"Ability": Pressure "Moves Learned": Embargo, Payback, Scratch, Leer, Quick Attack, Icy Wind, Fury Swipes, Nasty Plot, Metal Claw, Hone Claws
Su Yi looked over Sneasel's information and nodded to himself.
Kong Hui certainly deserved his twelfth-place ranking on the Trial Ranking. This Blue Qualification Sneasel clearly wasn't his strongest Pokémon.
Kong Hui hadn't brought out his Starter Pokémon.
That meant he'd kept something in reserve. Even if he lost, he'd only lose points, and his strongest Pokémon would still be untouched. He could use it to challenge others and earn those points back!
But now, I'm taking your points!
The battle between Su Yi and Kong Hui was about to begin!
"Flaaffy, use Thundershock to test it!"
The battle began.
Flaaffy had only a Blue Qualification.
Sneasel also had a Blue Qualification, but it had evolved using a Sharp Claw.
Flaaffy's fluffy, pinkish-white wool rippled as it shook.
The Side Quest was only one Pokémon short of having all its members surpass level 25.
"Sneasel!"
Sneasel didn't dodge. Kong Hui's Pokémon liked to face their opponents head-on.
"Sneasel, use Metal Claw to slash through Thundershock!"
"Sneasel!!"
At Kong Hui's command, a cold, steely gleam appeared on Sneasel's two sharp claws.
Sneasel slashed through the Thundershock with Metal Claw. It didn't stop there, charging straight at Flaaffy and slashing at it!
The spectators around them gasped.
Was this the strength of the trainer ranked twelfth on the Trial Ranking? It could actually slash through Thundershock like that.
"Baa!"
Flaaffy dodged. After more than twenty days of training, it had clearly developed a strong rapport with Su Yi.
Until Su Yi gave the word, Flaaffy focused on dodging Sneasel's attacks.
Sneasel was small and nimble, with incredible speed. The most effective way for Flaaffy to win was to figure out how to slow it down.
Su Yi waited for an opening—a chance to win in one move!
Yan Yuzhu, who had spoken up for Su Yi earlier, watched the battle with curiosity. Her gaze lingered mostly on Flaaffy.
After all, it was a Shiny Pokémon. Girls couldn't resist such a beautiful Shiny Pokémon.
Yan Yuzhu felt that Su Yi wouldn't be acting like this without a reason.
"He must be waiting for an opening."
She wasn't the only one thinking that.
"Sneasel!"
As Sneasel launched its final Metal Claw attack, Su Yi's eyes lit up. The chance had come!
"Now, Flaaffy! Use Cotton Spore!"
Flaaffy had been waiting for its chance, too. Suddenly, two clumps of its fluffy pinkish-white wool flew off and stuck to Sneasel's hands and feet!
Cotton Spore: Wraps the opponent in soft, cotton-like spores, sharply reducing its speed!
"What kind of strange move is that? Sneasel, tear it off with your sharp claws!"
Sneasel's greatest strength was its speed. With its speed restricted, it couldn't bring even half its strength to bear!
But Su Yi and Flaaffy had waited so long for this chance. They weren't about to let it slip away.
As Sneasel tried to tear off the Cotton Spore with its claws, Flaaffy was already ready.
"Thunderbolt!"
The golden Thunderbolt stunned every spectator.
"Sneasel!"
Sneasel cried out in pain. Thunderbolt was no weak attack.
The smile vanished from Kong Hui's face.
He'd heard people say that Su Yi had a Flaaffy that knew Thunderbolt, but he hadn't believed them.
He hadn't expected it to be true.
Sneasel had taken the Thunderbolt head-on, but it forced itself to stay on its feet, still ready to fight.
"Finish it! Tackle!"
"Baa!"
Flaaffy slammed hard into Sneasel. At last, Sneasel couldn't stay upright and collapsed.
"Sneasel is unable to battle! Flaaffy wins! The victor is candidate Su Yi!"
As the referee from the Pokémon Center announced the result, Kong Hui shrugged. He was even more interested in Su Yi now, and considered challenging him again with his strongest Starter Pokémon.
But after thinking it over, he decided against it. He suspected Su Yi had more up his sleeve.
Kong Hui's Spirit Watch deducted over ten thousand points, while Su Yi gained just as many. Added to the more than nine thousand he already had, Su Yi's points soared past twenty thousand in an instant!
He climbed back to twentieth place on the Trial Ranking!
Su Yi paid no attention to that. He was waiting for the system's notification in his mind!
