Yesterday, Du Yishan, who had just battled with Fang Yuan, casually slapped Bai Qi on the shoulder next to her.
"Speaking of exchange matches, my stomach hurts," Bai Qi said.
His companions around him became curious and asked in succession, whereupon Bai Qi explained somewhat helplessly, "Back in high school, I experienced an exchange match that was a tournament battle. At that time, our entire school team was dominated by one person. The most shameless thing was that that Trainer and his Pokémon would always pretend like they had no physical strength left to battle, luring the next person into carelessness and oversight."
"You're not talking about Fang Yuan, are you?" Another Trainer from Su province teased with a curl of the lip.
Bai Qi, the team captain of Wuzhou Number One High School, had a Magmar for a Pokémon and had been one-shotted by a Gratitude from an Eevee.
"You guys from Su province even have school teams..." The surrounding Trainers wore expressions of seeing something new, clearly not having paid attention to the educational reform in the South.
Bai Qi couldn't be bothered to explain.
"Pretend to have no Physical Strength to battle? What kind of tactic is that?" Du Yishan was at first a bit clueless, then understood and immediately laughed, "Relying on acting skills to battle?"
"Despicable tactics..." While Bai Qi complained verbally, he actually had great respect for Fang Yuan's strength. Hey... Bai Qi's expression suddenly froze as he recalled a news article about Fang Yuan and Solar Spirit; this guy... had actually gone to Demon Capital University. Could he be part of this exchange team?
Bai Qi's face darkened as he glanced around, especially toward the Trainer from Su province near him.
"What I'm going to say next, please, don't get scared."
"About this exchange event..."
"What's there to be afraid of? We'll crush the opposition!" someone shouted out.
"The Fang Yuan I was just talking about... is very likely in the group of exchange students from Demon Capital University!" Bai Qi said softly.
"Which one is Fang Yuan?" someone still didn't understand.
"The Rookie King from Su province, the strongest New Trainer of our cohort in Su province," Bai Qi said worriedly.
Everyone nodded in understanding, kind of like the top scorer of the Su province college entrance exam? Impressive.
"You all must know about Solar Spirit, right? The discoverer of Solar Spirit, Fang Yuan!"
Bai Qi felt that the others still didn't get it and explained again; this time, the expressions of the Trainers around him became serious, and they leaned back slightly, having heard the name before.
"I remember the reports saying he was supposed to be part of the Research Series, right? With such a status, wouldn't he have a bright future as a Researcher, so he probably wouldn't battle anymore, right?" another Trainer from Su province said haltingly.
"Is this Fang Yuan you're talking about really that amazing?" Du Yishan asked.
"Sister Du, it's not about whether he's amazing or not; he's really that kind of special..." Bai Qi didn't know how else to describe it.
"So he's a good actor?" Du Yishan said. "From what you're telling me, it would be a shame not to go to a film academy."
Du Yishan thought of the Trainer from the film academy she had met—that was a real powerhouse!
"Well..." Bai Qi felt that not even the star Pokémon from the film academy could match the Eevee's convincing performance.
...
Elsewhere, the exchange students of Demon Capital University had also gotten up and finished breakfast.
Under the guidance of Teacher Tang and Teacher Zhou, they set off "magnificently" towards the Imperial Capital University Arena.
Despite being the away team, everyone was a pride of the heavens—who were they afraid of? Their spirits were high!
Next to the group, there was also a female teacher from Imperial Capital University accompanying them.
The only odd thing was... Fang Yuan was not in the group.
"How come one person is missing?" the female teacher from Emperor Capital University asked.
"That student... had stomach troubles after breakfast, and has been to the restroom twice already," Tang Sheng said with a strained expression.
"There won't be any problems, right? Should he go to the infirmary?" the teacher asked worriedly. A student from Demon Capital University getting stomach sick at Emperor Capital University during an exchange competition... this could be serious.
She was certain that if such news spread, it would tarnish the reputation of Imperial Capital University!
"He should be fine judging by his condition..." Tang Sheng said awkwardly.
Such a critical moment, and Fang Yuan had to bail. Tang Sheng thought he should have dragged Fang Yuan away yesterday, not letting him wander around! Although the canteen food of Emperor Capital University might not necessarily be delicious, food safety was assured. That rascal Fang Yuan, he must have eaten something unsanitary the day before.
At this moment, Fang Yuan stepped out of the restroom again, feeling somewhat better.
He even felt refreshed and invigorated.
"That's better... Next time I can't just eat any Pokémon food," Fang Yuan said helplessly.
Fortunately, Eevee was in its Poké Ball, otherwise it would definitely ridicule Fang Yuan—as he had said, it was certainly not because the food from Star of Veil had any hygiene issues. Fang Yuan and Liu Le, the two gluttons, couldn't resist trying even Pokémon food, so who could they blame for their upset stomachs?
"That waiter wasn't honest—didn't he say those Pokémon foods were also edible by humans? Could it be because... I ate too much?" Fang Yuan touched his forehead, sighed, and headed out the door to catch up with the main force.
...
The Pokémon Arena of Imperial Capital University was about the size of four soccer fields. Aside from a main field, there were several subsidiary battlefields around it that could support many Trainers in battling simultaneously.
When Fang Yuan arrived, he was not late. Tang Sheng had only just started exchanging information with Hu Guanxiong and was giving a pep talk to the students.
"Excuse me, is this the Number 1 Spirit Arena?" When he reached the entrance of the arena, Fang Yuan glanced inside, feeling it must be the right place, but still asked a passing girl.