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The next day.
The official start of the school year had finally arrived.
There were 637 first-year students, divided into 21 classes.
Li Xiang was in Class 3, which had thirty-one students, evenly split between males and females. All the people he knew were here.
This was, of course, intentionally arranged by the school.
However, in university, being in the same class didn't matter much. There were no fixed classrooms; you only saw classmates during lessons, and sometimes several classes had lessons together.
Li Xiang really couldn't remember too many people.
Of course, while he couldn't remember others, they certainly remembered him clearly. After all, throughout the last half of the previous year, the trainer circles in Zhu Xia were flooded with news about him.
The title of National First was firmly engraved on Li Xiang's forehead, impossible to remove.
When he and Song Jie entered the classroom, the previously noisy class instantly fell silent. Everyone stared at him, like a scene from a horror movie. It made him feel like some rare specimen.
And after he found a seat and sat down, these people crowded around him one after another, asking all sorts of questions.
Each one was like a walking encyclopedia of "why."
The homeroom teacher was a young male teacher, seemingly a graduate of Mist City University from a few years prior who chose to stay and work at the school after graduating.
His rank was Ultra Ball tier-six, specializing in the Flying type. For his age, that was pretty good.
After introducing himself, he smiled and welcomed everyone to challenge him for sparring matches.
Li Xiang couldn't help but take note. Battling the homeroom teacher... might be quite interesting.
The position of counselor definitely didn't exist, but there was a female class assistant, a fifth-year student.
In higher education institutes, the presence of both homeroom teachers and class assistants wasn't very prominent. If the homeroom teacher wasn't also a subject teacher, they were practically invisible.
Their purpose, instead, seemed more like logistical managers handling miscellaneous tasks for the students, dealing with various trivial matters and such.
Regarding academic subjects, based on the textbooks distributed, there were only three core subjects: Language, Mathematics, and Pokémon Studies. The rest were electives chosen by the students themselves.
Some were divided by type, some by body shape, and others by Egg Group.
You chose based on the types you specialized in. Besides these, there were also basic general knowledge courses like Berry Identification.
Each semester had credit hour requirements, and a certain number had to be fulfilled.
In short, the workload for academic subjects alone was heavy, not to mention other practical courses. If you spent credits on additional courses, the workload would be even heavier.
Regarding failing subjects, if you failed a subject, credits would be deducted. The longer you failed, the more were deducted, until your credits were gone.
Regarding the school ranking system, the base score was one hundred points. One credit was provided to students daily. Upon reaching two hundred points, that became two credits; three hundred points three credits, and so on.
Credits could be exchanged for ranking points at a 1:1 ratio. In the long run, as long as you didn't lose too badly, this was profitable.
Additionally, there were many ways to obtain credits. Battling was just the foundation. Achieving certain exam scores, being a class assistant, cleaning the campus, working at the school, or even participating in on-campus selections and achieving a certain ranking all earned credits.
Credits were relatively easy to obtain, which led to the cost in credits for rare and precious items being somewhat high.
Things like Pokémon basically started in the thousands.
Interestingly, one item in the credit exchange was: Have lunch with Mo Ye??
The price was 99,999, an astronomical figure no one could possibly save up—you couldn't even save that much in six years if you didn't spend a single credit.
Li Xiang didn't plan to save up for it anyway, regardless of whether it was meaningful or not. Just a couple of days ago, he had eaten in the cafeteria with Bai Wanhua, who even invited him to her home for a meal.
Speaking of which, credits were almost useless to him because whatever he wanted, he could state his request to Bai Wanhua's assistant. If the request was reasonable, the item would be delivered to his villa, or arrangements would be made.
Whether it was Pokémon or private lessons from high-ranking trainers, it was all the same.
The stack of agreements he signed earlier weren't just for show. He could even skip academic classes if he wanted.
Bai Wanhua told him outright—
"Experience it for the first semester. If you feel it's unnecessary afterward, you can stop."
This Principal Bai was really too indulgent with him. It really felt like she was treating him like royalty.
However, correspondingly, the more he took now, the harder he would fall later if he failed to demonstrate his value.
—Unless Mo Ye was his backer.
Li Xiang felt that everything he was currently enjoying was Mist City University's investment in him personally.
Little did he know, no matter how bold Mist City University was, they wouldn't go to such lengths for a student who would only be in Mist City for six years.
What truly influenced Li Xiang's treatment was the Abyssal Elite Four who resided in Mist City and had significantly reduced public security incidents.
With him around, even if Li Xiang turned out to be utterly useless, it wouldn't matter; someone would cover for him.
...
In the afternoon, after the whole class gathered, the first day of ranking battles began.
The efficiency of higher education institutes was always this high.
Li Xiang was assigned a battlefield by the system. His opponent was unknown; he would only find out when they met face-to-face.
"I hope there won't be too many spectators."
He put on a face mask and moved through the crowd. Being a campus "celebrity" was troublesome because people were always staring at him and discussing him behind his back.
And with Li Xiang's hearing, as long as they weren't too far away, he could clearly hear what others were saying if he listened carefully.
This was really annoying.
In short, he hoped not too many people would watch, so it wouldn't take half an hour just to leave afterward.
Arriving at the official battle arena, he inserted his student ID into the card reader at the edge.
Battle mode: Single Battle, 3v3. One-on-one battles no longer existed in higher education institutes.
However, his opponent wasn't a first-year student.
The screen on the card reader showed that Li Xiang's opponent was a third-year student.
The school system's matching method was based on credit score: 100 points vs. 100 points, 200 points vs. 200 points.
