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Without a doubt, Corvisquire was Wooloo's natural predator.
Biologically speaking, as a large avian predator, its prey included small sheep like Wooloo.
Thus—
"Meeeh~"
With a long, trembling bleat, Wooloo collapsed onto its back in front of many onlooking girls cooing, "So cute!" and "Kawaii!"—transforming into a fluffy white ball.
But from start to finish, all it had taken was one Dual Wingbeat from Corvisquire.
Just one hit.
One hit, and it was down.
"Caaw…"
Corvisquire turned and landed on Li Xiang's shoulder, flapping its wings in dissatisfaction.
What was the point of a victory like this?
A joke?
Might as well go home and spar with Riolu. Even if it lost, at least there was something to strive for.
"Don't worry about it. That guy wasn't even here to compete."
Li Xiang patted Corvisquire's back, sighing as he looked at his opponent—a curly-haired young man.
The guy had Wooloo tucked under his arm, chatting and laughing with a few girls who had gathered around, even letting them pet Wooloo before exchanging contact info.
The ones who had been squealing "So cute!" earlier were probably these girls.
This world really had all kinds of people. Using a match to pick up girls… not a bad strategy, honestly.
Li Xiang kind of wanted to pet that Wooloo too—it was just that adorable.
---
Exiting the battlefield.
Lin Feng and Charmeleon had been waiting outside for a while.
"Your matches are kinda weak. I've been watching, and barely anyone's strong. Even the Phoenix Cup was better!"
"It's a community tournament, what do you expect? The fact that there's prize money is already a miracle!"
Li Xiang rolled his eyes. Community tournaments were more about fun, like those elderly dance competitions from his past life.
If not for the prize money and the fact that it was summer break, barely anyone would've signed up.
The pace was fast, too. One match ended, and the next started almost immediately.
Three matches a day, four days total—win all twelve, and you got the prize.
Simple and brutal.
Practically lazy, but Li Xiang didn't care either way.
"By the way, have you decided on your fourth Pokémon yet? Summer break's halfway over. The sooner you get it, the sooner you can train it."
"Me? Uh… still thinking."
Lin Feng clasped his hands behind his head, glancing at Corvisquire, who was glaring at Charmeleon, and chuckled.
"I've actually been kinda interested in Flying-types."
"Togekiss?" Li Xiang asked.
"If only I had that kind of luck!"
Lin Feng shrugged. "You know how rare Togepi is."
Togepi—another Pokémon with low reproduction rates. Even with the League's efforts, their numbers remained scarce.
With its adorable appearance and decent battle capabilities in its final evolution, it ranked in the top three most-wanted Fairy-type Pokémon for trainers.
"I think you're exactly the kind of guy who'd have that luck." Li Xiang patted Lin Feng's shoulder. "If you don't believe in yourself, try wearing a red baseball cap."
"Baseball cap?"
Lin Feng blinked, exchanging a confused look with Charmeleon, who was baring its teeth at Corvisquire. "What's that mean?"
"Don't ask, just wear it. If it works, it works. You're not short on cash anyway."
Li Xiang pushed him. "Alright, enough chit-chat. I've got another match. Go scout for me."
Whether the opponent was strong or weak, gathering intel was crucial.
Lin Feng grumbled as he was shoved away. "Being your friend is hard work—buying you food, being your scout…"
But despite his complaints, the guy obediently walked off with his camera.
---
Next battlefield.
The opponent was already waiting.
His Pokémon resembled a small palm tree, with three yellow fruit-like heads, each bearing a silly-looking face.
—Exeggcute, a Grass/Psychic-type.
This Pokémon had a bizarre ability—if one of its heads fell off, it wouldn't just become a coconut. Instead, it would transform into its pre-evolved form: Exeggcute.
Yep.
Li Xiang had seen it happen at the breeding center. When one of Exeggcutor's heads grew too heavy and dropped, it would glow white and split into five smaller versions of itself, growing to nearly the same size overnight.
Eventually, forming a brand-new Exeggcute.
Just another example of how bizarre Pokémon could be.
Battle start.
Corvisquire was up again.
Exeggcutor was definitely stronger than that Wooloo—at least Li Xiang was giving it a real fight this time.
Corvisquire flapped its wings, closing in on Exeggcutor while letting out a series of mocking, taunting cries—insulting its opponent's mentality.
—Taunt, to prevent status moves.
Honestly, this bird's mouth was filthy. Torracat and the others had complained to Li Xiang multiple times.
"We get it, you're sparring, but why the personal attacks?"
But the results spoke for themselves.
Li Xiang noticed that Corvisquire's Taunt never missed. Every single time, without fail, the opponent fell for it.
Maybe it was because the bird just loved trash-talking.
"Annoying crow…"
As long as it wasn't cursing him, Li Xiang found it pretty amusing.
---
Opponent's side.
Taunt landed.
Exeggcutor's Hypnosis was instantly interrupted, failing to activate. The frustration and anger made it impossible to use any non-attacking moves.
The opponent panicked for a second but quickly steadied himself, ordering Exeggcutor to move and use Bullet Seed.
A rapid barrage of seeds shot from Exeggcutor's three mouths, raining down on Corvisquire!
Rat-tat-tat-tat—!
