"Do you understand now?"
After Cynthia recalled Lucario, Xu Mu looked down at the students and asked with a stern expression.
"We..."
The students lowered their heads, murmuring. None dared meet Xu Mu's eyes.
Even Cynthia had fallen silent.
She had thought she might lose, but she had never imagined losing so completely.
From start to finish, Li Hong had led her and Lucario by the nose.
They had barely had any chance of winning!
It was a bitter feeling.
"You outnumbered them, but you were weaker. Three thousand against thirty-one, and you still lost."
"Back then, you comforted yourselves."
"Yes, you're young. You're all newcomers, and your Pokémon really aren't as strong as the instructors'."
"But did any of you reflect on what you did wrong?"
"Three thousand people, scattered and fighting without any coordination!"
"Thirty-one people turned around and beat you so badly your own mothers wouldn't recognize you. Aren't you ashamed?"
"What, too embarrassed to speak? No excuses now?"
"You all saw how strong Cynthia's Lucario is, didn't you?"
"One Lucario against over a hundred Pokémon below Elite Four level. And what happened? You saw it, didn't you?"
"Do you know where the difference lies?"
Liu Shuo listened more intently than anyone.
Since getting to know Xu Mu, life had been going splendidly for him.
With Xu Mu looking out for it, the Liu Family had benefited from his extraordinary success. In just a few months, it had transformed into one of the most powerful families around.
And as the family grew stronger, Liu Shuo's standing had risen considerably.
Rare Pokémon and resources he once hadn't dared dream of were now his to use as he pleased.
But had he really grown?
Had everything he'd experienced lately truly changed him?
It didn't seem so.
Liu Shuo