If he kept his third Pokémon unharmed, he still had a chance to rise again.
As for Su Yi, he'd leave him to that alliance team to deal with. There was nothing he could do.
After thinking it through, Ning Zhi was willing to set his pride aside. He admitted defeat.
"You're strong. I'll take the loss this time, Su Yi. You win."
Ning Zhi practically had to grit his teeth to get the words out.
Su Yi glanced at Ning Zhi in surprise. What a shame—he only needed one more Pokémon to complete Side Quest 11...
[ Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have successfully defeated a Trainer. Side Quest 12 complete (19/20). Keep up the good work! ]
Damn it!
Side Quests 10, 11, and 12 were all one last Pokémon away from completion!
If he challenged someone now, probably no one would accept.
The crowd erupted in an uproar.
Ning Zhi had admitted defeat!
The Pokémon Center referee looked at both Trainers, then nodded.
The Spirit Watches of Su Yi and Ning Zhi activated the next moment and automatically deducted their points.
Ning Zhi's heart bled as he watched half his points get deducted from his Spirit Watch. He plunged from ninety-second place to somewhere in the thirty-thousands!
It was a steep price to pay.
After all, he wasn't qualified to set up some kind of reserve account.
Su Yi's Spirit Watch showed an increase of more than nine thousand points!
He had been ranked in the thirty-thousands, but now he'd shot straight up to number 960!
That was insane!
One battle against Ning Zhi had earned him a massive number of points. In an instant, he'd broken into the top thousand.
"Damn, I'm so jealous!"
"The boss really is incredible. He's been lying low for over twenty days. Think he's about to start racking up points like crazy? He beat Ning Zhi and shot up to the 900s. That's gotta feel amazing!"
"Who knows what the boss is up to? We don't get it. Anyway, all we can say is he's awesome!"
"Just be jealous, that's all!"
Ning Zhi left the battle arena with his two followers, his face livid!
He'd originally planned to test Su Yi's strength, and if he could, he wouldn't have minded putting him in his place.
He hadn't expected things to turn out like this...
Still, those people's informants had probably already seen what happened here today.
Ning Zhi couldn't care less how they chose to deal with Su Yi from here on.
That afternoon, at another Pokémon Center,
Jiang Shuya was sitting there.
With a frown, Jiang Shuya studied the rankings on the Pokémon Center's big screen.
Su Yi?
"Shuya, you're wondering about that Su Yi, aren't you? He's just pretending to be weak while hiding his real strength. It's an old trick. I got tired of it years ago. If Su Yi had run into me, I'd have been happy to challenge him."
A handsome boy sat across from Jiang Shuya.
He wore a carefree expression, and his gaze toward Jiang Shuya was full of possessiveness.
But Jiang Shuya didn't dislike it. In fact, by now, she'd pretty much settled on her target.
The person right in front of her.
Kong Hui, with 22,400 points, ranked twelfth on the Trial Ranking!
Kong Hui came from the Kong family and was a scion of an influential family. As they'd spent time together, Jiang Shuya had realized that he loved hearing her praise and approve of him.
So when she heard him say that, Jiang Shuya immediately agreed:
"Mm. A bit of luck that lasts for a short while doesn't mean much. By comparison, your Trial Ranking position is based on real ability, so it's much more convincing."
Jiang Shuya smiled and went back to her lunch.
"Is it really that hard to admit someone else is exceptional? He broke the national record on the Knowledge Ranking. That alone proves he's no ordinary person."
The voice was clear and rang out suddenly through the Pokémon Center.
Everyone turned to look toward its source.
"It's Yan Yuzhu, one of the few female Trainers in the top hundred on the Trial Ranking."
Just then, the Pokémon Center broadcast an announcement.
"Welcome, candidate Su Yi, ranked number 960 on the Trial Ranking, to Pokémon Center No. 6!"
"Welcome, candidate Su Yi, ranked number 960 on the Trial Ranking, to Pokémon Center No. 6!"
"Welcome, candidate Su Yi, ranked number 960 on the Trial Ranking, to Pokémon Center No. 6!"
"Su Yi's here!"
Someone shouted.
Whenever a candidate ranked in the top thousand entered a Pokémon Center, the center would now announce it.
