Chương 168: is already researching next year's opponents.

"By the way, did you guys have a private match with Kona yesterday?"

Halfway through breakfast, Cynthia finally seemed unable to contain her curiosity and asked Lu Sha a question first.

"Huh? (The news spread that fast?)" Lu Sha was somewhat surprised. He had thought that if this matter were to spread, A Liu would be the first to lose her temper.

Goodness, I never expected that you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes, would be a gossip-loving internet user who spends all day surfing the web?

Otherwise, how did you find out about the fixed match so early this morning when it had just ended late last night?

"The video of your match has gone viral online! Everyone's laughing at Kona for overestimating himself. Even though you didn't face each other on the field, he still insisted on going looking for a beating in private," A-Liu chuckled from the side.

"Last night, some netizens from Kanto were clamoring online, saying you guys were lucky not to run into Lorelei in the tournament. Otherwise, with your four times weakness to Ice, it's hard to say who would have won if you had actually fought her," Wusong added, pushing up his glasses.

"Hehe, that's right, that's right! But who would have thought that the famously cold-faced Ice Queen couldn't even get past Scizor! Scizor, you've really made Bug-type Pokémon proud!"

A-Liu was so excited that she danced around and even gave a big thumbs up to the scythe opposite her that was quietly eating.

His smug demeanor made it seem as if he were the one who commanded the Scizor yesterday.

He watched the video over and over again as soon as it was released. Gadriya crushed Kona with overwhelming force; it was so cool.

Most importantly, Scizor is a Bug Pokémon, and in A-Liu's opinion, it's the coolest Bug Pokémon.

"Crack! (You're celebrating too soon. Actually, we had a fight yesterday, and I got crushed.)" Lu Sha shrugged helplessly.

"Huh? You actually lost?!"

Cynthia was so surprised she almost dropped the spoon in her hand.

In her subconscious, it seemed that Lu Sha and Gadriya had never tasted defeat since their debut.

Although there are no invincible trainers in the world, the overwhelming strength that Cattleya and her friends usually display really gives people the illusion that they are never defeated.

"Hiss... Isn't Laplace the ace of that cold-faced ice woman? Could it be that she's hiding some other trump card that even you can't beat?" A-Liu's eyes widened, exclaiming that it was impossible.

"Click! (Not Lorelei, but Lance. His Dragonite is really strong.)" Lu Sha explained casually, "Click! (Given their eagerness to get revenge, it probably won't be long before the video of Du defeating me is pushed all over the internet.)"

"How long did your match last?" Dorasena suddenly leaned over and asked.

"Click? (It's been about 20 minutes, why are you asking this?)" Lu Sha was a little confused.

Immediately afterwards, he saw Dorasena slightly purse her lips and silently mouth something to him: Match-fixing!

Huh? Countless question marks instantly popped up above Lu Sha's head.

No, in a match of equal skill, isn't it normal for a Dragonite that's one or two feet away from championship level to last 20 minutes?

How did you come to the conclusion that I threw the match?

"Fake!"

Sitting opposite her, Cynthia also made a decisive judgment without the slightest hesitation in her tone.

"Clang? (No, don't make wild guesses! The Heavenly King Du is really powerful; that was a real, hard-fought battle!)" Lu Sha tried his best to explain.

He just didn't understand.

Just by hearing the length of the match, how can you conclude that he is throwing the game?

"Hehe, Lu Sha, you wicked shark, stop putting on that innocent face. Everyone knows your style. A fight that can be settled in two minutes will never drag on for two thousand minutes. If you haven't won after twenty minutes, it means you never intended to win in the first place!"

Ah Liu smiled brightly, looking as if she knew everything.

"Click! (Hey, so in your eyes, the young lady and I don't have any passion as trainers at all?)" Lu Sha was amused by this group of clowns.

Good grief, so any match that he plays for a long time, doesn't win in the end, and doesn't surrender is all classified as match-fixing?

"Of course I have passion! Jiajia has a lot of passion, it's just that you don't have any at all."

Cynthia's words almost broke Lu Sha's composure on the spot.

what?

