The First Opponent

Starting today, Yangcheng High School would hold a two-day Third Year Grade tournament.

The competition would take place on the school field.

Much like the sports meets held by all kinds of schools before his transmigration, the designated Battle Arenas were surrounded by Third Year Grade students who had yet to take their turns.

Quite a few first- and second-year students had also come to watch under their teachers' supervision.

Back at the arena, Su Hao's opponent in the first round was a girl from Class 6.

Su Hao and the girl threw out their Poké Balls at the same time.

Two flashes of red light appeared, and Incineroar and an Oddish emerged in the Battle Arena.

Su Hao could now roughly judge an opposing Pokémon's strength from the aura it emitted through his Wave Power.

It was a Novice Level Oddish.

It seemed that the girl had no intention of specializing in battles. The moment her Oddish saw Incineroar, it became especially flustered.

"Battle start!" At the referee teacher's command, the first battle officially began.

Incineroar's current strength made dealing with Oddish far too easy.

"Incineroar, use Fury Swipes."

"Meowr!"

Only after Incineroar charged from the edge of the arena toward Oddish did the somewhat dazed girl react.

"Oddish... hurry... dodge right!"

A well-trained Pokémon might still have been able to react despite being a step too slow, but this Oddish clearly was not one.

With no Combat Experience at all, Oddish naturally had no means of resisting the charging Incineroar and was defeated with ease.

Seeing Oddish get instantly taken down in a single exchange, the girl—who did not own a second Pokémon—surrendered, then hurriedly picked up Oddish and jogged toward the Pokémon Center doctor waiting nearby.

Yangcheng High School had over a thousand Third Year Grade students, and all the opponents Su Hao encountered on the first day were people without battle experience.

These students most likely would not choose to apply to universities with Battle Departments either.

On the second day, after the eliminations of the first day, the Top 32 had been decided.

Su Hao, Li Hua, Jiang Chengcheng, and He Xu, who sat in front of Su Hao, had all made it into the Top 32.

After the Top 32 was decided, the school moved the Battle Arena to the arena inside Rising Sun Gym.

At that moment, the stands were filled with students watching the battles.

An Award Stage had been set up in front of the stands, where a group of school leaders and Su Xu were seated.

Su Xu had told Su Hao in advance, so Su Hao was not surprised that his father had come to watch.

The large screen in the venue displayed the names of the thirty-two students. After a random draw, the first-round matchups were decided.

Su Hao was in the third match, facing a boy from Class 3 named Fang Wenbin.

After the winners of the first two matches had been decided, it was Su Hao's turn to take the field.

Ms. Liang repeatedly reminded Su Hao in the Preparation Area to stay calm when facing his opponent.

Su Hao naturally nodded in agreement.

Both sides were already in position on the Battle Arena.

Without exchanging a word, they directly sent out their first Pokémon.

"Go, Incineroar."

"Get out there, Primeape!"

Primeape normally evolved only after Mankey broke through to the Normal Level, so Su Hao was somewhat surprised that Fang Wenbin's Mankey had evolved while still at the Novice Level.

Pokémon: [Primeape]

Type: [Fighting-type]

Gender: [Male]

Ability: [Vital Spirit]

Level: [18]

Item: [None]

Moves: [Scratch, Fling, Fury Swipes, Low Kick, Focus Energy, Quick Attack]

Primeape had an extremely violent temperament. The moment it entered the field, it stared eagerly at Incineroar.

Primeape had considerable talent for boxing. Once the match began, Fang Wenbin directed Primeape to charge at Incineroar.

Facing the charging Primeape, Su Hao chose to have Incineroar meet it with Flamethrower.

The Flame Bag beneath Incineroar's neck glowed faintly as scorching fire gathered in its mouth, before it unleashed a brief beam of flame.

Flamethrower swept toward Primeape in a straight line, warping and distorting the air along its path.

Faced with the fierce Flamethrower, Primeape's nimble body twisted and darted about, narrowly avoiding it.

The missed Flamethrower crashed into the ground, leaving a scorched mark on the specially made Rock Field.

"What an astonishingly powerful Flamethrower!" a middle-aged man on the Award Stage exclaimed.

Seeing Primeape evade Flamethrower, Fang Wenbin was delighted and immediately issued an Attack Order.

After dodging Flamethrower, Primeape did not remain where it was and continued charging toward Incineroar.

"Primeape, use Fury Swipes!"

Facing the incoming Primeape, Incineroar calmly raised its right claw, forming Shadow Claw over it.

Shadow Claw raked across Primeape, leaving a deep wound on its face.

Incineroar completely suppressed Primeape during their exchange using only its right claw. Even when the suppressed Primeape used both fists, Incineroar still found an opening to slash its face with Shadow Claw.

Faced with Incineroar, which had easily suppressed it, Primeape grew increasingly agitated.

"Primeape, wait!"

"Chitter chitter chitter!!!" Unable to restrain itself, Primeape charged forward again. The painful wound on its face had made it completely lose its reason, and it ignored its Trainer's command.

Facing Primeape's disorderly charge without any move behind it, Incineroar acted on its own and used Heat Wave.

A scorching gale swept past. Primeape, its fur blackened, slowly collapsed and was Out of Battle.

Primeape's defeat made Fang Wenbin somewhat anxious. Fortunately, his second Pokémon countered Incineroar, so perhaps he still had a chance to turn things around.

"Go, Staryu!"

A flash of light appeared, and a star-shaped Pokémon with a golden-brown body and an exposed red core between its five limbs appeared on the field.

Pokémon: [Staryu]

Type: [Water-type]

Gender: [Genderless]

Ability: [Illuminate]

Level: [18]

Item: [None]

Moves: [Tackle, Harden, Water Gun, Rapid Spin, Quick Attack, Bubble Beam]

It was still a Novice Level Pokémon. Staryu's Water-type might counter Incineroar, but under the overwhelming gap in raw strength, the outcome was already clear.

Fang Wenbin had Staryu use Water Gun to block Incineroar's Flamethrower.

The result went without saying. Flamethrower directly evaporated Water Gun and struck Staryu.

The mist created by the collision of water and fire blocked both sides' vision.

Once the mist dispersed, Incineroar, guided by the position provided through Su Hao's Wave Power, had already defeated Staryu with Shadow Claw.

The glowing core on Staryu's chest had long gone dark after it was Out of Battle.

[Battle Over. Winner: Su Hao of Class 1, Third Year Grade!]

"Oh—!"

"666!"

"Clap clap clap clap clap!"

The students in the stands broke into applause as one.

Su Hao waved to the stands and left the Battle Arena.