Strength Overcomes Ten Skills

"His self-created move isn't perfected yet. It can only be considered a prototype, and there's plenty of room for development. It was probably developed from the ideas behind Lightning Body Tempering. I just don't know how he overcame the dangers of Lightning Body Tempering. That should be his secret."

As Elite Four Xiao spoke, he suddenly became puzzled.

"This kid's surname is Luo? Don't tell me he's Old Luo's illegitimate son?"

It wasn't that he couldn't stand seeing a commoner produce a genius. In fact, for an old man who had occupied an Elite Four seat for eighteen years and couldn't retire even if he wanted to, Xiao Rong very much hoped to see talents emerge in great numbers throughout the country.

Unfortunately.

In recent years, Dragon Country had shown signs of a generational gap.

After Lin Wuya, there had been no more dazzling talents.

But a commoner who had developed a prototype of a self-created move within a week—this could no longer be described as merely "genius."

A monster.

Beside him, Xiao Muyi remained expressionless and utterly unmoved.

While the VIP seats were talking, the match had already reached its conclusion.

Mankey clutched the scar on its face in pain and curled up where it stood. Riolu pressed its advantage and struck with a Rock Smash.

"Dodge!"

Yang Dong screamed.

But Mankey was so consumed by pain that it could no longer hear anything outside, taking the attack head-on.

After taking three moves in succession, Mankey fainted outright, triggering the near-death mechanism.

Three seconds later, the referee raised his flag and blew his whistle.

"—Mankey has lost its ability to battle. The winners are Riolu and Competitor Roy!"

"..."

Yang Dong dropped to her knees with a vacant stare.

Two seconds later, she shook her head, and several tears scattered from her eyes.

She took out a Poké Ball and recalled Mankey, then ran toward the treatment pod, her face full of worry and guilt.

"She really does care about her Pokémon."

Roy muttered a few words to himself. Just as he was about to leave, wave-like applause and cheers suddenly erupted, completely swallowing him up.

It wasn't just the crowd at the venue. The audience in front of their televisions and the comments in the livestream reacted exactly the same way.

"A recommended student... lost? Holy shit."

"For the first time in the entrance test, a recommended student's qualification has been transferred. History has been made!"

"The first non-recommended student to reach the top eight of the Sheng Hai New Star Cup."

"His profile says he came from an ordinary family, and both parents are non-Trainers... Am I fucking seeing this right?"

"Well fought! Roy!!"

"What was that Thunder Punch just now? Why did Riolu suddenly get faster?"

The chaotic cheers and discussion eventually turned into someone shouting Roy's name. At first, it was somewhat disordered, but it gradually became unified. The girls' voices were especially noticeable.

"Roy! Roy! Roy!"

Thousands of people shouted his name in unison. Those who had never experienced it themselves could never understand the wonderful, blood-boiling thrill of it.

Winners enjoyed the cheers and gained everything.

Losers received no attention and lost their glory.

That was the charm of Pokémon battles.

Roy took a deep breath, smiled, and waved to the stands.

Seeing their child perform so brilliantly and receive everyone's cheers and admiration, Roy's parents were initially at a loss for what to do. But soon, both of them wore proud, joyful smiles, filled with pride for their child.

Mom Luo even took out her phone, snapped some photos, and sent them to a WeChat group called "Loving Family," happily showing off.

"When did this kid get so amazing?" Mu Tianyang was happy, but he was also beginning to doubt his life.

As for Mu Xixi...

She quietly watched Roy on the stage as he enjoyed all the cheers and honors. In the girl's clear eyes, it was as though a star were shining.

Mrs. Mu had been happy at first too, but she soon became somewhat worried.

Seeing how outstanding Roy, this promising prospect, was, she instead began to worry whether her daughter could keep hold of him.

Power, wealth, status, beauty...

Talented Trainers faced far too many temptations. Financial conglomerates and government agencies around the world would all extend olive branches to them.

