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Fortunately, these guys still had some pride left—each of them handed over a wooden tag to Li Xiang.
Li Xiang, in turn, showed mercy and didn't push for total annihilation.
"Bro, you're just too strong."
"Yeah, seriously, why bully us like this?"
"With skills like that, you should've warned us! Ugh… my fifty points."
They complained one after another, clearly shaken by the experience.
Li Xiang chuckled. "Battles are all about wins and losses. No need to get worked up."
Adding these tags to his collection, he now had eighteen in total—just two short of his initial goal of twenty.
Time to set the next milestone.
'…Fifty?'
Maybe a bit excessive, but goals were meant to push limits, whether achievable or not.
"Good work, good work."
He patted Incineroar's chest muscles. The big cat was panting slightly, clearly drained from the fights.
Even one-sided stomps took energy. Turns out, beating someone up nonstop was exhausting in its own way.
"Rrrgh."
Incineroar waved a claw dismissively, as if to say "This was nothing."
"Alright, quit posturing. Ever heard of sustainable development?"
Li Xiang laughed and punched its arm lightly before recalling it. "Rest up. We've got more battles ahead."
The Three Camp Exam was paradise for someone like him—earning credits and Rare Candies at the same time.
Too bad he couldn't rotate his other three Pokémon in. Once chosen, the roster was locked for all three days.
Out of over three hundred participants… how many would be eliminated on the first day?
As he pondered, he strode toward his next victim.
Unsurprisingly, the commotion had drawn attention. Witnessing such a lopsided massacre, many onlookers quickly realized one thing: Li Xiang was not someone they could beat.
Unless they could somehow convince him to battle them one after another, without rest, until his Pokémon collapsed from exhaustion.
Even then, the rules allowed him to exit after every three matches.
But even if they sacrificed themselves to drain him, Li Xiang would still come out ahead.
The exam's structure inherently favored the strong.
So when Li Xiang started walking toward them, every single spectator turned and ran. No one wanted to be the next sacrificial lamb.
Unfortunately for them.... "Hey, don't run. You—the guy in gray. I challenge you."
Li Xiang's voice echoed across the plains, freezing the nearest gray-clad student in his tracks.
"WHY ME?!"
The gray-clad student snapped, glancing nervously at the hovering Drone cameras.
"You're the closest. Duh."
Li Xiang scratched his ear lazily. "Hurry up. I've got more people to crush."
The gray-clad student gritted his teeth. "Fine!"
If one were to be a Wooloo, at least needed to have the dignity to accept their fate.
The battle began instantly.
This time, Li Xiang sent out Greninja—causing his opponent to freeze in confusion for a solid few seconds.
Only when his own Pokémon sensed movement in the air did he snap back to reality.
But it was too late.
Greninja's attack was already in motion. Super-effective damage, plus STAB boost—no setup needed. One clean hit, and it was over.
Just like that.
"How is the gap this huge…?"
The previous "Wooloos" watched from the sidelines, stunned.
Losing themselves was one thing. Watching someone else get demolished was another.
As the saying goes: Those inside the game can't see the whole board.
From an outsider's perspective, they finally grasped just how terrifying Li Xiang was.
Someone suddenly muttered: "How do you think he stacks up against Gong Xu?"
"Gong Xu? About the same?"
"Same? No way. I think this guy's scarier."
"I'd lose to both either way, so what's the difference?"
"By that logic, losing to a Champion and losing to an Elite Four member is the same thing. Are they equal now?"
"That's not what I meant—"
Somehow, the conversation devolved into an argument.
Ah, the eternal debate of power levels.
After collecting the gray-clad student's tag, Li Xiang scanned the area.
Aside from those he'd already beaten or those still mid-battle, the plains were empty. Song Jie still had a couple of challengers left, but Li Xiang wasn't shameless enough to steal his prey.
'Fine.'
If they wanted to hide, he'd flush them out.
"Alright, Riolu. Scan the area."
He recalled Greninja and released Riolu.
With Aura Sense, no living thing could escape detection.
Everything had an aura—it just manifested differently in Riolu's vision.
