Fang Yuan had just finished his battle, and the selection process was proceeding in orderly fashion.
Each school received reports about their entrants' battles, the teachers and students feeling either joy or worry.
However, losing in this segment didn't necessarily mean elimination—anything was possible, and it all depended on the referees' judgement.
...
"The team battle groupings must be coming out soon, right?"
The individual and team battles proceeded concurrently, so it was inevitable that some contestants and Pokemon would suffer a significant decline in condition, making them unsuitable for the team battle.
Therefore, the team battle had many unstable factors... which were of great concern to the coaches.
Compared to the individual battle results, the coaches were more anxious about the impending team battles.
"They're out, the team battle groupings are out!!"
"In the first match of the team battle, our opponent is..."
By this time, Fang Yuan had already returned to Pingcheng No.1 Middle School's rest area for the players.
Being one of the earliest competitors, he was also the first to return.
Each match could take a slow two to three minutes, or... as in Fang Yuan's case, where the referee had just started the match, and the opponent was already defeated.
You couldn't exactly blame the opponent for being weak... it was just that the team captains from each school, who were new trainers, were unfathomably strong, as if they were all cheating.
Not just for Fang Yuan's area, one-sided battles were occurring in other areas as well.
"Ah... Dan Ning Middle School??" Upon hearing the grouping and first opponent information for the team battle, Fang Yuan had a look that was as bizarre as it could get.
What a coincidence, right?
Just yesterday he used Little Magnetic Monster to bulldoze two of their substitutes and two of their main players, and today they were the opponents in the team battle again?
Destiny, indescribably wonderful.
"Who, who, who???"
"Who's our first opponent?" Liu Le had just returned and was incredulous.
Dan Ning Middle School... pfft.
"What are you laughing at?! Can you even enter the match?" Seeing Liu Le laughing, the director of teaching Wu Pingqiu frowned and spoke.
Liu Le immediately deflated upon his return.
In the first round of selection battles, Pingcheng No.1 Middle School had three wins and seven losses, and he had lost as well.
His Little Kabigon had been brutalized by the opponent's Hariyama and was sent away for treatment.
"Our opponent was the vice-team of Wu Jin No.1 Middle School, they were very strong... I couldn't win against them," Liu Le said with a gloomy face, "When does the team battle start? I don't know if I can make it on time, and even though we fought hard just now, Little Kabigon, even if recovered, probably won't be in its best condition."
Liu Le reflected as well; why did he lose? Surely, he just hadn't spent enough on it.
Director Wu sighed. Having three wins in the first round of individual battles wasn't too bad of a result. He glanced at Fang Yuan, who was once again playing games on the phone with Eevee, and massaged his temples—were all geniuses this peculiar?
"Fang Yuan, we will need you for the upcoming team battle. As for everyone else, wait until I have reviewed the types of Pokemon used by Dan Ning Middle School's ten contenders and the results of their individual battles before making a decision. Remember to rest, you and Eevee."
"Okay," Fang Yuan nodded, then kept his head down, continuing to play Contra with Eevee.
Don't get the wrong idea that he wasn't taking the match seriously. On the contrary, Fang Yuan was a trainer clear about the situation, and it was precisely because the upcoming battles were so important that he had taken time out to play games with Eevee.
In the coming days, if he could keep Eevee in a good mood, the performance of its Payback Technique was bound to be even better...
"Bwoo, Bwoo!!" Eevee's eyes blazed with excitement, getting to play on the phone during a match—Fang Yuan was amazing. It had no regrets, let's go!!
For example, it's like nearing final exams, and not only does the teacher not assign homework but also lets you watch anime in class to relieve stress. Most students would definitely be happy... and Eevee was one of those rare creatures that could genuinely turn a joyful mood into fighting power.
...
There were four groups in the team battle.
Pingcheng No.1 Middle School was in the third group and faced Dan Ning Middle School first.
In terms of strength, if Fang Yuan weren't at Ping Middle School, the two schools wouldn't be much different, but there are no "ifs".
