Most people were asking Fang Yuan where he had been in the past two months, why he was hospitalized, and how his recovery was going.
The truth... Fang Yuan found it hard to explain. He could only rehash the known information in different words and brushed it off.
"Boss, if you lose to Lin Jing, they won't acknowledge you as the captain!"
Liu Le whispered to Fang Yuan. Lin Jing's strength was something that most people still respected. If Fang Yuan lost, even if Director Wu recommended Fang Yuan to be the captain, he would have a hard time winning people over.
"Just wait and see," Fang Yuan said with a smile. "In my dictionary, there is no such word as 'lose'."
"Then your dictionary must be a fake one," Lin Jing said.
Lin Jing and Liu Le, both familiar with Fang Yuan, saw his smile and Lin Jing grunted, feeling that the situation was a bit ominous.
...
"What do you think the outcome of this battle will be?"
Not only were the team members curious, but some of the teachers were also very interested.
Because even they were not very clear about Fang Yuan's situation over the past three months.
"Fang Yuan probably has the bigger chance of winning."
"A few months ago, his strength had already surpassed his peers by a lot. Even if Lin Jing has made great progress during this time, it's unlikely he has surpassed him,"
some teachers speculated.
"Fang Yuan will win, there's no doubt about that. What we should be curious about now is just how much Fang Yuan has improved,"
Director Wu came over and mused.
He had received notice from those two professional trainers at the Trainer Association and knew a bit about Fang Yuan's situation.
If those two professional trainers said that Fang Yuan could be the absolute core in team battles and that his strength had long surpassed that of a new trainer, then it must be true.
"Indeed, let's wait and see,"
Teacher Bai Ning nodded. She was well aware of Eevee's strength, and, together with the information revealed just now by Director Wu, she understood that Fang Yuan must have made significant progress during this time.
At this moment.
On a particular field, Fang Yuan and Lin Jing were ready to start the battle.
...
Growlithe and Eevee, two Pokemon familiar with each other, met with renewed interest.
Awoo~
Growlithe was spirited and let out an excited growl, but judging from the sound, it was especially silly and had no intimidating effect whatsoever.
"Bwoo~"
Eevee's mouth curled into a smile. Faced with the Fire Type giant lizard yesterday and at a loss, today, facing this Fire Type crazy dog, things seemed much easier.
The madness of Lin Jing's Growlithe was meant for opponents with whom the strength gap wasn't significant. But for Eevee, it held no fear.
As soon as a teacher acting as the referee announced that the battle could start, Lin Jing made the first move, letting Growlithe start running.
As it ran, Growlithe's limbs and body moved in extreme coordination, full of explosive power yet steady, and its speed kept increasing.
"It's high-speed movement!"
The audience was deeply impressed by Growlithe's speed. The move that made its body lighter—high-speed movement, which Growlithe had now mastered—based on its movement speed alone, was quite outstanding. It was considered one of the best among the new trainers.
Pfft!!
In motion, Growlithe concentrated flames in its mouth and spat a ball of fire directly at Eevee!!
This flame was of a very special nature... Lin Jing knew that Eevee's reaction speed was quick, so he didn't expect the fire to hit directly. Sure enough, Eevee effortlessly dodged the seemingly ordinary strike.
However, the subsequent explosive effect of the Fire Splash, the very result Lin Jing wanted, the continuously bursting flames began to cause secondary damage, splashing in all directions. Eevee looked up at the rain of fire and was once again forced to evade.
But at the same time, using the super-fast speed of high-speed movement, Growlithe predicted Eevee's actions and quickly changed its position, intercepting and blocking Eevee's escape route.
Growlithe's robust Flamethrower attack swept through, and Fang Yuan revealed a smile, "You've improved quite a lot."
Whether it was physical quality, the power of moves, or control over the flames, Growlithe had improved significantly.
"Eevee, counter."
Seeing this, Fang Yuan quickly spoke up. Eevee stopped moving, swung a Shadow Ball at the Flamethrower attack, and immediately followed up with the Splash Technique. The rising Counter Shield blockaded the second spray of fire serpents with a loud bang.