There were only a few days left in the month-long trial.
Many Trainers were crowded into Pokémon Centers now.
Every Pokémon Center was packed with candidate Trainers.
After all, winning a challenge earned you half of your opponent's points.
And there was always plenty to watch at a Pokémon Center.
The top-ranked big shots clashing with one another.
Like right now.
Su Yi was like a fuse. No matter which Pokémon Center he went to, he'd become the center of attention.
Jiang Shuya looked surprised. Kong Hui glanced at her, a smile appearing on his handsome face.
"Shuya, just watch."
Kong Hui wasn't stupid. He knew that over the past few days, Jiang Shuya had been shifting her gaze toward Su Yi, intentionally or otherwise.
He'd show her who the stronger Trainer was!
Jiang Shuya smiled knowingly but said nothing.
Her gaze turned toward Su Yi.
At that moment, Su Yi walked in under everyone's watchful eyes. He'd left Combusken here to recover that afternoon.
"Hello, here's your Combusken. It's fully recovered."
"Thanks."
Su Yi picked up Combusken's Poké Ball as if no one else were there and prepared to leave.
Kong Hui leaned against the doorway, smiling.
He turned his head to look at Su Yi as he approached.
"Honestly, pretending to be weak while hiding your true strength doesn't work anymore. People aren't stupid. How about a little competition? Just one Pokémon. Losing won't hurt much—your points will only be cut in half."
Kong Hui was certain Su Yi wouldn't refuse.
Someone who'd ranked first in the history of the Knowledge Ranking would definitely have pride.
"He's challenging him! Damn, this is awesome!"
"I'm so excited! Anyone taking bets? I'm betting on Kong Hui, the super big shot ranked twelfth on the Trial Ranking!"
"Isn't it obvious? There's no way Su Yi will accept, right?"
"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't. But with so many people watching, and Su Yi being the top-ranked person in the Knowledge Ranking's history, wouldn't refusing be a huge embarrassment?"
"..."
The speaker hadn't meant anything by it, but the listener took it to heart!
As luck would have it, quite a crowd had gathered at Pokémon Center No. 6 that afternoon. More than one or two people in the top hundred were there!
In a flash, two Trainers ranked in the top hundred who knew Su Yi well joined forces to start a betting pool!
Kong Hui had longer odds, while Su Yi had shorter ones!
Yan Yuzhu glanced at Su Yi in surprise.
Everyone thought Su Yi wouldn't refuse. But Su Yi...
Simply ignored Kong Hui.
The smile vanished from Kong Hui's face.
"You scared?"
"Oh? Is that supposed to be a fresh new take on reverse psychology?"
Su Yi stopped and looked at Kong Hui. Ranked twelfth, with over twenty thousand points. Pretty high.
Never mind. I'll pick this guy. That's over ten thousand points just handed to me. Let's see what he drops through the Battle Drop Function.
Kong Hui was at a loss for words.
He'd said it without thinking.
Then he felt annoyed, thinking Su Yi was being too disrespectful.
"Fine. Just one Pokémon. The loser gives the winner 100,000 Gold Coins."
A hundred thousand Gold Coins as a wager!
Su Yi had nearly used up the 170,000 Gold Coins he'd gotten as a drop from Bei Jin last time.
What a shame the Battle Drop Function hadn't yielded anything when he fought Ning Zhi.
Hopefully, it'd work this time.
Kong Hui hadn't expected things to take such a turn, with Su Yi agreeing after all. A flash of delight crossed his eyes. He looked over at Jiang Shuya and saw that she was watching, too.
Now he felt he absolutely couldn't afford to lose!
At the battle arena, the Pokémon Center referee watched the two challengers with interest.
"Candidate Trainers Su Yi and Kong Hui will now battle. Each may use one Pokémon, and the match will be decided in a single round."
As the referee spoke, Su Yi and Kong Hui both held their Poké Balls.
Both were Advanced Pokeballs.
On one side was a level 24 Shiny Flaaffy!
On the other was a level 25 Sneasel!
Kong Hui had used a Sharp Claw to evolve his Sneasel!
After evolving into Weavile, its abilities had improved in every respect.
"Pokémon": Sneasel "Potential": Blue "Level": Lv. 25 "Type": Dark, Ice
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