Once someone became a top-tier Trainer, it meant stepping into the highest echelons of power and strength.

Mrs. Mu somewhat regretted her past laissez-faire attitude toward her daughter's love life. It would have been better if she had stepped in to bring them together sooner...

The One We Place High Hopes On...

Roy returned to the contestants' room, and the way everyone looked at him had become completely different.

A burly young man who had previously mocked him sarcastically suddenly walked over with a serious expression and blocked Roy's path.

Roy froze for a moment, thinking the other man wanted a real-life fight.

Unexpectedly, the burly young man scratched his head, gave him a thumbs-up, and grinned foolishly. "Awesome!"

"My name is Huo Qing. Sorry about talking shit about you earlier."

Huo Qing said sincerely, "But I still think you're too arrogant when you speak. You'll cause yourself a lot of trouble."

Hearing that, Roy shrugged.

He also knew that saying Riolu had Champion potential sounded excessively arrogant to people in this world.

But if he wasn't arrogant, he wouldn't be able to gain so many Popularity Points, and neither he nor Riolu could have grown stronger so quickly.

You had to give something up to gain something.

"Huo Qing, you seem to be my opponent in the next match?"

"Yeah." Huo Qing nodded frankly. "My partner is Sandshrew. I'm looking forward to our match later."

The two chatted for a few more moments before returning to their respective seats.

Roy picked up his phone and pretended to play with it, but he was actually opening the System panel.

Sure enough.

—Riolu's Popularity Points had skyrocketed.

The Popularity Points he had spent last night to exchange for Proficient Level: High-Speed Movement had suddenly climbed to two hundred thousand, and they were still increasing at an astonishing rate.

The news was still spreading. The current Popularity Points were far from the limit. Roy estimated that they could probably reach five or six hundred thousand.

Roy nearly cried out, Woohoo, we're taking off!

Not enough. I need to keep pushing harder.

He had only reached the top eight, yet the hype was already this high. Roy couldn't help looking forward to how much Popularity would explode when he won the championship.

Besides, winning the championship would bring more than just Popularity Points. It would also bring the treatment of a Chief Recommended Student.

In truth, the most important purpose of the entrance test was to determine the ranking of recommended students.

The higher a student ranked in the entrance test, the more educational resources they would receive.

The Chief Recommended Student would even receive the school's priority recommendation and be able to freely choose a Pokémon Egg from a Breeding House run by the local government.

Unlike Pokémon that had already been born and would choose their own Trainers, Pokémon hatched from Eggs would generally regard the first human they saw upon birth as their parent.

A second Pokémon...

Thinking of that gave Roy even more motivation to earn Popularity Points.

Were those really Popularity Points?

They were formula money for his unborn child!

Riolu, for the little brother or sister you haven't even met yet, you need to do your best.

Just then, the commentator's voice sounded from the screen.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the first match of the top eight has begun!"

"Let us give a warm welcome to the most highly anticipated favorite to win this Sheng Hai New Star Cup, Competitor Xiao Bin!"

The stands erupted in wave-like applause. Even through the walls, Roy could hear the cheers outside.

Just by appearing, Xiao Bin had caused a commotion no less impressive than Roy's after his victory.

Xiao Bin himself had not done anything earth-shattering. His previous top-sixteen match had also been a one-sided stomp, with nothing entertaining about it.

But when someone wrote an essay titled "My Elite Four Dad," even if the writing was awful, their language teacher still had to give them high marks.

His father's halo had granted him immense glory and made the public place immense expectations on him.

Roy looked up at the two contestants entering the arena. Aside from Xiao Bin, the other was a familiar face he had fought twice before, making him laugh.

"Lin Shixian... This unlucky kid really has terrible luck."

In the arena, Lin Shixian threw out a Poké Ball and summoned Bulbasaur.

And Xiao Bin's Pokémon was...

"Abra."

It was a yellowish Pokémon floating in midair, with a fox-like head.