The first match in the seventh division, China's Team won, crushing the Egyptian team with an overwhelming 8:0 victory.
And for the second match, it was Portugal's first team against Switzerland's second team, the winner would be China Team's opponent the day after tomorrow.
China's Second Team's straightforward victory made both the Portuguese and Swiss teams very serious.
Apart from the captain Fang Yuan, every member has nearly top-level power, and the Pokemon they sent out weren't even the aces documented in the materials. Such team strength was simply overwhelming compared to a lot of nations' first teams.
"It's over."
As the first battle of the second team ended, the Four Heavenly Kings Team of China watching from the special spectator seats sighed.
A boring match.
The match between China's Second Team and Egypt's First Team was considered trivial by any of the seeded teams.
It was far from a high-tier battle, as it didn't even progress to a confrontation between top-tier competitors.
But that was also normal, after all, not every country can present age-appropriate top fighters to participate in the competition.
The reason why top-level combat power is called top-level is because it represents a group of people who are at the pinnacle of the Trainer Domain.
In some countries, not to mention among the younger generation, even within the entire Trainer Domain, the number of top trainers can be counted on one hand, sometimes not exceeding five or even none at all.
"Let's go," Jiang Li said as the referee declared China victorious and the spectator stands erupted into cheers.
"The Flying Type match is about to start... I heard several Flying Kings are participating; I wonder how strong they are," Xie Qingyi said, turning around.
"Don't worry, Yun Kai is also considered half a Flying King," Su Shu said.
Yun Kai: "?".
As the five of them left the Rainbow Arena amidst laughter and chatter, Fang Yuan's Team began to discuss what to do next.
Should they stay to watch the matches between Portugal's team and Switzerland's second team and the following matches, or go watch the Flying Type matches?
The timings of the two events clashed perfectly, making it a difficult choice to make.
One was the match of their next opponents, the other was a higher-level competition between trainers. They didn't want to miss either.
Fang Yuan actually preferred to watch the latter, because by observing on-site, he could roughly understand the strength of the seeded countries' players through the Wave Guide.
"Forget it, let's not dwell on it now, we'll decide after the interview," Fang Yuan said.
As usual, the world competition's official journalists would interview both the winning and losing parties in a match to ask about their match experience.
"That's true."
The four members of the second team nodded.
"Who's going?" Fang Yuan asked.
Typically, such interviews are one-on-one, primarily conducted by the captain unless a certain player has had an outstanding performance in the match, in which case the interviewee might be changed.
Although it was more appropriate for Fang Yuan, the captain, to be interviewed, he felt it wasn't quite right.
As a good captain, he should let his teammates get some exposure too, since he was bound to have numerous interviews later on... um... certainly an absurd number.
"Old Shang?" Fang Yuan looked at Shang Ren, "You've been idle for so long, how about you go?"
Shang Ren was stunned. He was being asked to do an official interview when he hadn't even participated in the match? Wasn't that too dismissive of the Alliance reporters?
"Right, there's only this chance left to get some face time from the match against the Egyptian team, Shang Ren, you go," Mu Fan also said.
Shang Ren was at a loss for words.
"No objections." "Sure."
Tang Xinlan and Zheng Hongyi were also indifferent.
"Fine, I'll go."
As China's Second Team decided, the Alliance journalists, who were on their way to interview the Chinese players, were also making the necessary preparations.
"China truly is a mighty Eastern nation; this match was simply eye-opening. I wonder what the players of China's Second Team are feeling after achieving such an impressive result; I am now heading to the China area..."
Soon after, this reporter from the competition met with Shang Ren that China's Second Team had put forward.
The reporter was taken aback.
Who's this?
Oh, it seems to be the player Shang Ren who hasn't made an appearance yet...
Upon seeing who he was about to interview, the reporter's inner thoughts churned rapidly, but his good professional ethics allowed him to quickly recover, and the interview proceeded normally.
He first congratulated Hua Nation on their initial victory and then praised the performances of the other four members.
Finally, he began to ask Shang Ren for his opinion on the Egyptian team.
