Back in the dorm, those two's Pokémon had put him through absolute hell. First Misdreavus, then Absol, and then Zorua... He could already imagine the miserable life awaiting him.
"All right, all right, I know you weren't cheating. I was wrong, okay? Here, eat some more!" Shen Yue comforted him from beside him, looking apologetic. Zorua might have deliberately led her astray, but none of it would have worked if she hadn't believed it.
"I'm sorry, okay? I shouldn't have doubted you. My brain just stopped working for a moment. I actually know you wouldn't have the nerve to cheat."
Jiang Cheng: "..."
Suddenly, I think I'd rather you didn't apologize.
"Hahaha, Yueyue has a point! Don't be mad, Jiang Cheng. Zorua likes playing tricks on people. You'll get used to it after a few more encounters!" Xiao Ran laughed, but to Jiang Cheng, those words sounded like a nightmare. A few more encounters, and he'd get used to it...
"Oh, right, if only you'd come back a few days earlier. The Nancheng Universities Freshman Tournament just started. You might've made it in time to sign up!" Once they were done teasing Jiang Cheng, they settled down to discuss recent events at the university.
The Nancheng Universities Freshman Tournament had been scheduled to follow the month-long military training. It was a contest between the freshmen of Nancheng's various universities, as well as an intercollegiate competition to gauge the strength of each Pokémon university's upcoming talent.
The competition would largely determine how resources were allocated to the new freshman classes across Nancheng's universities that year, though Nancheng University usually took the top spot all to itself.
There was little anyone could do about that. Nancheng University was the city's pride and joy, a nationally funded institution whose resources far exceeded anything