The sharp, machine-gun-like sound, combined with the rising smoke, made it look like a miniature gatling gun.
Especially with Exeggcutor strafing while firing—it actually looked kinda cool.
Li Xiang was mildly impressed, guessing it had Chlorophyll as its ability. Otherwise, its attack speed and mobility wouldn't be this high.
Plus, most Pokémon only had one mouth, but Exeggcutor had three—naturally, its efficiency and power were different.
In the face of this overwhelming firepower, Corvisquire used Tailwind to boost its speed, dodging with agile movements, but it still couldn't avoid all the seeds, taking two or three hits and letting out a pained cry.
If it wasn't resistant to Grass-type moves, those few seeds might've knocked it out of the sky!
The pain only fueled Corvisquire's aggression. It spiraled in a full 360-degree turn, dodging the frontal assault, then slammed both wings into Exeggcutor—one from each side!
Dual Wingbeat—direct hit!
Super effective!
The pain forced Exeggcutor to stop its gatling-like seed barrage, stumbling back and plopping onto the ground!
It was clearly on its last legs!
"Giga Drain!"
Of course.
With Exeggcutor's HP critically low, the opponent went for recovery.
Since healing moves were locked by Taunt, draining attacks were the next best thing.
But with Tailwind active, the red energy beams missed entirely, giving Corvisquire a free opening.
Flapping its wings, Corvisquire's eyes burned like fire as a dark aura enveloped its body—raising its Attack and Accuracy!
Hone Claws!
Game over.
The opponent tried to fight back with Psyshock, but locking onto Corvisquire with psychic energy now was already too late.
What awaited Exeggcutor was another Dual Wingbeat.
Left wing. Right wing.
Just because it survived the first time didn't mean it would survive again.
Thud! Thud!
Two heavy strikes later, Exeggcutor's eyes swirled as it toppled over, defeated.
Match three—over.
"CAAW—!!"
Victorious, Corvisquire screeched into the sky, circling excitedly, reveling in its triumph.
Yes!
This was what it wanted!
This feeling—amazing!
Looking down at the defeated opponent and the stunned spectators from above, Corvisquire could barely contain itself, spinning like a top midair.
This wasn't its first win, but it was the first time it had felt this pumped.
Clearly, it had considered Exeggcutor a worthy opponent.
And it was a tough fight. If not for Taunt blocking status moves and Corvisquire's aerial advantage forcing the opponent to skip psychic targeting, the match wouldn't have ended so easily.
"Alright, alright! Get down here! This is just the beginning!"
Li Xiang waved at Corvisquire, worried the bird might get so excited it'd relieve itself midair. That would be beyond awkward.
Hearing him, Corvisquire gracefully landed on his shoulder, body trembling slightly, eyes sharp as it scanned the crowd.
Its expression practically screamed—"Big bro, who are we taking down next?"
But the big bro was focused on something else entirely.
"Don't you dare poop on me. If you can't control yourself, go find a bush."
Li Xiang warned Corvisquire multiple times. He really didn't want to get "blessed" mid-battle.
"Cawww!"
Corvisquire gave him a weird look. It didn't get why he was so worried—it never just pooped randomly.
Still, it agreed.
---
Leaving the arena, Li Xiang and his bird went to find their "Lin Feng Scout" for intel.
But sometimes, when hanging out with a "protagonist-type" like Lin Feng, certain situations were inevitable.
—A fight.
Lin Feng was arguing with three boys around fourteen or fifteen, all smirking and sneering. The tension was thick—things could escalate any second.
Frowning, Li Xiang quickly stepped forward, blocking Lin Feng and pulling him back.
"What's going on?"
He kept his voice low, eyes locked on the three boys.
"These pieces of trash can't handle losing, so they started kicking their own Pokémon and their opponent's! Absolute scum!"
Lin Feng was furious, his face red with anger.
Kicking their own and the opponent's Pokémon?
Li Xiang's frown deepened. Before he could ask more, his peripheral vision caught a purple figure curled up in a nearby flower bed, trembling.
But before he could get a closer look, the three boys stepped forward.
"Hey kid, what backwater dump did you crawl out of?"
The leader reached out to pat Li Xiang's cheek—just like in those gangster movies.
"Tch."
Li Xiang sighed, grabbing the guy's wrist, twisting his arm, and kicking the back of his knee—forcing him to kneel in front of his friends.
"Ow ow ow ow ow—!!"
The pain made the guy forget everything, howling like a wounded animal.
The other two, caught off-guard by their leader's sudden movement, fell onto their butts, staring dumbly at Li Xiang and the bird on his shoulder.
Three against one.
And they'd been disarmed instantly.
"Honestly, fighting's not the move."
Li Xiang sighed, glancing at the spectators recording on their phones.
"Hey, can someone call the cops? Or get security? Don't just film—show some of that Qingcheng hospitality!"
A few people laughed, but some actually started dialing.
Hearing "call the police," the two on the ground paled, scrambling up and running away—abandoning their leader entirely.
Lin Feng tried to chase, but Li Xiang stopped him.
"Let it go. One's enough."
Pinning the guy down with his knee, Li Xiang turned to Lin Feng.
"Now—tell me exactly what happened."