall, thin trainer recalled his Alolan Persian, his face dark with anger.
To be honest, they had already tried to overestimate their opponents' coordination and strength. Yet, in the end, they found they had still underestimated them.
Natural strength combined with rapidly improving synergy—while real combat was indeed the fastest way to improve, this was ridiculous.
The two exchanged a glance, knowing their already slim chances of winning had plummeted to near zero.
They knew their own limits.
Though they had placed eighth overall last year, it was mostly thanks to Jiang Shangrong and two of her talented peers.
Doubles was no exception. Their duo had only lucked out into the third round, earning a single point. The real points came from the first doubles pair.
Now, with Jiang Shangrong and another member of that first pair graduated, and one member of the third pair also gone, the doubles teams had been reshuffled, significantly weakening their strength.
In truth, they were only capable of reaching the second round of the doubles tournament at best.
But since they had entered the competition, they were determined to win.
Li Xiang and Su Qian's duo was strong, but their lack of perfect synergy was still a weakness.
It wasn't impossible to win.
That was exactly what the tall trainer had been thinking when he stirred up hype on social media, hoping to gain greater recognition by defeating Li Xiang.
Though beating a first-year might seem a bit unfair, it was all just for the sake of attention. What mattered was drawing the school's focus, so he could secure more resources.
He was a fifth-year and still had one more tournament. With the school's resource allocation, how could he not grow stronger?
School funds were limited and couldn't support every student. Resources had to be concentrated. The tall trainer knew that last year's top-eight finish had earned the school a significant grant from the United Universities.
The plan was to save it to cultivate more promising students.
The tall trainer felt that since they had earned those resources, why couldn't they be used on them?
That was why he had done all that.
Of course, someone was guiding him behind the scenes. How could a student alone dare to take such initiatives?
This match would decide his fate.
Whether he would rise or fall—all depended on this!
The tall trainer's eyes slowly became bloodshot.
He released his second Pokémon.
"ROOOAR—!!"
A furious roar erupted, followed by a torrent of yellow sand spreading outward at visible speed.
In an instant, the surging sand engulfed the entire field.
The source was a massive, greenish, Godzilla-like creature covered in spines—a pseudo-legendary Tyranitar with the Sand Stream ability.
The tall trainer's ace.
Going this all-in? Isn't he afraid of wasting energy?
Li Xiang, surprised, pulled out a mask from his pocket and put up the hood of his tracksuit.
Having an opponent with Tyranitar wasn't entirely unexpected—he had known about it. The surprising part was that few people would let a weather effect cover the entire field. It was wasteful and could easily be partially overridden, making it ineffective.
Was his opponent already losing composure, ready to gamble everything?
Li Xiang and Su Qian exchanged a glance. He recalled Corviknight first, while she had Sylveon use Baton Pass.
Alolan Persian's Taunt had succeeded because Corviknight hadn't dodged, in order to give Sylveon space to attack.
There was no need to keep it on the field.
Sylveon's exit was also part of a better plan the duo had.
"Rock Slide!"
The opponent shouted, while his partner called out, "Snarl!"
Tyranitar stepped forward, a brownish-yellow glow surrounding its body. Sand quickly coalesced into stones of varying sizes that shot forward!
Meanwhile, Duraludon spewed dark, lightning-like sound waves toward the front!
Strike first!
But fortunately, Li Xiang and Su Qian had recalled and sent out their Pokémon with lightning speed.
By the time the opponent's attacks landed, the new duo had already appeared on the field.
Massive, yellowish steel shields materialized in front of both of them!
The rocks and sound waves were completely blocked!
Wide Guard!
The one-eyed giant sword, fused with its shield, completely blocked all incoming attacks!
Such fast reactions! Such a tough shield!
The opponents stared in disbelief. Without comparison, there was no way to see the difference—Alolan Persian's shield had been shattered by Hyper Voice, but Aegislash's Wide Guard could tank two moves at once!
Especially Tyranitar's STAB Rock Slide!
Inside the commentary booth, one commentator excitedly shouted as he spotted Aegislash.
"Look at that, folks! Li Xiang has brought out a Pokémon never seen before in this tournament! Aegislash!"
The other commentator sounded puzzled, "Is it a new Pokémon? And he's daring to use it in such a major tournament?"
Li Xiang had only appeared a few times in the Spring Tournament, and Aegislash had never been revealed before.
Just how strong was this new Pokémon?
Many silently took note.
