Inside the commentary booth, the two commentators changed their tune. They stopped hyping up the novelty of Li Xiang playing as a first-year and instead started seriously praising the synergy between Li Xiang and Su Qian.
With a solid foundation of skill and visibly rapid growth, this pair was truly a "dark horse."
No one paid much attention to Li Xiang's strange remarks during the match. Trainers had all sorts of quirks—who would bother analyzing that? People just laughed it off as entertainment.
"I'll bet that they'll definitely advance in the third round!" one commentator declared. Everyone had preferences, and commentators were no different. He was clearly rooting for Li Xiang.
"Oh? That confident? Fine, I'll take that bet. I bet they won't make it past the third round!" the other commentator chimed in, following tradition. "Loser does a handstand while drinking cola!"
"Deal!" the first agreed immediately.
These harmless little bets between commentators were a common way to boost viewership. Especially in tournaments like the Youth Tournament, such wagers were a classic.
Though it was an old routine, having Li Xiang involved made it fresh.
And it wasn't just the Yuzhou team trying to ride the hype—Mist City University was having fun with it too.
Many alumni who had left their mark on the Junior World Tournament came out to cheer for their juniors, and of course, they also joined in on the bets.
With deliberate buzz-building, even before the second round ended, predictions for the third round were already all over the internet.
In theory, in the round of twenty-one advancing to sixteen, there were two parts.
First, one group got a bye. The remaining twenty groups would battle for ten spots—this was the normal advancement.
Then, the ten losing groups would compete in an extra round for the remaining five spots, similar to a repechage.
Finally, the sixteen doubles pairs for the Autumn Tournament would be determined.
The online bets referred to normal advancement, not the repechage.
However, because Li Xiang's name kept appearing across public platforms, plenty of people disliked him.
They felt that a freshman with some talent didn't deserve more attention than those who had represented Zhuxia on the international stage.
They also accused him of hogging public resources.
Sarcastic comments about him failing in both the third round and the repechage were everywhere.
The fan culture was already taking shape.
Interestingly, as the center of the storm, Li Xiang's life remained peaceful. He didn't even know about the bets for his match until some time after they had started.
But what he cared about most wasn't the handstand-cola bet.
It was—
Li Xiang: "Yang Ge, is there any underground betting on the Tournament?"
Yang Tianwang: "Why are you asking? Players directly or indirectly involved could be suspended. Don't do anything stupid. If you need money, just tell me."
Qu Sheng: "Yeah, if you get involved, your reputation will be ruined. The United Universities and the Association won't let you off either."
Li Xiang: "I'm just asking out of curiosity. Aren't there bookies in the arena? They let the competitors bet too."
Yang Tianwang: "That's different. Arena bets are small—maybe a few dozen people, and they're easy to rig. Junior World Tournament bets go into the hundreds, and just the entry fees alone start at a thousand."
Money really was just numbers to the rich.
Li Xiang clicked his tongue in amazement.
But as Yang Tianwang said, the Junior World Tournament, being heavily supported by the Association, strictly prohibited players from participating in underground gambling.
Of course, if someone really wanted to get involved, there were plenty of ways. It wasn't like they'd be stuck.
It just came down to whether they wanted to.
In the past, Li Xiang might have tried to find a way in—who doesn't like a fatter wallet?
But now, his goal was to become like Mo Ye and Xia Chunyu: trainers sponsored directly by the Association.
After experiencing the convenience of having Mist City University provide everything without worrying about logistics, he'd gotten a little spoiled.
He really didn't want to deal with tedious matters.
That's just how laziness works.
High-ranking trainers typically hired an assistant to handle all these little things.
Li Xiang thought the simplest way was still what Mo Ye did—have the Association fund him directly.
And from what he understood, the minimum requirement for that was Ultra Ball Rank 1; Ultra Ball Rank 2 wouldn't cut it.
The road was long and difficult.
That's all Li Xiang could say—after all, he was still an underage kid who couldn't even compete in ranked battles yet.
...
While they basked in the spotlight, the other two groups were not to be outdone.
Zhao Jie and Lü Shu, facing the ace team of Lion Island, gave it their all. They pulled out tactics they'd never used in previous tournaments, clashing head-on with their opponents' new strategies.
The match was intense.
Lion Island's team almost held the advantage the entire time and even managed to max out one Pokémon's stats to its absolute limit, poised to dominate the field.
Unfortunately, their teammate's support fell short, and Zhao Jie took them out with a crafty move.
In the end, they fell to Zhao Jie and Lü Shu's double Slowking combination.
A regrettable loss.
Even the commentators said that if their luck had been a little better and something had triggered, they might have won.
But that's how battles were—luck was part of strength.
After this match, Zhao Jie and Lü Shu's duo gained massive popularity online, mainly because they were good-looking.
It's said that not everyone is shallow, but also that everyone is shallow.
Even when two trainers of equal skill stand before you, the better-looking one always gets more attention.
On the other side, Bai Xiang's duo faced the ace team of Haizhou.
