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Fifteen minutes, plus the half-hour break provided by the association.
A total of forty-five minutes.
In this short span of less than an hour, Li Xiang had to ensure Torracat and the others remained in peak condition at all times.
—This wasn't difficult for him, but for the other examinees, it was a different story.
It had to be admitted—there were many genius trainers like Song Jie and Qu Sheng, but there were also plenty of ordinary trainers.
Li Xiang could have his Pokémon defeat and capture two level 30 wild Pokémon in just five minutes.
The pampered young masters who lived in the city all year round, rarely stepping outside except for the occasional trip and only training in parks, weren't nearly as capable.
In fact, if they were that strong, they wouldn't be taking the exam at this age.
There were seventeen examinees in Li Xiang's batch, and in the end, only twelve passed this "Subject Two"—himself included.
Among these twelve, some had two Pokémon knocked out, leaving only one barely hanging on.
Recovering to full strength in just half an hour?
Absolutely impossible.
Depending on the Pokémon's constitution, even with basic treatment after exhaustion, they could only recover up to 70% of their strength—sometimes only half.
These people weren't Li Xiang's competitors, so he didn't feel any schadenfreude.
Right now, his only thought was to finish the battle early and go home to rest—
…Well, actually, after this, he still had to go to the martial arts hall to train.
Sweating it out in a room with three growing boys.
…Ugh, just thinking about it made him uncomfortable.
Li Xiang forced himself to focus on the beautiful Second Senior Sister and the flawless Third Senior Sister.
They wouldn't be back until next week. Second Senior Sister was participating in a regional Contest, while Third Senior Sister was attending a sub-regional Youth Championship.
Even though she was only a reserve member of the school team and couldn't compete, she still had to show up—just for formalities.
What kind of coach does her University have? How could they not make Senior Sister a starter? Ridiculous!
Li Xiang instinctively felt indignant on her behalf as he blow-dried Torracat's fur.
In the end, this guy had still taken a bath—a full-body shower with 100-degree water.
Li Xiang had to use half a pound of shampoo to make sure this sensitive-nosed cat couldn't smell the disgusting stench on itself.
Clearly, Torracat would rather endure water than stay filthy for long.
"Meow…"
Torracat lay limply, utterly lifeless. Hot water was still water, and until it evolved into Incineroar, it clearly couldn't enjoy the sensation like Kiawe's Charizard.
"Almost done, almost done."
Li Xiang untangled a clump of Torracat's fur and cranked up the blow-dryer.
Two minutes later, a freshly fragrant kitten was born.
Riolu and Frogadier sniffed around Torracat, their expressions twisting strangely—
Almost exactly like Li Xiang's face when he encountered heavily perfumed foreigners with strong body odor.
Torracat scowled. If it weren't for the fear of another bath, it would've beaten up that Muk again to vent its frustration.
"Alright, alright, that thing smelled like a pile of crap. Why'd you even get close?"
Li Xiang didn't dare recall the stench. A Stench-ability Muk was truly horrifying. Back when he watched the anime, he thought Ash was exaggerating.
But after experiencing it firsthand—
He realized Ash's reaction was actually mild!
How to describe the smell?
Imagine walking into a middle school's first-floor bathroom and inhaling the eye-watering and nauseating reek of ammonia.
That's pretty much it—a stench so foul it triggers physical discomfort.
In the games, this ability was useless, but in reality, it was absolutely devastating to trainers.
Unless someone had no sense of smell.
…Nope.
Just thinking about it made Li Xiang want to vomit.
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Half an hour passed in a flash.
The exam moved on to Subject Three.
The examinees entered a large, cleared-out arena and gathered in a waiting room, where the proctor explained the final test.
This was the last hurdle. Once cleared, Li Xiang would earn his Trainer License.
"Next is the battle portion of the practical exam. The format is a 3v3 single battle. Defeating all three of the opponent's Pokémon means passing."
The proctor announced the rules.
"Examinees may switch Pokémon freely during the battle, but the examiner is not allowed to switch…"
The rules were roughly the same as the 3v3 battles Li Xiang had fought before, with only slight differences in switching mechanics.
The content was simple—strictly speaking, there was only one battle.
It was a test of teamwork among the trainer's Pokémon.
Li Xiang let out a small sigh of relief. As long as it wasn't a gauntlet battle, Torracat and the others wouldn't have any trouble.
The exam numbers were handed out.
Li Xiang checked his and saw he was third in line. After the first two finished, it would be his turn.
Pass, and he'd get his license on the spot.
Quick and convenient.
He glanced around, noting the nervous and anxious expressions on most faces. Only a few remained calm.
"Take it slow. We've made it this far."
Li Xiang shrugged as he watched Examinee No. 1 march toward the battlefield—no, more like the execution ground.