Behind Aegislash, the newly emerged Pokémon looked like a soft, pink lump of mochi, with a pair of tiny wings on its back and a tail like a long, coiled ribbon.
—A pure Fairy-type Clefable with the Magic Guard ability.
In the sandstorm, it, like the other Pokémon, remained unaffected.
Moreover, Clefable had inherited Sylveon's Calm Mind boosts, giving it considerable offensive and defensive power the moment it touched the ground.
"Clef!"
Clefable raised its little paw, summoning a rain cloud!
Even though it wasn't afraid of the sandstorm, contesting the weather was still necessary, especially since rain was clearly beneficial to their side.
Of course, it didn't aim to change the entire field's weather—just half of it, splitting the field with the opponent.
In an instant, rain began to fall from the sky, forming a solid curtain that blocked the sand's intrusion into their side of the field.
Li Xiang took off his mask, silently relieved.
Dividing the weather across the field was something that only happened here, making things a bit more complicated.
The opponents weren't too surprised by this. What weather user hadn't experienced weather wars?
The real focus was what came next.
"Taunt!"
"Snarl!"
Tyranitar roared, launching a beam of dark energy straight at Aegislash!
Against such an extreme Pokémon, everyone knew the drill: if you could lock it down with Taunt and block King's Shield, it was essentially half-crippled.
Against Clefable, with its wide move pool, the key was to lower its speed.
The opponents' plan looked good on paper.
But their opponents didn't play by the rules.
What did that mean?
Because Aegislash and Clefable didn't bother dodging—they took the hits head-on.
"Clef!"
The pink Clefable showed a sly expression and clapped its paws together!
Slap!
A white light flew from it into Aegislash's body!
"Sword!"
Ignoring the countless eyes upon him and the cameras capturing every sound, Li Xiang shouted upward!
"Clang!"
Aegislash drew its sword!
It tossed its shield aside, the blade pointing skyward!
Though, due to official match rules, it couldn't float above Li Xiang's head, the intent was the same!
A flicker of excitement shone in its eyes. Surrounded by thousands of gazes, it felt no nervousness—only the thrill of a duel at the summit of Mount Hua!
Li Xiang was vying for the title of Martial Arts Champion!
It was like the night of the full moon atop the Forbidden City—a sword descending from the heavens, a flying immortal from beyond!
The feeling was incredible!
I am absolutely pumped—!!
BOOM!
It was as if all the light in the world was gathered in Aegislash.
A pillar of brilliant, golden light erupted from the blade, blazing into everyone's sight!
Radiant and dazzling beyond compare!
The audience widened their eyes, listening as the commentator breathlessly described the scene!
It was like a miraculous light from Arceus itself!
Aegislash illuminated the rainy night; the howling sand and wind were mere backdrop.
No one paid attention to the weather anymore—all their focus was captured by that golden light!
Then, with a serious expression, Li Xiang spoke softly—while Aegislash watched eagerly, and the opponent and Tyranitar braced with shields:
"One sword sweeps the stars, first pacifies the north, then conquers the south! Fall!"
The next moment, the heavens tilted!
The brilliant pillar of light plummeted downward. The roar was deafening, nearly bursting eardrums!
White light consumed everything. The audience's view, the commentators', even those watching on TV or live streams.
Pure, searing white.
In the lounges of various universities, some stood in disbelief.
Others frowned, as if facing a troublesome opponent.
Some sat in silence, nervously fidgeting with something in their hands. But regardless of who, anyone who witnessed this could no longer dismiss him as just a promising freshman.
In Tiandu's lounge, a figure as massive as a small mountain let out a low, amused chuckle.
"Interesting."
In Shen Island's lounge, Jing Feng rubbed his sore eyes, wondering how he should greet Li Xiang the next time they met.
In Shanghai's lounge, a graceful figure lounging on a sofa curled the corner of her mouth.
"Pretty cool, if a bit childish."
Finally, on the school team viewing platform, Xu He sighed quietly, recalling what Li Xiang had said before the match.
"This isn't overkill. It's a lion using all its strength to catch a rabbit. Besides, I really hate people trying to leech off me, so I plan to nip it in the bud and shut them up for good."
Though he wasn't entirely sure where Li Xiang had picked up those idioms, Xu He understood the general meaning.
Still, it felt a bit of a waste.
He stood, looking down at the dimming arena, listening to the rising cheers around him, and shook his head with a wry smile.
"This kid."