Sure enough, as Riolu dashed through the nearby woods, it quickly pinpointed several cowering figures.
"Quit hiding. Either run farther or accept the challenge. What's the point?"
Li Xiang's voice drifted through the trees like a grim reaper's whisper, sending shivers down their spines.
"Let's speed this up. It's almost noon. I'm hungry—aren't you?"
When they still refused to come out, Li Xiang marched into the woods himself. Within seconds, he found a student curled up behind a tree root.
"Really? This is pathetic."
Li Xiang sighed. "Just take the L and move on. I challenge you. No running."
The student whimpered, "Shouldn't I be saying that? Why are you hunting us down?"
But with the Drone hovering closer, he had no choice but to stand.
"Beating you gets me fifty points. Sparing you gets me nothing. Why would I stop?"
Li Xiang shrugged as his opponent reluctantly sent out his Pokémon.
Such a sluggish trainer was rare. Probably didn't have many points to begin with. Noticing Li Xiang's Riolu, the student chose a Swanna—a white, swan-like Pokémon with blue chest feathers.
Water/Flying type. Also nicknamed "The Bra Bird" for… obvious reasons.
'4x weak to Electric. Seriously?'
Li Xiang's expression twisted.
Of course. In a city surrounded by water, aquatic and avian Pokémon were everywhere.
The forest wasn't ideal for Swanna, but the yellow-billed duck maneuvered skillfully between trees, its flight patterns almost dance-like.
The flashy movements boosted its evasion, making it hard for Riolu to land a hit while hopping between branches.
Annoyed, Riolu activated Magnet Rise, using the trees as springboards to close the gap.
So much for conserving energy.
It had hoped to save stamina for Life Dew in emergencies, but this opponent was smarter than expected.
Too bad.
With its Ability and all those Speed EVs, Riolu's agility was beyond these amateurs.
Dodging Swanna's Air Slash and Feather Dance, the blue-and-black canine clenched a fist crackling with electricity and slammed it into Swanna's slender neck.
BOOM—!!!
A thunderous crash echoed as sparks erupted.
Swanna instantly turned into a charred, smoking wreck, plummeting to the ground with a sickening thud.
"SWANNA!"
The student rushed forward, relieved to find it was only superficially burned and unconscious.
No major injuries.
Nearby, Riolu returned to Li Xiang's side.
"Well done."
He pinched its cheeks affectionately.
Swanna was a glass cannon. A 4x super-effective Thunder Punch turning it into fried poultry wasn't surprising.
Another tag acquired.
The remaining hiders had long since fled the plains. Staying would've been idiocy.
Resigned, Li Xiang glanced at Song Jie in the distance—probably wrapping up his battles.
'Time to move locations.'
Just then, he suddenly looked up at the sky.
.....
Ten Minutes Earlier
High above the empty skies, three Pokémon carried three trainers.
A Pidgeot. A Skarmory.
And a shiny Drifblim—golden-bodied, with cloud-like fluff and blue ribbons tied into a makeshift seat for its blond rider.
"Bro Xu, are you sure this'll work? Isn't this too risky? Let's just search on the ground!"
The Skarmory rider shouted over the wind. Flying without proper gear was dangerous.
"Yeah, seriously!"
The Pidgeot rider agreed.
Gong Xu ignored them, scanning the terrain eagerly for his target. Finally, after half an hour of searching—
He spotted Song Jie battling on the plains below.
A Vileplume versus an Aggron.
The flower was getting roasted by the silver tank's Flamethrower.
"So the Lycanroc wasn't his ace after all…"
Gong Xu muttered in his distinct accent. "Damn, that's strong. Scary stuff."
Despite his words, his face was lit with excitement—like he'd found a worthy rival. Shifting his gaze, he noticed Li Xiang in the middle of his own gauntlet.
He silently observed the entire spectacle, from Greninja's dominance to Riolu's forest skirmish.
Then, he fell silent.
But when Li Xiang suddenly looked up, meeting his gaze, Gong Xu's lips curled into a smile.
He even waved.
Only when Li Xiang waved back did Gong Xu mutter under his breath:
"What kind of monster is this guy?"