On the stage, the young man was overjoyed to hear someone from the audience accept his challenge. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a young man even more handsome than himself.
“Oh my god, I thought I was already one of the rare handsome men in the world, but there’s someone even more handsome than me. This is unfair.”
While the young man on stage was deep in self-doubt because of Zhou Yuan’s appearance, Zhou Yuan also walked up the steps beside the ring onto the stage.
The referee, who was over forty, saw Zhou Yuan come up and said to him:
“Young man, please give me your Trainer certificate. I’ll help you register.”
Zhou Yuan handed his Trainer certificate to the referee. After receiving it, the referee swiped it on a portable device, and Zhou Yuan’s basic information appeared. The referee nodded while looking at the information and said:
“You are indeed a rookie Trainer. You can prepare to start the battle. Before the battle, I will first explain the rules of ring battles to you.”
The latter half of the sentence was directed at Zhou Yuan.
“Ring battles are one-on-one, with a limit of four Skills. You must not directly attack the opposing Trainer, you must not use a fifth Skill that has not been used before, and you must not continue attacking after the opponent’s Pokémon loses its ability to resist or the opponent surrenders. Violating these rules will result in a loss. Do you understand?”
Saying that, the referee handed the Trainer certificate back to Zhou Yuan.
Zhou Yuan nodded.
“Thank you, referee. I understand.”
The young man, seeing that the referee had finally explained everything clearly, said to Zhou Yuan with a hint of impatience:
“Hey, let’s battle! Send out your Pokémon.”
Hearing his opponent’s words, Zhou Yuan turned to look at him and replied:
“First, I’m not ‘hey’, my name is Chu… *cough* wrong channel. My name is Zhou Yuan. You can call me Zhou Ge, or you can call me Yuan Ge. Second, you’d best let Gurdurr rest and recover its stamina, otherwise, if you lose the battle later, others will inevitably think I only won because I took advantage of the previous six-person wheel battle.”
The young man’s temper flared up immediately:
“Gurdurr and I don’t need to rest! You can’t defeat me!”
Zhou Yuan’s mouth curved into a smile as he listened.
“Oh? Are you sure? My Pokémon’s strength is even stronger than the Nidorino you battled in your last match.”
The young man seemed a bit hesitant. He knew that the Nidorino from the last match had probably also reached the Elite Level. If he had to battle two Elite Level opponents consecutively, even if Gurdurr had been Elite Level for a longer time, it might still lose.
Zhou Yuan saw his opponent’s hesitation and proactively offered a way out.
“Alright, you should let your Pokémon rest first, otherwise, it will inevitably seem like I won unfairly.”
This time, the young man didn’t insist. While feeding Gurdurr an Oran Berry to restore its stamina, he turned to Zhou Yuan and said:
“Hey, your name is Zhou Yuan, right? Regardless of the final battle result, at least I respect your character. My name is Li Feiyong. Although I say that, you won’t be able to defeat me.”
Looking at his opponent’s slightly raised head, Zhou Yuan smiled. This was also a young man with a good nature, just a little arrogant. But as the saying goes, youth is wild. If you don’t go wild once, how can you live up to your youth? If he hadn't transmigrated, just based on Growlithe and its strength, he would probably be even more arrogant than this young man.
Ten minutes later, Li Feiyong indicated that he had rested enough and the battle could begin. The two stood on opposite sides of the ring, and the referee stood in the middle, giving the command with a whistle:
“Battle start!”
As the referee’s command was given, Li Feiyong had Gurdurr, who had received enough rest, walk onto the battleground, and then said to Zhou Yuan:
“Send out your Pokémon! Let’s battle!”
Zhou Yuan smiled, pulled out a Cherish Ball, and threw it handsomely onto the battleground—a move he had specifically practiced.
“Growlithe, I choose you!”
As a red light shot out from the Cherish Ball, the Cherish Ball bounced back into Zhou Yuan’s hand, and the dog landed on the field, roaring with its head held high: “Woof!!!”
Under Zhou Yuan’s care, the dog ate and drank well every day. Its height had already surpassed the average height of a Growlithe, reaching eighty centimeters, and its body had become plump, weighing as much as 23 kilograms.
There was a commotion in the audience below.
“It’s a Growlithe! This new Challenger, I didn’t expect him to be a bit less handsome than me, but richer.”
“Have you no shame? How can you compare to him with how you look?”