This guy was shaking so badly he could barely hold his PokéBall.
His Pokémon's condition must've been terrible. Otherwise, he wouldn't be trembling like this.
Probably doomed.
Li Xiang couldn't help but rub his own PokéBall between his fingers.
Sure enough, less than five minutes later, No. 1 walked past them, head low, grabbing his things with a defeated expression before leaving.
His demeanor only made the others even more nervous.
Wow… way to kill morale.
Li Xiang resisted the urge to facepalm as No. 2 stepped forward. With No. 1's failure fresh in his mind, this guy's face turned pale, his steps unsteady.
Were they here to take an exam or face judgment?
Li Xiang turned around again and noticed that while most were nervous, a few remained composed.
Nos. 1 and 2 were clearly the exceptions.
Three minutes later.
No. 2 was defeated even faster than No. 1, proving just how poor his Pokémon's condition was.
Li Xiang silently stood, straightened his wrinkled clothes, and strode forward when his number was called.
Torracat and the others' strength meant he had nothing to fear from three level 30 Pokémon.
Whatever tricks the examiner had, bring them on.
---
Entering the arena.
Both sides took their positions in the waiting zones.
The battlefield was a hundred meters long, with the starting distance set at 25 meters from the center circle for each side.
Meaning, the two trainers were 50 meters apart.
"Way too big. Just running around would be exhausting."
Li Xiang looked around, then tapped the dusty ground beneath his feet.
Normally, ranked battlefields were covered in grass, or at least artificial turf, but since this was just an exam, he didn't have the privilege of such luxuries.
On the opposite side, the examiner took his place.
The opponent's Pokémon were completely unknown, but based on the information Li Xiang had gathered, the examiner would choose one type that countered his team and two that his team countered.
Additionally, the examiner's Pokémon were temporarily assigned by the association, meaning they had no prior synergy.
Overall, the examinees weren't at too much of a disadvantage.
The large screen on the left began counting down from five. When it hit one, the starting whistle blew!
"Go! Lead the charge!"
Li Xiang swiftly sent out his first Pokémon—Riolu.
This guy had the most versatile movepool, capable of handling any opponent.
The examiner also released his first Pokémon.
A chubby, orange-and-blue elephant-like creature with a rounded cap-like head and a shovel-like nose—a Steel-type Pokémon from the eighth generation, Cufant.
Li Xiang's expression twisted slightly.
His luck was incredible—the first Pokémon was weak to his team. In fact, two of his Pokémon countered it.
More importantly, he remembered that in the games, Cufant evolved into Copperajah at level 34.
In this world, that meant Cufant could evolve as early as level 31, and the exam's limit was level 30.
The difference between Copperajah and Cufant didn't need explaining.
Was Lady Luck smiling on him again?
Not daring to waste this opportunity, Li Xiang ordered Riolu to use Electromagnetic Levitation.
Across the field.
The examiner watched Riolu rise into the air, then glanced at the move list the association had given him for Cufant.
This first match was already decided.
After flipping through the list a dozen times, he confirmed—Cufant had no moves that could hit airborne opponents, and he couldn't switch Pokémon either.
What kind of garbage was this!?
The examiner sighed but had no choice. He couldn't forfeit, so he just had Cufant use Defense Curl and Rollout to go through the motions.
…Dig?
This wasn't the anime. A 100 kg chubby creature wasn't jumping five or six meters into the air, let alone from underground.
Li Xiang quickly realized the examiner had no way to deal with Riolu and couldn't help but chuckle.
Cufant rolled around the battlefield like a top, unable to land a single hit on Riolu, its cute face growing increasingly frustrated.
Meanwhile, Riolu, safe from harm, leisurely used Swords Dance.
The moment Cufant stopped rolling, Riolu struck with a combo of Force Palm and Vacuum Wave.
The latter was so fast that the two moves flowed seamlessly together.
Two differently colored bursts of energy slammed into Cufant, effortlessly knocking out this embarrassingly frail Steel-type.
Its Defense stat was worse than Gengar's—truly the definition of fragile.
The examiner let out a small sigh of relief.
Finally, Cufant was done. Now it was time to turn things around!
Cufant was recalled, replaced by a petite, bird-like Pokémon that resembled a European dancer, its body covered in fiery red feathers with black lace-like edges.
—A Fire/Flying-type from the seventh generation, Oricorio (Baile Style).
Why were all these Pokémon so weird?
Li Xiang's expression grew even stranger as he watched the little bird take flight.
With a snap of his fingers, he gave his next order.
"Rain Dance."
Unless it knew Hurricane, setting up rain was a guaranteed win.
Dark clouds gathered in seconds, and rain began to pour from the low-hanging sky.