"Click! (Which eye of yours saw that the young lady is more passionate than me?!)" Lu Sha can accept being called a cunning old man, but he absolutely cannot accept someone saying that the young lady is more passionate than him.

How could he not know what kind of person Cattleya usually was?

She used to be a little better, but now he's led her astray... no, she's gone astray on her own! Now she'll lie down to rest whenever possible, and sit rather than stand.

How can you blame him for this?

"If you were the one getting beaten up, Jiajia would really want to win. If it weren't for the match being fixed last night, she would have personally stepped in and used her psychic powers to knock out the opposing trainer, she would never have just watched you lose."

Cynthia rested her chin on her hand, looking at Lu Sha with a hint of envy in her eyes.

In fact, she really envied Lu Sha and Gadria.

As a Gible trainer herself, she has always felt very lucky, and that her Gible is very special.

But whenever the bond between Lu Sha and Cattleya is seen, she and her Gible seem somewhat ordinary.

Perhaps, this is fate.

An extraordinary trainer paired with an extraordinary Gible.

She considers herself just an ordinary trainer, so she paired her with an ordinary but cute Gible.

"Click! (That's true, very likely!)" This time, Lu Sha accepted it calmly.

The young lady does have some extremely stubborn obsessions, but in his opinion, those obsessions are actually quite cute.

However, Little Cabbage's melancholy appearance seems a bit off...

"Click! (By the way, how's your Gible breeding going lately?)" Lu Sha turned his head and asked the Gible that was sitting at the table next to him, engrossed in its work.

Since it wasn't his own Pokémon, he couldn't see its specific stats. He could only roughly judge from the energy fluctuations it emitted that this Gible had reached level 20.

If we follow Cynthia and the others' extreme level-control training method, it means that Gible's attribute control definitely exceeds 20%.

"Currently at level 24, I'm stuck at the bottleneck of evolution. Once I raise the Dragon Claw move proficiency to Mastery, I can complete the first stage of evolution."

When Cynthia mentioned her Gible, her expression became noticeably more animated.

Many times, she did envy Lu Sha's human-like intelligence, but she never had the idea of trading Pokémon.

Even if time could be turned back a few months, she would never have traded her Gible for Land Sand.

Some bonds were etched deep into her soul from the moment she watched the gible hatch.

"Click! (That's pretty good progress. At this rate, our college will probably be able to defend our championship title next year.)"' Lu Shaka smiled and encouraged him.

"But I heard that Professor Oak's grandson will officially debut next year. Can I really beat him?" Cynthia rarely showed a hint of hesitation.

She could roughly understand the subtext in Lu Sha's words.

She knew that with Lu Sha and Gadriya's current strength, they would definitely challenge for the Four Heavenly Kings or even the regional champion's throne this year, just like Du.

Next year, they definitely won't participate in student competitions like the College Cup anymore.

Meanwhile, key players like Wusong and Aliu are also graduating.

At that time, she will probably have to take up the mantle of Zhuqing Academy.

"Click! (What are you afraid of? It's just a mere green one, not a crimson one. You've grown a year older than him, so there's no need to be afraid of him. Or are you saying you don't even have the confidence to surpass Professor Oak?)" Lu Sha used reverse psychology without any politeness.

Cyan and Crimson are indeed overpowered, but Cynthia is just as good.

Even if Crimson completes the championship journey in a year, the Academy Cup usually starts half a year after the start of the semester. Cynthia, who has been growing for a year and a half, is still very likely to lose.

Besides, Crimson might not even be interested in participating.

"Of course I'm confident!"

Cynthia blurted it out instinctively.

Aside from Lu Sha, that oddball, she never felt that she was inferior to anyone of her age.

Even if she were to face Daigo or Lance, given the same amount of time to grow, she would be absolutely confident that she could surpass them.

"Click! (It's settled then! Next year, Prantina and the others will have grown up, so the young lady and I will be your leaders.)" Lu Sha chuckled and immediately started planning next year's schedule.