“If I’m not mistaken, his Poké Ball is a Cherish Ball, right? So rich…”
While the audience below was still in an uproar, the battle on stage had already begun.
“Oh? Is this the source of your confidence in challenging me?” Li Feiyong smiled. “Gurdurr, use Force Palm!”
When Zhou Yuan saw Gurdurr’s Skills, he guessed what Skill his opponent would use to attack. It was indeed Force Palm. This Skill, while dealing damage, also has a certain chance to paralyze Growlithe, and another Skill in Gurdurr’s Skill list, Wake-Up Slap, can remove this status and deal double damage when the Pokémon is paralyzed.
Even if Gurdurr’s attack power was lowered by Growlithe’s Intimidate Ability, the dog wouldn’t feel good if it took the full combo.
Therefore, after anticipating his opponent’s move, Zhou Yuan commanded the dog to use a Skill.
“Growlithe, use Protect!”
Gurdurr swung the steel pillar it carried and struck the egg-shaped protective shield that solidified around the dog. Gurdurr’s attack failed to break through the dog’s defense.
Taking advantage of Li Feiyong still being stunned because Force Palm was blocked, Zhou Yuan continued to command:
“Growlithe, use Play Rough!”
“What the heck?! This dog also learned Play Rough?!” Li Feiyong was astonished.
Play Rough, a Fairy-type Skill, has high power and may lower the attacked Pokémon’s Attack stat after the attack takes effect.
The dog’s front paws glowed with a faint pink light, perfectly hitting Gurdurr, who was standing right in front of him.
At this range, missing? Impossible to miss!
As a Fighting-type Pokémon, Gurdurr is weak to Fairy-type attacks. After taking a full Play Rough, it staggered backward, clearly indicating that Growlithe’s attack had dealt considerable damage.
“Gurdurr, show some grit! Use Reversal!”
Reversal is a Fighting-type Skill that deals more damage the lower the user’s HP. After taking a full Play Rough, if Gurdurr had an HP bar, it would be in the red now. In this situation, Reversal would deal extremely high damage. If Growlithe were hit critically, it might be instantly knocked out.
Seeing Gurdurr begin to swing its steel pillar again, making whooshing sounds, it was too late for Growlithe to dodge, and Protect might not hold up. Zhou Yuan gave a command.
“Growlithe, use Flare Blitz in the opposite direction!”
Although Growlithe didn’t know why its Trainer wanted it to do this, it chose to obey its Trainer’s command. Flames spread over Growlithe’s fur, and the dog, enveloped in roaring flames, charged outward, and this charge just happened to avoid Gurdurr’s attack range.
“What is this!!! ∑(ﾟДﾟﾉ)ﾉ” Li Feiyong was dumbfounded. You can use Flare Blitz in reverse?
Taking advantage of this charge, Growlithe and Gurdurr also created a relatively safe distance, at least enough distance to dodge if Gurdurr used Reversal again.
But having won six consecutive battles, Li Feiyong was not an easy opponent.
Under his command, Gurdurr used Sonic Punch, directly rushing with a punch to Growlithe’s face, giving Growlithe a solid hit. Zhou Yuan also didn’t choose to have Growlithe use Protect again to block, directly opting for a trade of blows.
“Growlithe, use Flare Blitz!”
The dog once again enveloped itself in blazing flames and charged forward. This time, it didn’t charge in the opposite direction, but directly slammed into Gurdurr’s chest.
And just as Gurdurr was about to be knocked out by Growlithe’s charge, Li Feiyong’s command came through:
“Gurdurr, use Endure!”
Endure is a very mysterious Skill that allows a Pokémon to retain a tiny bit of energy when it is about to lose its ability to battle, also known as holding on with low HP. In this situation, using Reversal afterward would cause extremely high damage.
“Growlithe, use Protect!” / “Gurdurr, use Reversal!”
Both sides gave commands simultaneously. Since Flare Blitz directly hit Gurdurr’s face, there was no way to avoid this Reversal this time. The only option was to use Protect to tank it. Although Protect would definitely be broken, it was better to block a few hits than to take the full Skill.
The actual situation was as Zhou Yuan expected. Although Growlithe quickly condensed an egg-shaped shield, it was still shattered by Gurdurr’s attack.