Shang Ren, with an unchanging expression, as a somewhat famous Trainer in Hua Nation and having participated in countless major competitions, was well-versed in the usual platitudes praising teammates and opponents, so an interview wasn't a big issue for him.
However, as he spoke, Shang Ren realized something was off.
The reporter said, "I see. So, does that mean Team Leader Fang Yuan has been taking the Egyptian team very seriously since finding out they were the opponents?"
Yeah, very seriously, always instructing us on how to break through with the weakest Pokemon...
Shang Ren really wanted to say that but dared not to. After all, it was strange talking about the interview - the opponents were already trounced, and he didn't even know what polite thing to say.
"Yes." So, Shang Ren chose to go into aloof mode and said.
The reporter said, "What do you think about Team Leader Fang Yuan's tactical arrangement?"
What the hell can I think about drawing lots? Should I say I'm super angry that I was drawn to play last?
Shang Ren coldly said, "Very good."
Uh...
The aloofness of Shang Ren put the reporter in an awkward spot. A few canned responses would've been good, too.
Afterward, Shang Ren's series of "Hmm, hmm, oh, very good." responses turned into a show.
...........
Once the interview was aired, it sparked a huge controversy.
But nobody expected that the point of contention wasn't the result of the match, but between Shang Ren and Fang Yuan.
"Player Shang Ren was interviewed? Where's Fang Team? What's happening?"
"This time, I don't want to criticize the fact that despite a dominating victory, they remained so modest. A new question suddenly arises. Don't you feel that Fang Team's strength in the world competition seems a bit lacking compared to the other three?"
"Be it Tang Xinlan, Mu Fan, or Zheng Hongyi's battles, they appeared much more thrilling.
"Could it be that Fang Team isn't the strongest in China's Second Team, and only because of his status as a Pokemon Doctor, he was made the team leader? After all, there's no rule that says the team leader has to be the strongest, right? Maybe it's based on knowledge!"
"That makes sense when you put it like that. Fang Team is only 20, and comparatively, Shang Ren who was interviewed... I remember he's a former King? It seems he was on the first team a few years ago, maybe he is actually the one with the strongest ability in the team. The main issue is the lack of Trainer information on Fang Team, while the achievements of King Shang Ren are solid."
"True, you could tell from the interview where King Shang Ren's strengths lie. Typically, those aloof trainers are big shots."
Soon, somehow, the news "Hua Nation's Second Team's Mysterious Fifth, The Highly Concealed Former King" went viral, and everyone speculated whether this former King could be the real ace of Hua Nation's Second Team.
The growth of this news was rapid, only taking a few hours, and by this time, Fang Yuan and his crew were utterly dumbfounded.
Shang Ren: Heh heh.
If he actually had such strength, Shang Ren wouldn't mind the fans making wild speculations.
But in reality, he thought, you bunch of amateurs, what wild theories are you conjuring up? Clearly clueless about Pokemon battles and Pokemon breeding, yet you're making seemingly logical arguments. Real genius.
Now, many countries had started to believe it. Putting themselves in their shoes, even if Fang Yuan wasn't strong, they would still appoint him as the team leader out of respect for a Pokemon Doctor... which meant, Shang Ren was the ace of China's Second Team?
"A bunch of sillies, just watch the games."
Fang Yuan and Shang Ren from China Team naturally didn't care about such trivial news; they were currently watching the Flying-type competitions, with no time to bother with these things.
The Flying-type competition among the 16 seeded teams involved 45 participants, more than half the number of people from the seeded teams.
In contrast, the previous General Series competition had only 21 participants.
The event for the Flying-type competition was still held in the Silver Arena, but the venue had been changed to an aerial battlefield to match the attribute.
"45 Flying-type Pokemon, 22 of which have entered the top-tier domain..." Fang Yuan was astonished to see the state of the first team's competition.
It was a real battle of the gods among the players from the 16 seeded teams. Luckily, it was just a contest of flying skills. If it was about combat power, with so many Pokemon, the arena might have exploded, and he was now looking forward to battling these people more than ever.