After entering Pokémon Center No. 1 and confirming which Trainer there had the highest ranking, it wasn't long before word spread from the Pokémon Center: Su Yi was willing to accept one-on-one challenges from any Trainer ranked in the top fifty, provided they put up 200,000 Gold Coins, a Pokémon item, or an Evolution Stone as the wager!
It was time to make a splash and claim first place in the Trial Ranking. After all, he still had that Main Quest.
Main Quest 1: Complete the senior-year graduation trial exam and take first place. Quest Reward: Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon Egg ×1!
Since the system hadn't specified whether he needed to place first overall or first in every exam, Su Yi didn't want to take any chances. If he missed out on the Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon Egg, he'd regret it for the rest of his life.
With the levels of his four Pokémon and the skills they'd learned over the past three days, he had no reason to fear any other candidate's challenge.
So the Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon Egg was as good as his!
As for adding that extra condition, he just wanted to squeeze a little more benefit out of this for himself.
Training Pokémon was expensive!
Once the news got out, it sounded as though he didn't take any of the Trainers ranked in the top fifty seriously.
That included the alliance team Ning Zhi had been with earlier.
All three members were ranked in the top fifty.
So the three of them immediately decided to spread the word: they'd all take him on!
They could afford the consequences. Even if they lost, they'd still be ranked within the top hundred thousand, so they wouldn't lose their chance to enter Spirit University.
They were ranked ninth, fifteenth, and twenty-third!
After all, the further up you went in the points rankings, the more impressive the strength behind each rank!
Ning Zhi, whom Su Yi had beaten before, was among the crowd at that very moment.
He watched it all with a cold smile. Plenty of people thought Su Yi was pretending to be weak so he could catch others off guard. But anyone who'd fought him knew the truth: this was a monster who never pretended to be weak. If you fought him, there was a good chance he'd already outmaneuvered you with his very first move.
Although Ning Zhi had been part of the alliance team with those three, Su Yi had taken half his points. Deep down, he couldn't help hoping the other three would lose points too!
They definitely couldn't beat Su Yi, so he wasn't going to warn them!
Besides, Ning Zhi had already won back his points through challenges. Now he could just sit back and enjoy the show!
Kong Hui felt the same way.
Watching Su Yi, that handsome young man understood exactly what he was after.
Su Yi wanted to claim first place in the Trial Ranking. Kong Hui couldn't help admiring his nerve.
At the battle arena.
Since Pokémon Center No. 1 was the largest Pokémon Center in the outer region, it was packed with people, and the battle arena was overflowing.
Everyone who hadn't seen Su Yi before wanted to find out who had made such "arrogant" claims.
Those who already knew him were simply there for the spectacle.
Deep down, they were actually rooting for Su Yi. If he could beat every challenger, he'd truly make a name for himself in a single battle!
The first challenger was the Trainer ranked twenty-third in the Trial Ranking.
At the referee's signal, the two sides each took out a Pokeball and sent out their Pokémon!
1v1!
Frogadier!
Su Yi had sent out his Starter Pokémon right from the start!
His opponent was lucky: he had a level 27 Treecko, whose type had the advantage over Frogadier!
Su Yi shook his head. It was only level 27—not even as high-level as Frogadier.
Seeing Su Yi shake his head, the other Trainer sneered inwardly. I have the type advantage. Does he even know that?
He decided to finish the battle quickly. As the big shot ranked twenty-third, if he couldn't win decisively with a type advantage, he'd lose face completely!
The battle began!
"Treecko, use Agility and throw off its aim!"
"Frogadier, Smokescreen!"
Treecko had barely started using Agility and taken a couple of steps when Frogadier blew out a cloud of murky smoke.
The smoke quickly enveloped both Frogadier and Treecko. Everyone was confused. Wouldn't Su Yi lose sight of the opposing Treecko too?
How could he direct Frogadier's attacks then?
This was where the results of the more than twenty days he'd spent training in the dark cave showed!
Treecko lost sight of its target and instinctively stopped moving.
But Frogadier quickly used its experience and senses to pinpoint Treecko's position!
"Got it locked on? Go, Aerial Ace!"
Aerial Ace was a move Frogadier had learned specifically to counter the Grass-type Pokémon that had the advantage over it!
"What? Frogadier can learn Aerial Ace? And in all that smoke—was Su Yi cheating?"
That was the opposing Trainer's first reaction.
Then, moments later, the sound of his Treecko crying out in pain came from inside the smoke!
