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At noon, Li Xiang went to find Lin Feng, but after taking a glance at the class door, he turned around and left. After all, he had a habit of making things uncomfortable.
A starved camel was still bigger than a horse. If Zhu Huihui had any brains, he probably wouldn't cause trouble for Lin Feng again.
Even if he did, given Lin Feng's luck, nothing would likely happen to him anyway.
There was no need for him to worry about it.
He might as well focus on finding Qu Sheng and the others for battles.
Li Xiang silently walked into a secluded tree-lined path.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, he pulled out a piece of paper from his pocket, glanced at it for a while, and then walked to an empty flower bed. He took out his phone and opened the WeChat app.
Half an hour later.
Feeling refreshed, he went to find Qu Sheng and the others at the battlefield.
The speed at which his friend request was accepted was faster than he had expected. After briefly browsing Abigail's profile and personal information, and chatting with this "big sister" for a bit...
He concluded that this was definitely an account used by Song Jie's sister to fish for attention.
Not only were there many photos in her profile that looked like selfies but were actually taken from a third-person perspective, but her tone in the chat was also off.
Li Xiang and Abigail had only interacted a handful of times on Qiong Island, and she had never addressed him directly. There was no way she would call him "junior" right off the bat, as if they were close.
Of course, it's possible that Abigail is just more lively online.
But it didn't matter to Li Xiang. Whoever was behind this account, even if it was Song Jie himself, he was willing to keep chatting.
Who's fooling whom? That's still up in the air.
At the battlefield.
Froakie struggled to get up from the ground, no longer paying attention to the Dewpider that had fainted in the distance. The remaining foam on its head automatically retracted.
It turned to look at the edge of the field, where Torracat and Riolu were lying together, exhausted. A wave of fatigue, both physical and mental, washed over it.
'So what my teammates said was true... After school starts, Li Xiang will put us through exhausting battles one after another... My lungs and feet hurt so much, I can't even produce bubbles anymore.'
Froakie rubbed its palms together, feeling like its whole body was about to give out. Its muscles were tingling, and it was extremely uncomfortable.
There was no helping it. The Thunder Wave from the Magnemite in the previous battle had been too painful.
It even affected its performance in the third battle, but thankfully, it still managed to win.
"Good job."
Li Xiang picked up Froakie and placed it next to Torracat and Riolu.
Thanks to its advanced "assassination techniques," even though Froakie was at a disadvantage in terms of level and battle experience compared to Qu Sheng's three Pokémon, it still won two battles, only losing to Wartortle.
But these three battles had taken a toll on it. Its energy was nearly depleted, and it almost couldn't maintain its Camouflage, nearly revealing itself to Dewpider.
Both stamina and energy reserves were major issues.
Li Xiang lowered his head in thought. The core of Froakie's current strategy was undoubtedly its exceptional Camouflage.
Even though Camouflage had many drawbacks, it didn't stop him from making it the centerpiece of Froakie's training plan.
After all, Froakie was a natural-born ambusher.
On the other side.
"I regret it so much. I really regret not learning Rain Dance earlier."
Qu Sheng held his Dewpider, sighing deeply.
Everyone had learned about Camouflage, and Sun Chengbin had even emphasized methods to counter it in class.
Whether it was direct or indirect methods.
But unfortunately, Qu Sheng's Pokémon had no way to break through it.
They could only take the hits passively.
"Even if you learned Rain Dance, you still wouldn't be able to avoid Smokescreen. Wouldn't you have to learn Defog anyway?"
Yang Tianwang was laughing and joking with a few classmates on the sidelines.
Truth be told, he also had no way to deal with Froakie's elusive attacks, but that didn't stop him from teasing Qu Sheng.
Qu Sheng was furious. "If you're so confident, why don't you give it a try?"
"Fine, I will—"
"Don't. Didn't you see my Pokémon are exhausted?" Li Xiang rolled his eyes. "Let's talk after school."
The number of opponents had increased from two to three, making the battles even more intense. Even though Torracat and the others had benefited greatly during the winter break, fighting three battles in a row was still a bit too much.
After all, this wasn't a one-sided beatdown. Qu Sheng's Pokémon were quite strong, and even after managing to secure a triple win, Torracat, who was known for its endurance, couldn't hold up anymore.
Unless they could one-shot their way through, prolonged battles would put too much strain on the Pokémon's stamina.
What's more, the buffing moves that increased a Pokémon's offensive power also increased their energy consumption.
After all, their overall stamina and energy reserves remained the same.
"Riolu..."
Riolu, who had just regained consciousness, glanced at its two teammates, who were now completely spent, and silently used Life Dew to restore their heavily depleted stamina.
It still had a bit of energy left, and it had recovered a little during the break.
But compared to Torracat, who had won all three battles, it had unfortunately fallen to Dewpider's Leech Life, losing its last bit of stamina and collapsing on the ground, forcing Torracat to carry it out.
"Meow..."
Torracat, whose fatigue was gradually fading, got up and shook its dizzy head. It had been confused by Wartortle's Water Pulse and almost lost the battle.
After these three battles, it had accumulated quite a bit of rage. This included anger from being drenched, anger from being electrocuted, and anger from being tangled in the sticky threads on the ground.
