A spirit descends, Gardevoir is my childhood friend?

Lin Xiaolin was somewhat absent-minded all day, his mind constantly preoccupied with the matter of Xiao Lan and Jirachi.

As a result, I didn't get to watch the game properly, but luckily Yan Fan was there to help me organize the information of the teams that played in today's game.

"What's wrong? You've been distracted all day."

When we returned to the hotel after dinner, Yan Fan suddenly came up to us and asked a question.

"Yes, I've been studying that stone lately."

"Research? You're still doing it these days? Why don't you wait until after the competition to do it?"

"That's true, let's study it again when we get back to Xingcheng."

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Back in her room, Lin Xiaolin put down the bag she was carrying, and Xinlin immediately came over.

The bag contained some snacks that I bought specifically for the three elves.

"How is Sister Little Blue?"

Lin Xiaolin walked over to Xiao Lan's side with concern.

"It's nothing serious. My superpowers were just temporarily drained. I'll be fine after a while."

That evening, Lin Xiaolin studied the stone again, but there was no reaction whatsoever.

Xiao Lan said that releasing superpowers would be absorbed. Lin Xiaolin wanted to try it, but after thinking about it, she decided against it. She had a competition in a few days, and she couldn't afford any accidents to happen in the next few days.

The next day, the preliminary rounds had already been completed in the first three days, and the knockout rounds were about to begin.

After putting on her school uniform, Lin Xiaolin went to the battlefield with Yan Fan and the others.

As soon as I entered the lounge, I saw my senior and Tang Tian's group. It seemed they were even more anxious than I was.

Lin Xiaolin touched her head sheepishly and sat down in her seat.

The knockout stage group meeting will start promptly at 9 o'clock. Lin Xiaolin glanced at the time and thought, "Hmm, 8:50. I'm quite early."

I had barely sat down when numbers started flashing on the big screen. Xuan Cheng was still absent today; it seemed he wouldn't be there to referee until the quarterfinals.

Lin Xiaolin was still a little nervous looking at the numbers displayed on the screen. She rubbed her hands together and looked at the screen.

List of those who advanced:

Group 1: Longdu No. 2 High School Team 1

Group 2: Team 2 of Tiandu No.1 High School

Group 3: .....

.....

Group 7: Xingcheng No.1 High School Team 2

Group 8: Team 1, Xuecheng No.1 High School

......

Group 16: Fengdu No.1 High School Team 1

......

Lin Xiaolin looked through the list from top to bottom. There were 32 teams, 24 of which were from the Eight Great Capitals. Moreover, both of the teams from the Eight Great Capitals' First High School made it into the top 32.

The remaining 8 teams basically made it into the top 32 through a combination of luck and skill.

Meanwhile, the image on the stage changed its format after one minute.

1组vs2组，3组vs4组，5组vs6组......

And so on, the winner between Group 1 and Group 2 will play against the winner between Group 3 and Group 4.

Until the final eight are determined, the eight will then randomly select their opponents.

Lin Xiaolin looked at himself and his opponent in this match, Group 8.

Suddenly, there was silence, and the words were clearly written on the screen.

5组：炎城一高1队，6组：川城一高1队，7组：星城一高2队，8组：雪城一高1队。

So it seems like I won't encounter anyone who makes it to the quarterfinals before then?

What kind of incredible luck is this? Lin Xiaolin suddenly looked in Wanqiao's direction with suspicion, wondering if it was Wanqiao's bad luck at work.

All he could say was... Well done!

Wanqiao, who had been glanced at by Lin Xiaolin, looked completely bewildered, blinking her big eyes in confusion.

The competition time is clearly written above: it will start promptly at 3 PM today, with all groups participating in the knockout stage.

Well, it seems the competition will have to wait until the afternoon. It looks like we're giving all the players some time to prepare.

"I've finished investigating the information, and it's right here."

Tang Tian pulled a document from a plastic bag, walked to the wall, and pushed over a small blackboard that he had prepared beforehand.

It seems that Tang Tian had already prepared the materials in the past two days.

"Your next opponent is Snow City No. 1 High School. This city is in the north of China, a place of ice and snow, where almost all the Pokémon are ice-type. You can tell that from their previous matches."

