That's right—the biggest contributor.
From beginning to end, there was no Onix at all. Everything that had just transpired was merely an illusion created by Zorua.
The Onix was the little fox's phantom, and even the initial commotion had been disguised using Extrasensory. The purpose was simple: to lure out the people in the camp.
As for why these trainers kept attacking a phantom for so long, that brings us to the little fox's new technique.
Over half a semester, Riolu wasn't the only one who had made progress.
To complete the strategy that David and Zorua had envisioned earlier, besides Payback and Night Daze, the little fox had spent most of its time mastering Hypnosis and Confuse Ray.
The Onix phantom that had appeared was formed by Zorua integrating Confuse Ray into its illusion. The moment an opponent laid eyes on that fake Onix, they were already affected.
Although the effect of Confuse Ray, after being woven into the phantom, was greatly weakened and couldn't directly induce a confused state, that tiny remaining influence still played its intended role—blurring the opponent's perception and thoughts, making them more susceptible to extreme emotional states and easier to lose control.
Originally, achieving this with just Confuse Ray would have been difficult. But ever since Zorua absorbed the negative emotional energy from the light stone, some indescribable changes seemed to have occurred within it. Because of those absorbed negative emotions, its moves appeared to have gained special effects.
All its abilities concerning negative emotions became extremely potent.
For example, Taunt originally only made opponents abandon status moves in favor of direct attacks. When used by Zorua, however, it could directly plunge the opponent into a pseudo-confused state of rage, causing them to lose their minds and attack relentlessly.
There was also Hypnosis, which normally only put opponents to sleep. In Zorua's paws, it directly plunged opponents into the torment of nightmares—almost like a weakened combination of Hypnosis and Dream Eater. Except for not restoring stamina like Dream Eater would, one move achieved the effect of two combined.
What's more, Hisuian Zorua possessed the ability to absorb fear and use it to strengthen itself. It was a case of complete self-sufficiency—every scream an opponent made in their nightmare was actually a signal for the little fox to feed. Absolutely outrageous.
The two trainers, along with their Pokémon, who had been lured out by the fake Onix, were affected the moment they first saw it. Their thoughts muddled by confusion, they were inexplicably ignited with anger and fell into a state of furious attacking from which they couldn't free themselves.
By the time they regained their senses, they had already become fish in David's barrel.
After understanding the current situation from their companions, the two also gave up and no longer offered futile resistance. The five trainers, like a group of defeated roosters, were bound by Riolu and sat there looking utterly dejected.
Seeing this, David nodded with satisfaction and took the two trainers' score armbands to complete the routine procedures.
Hmm, these two were finally a bit wealthier. Nidorino's trainer had 120 points, and Krabby's trainer had 60 points.
Ding-dong~
A pleasant sound rang out, and another eighty-plus points were credited to his account.
After securing the points, David pressed the distress button and casually tossed the armbands aside. He didn't even bother looking at the defeated trainers again. Clearly, Master David had no intention of explaining further.
After all, he didn't want to be the kind of villain who dies from talking too much, wasting leisure time meticulously explaining his strategies to opponents every day. That would be like having some kind of serious illness, as if afraid others wouldn't find a way to defeat you.
By this time, he finally had a moment to deal with the system's prompt.
[Ding~ The current system has detected a large-scale special event—New Trainer's Nightmare.
True legendary Trainers emerge from blood and fire. The current assessment is merely an insignificant preview.
But a future legend cannot tolerate any provocation. Please, Host, eliminate as many opposing Trainers as possible! Current number of eliminated trainers: 5 (The final reward will be determined based on the Host's completion of the mission.)]
Finally, after eliminating these trainers, David's long-awaited system prompt had arrived.
At such an important moment as the mid-term joint exam, the system really had to make its presence known.
Speaking of which, it truly was a Legendary Trainer System! It was clearly a mid-term joint exam, but there had been no reaction during the written test—it only decided to appear now.
What was this? Was this system discriminatory? Couldn't a legendary Trainer be an educated person?
"Hiss..."
Suddenly, as if thinking of something, David gasped.
It seemed that was actually the case!
In the Pokémon world, trainers also appeared to be divided into battle-oriented and academy-oriented types.
Battle-oriented trainers like Ash and his friends seemed to begin their journeys as soon as they turned ten.
Famous legendary trainers like Red, the Battle Master, and Blue, the Researcher, all seemed to follow this pattern. They created the myth of becoming Champion in a year, with Red defeating Lance in half an hour, while Blue earned the title of the shortest-reigning Champion in history.
If one extrapolated from their age when they started traveling and their subsequent experiences and translated it to Earth standards, these two famous legendary trainers probably hadn't even finished elementary school.
The rest of the well-known trainers—Yellow, Leaf, Gold, and Silver—all seemed to be the same way.
Faintly, David discovered the uncomfortable fact that these famous trainers were essentially uneducated, having not completed elementary school.
"Forget it. Let's focus on the assessment and the mission first!"
Trying to dismiss these irrelevant thoughts, David redirected his attention back to reality.
After pressing the distress button, it wasn't long before the nearest security officer rushed over.
However, upon seeing the five unfortunate individuals tied in a circle, the security officer's face showed a peculiar expression.
"...In short, that's how things played out," David explained.
After a brief understanding of what had transpired, the security officer took the defeated trainers away. From that moment on, their assessment was over, and if nothing unexpected happened, they would likely be among the bottom candidates in this evaluation.
"Sigh..."
They could only blame their bad luck for encountering David on the first day.
After sending off the original occupants, David set up tents with his Pokémon.
Soon, night fell.
David and the others sat around the campfire, quietly enjoying the stewed beef. Although simply seasoned, it still had a unique flavor thanks to David's cooking.
"Cheers!"
Everyone—trainers and Pokémon alike—raised their bottles.
Without Moomoo Milk available, they had to settle for energy drinks instead. David took a sip. Hmm, good—lemon flavored with a faint sweet and sour taste. Not bad at all.
And so, amidst the bonfire and delicious food, the day finally came to an end. What a wonderful day indeed!