“Something’s wrong! The power is wrong. Logically, after being weakened by Intimidate, even a full-power Reversal shouldn’t have broken Protect so quickly, unless…”
Just as Gurdurr’s attack was about to hit Growlithe, a wisp of flame ignited on its body. This wisp of flame took away its last bit of stamina, and Gurdurr, holding its steel pillar, collapsed.
“Indeed, Growlithe’s Flare Blitz triggered the burn effect. According to Gurdurr’s Guts Ability, its attack power increases by half under a status condition, no wonder it could break through Protect so early, but it’s also because the burn dealt damage to Gurdurr that it collapsed so suddenly.”
The referee entered the field, looked at Gurdurr with swirling eyes, and announced:
“Gurdurr is unable to battle! Growlithe wins the battle!”
【First win in a battle of the same level, Energy Points +500】
【Admiration from a passerby, Energy Points +100】
【First win in a battle against a lower level, Energy Points +750】
【Host’s current Energy Points: 3310 points】
The audience below the ring started chattering again:
“Wow, he actually won that! He’s so amazing.”
“Tsk, it was just luck. If it weren’t for that burn, he would have lost. I could do it too.”
Li Feiyong, standing on the stage, was feeling down because of his loss when he suddenly heard this remark. His temper flared up instantly, and he pointed in the direction of the voice, saying:
“You said you could do it too? Come on up here! I’ll rest for five minutes, and I’ll still beat you easily, believe it or not? If you don’t believe me, come up and spar with me. Do you dare to come? If not, then get lost. Someone genuinely defeated me, and I acknowledge his strength. What are you complaining about? If you think you can do it, then come up.”
After being verbally assaulted by Li Feiyong, that person didn’t dare to reply and slipped away from the crowd.
Zhou Yuan recalled Growlithe and looked at Li Feiyong opposite him, finding this young man quite interesting. Although a bit arrogant, he was able to take losses in stride and wasn’t petty. His future achievements would likely not be low.
Waving to Li Feiyong, Zhou Yuan prepared to leave the ring and depart. After all, there were too few Elite Level opponents here. It would be better to go to the right half of the arena or battle wild Pokémon in the wild with Big Red accompanying him.
Just as Zhou Yuan was walking down the steps, Li Feiyong called out to him,
“Hey, Zhou Yuan.”
Zhou Yuan turned to look at him, wondering what else he had to say.
“You must also find it quite boring here, right? The opponents here are too weak. Come with me to my family’s battleground. My family runs a private Fighting Gym. Although it’s not certified by the Alliance, there are some apprentices who study at my Gym. Most of their Pokémon are Elite Level. I came out because I was sick of battling them, and then I met you.”
“How about it? I see you seem to be preparing for the Warm Pig Cup competition in the next few days. Do you want to try it out at my place?”
Zhou Yuan thought for a moment. Since he wasn’t very familiar with Li Feiyong and didn’t know what kind of place his Gym was, Zhou Yuan cautiously declined, making an excuse that he had been away from home for too long and needed to return. He promised to visit the Gym next time.
Subsequently, Zhou Yuan left the left battleground. After glancing at the right battleground, he found very few people, and most of the Pokémon were in the early to mid-Elite Level. The few Superior Level Pokémon there were too strong for him.
Finally, Zhou Yuan decided to go to the wild to see if he could find suitable opponents. Although this area was suburban, being relatively close to the city meant that while there were many wild Pokémon, very few had broken through to the Superior Level. With Big Red helping to Protect him, there would be no danger.
After making his decision, Zhou Yuan left the battleground, released Big Red, and rode him again, whispering to Big Red:
“Big Red, can I ask you to take me to a place nearby where there are more wild Pokémon? They don’t need to be very strong, but not too weak either. Somewhere similar in strength to Growlithe or slightly stronger would be fine. Do you know such a place?”
Big Red thought for a moment after hearing Zhou Yuan’s words, then nodded, carrying Zhou Yuan and running towards a mountainous area.
At this moment, Li Feiyong also walked out of the battleground and happened to see a large dog dart out of a nearby alley. Sitting on its back was his recent opponent. Li Feiyong’s first reaction was, did this person evolve Growlithe? But after looking again, he felt something was wrong. The Arcanine’s aura was clearly not that of an Elite Level or Superior Level Pokémon. He had seen that kind of aura on his father’s Pokémon; it was the aura that only Gym Leader Pokémon possessed.
For a moment, Li Feiyong was a bit dazed and muttered:
“Are you fishing for compliments here…”