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Flaaffy defeated Sneasel and gained Battle Experience. Its level has increased to lv.25!] [Ding! Congratulations, Host! All your Pokémon have surpassed lv.25. Side Quest 10 complete! Reward: one Roulette Draw Chance. Current chances: 1!] [Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have defeated 20 Pokémon. Side Quest 11 complete! Reward: one random chance to enhance yourself!] [Ding! Congratulations, Host! You have defeated 20 trainers. Side Quest 12 complete! Reward: 3 Qualification Upgrade Cards!]
He hadn't expected to complete three Side Quests at once!
A warm force enveloped Su Yi.
This random enhancement to himself should be a boost to his physique!
He felt as if his entire body and mind had grown stronger.
It felt great!
Best of all, he'd received three Qualification Upgrade Cards!
The excitement continued. The Battle Drop Function didn't disappoint Su Yi this time, either. He'd successfully gotten Gold Coins from Kong Hui.
[Ding! Congratulations, Host! Battle Drop Function activated. You obtained 250,000 Gold Coins, an Evolution Stone, and a Leaf Stone!] [Ding! Congratulations, Host! Flaaffy performed exceptionally well and triggered a hidden reward: Skill Awakening Card—Iron Tail!]
Use it!
Su Yi immediately used the Iron Tail Skill Awakening Card on Flaaffy.
If Flaaffy had known Iron Tail just now, it could've finished Sneasel off with a single swing of its tail. There would've been no need for a follow-up attack.
"Baa~~"
Flaaffy sensed that it had learned another new move and happily rubbed against Su Yi. He crouched down and gently stroked its head.
"I'm so jealous of that Shiny Flaaffy!"
"Su Yi really is something. Have you noticed that every big shot he's battled lately has lost?"
"I wonder if he can make it to first place on the Trial Ranking. Who's stronger, him or Zhang Kuang?"
"Let's wait and see. He had two battles: in the first, he jumped to 960th place, and in the second, he went straight to twentieth. I'm so jealous. We'd better keep working hard, too!"
"..."
After collecting the points and Gold Coins, Su Yi left. There were still a few days left, and he planned to focus on leveling up his four Pokémon!
After Su Yi left, news about what had happened at Pokémon Center No. 6 quickly spread again.
More people learned that Su Yi wasn't someone to mess with. Hadn't they seen the twelfth-ranked Kong Hui lose to him?
Over the next three days, all the candidate trainers focused on earning points and climbing the rankings.
Three days later.
The month-long trial was nearing its end.
"All candidates, attention! The final point challenge period has begun. Please proceed to Pokémon Center No. 1!"
The Spirit Watches of all the candidate trainers displayed the message.
Su Yi put away his Spirit Watch. So it was finally time?
He checked the Trial Ranking.
Zhang Kuang, who was in first place, had previously had 53,500 points.
Now, his score had shot up to 63,800!
When the final point challenge period was announced, Zhang Kuang's score had surged by eleven thousand. He still held a firm lead over the second-place Shangguan Ling'er.
But Shangguan Ling'er wasn't backing down, either. With 61,360 points, she was hot on Zhang Kuang's heels.
The third-place trainer was a man named Xia Chen, with 58,400 points. Starting from fourth place, the gap between scores grew wider and wider.
Over the past three days, Su Yi had used all three of his Qualification Upgrade Cards.
He'd used them on Froakie, Trapinch, and his Shiny Flaaffy.
Now, his four Pokémon's levels and qualifications were as follows: Froakie, Silver Qualification, lv.32; Trapinch, Silver Qualification, lv.34; Combusken, Purple Qualification, lv.32; and Shiny Flaaffy, Purple Qualification, lv.29!
As for Groudon, its talent and qualification had long since reached the top Gold Qualification of a Legendary Pokémon.
Both Froakie and Trapinch now had Silver Qualification, so they could gain Experience and level up through battles without falling behind their previous pace.
Another thing was that Trapinch and Flaaffy were both just one level away from evolving!
When Trapinch evolved, it would gain the Dragon Type!
With its Silver Qualification, it should be able to learn most Dragon-type moves later on.
For now, Su Yi, like everyone else, headed to Pokémon Center No. 1.
It was the largest Pokémon Center in the Spirit Primal Forest where they were holding the trial.
"Welcome to Pokémon Center No. 1, candidate Su Yi, ranked forty-fifth on the Trial Ranking!"
Pokémon Center No. 1 announced his arrival three times again.
"Not again..."
Su Yi had spent the past three days battling Wild Pokémon, so he hadn't dropped much in the Trial Ranking—only from twentieth to forty-fifth.
He was speechless at the announcement, but he'd grown used to so many eyes on him.
He couldn't help it. He'd broken the Knowledge Ranking record, so he was just that impressive...
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