Just thinking about all the humiliation it had suffered made Torracat want to flip the entire battlefield upside down. The anger was also messing with its mood.
"Huh? Why are your eyes bloodshot? Did water get in them?"
Li Xiang's voice suddenly rang out beside Torracat.
Torracat's heart skipped a beat, and its anger subsided slightly. It had been secretly conducting experiments behind Li Xiang's back, hoping to surprise him.
"Meow, meow~"
It shook its head and gave its trainer a friendly smile.
However, Li Xiang wasn't going to let it off so easily.
He quickly squatted down, picked up Torracat's head, and examined its pupils up close.
"Hmm... Very dry. It looks like an inflammation, but Fire-type Pokémon shouldn't get inflamed. Did you not sleep well last night?"
Li Xiang rubbed Torracat's silly cat face. Perhaps because it had been eating too well, its face was starting to resemble a Persian's. This couldn't go on.
Torracat suppressed its anger and broke free from Li Xiang's grip. It had almost swiped its claws across Li Xiang's face just now, but thankfully, it held back.
It couldn't let all its efforts go to waste!
"Riolu?"
Riolu, who was practicing turning its Aura Vision into a habit, keenly sensed something was off with Torracat and couldn't help but show concern.
In its Aura Vision, Torracat's body, which was originally orange-red, had recently been turning increasingly red, almost reaching a blood-red hue. The cat itself had also become more irritable.
Riolu was worried that something might be wrong with Torracat's body.
"Meow..."
Torracat forced a smile at Riolu, ignoring its concerned gaze. It thought to itself, This is so annoying. I really want to smash something...
No, I have to hold back!
Torracat maintained its smile. It could still hold on!
Then, Froakie, who felt it couldn't be left out, stepped forward and patted Torracat's shoulder with a smile. "Froakie, froakie froakie!"
Little Kitty, don't be so shy. If there's a problem, just tell us so we can help you.
At this, Torracat could no longer hold back. Flames erupted from its eyes!
"Meow!"
How dare you!!
Who said you could call me Little Kitty?
Froakie was startled by Torracat's outburst and immediately turned invisible, jumping onto Li Xiang's shoulder.
Li Xiang and Riolu were also frightened by Torracat's bloodshot eyes and the flames surrounding its body. They quickly took a few steps back, not daring to get closer.
Torracat's anger was like water bursting through a dam, impossible to suppress. But since it couldn't vent its anger on Li Xiang or Riolu, it ran onto the battlefield instead.
Flames continuously spilled out from the bell on its chest, gradually enveloping its body.
Then, the color of the flames deepened, shifting from a dull red to a bright orange-red.
This was a sign that the temperature of the flames was rising.
As for the color of the flames, according to the physical laws of the previous world, the color of a flame was determined by the substance being burned.
This was known as the flame test, but in this world, the color of flames followed a different rule.
—Color temperature.
In short, the color of the flame was related to its temperature.
Like now, the temperature of the flames surrounding Torracat had significantly increased.
If it went any higher, the hue would gradually shift toward cooler tones.
Until it became a pure orange or bright yellow, at which point it wouldn't be far from the blue of Flare Blitz.
And the ultimate temperature would be a blinding white light, like that of a nuclear explosion, impossible to look at directly.
"What has this guy been up to without telling me?"
Li Xiang watched as Torracat ran around the battlefield. Even someone as slow as him could tell that Torracat was hiding something.
"What's wrong with your Pokémon?"
Qu Sheng asked curiously.
Li Xiang shook his head. "Not sure. I'll ask later. You guys should head to the infirmary first. It probably won't calm down for a while."
"Alright."
Qu Sheng nodded and called Yang Tianwang and the others, who were also full of curiosity, to leave.
On the battlefield.
Only Li Xiang and his two Pokémon remained, silently watching Torracat vent its anger in the center of the field.
"Froakie."
Froakie revealed itself, looking uneasy. It had no idea what had happened, but Torracat had suddenly exploded. Was it because of the nickname?
But Li Xiang always called Torracat that.
The emotionally dense Froakie sighed. With its chuunibyou tendencies, how could sense ones mood and thoughts.
At Li Xiang's feet.
Riolu, looking at Torracat through its Aura Vision, noticed that its color was slowly returning to normal and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed like it wasn't anything serious.
After a while, Torracat had vented most of its anger but couldn't help feeling frustrated.
It had been holding back for so long, thinking that releasing its anger would allow it to learn a new move or level up.
But in the end, all it did was slightly increase the temperature of Flame Charge?
What a waste.
"Meow..."
It dejectedly returned to Li Xiang's side.
Li Xiang stroked his chin, squinting as he looked at Torracat. After observing it for a while, he had a rough idea of what Torracat had been up to.
After a few more questions, he confirmed that his guess was correct.
The power of emotions.
Pokémon using emotions to achieve various goals wasn't anything unusual.
The most obvious examples were Frustration and Return.
These moves were closely related to a Pokémon's emotions.
When a Pokémon was sufficiently angry, the power of Frustration would greatly increase.
When a Pokémon was grateful, the power of Return would continuously rise.
It had little to do with energy. It was more about the power of the mind.