"Meow, meowsca~ (Farigiraf reacted pretty quickly, and Gengar was a little crafty. That Charizard was pretty tough, but not too bright. It felt worse than the one at the Gym. The rest were all trash.)"
Meownei had completed the assessment in her own way.
As far as Meownei was concerned, these people had no right to assess her. She should be assessing whether their Pokémon deserved to be her teammates.
If they couldn't even take one hit from her, they weren't qualified to be meat shields.
Those who stood there taking hits without reacting, still waiting for their Trainers' commands, had clearly become stuck in the mindset of arena battles.
So after hitting the whole group with Petal Blizzard, she had reached that conclusion.
Were these Pokémon weak? At least in Meownei's eyes, they were.
But looking at the bigger picture, although their Trainers fell short of outstanding Trainers like Gym Leaders and tournament winners,
they weren't at the bottom of the Trainer population, either. Making the School Team already put them ahead of a great many people.
It was just that, all too often, this was merely the threshold for encountering true geniuses.
Only after stepping onto a truly grand stage could they realize how narrow their old perspective had been.
"Are Charizard, Gengar, and that Farigiraf your core lineup?"
"Uh... yes. Farigiraf is our quickest-reacting support Pokémon, and Charizard and Gengar are pretty strong, too. We've relied on them for our results in the past.
"Of course, they can't compare to your Meowscarada..."
Charizard's and Gengar's Trainers each had several Badges, yet the Fire- and Flying-type Charizard could only barely withstand a single Grass-type attack. The gap in levels was simply too large.
Still, this was good news for the whole School Team.
The well-connected newcomer who had jumped the queue was a powerhouse who might carry them to a championship. Who would turn that down?
They had plenty of objections to carrying extra dead weight, but once they became the dead weight, they had to find a way to latch onto someone stronger.
The School Team members knew where they stood. Although every year was "our most promising year" or "the year we aim for the championship," everyone knew those were just words of encouragement.
Even Li Han, their data analyst, was delighted. This was her first year as a permanent staff member after graduating and staying at the university. If they got results this year, she would get some of the credit, too.
"Stop standing around! You've all seen the difference in strength. Does anyone still have objections?"
As a last-minute addition to the roster, Xin Mu would participate in the 1v1 and 6v6 events.
The 1v1 was simple, a straightforward contest of individual strength, but the 6v6 required defined roles.
Weather control, terrain control, primary attackers, even cannon fodder-all needed clear assignments.
For example, figuring out the opposing lineup before sending in their core Pokémon and analyzing the opponents' tactics using data from previous years were the things Li Han needed to handle.
Meownei had already shown what she could do. Once the Academy Cup started, if the circumstances were right, Li Han could even arrange a strategy where five Pokémon supported one carry.
"My Farigiraf knows Baton Pass, and can set up Light Screen and Reflect."
"Skarmory can lay Spikes."
"My Pangoro knows Parting Shot."
There was an art to riding someone else's coattails, too. TMs weren't easy to obtain in the real world, and most Pokémon's move pools weren't nearly as ridiculous as Meownei's. Whether they could make themselves useful in supporting her therefore became a factor in whether they would get to compete.
Even if they only entered a match to lay Spikes before going down, they could still say they had contributed.
The team members who already filled support roles weren't worried about this. Instead, they were delighted that their main damage dealer had become stronger.
Those like Charizard's Trainer, who had previously served as primary attackers, were more concerned. After all, when roles overlapped, the weaker one naturally lost out.
"Actually... my Charizard can use Sunny Day, too."
"Oh, please. She's a Grass-type. Sunny Day would only help Solar Beam charge, while also boosting the opposing Fire-types' damage. My Vileplume would be better! It knows Grassy Terrain!"
"Oh, give it a rest. Can't she use Grassy Terrain herself? Why would she need you to set it up?"
For now, the team atmosphere was harmonious, and nobody had any objections to their newly arrived powerhouse.