It wasn't assigned by grade level. Therefore, this mode easily led to battles against upperclassmen.
There were two reasons for facing an upperclassman:
One, the opponent was so weak they couldn't beat their peers.
Two, the opponent intentionally lost points last semester to harvest credits from first-year students this semester.
Li Xiang stepped into the arena. Seeing the arrogant expression on his opponent's face, he knew he had encountered the second type.
'Great! Typical protagonist treatment!'
"How old are you, little student? Just got in? Hahahaha."
The opponent was a boy with a full beard. He didn't look seventeen; twenty-seven was more like it.
Seeing the tall and well-built Li Xiang, the expression on his face didn't change at all; it remained just as arrogant.
"Yeah, just got in."
Li Xiang was already used to battling with a mask on. Facing this kind of person, he couldn't be bothered to take it off.
Hearing the response, the opponent's eyes lit up. He had intentionally lost points to others precisely to harvest points from these newcomers.
Bullying noobs and smurfing in low tiers yielded higher profits. The rules didn't prohibit it.
One must know how to adapt to become stronger!
He opened his mouth again, trying to say something more to Li Xiang, but seeing that Li Xiang completely ignored him, he lost interest in talking.
Oh well. He was about to give him his points; why would he be in a good mood?
Soon, the referee teacher arrived.
He confirmed both parties' identities via the machine at the entrance, took his position at the referee's stand, and began announcing the battle rules.
"Student, please remove your mask."
The referee looked at Li Xiang, who was wearing a mask, and spoke.
Li Xiang intentionally turned his face away, not letting the opponent see.
"So secretive, what's the deal."
The opponent frowned, muttering discontentedly.
"Alright, you can put it back on now."
The referee, having confirmed Li Xiang's identity, waved his hand.
Then, the ranking battle officially began!
Both sides threw their PokéBalls!
Bang! Bang!
"Swamp!"
A large blue salamander landed, letting out a deep roar!
This guy had two black head fins connected to a large tail fin covering its entire hip. Its cheeks had orange poison sacs, and there were orange sac-like structures on the backs of its hands and feet.
—Water and Ground-type, Swampert.
A Pokémon that becomes terrifyingly strong after Mega Evolving.
Its type combination was excellent, with only one 4x weakness to Grass. The Ground/Water offensive coverage was also great, and it could learn Ice-type moves.
It was a very good Pokémon among the starter choices.
Li Xiang's choice was the shiny Metagross.
The four-legged pseudo legendary steel crab with silver armor and a golden face landed, its heavy body causing the ground to tremble slightly.
"A shiny Metagross? So rich?"
The opponent was surprised, thinking he had encountered a rich young master.
Seeing his opponent's expression, Li Xiang realized that not many people seemed to know he had a shiny Metagross. Otherwise, the guy opposite would have recognized it the moment he sent it out.
'Good, good.'
Feeling somewhat relieved that he still had some privacy, Li Xiang decided to give this guy a quick defeat.
"Magnet Rise."
"Curse!"
Both sides issued their commands.
Metagross hammered the ground with its front paws, venting its dissatisfaction at not being able to move on all fours. Then, like a Transformer, it locked its four thick arms onto its head.
Its body was enveloped in a golden glow, completely immunizing it to Ground-type moves.
Opposite, Swampert roared low, a dark glow lighting up on its body. Then, its muscles slowly tensed!
Curse, a move that has different effects depending on the type of Pokémon using it.
The reason lies in the original Japanese name "のろい," which can mean both "curse" and "slow/dull," hence the two different effects.
"Bullet Punch. Use the new method."
Li Xiang stared at the opponent's Swampert and snapped his fingers.
Metagross's eyes lit up. Its two front arms quickly detached, held level as electricity crackled between them, eventually converging!
Boom!
Simultaneously, the silver fists were enveloped in a distorted sheen, propelling Metagross's entire body forward like a high-speed train, charging towards Swampert!
Whoosh—!
The speed was so fast it was impossible to react!
Swampert only saw a blur before the silver light appeared right in front of it, smashing hard into its face!
Thud!
A dull sound!
The heavy impact sent its entire body lifting off the ground!
"Nani!? Use Muddy Water!"
The opponent was shocked and hurriedly gave Swampert an order!
Swampert, mid-air, widened its eyes, opened its large maw, and spewed large globs of muddy water at Metagross, splattering it all over its head and face!
But, it was completely ineffective!
Metagross's face showed no reaction. Even with its eyes covered in mud, it maintained its "composure," opened its large maw, and shouted lowly: "Metta!"
Then, it charged fiercely at Swampert, a pale pink glow appearing on its head!
Zen Headbutt!
'Li Xiang! I missed you so much!'
Carrying boundless longing, the move's power increased exponentially!
Boom!
Swampert, which had just started falling, was sent flying again!
Metagross's attack path was as precise as if it had been calculated!
This time, Swampert was slammed directly into the wire mesh fence at the edge, letting out a cry of pain!
"Use Muddy Water again!"
The opponent shouted in panic.
"Psychic."
Li Xiang, who had run closer, said loudly.
A golden light lit up on Metagross's face, then formed into tangible beams of light that shot towards Swampert!
Swampert had just gotten up, the muddy water in its mouth still brewing, not even having time to spit it out, before it was slammed into the fence again!
Boom!
This blow directly injured its vitals, knocking it out.
The blue salamander fell to the ground powerless.
Its trainer was dumbfounded. "So... so fast..."
"Just average."
Li Xiang waved his hand. "Hurry up with the next one. I'm in a rush."