Liu Le ultimately couldn't make it to the field, as he indeed exerted himself too much in his first fight, impressing the other team members and teachers – a quality rarely seen in Liu Le and Little Kabigon. Had he been stimulated?
In the end, the line-up was decided for Pingcheng No.1 Middle School's team: Fang Yuan, Lin Jing, Yue Chenfei, Zhang Yan, and Zhang Huan Yu were to fight in the first match.
Although Liu Le didn't participate, he watched his opponents from the player's seat with schadenfreude.
A player from Dan Ning Middle School, unlike Liu Le, didn't seem very happy as he approached.
"Damn it..." He looked towards Fang Yuan.
This person was the trainer with the Snorunt who had been defeated by Fang Yuan and Little Magnetic Monster the day before...
On the Dan Ning Middle School side, three people were also glaring at Fang Yuan, who led the team.
They'd been thrashed for half the day, only to find out that their opponent hadn't even been trying their hardest. It was very provoking.
It's worth mentioning that.
The team battles all took place on special terrains, and this time the drawn battlefield was a rock terrain. As both teams entered, the ground in the center began to separate...
Boom...
The decagonal rock terrain slowly rose, and the uneven terrain would limit the mobility of some Pokemon, further testing their coordination and response abilities.
Seeing the rock terrain, Fang Yuan remained unfazed and took his position.
...
"I'm late, I'm late..."
In the outer perimeter of the press area, Lu Shuang hurried over, and upon seeing Fang Yuan take the field for Pingcheng No.1 Middle School, immediately showed delight.
She noticed Fang Yuan and Eevee were positioned at the team's center, meaning the battle would revolve around Eevee as the tactical core. Now Lu Shuang was curious to see what tactics Fang Yuan and Eevee would display.
After both sides were ready, the referee nodded and with a command, the battle began!!
At the start of the battle, everyone from Dan Ning Middle School, whether they were players or teachers, was very surprised.
Because Eevee immediately rushed out alone, attracting all the attention and making itself the prime target.
What was the meaning of this?
The choice now before Dan Ning Middle School's players was whether or not to focus fire and eliminate Eevee first.
Eevee, who ran to the center of the battlefield, seemed to be mocking the opponents' weakness as it charged with an unruly gait, completely unbridled.
At that moment, the thought process of Dan Ning Middle School's team captain was like a storm, filled with chaos, but then he immediately gave the command for his Alidos to attack, but...
After the players of Dan Ning Middle School gave commands in the following one or two seconds, they realized that something wasn't quite right with their Pokemon, who showed no response to their trainers' orders.
"Bwoo..." Eevee made a gesture of contempt... it was these Pokemon that interrupted its play. As it turned out, a good mood could also be manually converted into anger, and everything was within Fang Yuan's calculations.
The next moment, Dan Ning Middle School's team of Pokemon madly charged towards Eevee, seemingly wanting to tear it apart...
"Heh, with that Eevee's level of spiritual power, in this competition, probably only a very few Pokemon could resist its Pretentious moves," Zhuang Xin, a professional trainer from Pingcheng, appeared for the first time in the audience seats, laughing after she looked at the trend of the competition.
The tactic involved Eevee first angering the entire opposing team, followed by using Eevee's Shadow Ball, Growlithe's Flamethrower attack, Cloyster's Spike Cannon, and Dark Crow's Evil Fluctuation, among others... these ranged moves to bombard the opponents.
In the process, the Pokemon of Dan Ning Middle School's team, having lost their reason due to Rage Energy, would indeed pose a risk in close combat as their physical strength increased. Under such circumstances, making good use of the distance across the terrain and the opponents' inability to respond to their trainers' orders or to fight rationally, using ranged attacks was almost like shooting at live targets, securing a near-certain victory.
In short: Aggravate and Bombard Strategy.
"Damn." In a moment, Dan Ning Middle School's players also lost their composure, not knowing what to do!