They did, however, have plenty of objections about who would support her.
There was no deciding that yet. The actual arrangement would depend on the opposing team.
As for the Pokémon, their groups were actually quite straightforward. Being the strongest could solve a great many problems.
Meownei had successfully subdued these Pokémon through force and become their temporary "tribal chief."
"Xin Mu, what Ability does your Meowscarada have, and roughly what moves does she know? Would you mind telling me?"
Li Han came over to Xin Mu with her laptop in her arms, then apparently thought better of it and backed away a few steps to maintain a safe distance.
It was her intuition. That Meowscarada... was a little too protective of her Trainer. Li Han kept feeling that approaching him was dangerous.
"Her Ability is Protean, and her move pool is pretty extensive. She can handle pretty much every type, and she can use Z-Moves, too."
Xin Mu picked out a few things to share. They might be teammates, but there was no need to reveal all his secrets.
Still, with every sentence he spoke, Li Han's eyes shone a little brighter.
A monstrously strong Meowscarada with Protean and a deep move pool-she didn't even know how anyone was supposed to fight that.
With strength like that, he wasn't out making a name for himself at a League tournament, but staying at school to play in the "Little Cup." Whoever had brought him onto the team was truly "wicked."
Not that it mattered.
Remembering the opponent they had faced last year, who had competed for an extra year by delaying graduation, she felt Xin Mu's presence was entirely reasonable.
"Got it. Um, what's your ID number? Send it to me, and I'll book your flight."
"Flight?"
"Yes. This year's Academy Cup is called the Pangoro Academy Cup, so of course it's being held in Tianfu."
"Um... can I sit this one out?"
"Pfft! Cough... cough..."
Nearby, Old Liu had been daydreaming about a promotion and nearly choked on his water. He had never imagined that this prized student, who had been chatting perfectly normally a second ago, would suddenly want to withdraw.
"What's wrong? Why don't you want to go?"
"It's not that I don't want to go. I just don't like taking planes."
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"No. I can ride cable cars and Ferris wheels. I just don't like planes."
Hearing Xin Mu's answer, Old Liu suddenly felt a headache coming on. He hadn't expected this to be his student's weakness.
"Then what will you do when you compete in other regions in the future?"
"Take a ship, or wait until I catch a Flying-type Pokémon. Then I can have it fly me there."
"Aren't you afraid of flying?"
"No, I just don't want to get on a plane."
Whether in the past or now, Xin Mu had never wanted to take planes.
He understood that planes were the safest form of transportation. All kinds of statistics showed that the probability of an aviation accident was extremely low.
But that did nothing to change his aversion to planes.
"So, as long as you don't have to take a plane, you're fine?"
"Yeah. How about I buy my own train ticket and go there?"
"No. It'll be a problem if a team member travels alone and we can't find them afterward. Besides, it wouldn't look good if word got out that we were making team members pay their own way to compete.
"Here's what we'll do. Han, book their flights. We'll travel separately. We'll leave early by train and meet everyone in Tianfu."
Something similar had happened before. A team member had traveled alone, only to vanish after arriving. Apparently, he had spent 500 yuan to "help" a lonely, helpless, innocent young woman by the roadside, then been taken away for questioning.
Ever since then, School Team members had been forbidden from traveling on their own.
"Um, Teacher Liu, there's one more thing."
"What is it?"
"Meownei doesn't like going into her Poké Ball, so we'll need to buy another ticket."
"No problem. Easy enough."
Old Liu had thought it might be something serious. As far as he was concerned, anything else was negotiable as long as Xin Mu could compete. Otherwise, his performance results would go up in smoke, and he would have no one to complain to.
"Teacher Liu, there's actually another problem."
"What now?"
Just as Xin Mu's issues had finally been resolved, Li Han timidly raised her hand.
"According to the rules, the university can reimburse Xin Mu and his Pokémon. But Teacher Liu, you... aren't currently part of the School Team, so your ticket... finance might not approve it..."
Before you continue