The Jingtian Academy principal's voice rang out with conviction, and the other teachers agreed.
"Next, Zhao Shenchuan..."
This sort of thing happened at many universities.
Those who performed well on the first day of the Trial Ranking would generally maintain their standing, unless something unexpected happened.
After all, it meant these examinees were quick to adapt as Trainers.
"Elite Four Su, do you think Su Yi..."
Gao Xiang, the principal of South Lake Province First Spirit Academy, looked at Su Xiyan with a conflicted expression.
Seeing how little Gao Xiang trusted her younger brother, Su Xiyan rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry. I know my brother better than any of you do. He definitely has his own plans right now, and they won't affect his final Trial Ranking."
In this world, Su Xiyan had become an Elite Four member thanks to the training direction and methods Su Yi had given her.
As if! Doubt her brother?
Su Yi knew nothing about any of this.
For now, he'd let everyone else compete for the Trial Ranking.
He hadn't taken the Spirit College Entrance Exam seriously at all.
The most important thing to him right now was finding the right first team of Pokémon in the Spirit Primal Forest!
The Spirit Primal Forest wasn't open to just anyone!
It was the largest Pokémon forest in the country, and it had the widest variety of Pokémon!
Only Trainer candidates taking the annual college entrance exam, or Trainers who'd placed well in a national Pokémon League tournament, were allowed inside.
There were no doubt two kinds of people who rushed to climb the Trial Ranking as soon as they entered: idiots with a bit of strength and luck, or rich young masters and young ladies backed by powerful families.
Many people took the Spirit College Entrance Exam not only to get into a Spirit University, but also to find more Pokémon with high potential and room to grow in the Spirit Primal Forest!
"Click, click!"
Suddenly, a clicking sound came from up ahead.
Su Yi reacted at once.
Frogadier and Torchic quickly quieted their footsteps, too.
Behind a large boulder was a Pokémon with an enormous head.
It was chewing on the rock with its hard lower jaw.
Trapinch!
Its final evolution was Flygon, which would gain the Dragon Type. It was a very valuable Pokémon!
Perfect. The Good Luck Card was working!
"Pokémon": Trapinch
"Qualification": Purple
"Level": lv.20
"Type": Ground
"Ability": Arena Trap
"Moves Learned": Sand Attack, Bite, Feint Attack, Bide, Mud-Slap, Stomp, Sand Tomb, Rock Slide, Dig, Crunch, Earth Power
Good grief. Su Yi used Eye of Investigation to check Trapinch's information and couldn't help but marvel.
This Good Luck Card was seriously incredible. There was no doubt that this Trapinch was exceptionally rare!
It had a Purple Qualification, and at only lv.20, it had already learned two powerful moves: Crunch and Earth Power.
Frogadier was already lv.19, too, since it had encountered several other Pokémon before they found this Trapinch.
Torchic was just one level away from evolving.
"Torchic, watch and learn from the sidelines this time. Frogadier, you're up."
"Frog!"
Frogadier nodded.
Their voices had already alerted Trapinch, which had been chewing on the rock.
"Click, click!"
Trapinch stopped eating and turned its gaze toward Su Yi and Frogadier.
"Good instincts, Trapinch. Let's battle!"
"Frog!"
When a Trainer challenged a Wild Pokémon to a battle, the Pokémon understood what the Trainer meant.
Sure enough, Trapinch locked onto Frogadier at once.
"Click, click!!!"
With a sound like it was chewing on rock, Trapinch raised both forelegs high and slammed them down!
The earth shook in an instant!
Its Stomp was incredibly powerful!
Su Yi's eyes burned with excitement. As expected of a Flygon in its juvenile form with a Purple Qualification.
"Frogadier, use the rocks on the ground to help you jump, then use Water Pulse!"
Trapinch was afraid of water!
It moved slowly. Pokémon like this dug funnel-shaped holes in the ground to trap their prey.
Or they ate hard rocks.
Taking the surroundings into account, Su Yi instantly came up with a way to win quickly.
Frogadier had been affected by Trapinch's Stomp at first, but once it used its powerful legs to leap from rock to rock around Trapinch, the Stomp no longer affected it.
A pale blue Water Pulse formed and shot toward Trapinch!
"Click, click..."
Trapinch was too slow to dodge, so it formed an enormous boulder in front of its mouth instead!
Rock Slide!
Rock Slide collided with Water Pulse and exploded in midair!
The explosion disturbed the Wild Pokémon and Trainer candidates nearby.
Many candidates who were preparing to catch Wild Pokémon glared angrily toward the explosion.
The Pokémon they'd been trying to catch had run off because of the blast.
But although they were angry, they didn't dare go over and pick a fight.
After all, they weren't stupid.
For one thing, they couldn't be sure a Trainer candidate had caused it. And if another candidate really had, an explosion that powerful meant they were definitely a big shot.
Still, they were curious!
Curiosity set their feet moving, and they headed toward Su Yi.
"Keep using Water Pulse!"
"Frog!"
Frogadier kept firing Water Pulse. Trapinch countered with Rock Slide, but it didn't notice that when the Water Pulses struck the rocks, the splashes fell onto the ground around it.
The ground gradually grew wet.
The soil softened, and once it reached a certain point, Trapinch's four feet suddenly sank into it!
"Now's our chance, Frogadier! Encore! Charge in and use Water Pulse!"
Su Yi had been waiting for the opening.
This Water Pulse hit Trapinch squarely. The super-effective damage drained a huge amount of its stamina.
Dazed by the hit, Trapinch failed to see Frogadier charging at it. Frogadier was already right in front of it!
"Good! Finish it off with Quick Attack!"
"Frog!"
Frogadier slammed into Trapinch like a bolt of lightning, sending it flying.
"Go, Advanced Pokeball!"
Su Yi threw the second Advanced Pokeball he'd brought into the Spirit Primal Forest.
The Advanced Pokeball drew Trapinch inside, landed on the ground, and rocked back and forth.
It gradually stopped moving. With a thump, the capture succeeded.
"Great! I caught Trapinch!"
A Flygon in its juvenile form with a Purple Qualification. Now that he'd caught one, all he had to do was raise it well, and he'd have a flying Flygon!
Now that was awesome. Video games were nothing compared to real Pokémon.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Frogadier defeated Trapinch and gained battle experience, leveling up to Lv. 21!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You now have three Pokémon (excluding Groudon). Side Quest 7 complete. Big Wheel spin chance +1. Current spin chances: 1!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You now have a Pokémon at Lv. 20. Side Quest 8 complete. Big Wheel spin chance +1. Current spin chances: 2!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You won a Pokémon battle. Side Quest 9 complete (7/10). Keep up the good work!]
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Frogadier performed exceptionally well and triggered a hidden reward: Skill Awakening Card: Cut!]
A Skill Awakening Card for Cut!
Great stuff.
Su Yi's heart leaped with joy.
He could give it to Frogadier to awaken.
"Nice work, Frogadier."
As he praised Frogadier, Su Yi called Trapinch out and took an Advanced Recovery Potion from Spatial Storage.
He didn't have many potions, but thankfully, there was a Pokémon Center in the Spirit Primal Forest.
He just had to bring enough Gold Coins.
"System, use the Skill Awakening Card: Cut. Specify Frogadier as the target."
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! You used the Skill Awakening Card: Cut, and Frogadier successfully awakened the move Cut!]
"Frog?"
Frogadier suddenly froze.
It looked at Su Yi in confusion.
It had just felt as if a move it hadn't awakened or learned yet had appeared in its mind—a move called Cut.
"You did great just now. Keep it up."
Before you continue