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Zhu Huihui had clearly never experienced such "utter humiliation" before. He knew he wasn't a genius and that he would eventually be surpassed by the real prodigies.
But this was only the second semester!
It was like a man doing it with a lady, and the next day, the lady was already pregnant.
How could it happen so fast!
"Student Zhu Huihui, this is your first warning. Replace your Pokémon immediately!"
The referee's stern voice snapped Zhu Huihui out of his thoughts.
Zhu Huihui glanced at him, nodded blankly, and recalled Talonflame, sending out Grapploct instead.
On the other side.
Li Xiang frowned as he saw Zhu Huihui's dazed expression.
Was his mentality already shattered? How fragile!
No wonder Yang Tianwang looked down on him, saying he couldn't even run properly if he tried to cheat.
Originally, Li Xiang thought his chances of winning against Zhu Huihui were around 60-70%. But now, it seemed even 90% was an underestimate.
More like 99%.
If losing one Pokémon was enough to break him, what use was he?
Li Xiang recalled the smug Froakie and sent out the long-awaited Riolu.
At this moment, the Tailwind effect had just ended.
Grapploct was a close-combat, low-speed Pokémon through and through. Expecting it to reach Riolu, who was hovering in the air, was impossible.
Without Tailwind, Zhu Huihui's chances of winning were even slimmer.
Better to play it safe here. A long-range Aura Sphere barrage would do. No need for the "Ora Ora" treatment.
"Liquidation!"
"Double Team!"
As Grapploct shot out its four flexible tentacles, covered in water, toward the low-flying Riolu, Riolu had already split into a dozen afterimages!
*Slap slap slap slap!*
The four water-covered tentacles missed, and the blue water scattered like a celestial maiden's flowers. Zhu Huihui's expression grew more agitated... and panicked.
Especially with so many people watching, every missed move made him feel like their eyes were mocking him.
Like a blunt knife, slowly cutting into his heart.
Earlier, Duan Tianxing had said that Pokémon were the reflection of their trainers.
Li Xiang hadn't paid much attention at first, but he gradually realized that Master Duan was right.
The Zhu Huihui and Grapploct before him were proof.
The trainer was so nervous that his commands were delayed, and the Pokémon, affected by this, became hesitant in its attacks.
It started thinking:
What if I miss?
What if I make a mistake?
What if my trainer blames me for it?
And the more it hesitated, the more it missed. The more it missed, the more panicked the trainer became, and the more negative emotions piled up.
Riolu watched this scene indifferently, focusing on its Swords Dance, performing all sorts of aerial maneuvers to dodge Grapploct's attacks, as if waiting for something.
Li Xiang also fell silent, staring at Zhu Huihui's mouth as it opened and closed, his expression growing more and more frantic.
Finally, on Grapploct's fourth missed attack, Zhu Huihui snapped.
"Can you even hit it!? Why do you keep missing!?"
He screamed at Grapploct at the top of his lungs. Grapploct was startled, turning to look at Zhu Huihui with a hurt expression before releasing a fifth Liquidation.
And again...
It missed.
Not only that, but Riolu retaliated with a long-range Aura Sphere, the reddish-brown energy exploding on Grapploct's body!
Boom!
Grapploct let out a low cry as it was sent flying!
At this point, it was like a wire snapped in Zhu Huihui's brain. He began cursing at the injured Grapploct, completely disregarding the setting or what he was doing.
He even seemed ready to step forward and kick it!
Grapploct was overwhelmed with shame, its face filled with pain and guilt.
The expressions of the students outside the arena shifted from shock to disgust.
"If you're bad, don't blame your Pokémon!"
"Sore loser, you fat pig!"
"With that kind of mentality, why even be a trainer? Go home and farm!"
"Shut up, you waste!"
"Quiet down!"
The referee teacher roared, blowing his whistle repeatedly. "What kind of place is this!? If you don't want to be disciplined, shut your mouths!"
The students outside gradually fell silent.
Li Xiang watched the dramatic scene before him, exchanging a glance with Riolu in the air.
Although this scene was somewhat induced by him and Riolu, using high evasion to frustrate the opponent and launch a psychological attack.
But was Riolu not allowed to dodge?
What truly caused this was Zhu Huihui's poor character and his behavior of berating his hardworking Pokémon in public. These two points were enough to prove his despicable nature.
But then again, even in the utopian world of the anime, there were plenty of people who despised their Pokémon.
In this world, how could there not be trainers who shifted the blame onto their Pokémon?
Li Xiang just hadn't expected this person to be so vile!
Clearly, he was the one affecting his Pokémon, yet he remained oblivious. Instead of comforting his Pokémon and boosting its confidence, he chose to berate it...
Tch.
"Student Zhu Huihui, do you wish to continue the battle?"
The referee's stern voice rang out again. In his many years of teaching, he had seen plenty of students like Zhu Huihui who cursed at their Pokémon, or even at their opponents or him during battles.
Teenagers, when enraged, lose all rationality and are capable of anything.
