"Chomp, chomp!"
Trapinch's incredibly sturdy jaws snapped shut!
The enormous boulder shattered into pieces!
"Good. Frogadier, use Cut to slowly slice it open. Be careful."
Frogadier used Cut again and again. The enormous boulder grew smaller at a visible pace.
"Clink, clink!"
Two metallic clinks rang out!
Two unusual stones, partially covered in stone fragments, fell to the ground.
"This is..."
"This is..."
Su Yi's face lit up. Sure enough, there was treasure!
They were a matching pair: an Evolution Key Stone and a Mega Stone!
But he didn't know which Pokémon this Mega Stone belonged to.
These two stones would fetch a full 1.6 million Gold Coins from the Pokémon League!
And that was for buying them together. They'd cost even more if purchased separately!
That was the price for common Pokémon Mega Stones, such as one for Pidgeot.
If it turned out to be a Mega Stone for a less common Pokémon, it would be worth even more. After all, there was never a shortage of buyers for something like this.
[ Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have obtained a Tyranitar Mega Stone and a Trainer Evolution Key Stone! ]
That was it!
A Mega Stone for Tyranitar—Old Tyranitar was a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon!
Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon were even rarer and more valuable!
And a Mega Stone for one? That went without saying!
He'd underestimated the value of these two stones.
Still, he'd have to be an idiot to sell them.
Satisfied, Su Yi got to work with Frogadier, Combusken, and Trapinch. The four of them began herding the Wild Pokémon in the cave toward its central area.
As for the rest of the cave, it was a natural training ground. Su Yi had no intention of wasting it.
"Come on out, Groudon."
He called Groudon out again.
"Mm!"
Groudon floated in the air, maintaining its one-meter size.
It was so excited that it could hardly wait to find that stupid whale and that stupid dragon and fight them!
Look at me! I really can fly now!
Groudon could already picture Kyogre and Rayquaza staring at it in disbelief.
It could even see itself wielding Precipice Blade, cutting down one Legendary Pokémon after another in a glorious display...
Groudon was lost in its wild imaginings!
Su Yi: →_→
Fortunately, it already knew not to roar too loudly.
"Well? I didn't fool you, did I? I said you could fly, and now you can!"
Su Yi spoke with righteous conviction. Groudon nodded hard, no longer doubting him in the slightest.
Looking at Groudon, Su Yi couldn't help thinking of Kyogre and Rayquaza. He swallowed, then asked,
"Um, Groudon, can you sense where Kyogre and Rayquaza are?"
"Mm-roar..."
From what Groudon conveyed, it couldn't for now.
All right. It would probably have to break its seal and return to its Primal form first.
"Groudon, you've met these four little friends. For the next while, we'll train in the cave every day. Your job is to keep sensing the area around us and tell me right away if anything unusual happens."
"Mm!"
Groudon looked at Su Yi's four Pokémon companions and nodded.
But whenever it unintentionally let its aura slip out, Frogadier and the others...
Shook like leaves!
Boss, could you please keep your aura under control?
"Trapinch, you're a Ground Type too. Spend more time with Groudon. It'll definitely do you good."
"Ch-ch..."
Trapinch trembled.
Only then did Su Yi realize how terrifying and domineering Groudon's aura was to the other Pokémon.
At Su Yi's insistence, Groudon finally and completely suppressed its aura.
It couldn't help it. It was still counting on Su Yi to take it to destroy Kyogre and Rayquaza!
"Frogadier, you're light on your feet, and you adapt the best. You'll be responsible for attacking us in the dark, including me. But you're not allowed to use any moves!"
Su Yi began assigning their tasks.
"Combusken and Flaaffy, the two of you will work with me to handle Frogadier's attacks. Make sure you adapt to battling in the dark as quickly as possible!"
"In a Spirit Battle, anything can happen. We need to be able to sense our opponent's attacks and block them effectively, even when we can't see!"
"Trapinch! Your job is to spend more time sensing Groudon!"
"Chomp, chomp!"
"These are high-grade Energy Cubes. I picked them out based on your types and tastes. They'll help build up your fundamentals through training."
Su Yi took out four high-grade Energy Cubes and handed one to each of the four Pokémon.
Groudon?
Groudon only needed to absorb the earth's energy and sunlight.
For ten days, Su Yi trained the four Pokémon's battle sense, neural reaction speed, and bodily instincts!
They might not show much improvement in the short term, but looking further ahead, once they reached levels above 50 or 60, they'd be a whole lot stronger than other Trainers' Pokémon!
This was the result of effort after birth. That was why a Pokémon's potential didn't determine everything.
Of course, Su Yi's Pokémon had both excellent potential and the benefit of hard work.
For the next ten-odd days, Su Yi focused on training their moves!
He also experimented with ways to combine their moves.
These were things you could never experience in Pokémon games!
In the blink of an eye, twenty-five days had passed since the Spirit Academy's senior-year students began their Pokémon trials.
National Pokémon Trial Ranking!
First place: Jingtian High School, Zhang Kuang, 46,705 points!
Second place: Haitian High School, Shangguan Ling'er, 45,400 points!
Third place: Nanxi Academy, Xia Chen, 43,650 points!
The top three were streaking far ahead of the pack.
They had a massive lead over everyone else.
Jingtian Academy.
The principal had personally put up a chart showing the Trial Ranking's changes over the past week.
"By now, we can more or less tell who has potential and who doesn't. Jingtian Academy is one of the top Spirit Universities in the country. We must invite every promising Trainer we've selected to enroll. We absolutely can't fall behind Haitian Academy!"
Jingtian High School and Haitian High School!
There were also Jingtian Academy and Haitian Academy at the university level!
The two sides had been fierce rivals for a long time!
The teachers in the discussion group all nodded.
Finally, the principal of Jingtian Academy turned to the last name on the list.
Su Yi.
"As for this Su Yi... it's been twenty-five days. His ranking shot up to tenth place at the beginning, but it's barely moved for the past twenty-odd days. Whatever he has planned, he'll probably miss his chance. What a pity..."
The principal shook his head with a sigh, as if lamenting how little Su Yi seemed to care about his trial ranking.
South Lake Province First Spirit Academy.
Principal Gao Xiang was beside himself with worry.
Why wasn't Su Yi, the student he'd pinned his hopes on, moving up the rankings?
"Um, heh... Elite Four Su, Your Excellency Elite Four Su, you know as well as I do that Su Yi's one of the best. But his ranking..."
Gao Xiang thought the siblings must have some plan.
Su Xiyan didn't know a thing about it. She had no idea what Su Yi was planning.
All she knew was that Su Yi wouldn't let her down.
"Just wait. If nothing unexpected happens, once they announce the new point rules, my brother won't just make the top hundred—he'll make the top ten!"
Su Xiyan had that much confidence in Su Yi!
Principal Gao could only manage a wry smile.
He felt like Su Xiyan was joking.
But Su Xiyan was the Pokémon League's appointed guardian in South Lake Province. Teaching was only a side job for her.
At South Lake Province First Spirit Academy, her influence was even greater than the principal's.
If Su Xiyan was that confident, and Su Yi was her younger brother, then surely she wouldn't be so calm if something were really wrong?
When only five days remained in the Pokémon trials, a new rule appeared on every candidate Trainer's Spirit Watch.
"Attention, all candidate Trainers! The point rules are changing as of now!"
"Attention, all candidate Trainers! The point rules are changing as of now!"
"Attention, all candidate Trainers! The point rules are changing as of now!"
Important things had to be said three times!
Under the new point rules,
All candidate Trainers could challenge other Trainers five times a day, and could refuse challenges from other candidate Trainers five times a day.
Before you continue