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The next noon.
After everyone had straightened their uniforms, they boarded the bus heading to the examination site.
Yang Tianwang, ever the information broker, had spent most of the previous night trying to gather intel on the students they might face.
Unfortunately, none of the other training camps had any idea who they'd be matched against.
Left with no choice, he had to assume they'd be facing the two closest camps, compiled what he could, printed it out, and distributed it to Li Xiang and the others.
One of the documents contained student profiles from Mancheng's training camp.
Mancheng—the capital city of Yuzhou Region.
Students here enjoyed better educational resources and superior conditions even before entering the camp.
Naturally, they were strong.
The information in the thick stack of papers wasn't exhaustive, but with just a quick skim, Li Xiang had already spotted five students who were at least as strong as Yang Tianwang.
He was a little surprised.
Qingcheng was one of Yuzhou Region's five major cities, and Yang Tianwang and Qu Sheng didn't just rely on their parents—they had the full backing of their extended families.
Yet even then, Mancheng had so many talented students.
Truly, a gathering of elites.
That said, Li Xiang himself wasn't too concerned. After all, once his team had fully taken shape, his progress had skyrocketed, far surpassing Qu Sheng and the others.
As long as Incineroar and the others didn't underperform, the only one who could truly challenge him was Song Jie.
The rest? Not even close.
"Let's team up."
Li Xiang turned to Song Jie. "Interested in hunting these guys down?"
According to the rules, you could only challenge the same person once within half an hour, with a ten-minute cooldown in between. That meant he couldn't just keep hammering the same opponent into submission.
But if they teamed up, they could wear someone down through sheer attrition.
Song Jie glanced at him. "No objections. Still a six-man team?"
"No, just two."
Li Xiang shook his head. "The others don't have the stamina."
With over 300 participants, the examination site would undoubtedly be massive. Moving around at high intensity would require ridiculous endurance.
While Qu Sheng and the others had improved a lot over the past six months of physical training, they still couldn't meet his standards.
That much had been clear during the Point Competition.
Half a year of training just wasn't enough. Stamina wasn't something you could build up in just a few months.
Song Jie didn't comment further.
As they spoke, the bus slowly merged onto the highway. Judging by the direction, their destination was almost certainly Mancheng, meaning the other camp was probably Yongcheng's.
Both were cities with elite academies. Hopefully, the students here would put up a good fight.
Li Xiang set the documents aside. He'd already memorized the key details.
No need to keep reading.
....
One Hour Later
They arrived.
Unsurprisingly, the site was yet another stretch of wilderness, dotted with sparse buildings.
The final exams would last four days:
i) Day 1: Preparationii) Days 2-4: Battles from 6 AM to 6 PM daily
Unless a match was already in progress, everyone would be forcibly teleported out once time was up.
The camp was clearly taking students' stamina into account.
Li Xiang found it a little disappointing. No night battles? That wasn't very "traditional"!
But there was no helping it. Safety had to come first.
This was a test to select elite students, not a boot camp for assassins. A single accident could mean no second season for the training camp—or worse, future iterations becoming overly restrictive.
Carrying their luggage, they disembarked and followed Zhong Qizhi to their dormitories.
There weren't many female students in the camp, maintaining a rough 3:7 ratio compared to males. As a result, all three camps' girls could fit into one building.
The boys, however, had to be split into two dorms, mixed between different camps.
Of course, the temporary rooms were still two-person setups, keeping the original roommates together.
As they entered the dormitory building, Li Xiang noticed plenty of unfamiliar faces—and unfamiliar Pokémon—moving through the halls.
One thing that surprised him was that Song Jie actually knew someone from another camp.
The guy looked like a clean-cut, sporty type, handsome in a refreshing way, with a Midday Lycanroc by his side. He was overly enthusiastic, immediately reaching out to grab Song Jie's hand, but Song Jie wasn't having it. He kept his distance, responding with one-word answers at best.
Li Xiang, standing nearby, felt awkward just listening. He quickly slipped into their room to unpack.
To his surprise, Song Jie followed him in and shut the door behind them. Outside, the boy called out that he'd come back in the evening before finally leaving.
Li Xiang's lips twitched.
"You hate him that much? Bad history?"
This was the first time he'd seen Song Jie act so cold and dismissive toward someone.
"No history. Don't hate him." Song Jie shook his head.
Li Xiang smoothed out his bedsheet. "Then why treat him like that? What's the deal? Spill."
Song Jie glanced up at him and said nothing.
Li Xiang shrugged and let it go.
But just as he turned back to his own business, Song Jie spoke up.
"We're just not close. I've only met him twice. Last time, his father tried to arrange an engagement between him and my sister. My dad shut it down immediately."
'Ah.'
"Perfect. Let's target him tomorrow." Li Xiang straightened up and looked at Song Jie.
Song Jie turned his head, eyes narrowing. After a long pause, he said, "Did you forget what I told you? You're still in contact with her?"