Tang Tian took out a piece of chalk and started writing and drawing on the blackboard.

Leader: Edelweiss, Ability: Scale Powder, Key Moves: Snowscape, Feather Dance

The rest of the team members:

Glaceon, Ability: Snow Cloak, Key Move: Helping Hand

Snowcap, Ability: Snowfall, Key Move: Swagger

Mini Ice, Ability: Snow Cloak, Key Move: Taunt

Nyra, Trait: Steal

Boar, Ability: Snow Cloak

Cloyster, Ability: Shell Armor, Key Moves: Protect, Toxic Spikes, Spikes

The Spiny Clam is suspected to be the second strongest member of the team.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Here's the third update. Do you all like Jirachi? It only awakens for 7 days every 1000 years, and each time it awakens, all the friends it knew are gone.

I've started working on the illustrations of Lingxin Tianwang and Xiaolin's maternal grandfather, but I'm not entirely satisfied with them yet. Please wait a little longer.

Here are some beautiful pictures:

Chapter 163 College League (9)

"This is the detailed information I gathered from their matches over the past few days."

Lin Xiaolin couldn't help but click his tongue. Good heavens, after watching just a few matches, they almost stripped the opponent bare. No wonder Tang Tian told them to try their best to preserve some of their trump cards while still being able to defeat their opponents.

"Let's start with their last match against Longdu No. 2 High School Team 2. They were a very lucky team. In my opinion, they had no strength to make it into the top 32. In the last match, they just happened to meet Longdu No. 2 High School Team 2, and the captain of Longdu No. 2 High School Team 2 was either sick or something else and could barely win."

At this point, Tang Tian paused for a moment before speaking again.

"But it wasn't entirely due to luck. Their individual skills were very poor. They relied entirely on that one Spiny Shell to get a point and then make it to the team competition. Their teamwork was very strong."

Even without Tang Tian saying anything, Lin Xiaolin could tell from the information he had about the Pokémon and the skills he needed to be careful of that the team battle would definitely be tough.

Tang Tian remained silent, leaving the rest to Lin Xiaolin. Lin Xiaolin and her group of nine gathered together to discuss tactics.

"We must win both the singles and doubles matches in this battle and try not to drag it into the team match, otherwise it will become a tough battle."

After Lin Xiaolin said these words, everyone else nodded in agreement.

Judging from the situation on the ground, the opponent is definitely going to use snow tactics, while our side has 6 main players, 3 of whom are dragon-type, so fighting in snow will definitely put us at a disadvantage.

"Teacher Tang said that the opponent's individual strength is not good. Only one of their Spiny Clams can barely get a point through tactics. So we must focus on the singles. An Yang, Shi Yu, these two singles matches are in your hands. Try to win them both!"

Lin Xiaolin pondered for a while before deciding to send in the Shi siblings. The Spiny Shell would definitely use Guard in combination with Spikes to annoy people.

This requires fast players, and the fastest players in the team are Shi Anyang, Shi Yu, and Yan Fan. Naturally, the best choices are Shi Yu and Shi Anyang.

The two nodded in agreement upon hearing Lin Xiaolin's arrangement.

"For doubles, I'll team up with my senior, and Yan Fan and Lele will team up. That's a more stable approach."

With the tactics finalized, everyone nodded in approval, as this was currently the most stable tactic.

Next, Lin Xiaolin analyzed the opponent's Pokémon, explaining it to everyone based on her general understanding of Pokémon and pointing out some points that needed attention.

After lunch, Lin Xiaolin returned to the lounge and leaned back in her chair to take a nap in order to ensure she was in good spirits for the afternoon.

At 2:50 p.m., the loudspeakers in the venue began to play.

"Please, all advancing contestants, enter the arena. Groups one and two, proceed to arena number 1; groups three and four, proceed to arena number 2... and groups seven and eight, proceed to arena number 4..."

Lin Xiaolin stretched, stood up and walked outside, with Yan Fan and the others following behind.

"Little Scales".

Suddenly a voice came from behind. Lin Xiaolin, who had walked to the door, suddenly turned around and saw Qian Jue with a smiling expression.