Armorouge's Victory

The other two members of the school team ultimately failed to make it into the championship match.

Dongye Haotian narrowly lost to a top competitor from a professional training academy.

That battle had involved no flashy tactics. His opponent had won purely through the individual quality of his Pokémon—every one of them seemed to have been honed to an exceptional degree within the current level limits.

Haotian's three main fighters gave it everything they had, but ultimately lost with regret. It was an honorable defeat, yet they had missed the finals.

Agate's loss was even more frustrating.

During her battle against her nemesis, Masai, something was clearly wrong with her condition. She repeatedly made basic command errors, while her Pokémon switches and move choices were far below her usual standard. It was completely unlike her normal style.

"That shouldn't be..." Yan Yang frowned slightly from the sidelines. With Agate's strength and competitive spirit, even if her opponent was that guy who made her angry, she should never have performed so badly.

Her gritted-teeth expression before the match was still fresh in his mind, yet her performance in the arena now made her seem utterly distracted.

Yan Yang's gaze swept over Masai, whose face looked calm but whose eyes carried a trace of unease. That guy had probably used some underhanded method before the match to interfere with Agate.

The result was obvious. Agate, whose condition had deteriorated badly, lost the match and missed the final showdown.

Teacher Li Qiang watched his two beloved students fall short of the finals. Though he felt regret, he placed even greater, almost blind confidence in Yan Yang.

In his eyes, Kevin, Yan Yang's semifinal opponent, had already been a formidable obstacle. As for this finalist... he did not seem like a real threat.

*That