Last year, this team had upset Dragon City's second group, showing considerable strength.
But their luck was truly terrible.
In the third round, they faced Shen Island's second group and lost. In the repechage, they faced Dragon City's ace team.
Three consecutive rounds against Big Six schools—all of them strong teams. What rotten luck.
Now they were up against Mist City's second group. Many were hoping they'd pull off another upset like last year.
With Mist City's momentum so strong, they had to be stopped!
Bai Xiang and Shen Qing knew the weight on their shoulders. They held nothing back, using every trick in the book.
Their opponents gave it their all too.
Even though it was only the second round, the match felt like a semifinal.
The audience was thoroughly entertained.
But both sides were on edge, each move feeling like a roller coaster—up one moment, down the next.
By the decisive moment, Li Xiang could even see the gleaming sweat on Xu He's bald head.
Su Qian's face was tense.
There was no helping it. These two points were crucial. Last year, Mist City University had been short exactly these two points—and more.
In the end, luck was on Mist City's side.
Bai Xiang, the strongest sixth-year student and the highest-ranked player in the school, had her strengths.
At the critical moment, she struck decisively. A single Leaf Blade sliced through the opponent's Shell Smash-boosted Crustle.
That Crustle had already taken down two of their fierce attackers—if it hadn't been stopped, it would have swept them.
With Crustle down, Haizhou's team crumbled, leaving only one Pokémon to hold the line.
In the games, they might have struggled on, but here, the odds were too slim.
"A leaf that made all the difference," the commentator called that Leaf Blade.
Haizhou's ace team couldn't turn the tide and lost.
They had already taken down three of their opponent's Pokémon—just one step away from victory.
But that one step was the difference between heaven and earth.
Even more regrettable was that both their second and third groups had been eliminated in the first round, not even making it into the top forty.
In the stands, many Haizhou supporters broke down in tears, more emotional than the competitors themselves. Regardless of whether the players could hear them, they applauded and shouted that they had fought well.
Amid the cheers and consolation, Haizhou's doubles journey came to an end.
No one could save it now.
The second round comprised twenty matches and lasted two days.
Over those two days, the school teams put on spectacular performances for the audience.
It wasn't just Mist City—other teams also deserved attention.
In the end, the already reduced number of Big Six doubles pairs shrank by one more.
It was Dragon City's third group.
They ran into Shen Island's ace team and, after fighting with everything they had, only managed to take down three of Shen Island teams Pokémon.
At this point, only three Big Six schools remained fully intact: Tiandu, Shen Island, and Mist City.
The talk of the global-level entry tickets changing hands grew louder.
Online, the war of words between Mist City University supporters and Shanghai University supporters began. The latter told the former not to get too cocky—it was only the second round.
"Even beating Haizhou almost ended in a loss. They can only bully teams like Yuzhou."
The former retorted sarcastically, "At least we made it to the second round. How dare you yell so loud when you didn't even get in?"
The back-and-forth insults dragged other schools into the fray, and the argument escalated.
Of course, this had little to do with the school teams inside the arena.
The schools whose three groups had all been eliminated didn't leave. They quietly waited for the doubles results.
Meanwhile, the twenty-one groups that had advanced now faced the fiercest battle of the Summer Tournament's doubles event.
—Tickets to the Autumn Tournament doubles.
They had fought this far for the chance to compete in the Stellar Arena again, not to watch others smile on stage while they stood in the shadows.
At the draw, there were no weaklings left among the remaining twenty-one groups. Whoever they faced, it would be a tough fight.
The chances of top-tier teams from major schools meeting each other increased with every round.
The single bye was the most coveted prize of all.
After all, the third round was worth three points!
A free three points plus an Autumn Tournament ticket—who wouldn't be envious?
Because of the importance of that bye, the number of people going up to draw increased from ten to twenty-one.
First, the bye would be drawn. Then the remaining teams would be matched.
The draw ceremony became quite entertaining.
Some wanted to draw early—better to get it over with. Some wanted to draw late, believing it improved their odds.
Others argued that the timing didn't matter—the probability was the same. Some quietly prayed to Arceus.
Such was life.
The live broadcast was amusing to watch.
Li Xiang was one of the representatives on stage. There were twenty-one white strings; each person picked one. The last section of the bye string was red and easy to identify.
"Pick a good one! I believe in your luck!"
Su Qian was excited, though she didn't show it. But her hand was pinching Li Xiang's cheek, trembling as if she were in sub-zero temperatures.
Li Xiang had nothing to say. He believed his luck in critical moments was solid.
Ever since he had come to this world, though he'd faced life-threatening situations, his luck had carried him this far.
The bye was surely his!
Under countless cameras, the twenty-one surrounded the draw table and each chose a string.
Three, two, one!
"BYE!" someone shouted.
Li Xiang's heart tightened. He pulled his string—
White... white?
He froze.
Beside him came a voice, choked with tears of joy:
"Yes! I got it! I got it!"