"How can this be?!"
Everyone was shocked!
Meanwhile, the system's notification rang in Su Yi's mind.
[ Ding! Congratulations, Host! Frogadier has defeated Treecko and gained Battle Experience! ] [ Ding! Congratulations, Host! Frogadier performed excellently and triggered a hidden reward: Skill Awakening Card: Whirlwind Blade ]
Without hesitation, Su Yi had Frogadier learn Whirlwind Blade.
It was an offensive move with greater power than Cut.
His points instantly increased by 12,000!
Su Yi's total points soared to 38,000!
[ He had encountered other challengers over the past three days, so his points had changed. ]
The Trainer recalled Treecko and looked at Su Yi with reluctance, but in the end, he said nothing. The victor was right; the defeated were wrong.
With everyone watching, he obediently handed over 200,000 Gold Coins. That was all the money his family had prepared for him. Now...
It all belonged to Su Yi.
The only thing Su Yi regretted was that the Battle Drop Function hadn't managed to get any extra Gold Coins from him.
Everyone now knew Su Yi's score: 38,000. If they won a single challenge against him, their own score would instantly increase by half his total—19,000, nearly 20,000 points!
The other two members of their alliance team exchanged glances, hesitation in their eyes.
In the end, they steeled themselves. Their greed outweighed their hesitation!
They'd keep going!
This time, Su Yi sent out Flaaffy, while his opponent sent out an Onix!
"How's that supposed to work? Flaaffy against Onix? Umm..."
"That size difference is ridiculous. Damn, an Onix! I want to catch one too, but I can't beat it. I was lucky enough to run into one, but it crushed my Chikorita with a single swipe of its tail. Good thing I got away fast."
"Is this where the name of the great Su Yi comes to an end?"
"Just watch. He's the all-time top scorer on the Knowledge Ranking, so he's not an idiot. Who'd do something they knew they'd lose?"
This time, Su Yi's opponent was a man named Ding Sheng.
He wasn't under any pressure to fight Su Yi. Losing wouldn't matter, as long as his points kept him within the top hundred thousand; his family could easily get him into Spirit University.
But if he won, he'd earn glory. He had exactly 40,000 points!
If he won, he'd jump straight into the top five. No amount of Gold Coins could buy that!
It was worth the gamble!
Little did he know that Su Yi had read that gambler's mindset perfectly.
If not for that, how else could Su Yi win their points?
Ding Sheng looked at the Onix. It was the strongest Pokémon he'd caught during this trial.
As long as it didn't run into a Water-type or Grass-type Pokémon—both of which had a quadruple type advantage—Onix was an extremely powerful Pokémon.
Electric-type?
What the hell? Thunderbolt won't do a thing to my Onix!
Ding Sheng could already picture his victory.
"Onix, use Rock Throw!"
"Flaaffy, Quick Attack!"
At Su Yi's command, Flaaffy surged forward, moving incredibly fast!
Onix let out a "roar" and twisted its massive body. Huge rocks kept forming in the air, and it used its tail to whip them viciously at Flaaffy.
The spectators instinctively backed away, not wanting to get caught in the flying rocks.
They didn't want to get hurt watching a battle between the big shots and become a laughingstock among the other candidates.
But small as Flaaffy was, it had its advantages. As rocks hurtled through the air, it used Quick Attack's speed to dodge them.
"Trying to get close? Onix, use your tail to strike the ground with Hammer Arm!"
"Roar!"
Onix seemed furious that its Rock Throw had missed Flaaffy.
It was about to slam its powerful tail into the ground, hoping the impact would shake the earth and slow Flaaffy down.
Su Yi watched the distance between Flaaffy and Onix. It should be about right now!
At that very moment, Flaaffy seemed to share Su Yi's thoughts. It leaped high into the air.
"Now! Use Strange Light!"
Strange Light: A peculiar ray of light that inflicts Confusion on the opponent.
A Pokémon affected by Confusion had a one-third to one-half chance of failing to use its intended move and attacking itself with a typeless attack instead.
Onix happened to be staring right at Flaaffy.
Ding Sheng's face changed.
"Onix, don't look at it!"
Too late!
In Onix's line of sight, the object on Flaaffy's tail that looked like a crystal ball began to shine with a strange light.
Onix immediately felt its head grow dizzy. Its consciousness faded.
It was confused.
Its Hammer Arm failed because it was confused, and Onix began attacking itself!
Its powerful tail swung around and slammed into its own head...
"Roarrr..."
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