"This script sounds so familiar..." A-Liu stroked her chin, adding a sarcastic remark, "And then next year, as a favorite to win the championship, they'll be defeated by a dark horse that suddenly emerges, ending up in the first round of the top 64?"

"Click! (That's Quartz Academy's unlucky script! If you all get beaten up like that next year, you'd all swim back... no, wait, the competition will be held in our own backyard next year. If you lose, you'd all sink to the bottom of Lake of Ambition and be fed to the fish!)" Lu Sha's face instantly darkened.

Repeating the same old route as the ferry crossing? Absolutely not!

No, we must find out about Qinglv's background before the start of next year's competition.

If that kid really is a cheat code monster, he might as well give up being the team leader of Zhuqing Academy. He could just be the head of the Academy Cup and make a contribution to the region.

"Hahaha!"

Seeing Lu Sha's embarrassed expression, everyone laughed even more heartily.

After breakfast, Lu Sha carried the young lady's favorite desserts and sweetened coffee back to her hotel room.

Judging by the time, the knockout stage should have already started.

But at this moment, the penthouse suite in Devon still maintained a sense of tranquility and serenity.

Bright sunlight streamed through the huge floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing Cattleya, who was lounging lazily in a lounge chair.

Her long, golden hair, easily a meter and a half long, shimmered with a soft sheen in the sunlight.

Lu Sha lay lazily opposite her, comfortably basking in the sun and enjoying this rare moment of tranquility.

However, this tranquility lasted only half a morning before a crisp knock came from outside the door.

"Click? (Who would come looking for us so early in the morning?)" Lu Sha yawned without even lifting her eyelids, only glancing out of the corner of her eye at the door in the distance that opened automatically under the influence of her telekinesis.

Since the young lady opened the door herself, it means that the person outside must be someone she knows.

It has to be said that superpowers are incredibly convenient in daily life, allowing you to retrieve objects from a distance and even see through walls to identify people.

"I'm sorry to have disturbed your rest."

"Sana~" Standing outside the door was Karune, dressed casually. Seeing Lu Sha and Gadria inside, she smiled and greeted Gardevoir beside her.

"Click! (Oh, it's you guys. Why aren't you cramming for last-minute training? What are you doing here?" Lu Sha joked casually. Now, only he and Cattleya are in the room, with perhaps one more Arknom that doesn't want to come out. He packed up all the other Pokémon and handed them over to Cynthia and the others to use as training partners at the training ground. With the strength of Scizor and Diancie, they can just help Cynthia and the others increase their strength, and also level up their proficiency for today." There's no point in doing extra training right away. We'll be facing you guys in the next round, and we have absolutely no chance of winning," Karuni said frankly, shaking her head." Click! (So I've never understood why, with your abilities, you only got second place in the test round?)" As Lu Sha spoke, he glanced at Gardevoir next to Karune. With its power level of Champion-level Gardevoir, it wouldn't be difficult for it to compete for a top-three spot. Moreover, during the testing phase, Karuni didn't even bother with pretense and went straight for Mega Evolution. Although the Mega Evolved Gardevoir is not yet at the Champion level, it is second only to the Ice-type Lapras, which has a four-fold super strength against Salamence, among all the contestants. If it weren't for the lack of attribute advantage, Karuni could have easily taken first place." Miare Academy doesn't have any good prospects this year. After the previous year's seniors graduated, I'm basically fighting alone this year."" Even if I'm personally very strong, it's difficult to lead the team into the top eight. Rather than struggling in the later stages, it's better to get a high ranking in the individual tests and meet you on the field as soon as possible," Karuni explained with a smile. Actually, Lu Sha had already informed her before the test match started. But she ultimately chose to strive for a high ranking and took the initiative to go head-to-head with Zhuqing College. Since they're destined to go nowhere this year, they might as well accept defeat to the champion team early on, which might leave the people of Carlos with a good memory. Moreover, due to the recent overwhelming publicity campaign in the Carlos region, everyone has heard of Cattleya's strength. As a region that hasn't even formed a league yet, it's perfectly acceptable for Carlos to lose to the future champion and the strongest of the new generation. It certainly wouldn't cause such a public outcry like in Kanto.