"…Never mind. Just a joke."
Li Xiang lowered his head slightly, avoiding Song Jie's gaze.
What did he mean by, "in contact"? They just chatted occasionally, and he sometimes shared updates about Song Jie's life.
As Song Jie's close friend, how could he refuse such a simple request from his sister?
"Don't say I didn't warn you—"
"Come on, she's three years older!" Li Xiang clicked his tongue, taking advantage of the fact that this world didn't have sayings like "A wife three years older is a treasure" to justify himself. "What, I can't even chat with her? That's way too controlling!"
Song Jie silently turned away. "I just don't want you to be disappointed…"
He abruptly changed the subject.
"That guy just now—his name is Zhou Yao. His father is a major shareholder in my family's company. His background isn't huge, but you saw his Lycanroc, right?"
Song Jie turned back. "It's the younger brother of my Lycanroc. Both came from the same Elite Trainer—his dad went out of his way to request it."
Elite Trainers—also known as Chief Trainers—were a title only achievable at the Ultra Ball rank and above.
The reason they weren't handing out Pokémon from Master-level trainers was simple: those were usually reserved for their own descendants.
Plus, high-level Pokémon had lower fertility rates.
As if to prove the saying: "You either choose immortality or reproduction."
Li Xiang nodded, urging Song Jie to continue.
Truthfully, he'd only been joking earlier. He didn't really care who Zhou Yao was. But since Song Jie was willing to talk, he might as well listen.
After a brief summary, though, the white-haired boy lost interest in the topic.
Li Xiang pulled out the documents again, flipping to Zhou Yao's profile for a quick read.
Not much info—just a list of some of his Pokémon:
Midday Lycanroc
Venusaur
Drapion
Amoonguss
Salazzle
'Poison-type specialist?'
Li Xiang skimmed further but soon flipped the page.
If the intel was accurate, Zhou Yao wasn't a threat. If it wasn't accurate, then the intel itself was unreliable—no point dwelling on it.
Only one person was truly worth watching out for.
Mancheng's rising star—Gong Xu.
Rumor had it, he'd single-handedly accumulated 3,000 points this semester, recently trading for a shiny Sableye.
His strength was also top-tier.
Based on the available intel, he was above Fang Xin—maybe even on par with Song Jie.
Of course, that was just speculation. The only way to know for sure was to see him in action.
.....
After a quick room setup, Qu Sheng messaged the group chat, suggesting they check out the impromptu battles outside.
Plenty of people were already there, engaging in both single and double battles.
Double battles?
Now that piqued Li Xiang's interest. He hadn't seen many of those.
The most memorable one had been at the regional stadium, watching Yuzhou Region's team repeatedly fail.
"You don't have class today, right? Let's go check it out."
He dragged Song Jie along, and the two headed downstairs.
The so-called battlefield had no tier divisions—each arena was roughly the same size. Instead of wire fencing, they were sunken trapezoidal pits, with half-hearted patches of grass scattered around.
When Li Xiang and Song Jie arrived, they immediately spotted a crowded arena.
Yang Tianwang, standing at the outer edge, waved frantically at them.
The two squeezed through the crowd, where Qu Sheng and Lin Feng had reserved a small space just for them.
"…You didn't have to go that far." Li Xiang didn't know what to say.
His attention shifted to the battle below. A 2v2 double battle was underway.
The four Pokémon involved were:
Victreebel & Butterfree
Conkeldurr & Shiny Sableye
No prizes for guessing—the one using the shiny Sableye was Gong Xu, the guy Li Xiang had been keeping an eye on. In a 2v2 format, teamwork was key. Typically, one trainer played support, while the other focused on damage.
Gong Xu was clearly running support.
He had his Sableye burn Conkeldurr, activating its Guts ability to boost its attack while preventing Butterfree or Victreebel from inflicting worse statuses.
Then, he made it dealy Butterfree's Hurricane, giving Conkeldurr a clean shot to KO it with Fire Punch.
But the opponent wasn't a pushover either.
While their partner was getting wrecked, they set up Sunny Day, then hit Conkeldurr with Strength Sap, lowering its attack while healing themselves.
Finally, thanks to an earlier Reflect, they tanked a Fire Punch, used Conkeldurr's body to block Sableye's Zen Headbutt, and retaliated with a point-blank Solar Beam to obliterate Sableye.
After that?
No contest.
Victreebel had Strength Sap, Synthesis, doubled speed in sunlight, and could spam Bullet Seed from range.
Conkeldurr stood no chance. Gong Xu lost.
Li Xiang's expression was complicated. Just moments ago, he'd thought Gong Xu was strong.
Of course, Gong Xu was using a newly acquired Sableye and playing support.
Not to mention, his partner's Conkeldurr was kind of garbage—actually blocking its own teammate's attack at one point.
Sableye had done everything right at the most critical moments, but the opponent's Victreebel was just built different.