The Shadow Ball exploded, and the backlash of energy fluctuations blew the flames behind it away. Growlithe had no choice but to stop its move, but by this time, Eevee had somehow already appeared right in front of it.
"Awoo?"
Seeing Eevee right in front of it, Growlithe was taken aback, staring in dazed confusion.
Apart from the teachers, the vast majority hadn't noticed Eevee's little trick.
"It's a Substitute!!"
Looking at the distant Eevee controlling the Sand Splash, and the one that had appeared in front of Growlithe, Lin Jing realized that Eevee had used the smoke from the move as a cover to create a Substitute and quickly approach Growlithe. However, what surprised Lin Jing was...
Since when could Eevee control two bodies at the same time??
"Bwoo——"
On the field, the Eevee Substitute pursed its lips in a smile, causing Growlithe to break out in a sweat and desperately shake its head, as if to say, "Can't we just not fight?!" In front of it, a dark purple Shadow Ball had already formed and was growing larger!! Eevee was mounting a kamikaze attack.
Bang!!
This extremely close-range attack directly blasted both Growlithe and the Eevee Substitute away, while Eevee's real body had also formed another Shadow Ball, throwing it towards Growlithe's blasted direction.
Ever since mastering Shadow Ball, Eevee had gradually become addicted to the thrill of bombing!!
Throughout the battle, Lin Jing's Growlithe had not actually been able to unleash its full power, but it was quickly defeated by the coordination of the Substitute and Shadow Ball.
"Indeed..."
Seeing Lin Jing defeated so easily, Liu Le gave a sheepish smile, glad that he had not challenged Fang Yuan. It was not that Lin Jing was not powerful, but Eevee's methods were incredibly sophisticated, unbelievable for a New Trainer.
The recent exchange seemed straightforward, but could a simple-looking Substitute that could multitask and a Sand-spouting Counter-shield calmly evading countless Fire Serpents be as simple as it appeared?!
"See..."
The many teachers nodded.
The numerous school team members fell silent.
They all recognized Fang Yuan taking over Lin Jing's position as team captain.
...
According to the schedule, the Provincial High School Pokemon Battle League was to take place on April 20th.
Hence, Pingcheng No.1 Middle School's team had at most 4 more days to arrange tactics.
Accurately speaking, it was to arrange tactics around Fang Yuan.
After taking over as captain, Fang Yuan would become the core of Pingcheng No.1 Middle School's team battles. However, Fang Yuan's sudden inclusion did not disrupt the existing team mode of Pingcheng No.1 Middle School. Instead, it further enhanced the school team's combat capabilities.
In Liu Le's words, "Cloth God can handle 1v5 already, the old tactics are unnecessary. Just protect with a 4-guard-1 formation, and we'll soar steadily~~"
The students were optimistic, but the teachers could not afford such optimism, as the intelligence gathered showed that the opponents were also not to be underestimated.
"Take your enemy seriously, don't be arrogant. The coordination of other schools will only be better. Allocate some of the time for cultural courses to training. If this competition fails due to carelessness, it will be the greatest irresponsibility to yourselves," Director Wu roared, confirming the Pingcheng No.1 Middle School Trainer School Team members once and for all.
The captain, Fang Yuan; the vice-captain, Lin Jing;
The starting members, Liu Le, Zhou Xueyao, Yue Chenfei, Zhang Yan, and Zhang Huan Yu.
The substitute members, Cai Yuan, Li Zeyan, Jiang Yilou.
This was the final arrangement of the Pingcheng No.1 Middle School team,
At the competition, each of the twenty participating schools would have seven slots for individual battles, and ten slots for the team battle.
During the event, individual and team battles would take place simultaneously, putting a significant strain on the combatants. The team battles' ten-slot-five-choice mechanism was designed for diversity in tactics and also to ensure that there were immediate substitutes available should any of the main team members be in poor condition.
The evening of the 18th.
Wu Pingqiu gravely informed everyone that they would leave for Jinling to participate in the competition the next day!
Even though the competition started on the 20th, on the 19th, each school needed to arrive early to get accustomed to the venue and the accommodation environment, all in preparation for better performance in the upcoming battles.