If he, as the teacher, also lost his temper, things would spiral out of control.
Zhu Huihui, already consumed by anger, had lost all reason. Hearing the referee's voice, he trembled with rage and shouted back:
"Screw this! Get lost!"
And so, the match ended in such a dramatic fashion.
The referee blew his whistle and loudly announced the result.
Li Xiang silently recalled Riolu, avoiding eye contact with Zhu Huihui. His gaze, however, was filled with pity as he looked at Grapploct.
In his opinion, this Grapploct was actually quite strong. Its four spear-like tentacles were clearly trained specifically, otherwise, they wouldn't be able to extend so far.
Tentacles weren't made of rubber, after all.
However, this effort wasn't utilized well by Zhu Huihui, who only used them to increase the range of his moves.
This impulsive and hot-tempered guy truly had no talent for being a trainer.
Continuing like this would only torment himself and his Pokémon.
But just as Li Xiang was about to leave, the enraged Zhu Huihui actually chased after him, swinging a fist aimed at the back of Li Xiang's head!
The referee was busy contacting Zhu Huihui's homeroom teacher and the dean, and in a moment of distraction, Zhu Huihui slipped past him and reached Li Xiang!
The spectators gasped in shock!
Unfortunately....
Li Xiang hadn't been wasting his time during those months of sensory deprivation training. He had sensed Zhu Huihui's approach long before he got close. Planting his foot, twisting his body, lifting his knee, and turning his hips—
Kick!
Thud!
A dull sound echoed as Zhu Huihui was sent sprawling to the ground by Li Xiang's kick! Two of his teeth were knocked out!
Blood filled his mouth!
"Ugh... Waaah!!"
The intense pain made him burst into tears.
It was only then that Li Xiang realized—"Ah, this guy is only twelve. In my past life, he'd still be in elementary school."
Not quite a full-grown man-child, but close enough.
He's ruined.
This kid has been spoiled rotten by his family. Poor mental resilience, quick to anger, lacking talent and unwilling to work hard, and completely reckless when provoked.
Also twelve years old.
Why are people like Song Jie so much more mature?
Li Xiang had never thought much of Song Jie and the others before, but with someone like Zhu Huihui in front of him, the difference was stark.
Indeed, the gap between people is wider than the gap between people and pigs.
Li Xiang looked at Zhu Huihui with eyes full of pity.
The referee teacher finally walked over, helping Zhu Huihui up from the ground, ignoring his wailing and accusations, and examined his mouth.
Li Xiang had been a bit too harsh, knocking out two teeth and leaving his mouth a bloody mess.
Better send him to the infirmary.
The referee teacher made a few calls, then glanced at Li Xiang, who stood calmly in place, and told him to go to the infirmary and then wait in their homeroom teacher's office.
Li Xiang nodded, watching as the referee teacher led Zhu Huihui away, before being surrounded by the crowd of onlookers.
These people had been impressed by Li Xiang's side kick and eagerly asked him how he did it.
Some even defended him, asking why he had to go to the office when Zhu Huihui was the one who started it.
—For confrontation and evidence, of course, young man.
No matter the world, you can't just hit someone and walk away.
Li Xiang had already prepared himself for a call to his parents the moment he kicked out.
After all, he wasn't in the wrong. What was there to fear?
He casually brushed off the nosy crowd. Zhu Huihui's outburst was partly their fault too, including those who had cursed at him earlier, directly maxing out Zhu Huihui's rage meter.
His friends finally managed to push through the crowd.
Qu Sheng and Yang Tianwang congratulated him, Song Jie asked if he was hurt, while Lin Feng lamented the state of the world, saying that Grapploct had ended up with the wrong trainer.
Xu Wan chimed in with Lin Feng. She had always known Zhu Huihui was useless, but to be this pathetic was rare.
"Alright, alright, why are you all crowding here? Scram!"
Li Xiang shooed everyone away. Strictly speaking, the match hadn't been completed, but the system had still generously given him three candies.
This made him quite happy. He had thought that in such a situation, he wouldn't get any.
With his friends in tow, he went to the infirmary to heal Torracat and the others, who hadn't really been injured, before heading to the office.
Sun Chengbin had been waiting for a while, but he was in the middle of an argument with a few people.
"My student doesn't need you to teach him! What did he do wrong? Tell me, what did he do wrong!"
"Teacher Sun, that's not the point. Li Xiang kicked his jaw so hard it fractured. That's beyond self-defense, don't you think?"
"So you're saying if someone's about to smash your head in, you should hold back? How about we try it right now and see if you can hold back!"
"Hey! Teacher Sun! Let's talk this out calmly. No need to get physical!"
Li Xiang glanced at the person arguing with Sun Chengbin and recognized him as the "lenient" teacher who had suggested giving Zhu Huihui a chance last semester, allowing him to return to school without any real consequences.
Surrounding him were a group of other teachers backing him up.
No wonder No. 1 High had fallen so far, unable to even catch up to No. 2 High. These people truly deserved the credit!