The Top Three's First Battle

Ye Lan had originally been very interested in the "Injury Recovery" function, which could control a Pokémon's injuries after it returned to its Poké Ball.

When traveling in the wild in the future, this function could greatly ensure a Pokémon's safety and buy enough time to reach a Pokémon Center.

After thinking it over, Ye Lan ultimately gave up on the idea.

There was still some time before traveling in the wild. Redeeming that function now was meaningless for the present and could even be considered a huge waste.

After careful consideration, Ye Lan ultimately chose the "Grass-type Pokémon Affinity" function.

[ Ding! The system has unlocked a new function. Please proceed to the corresponding interface to claim it. ]

Just as Ye Lan expected, after this system notification popped up, the prices of the other system functions all changed to 100 Sunshine Points.

Looking at the newly added "Grass-type Pokémon Affinity.lv.1" on the system panel, Ye Lan smiled and decided to temporarily forget the pain of the price increase.

"Snivy, don't you think I got more handsome again?"

"Snivy. (Tch~)"

Snivy glanced at Ye Lan, whose eyes were shining, then snorted coldly and ignored him.

Though it had also sensed the sudden attraction radiating from Ye Lan, given its personality, it would never show it.

Once the top ten had all been decided, everyone remaining began focusing on the upcoming ranking matches.

After all, reaching the top ten meant they had maintained perfect winning records so far and possessed considerable skill in battle.

The top-ten ranking matches went even faster than Ye Lan had imagined, though a small incident in the middle left him both amused and helpless.

During the match to narrow the field from five to three, one person had to receive a bye. Yet the other four, without prior discussion, all chose to vote Ye Lan out rather than draw lots.

To the students watching, this was only natural.

In everyone's eyes, Ye Lan was an even greater threat than the second-stage evolved Wartortle, greater even than Lin Yan.

If they drew Ye Lan, the rewards for placing in the top three would be gone before they knew it.

As expected, the final top three were those three.

"Whether you get high-grade Berries with premium Moomoo Milk next month, or rotten Berries with tap water, depends on how you perform in the next two matches!"

"Snivy?!"

Snivy stared at Ye Lan in shock. Had the family fallen to such a state without it even noticing?

At the thought that the blissful feeling of taking a sip of Moomoo Milk after every training session was about to disappear, even a proud Snivy had no choice but to face reality.

Seeing Snivy's fighting spirit gradually rise, Ye Lan grinned smugly.

"You little brat, I know exactly how to handle a tsundere!"

"Ye Lan of Class Two and Wang Siqi of Class Three, please prepare at the battle field."

With the referee's call and the blow of the whistle, the first match of the top-three rankings officially began.

According to the rules, whoever wanted first place had to defeat the other two contestants in succession.

Having often battled Lin Yan, Ye Lan knew his opponent's strength well and found this situation extremely troublesome.

Although Wang Siqi's Wartortle had been forcefully raised through resources, its strength was still not to be underestimated.

How to retain enough strength after defeating this Wartortle and then defeat Lin Yan's Charmander became Ye Lan's greatest problem.

Using the inspection function again after a long time, Ye Lan looked over and the information on the opposing Wartortle appeared before his eyes.

Name: Wartortle

Gender: Male

Ability: Torrent. Effect: When HP falls below one-third, the power of Water-type moves increases by 1.5 times.

Known moves: Tackle, Bubble, Tail Whip, Water Gun, Withdraw, Hydro Pump, Skull Bash, Protect

Egg move: Yawn

Seeing this luxurious move panel, Ye Lan's face darkened. Was this the power of spending money?

This was downright inhumane! Eight moves against my Snivy...

"Uh..."

Then Ye Lan remembered that, if Snivy's two Egg moves it had yet to use were included, it also had exactly eight moves. He felt better.

"Sure enough, no amount of spending can beat cheating!"

Noticing Ye Lan's aura sharpen once more, Wang Siqi also poured her full attention into the battle.

"Wartortle, Water Gun!"

"Wartor!"

Water Gun gathered in Wartortle's mouth as the surrounding Water-type energy was drawn in, radiating astonishing power.

However, its proficiency with the move was clearly insufficient, and it took much longer to launch. Snivy easily dodged it.

"Snivy, get moving and keep harassing it with Vine Whip."

"Wartortle, ignore it. Use Tail Whip on the spot!"

Ye Lan froze when he saw that. It seemed she did not understand the effect of the Contrary Ability?

The unceasing Vine Whip attacks began leaving wound after wound on Wartortle's body.

Though Wartortle did its best to dodge, the flexibility of Vine Whip was far beyond anything it could match.

"Get close and use Iron Tail!"

Here it comes! Wang Siqi's eyes lit up. This was the offensive move Snivy was best at using.

"Wartortle, withdraw into your shell!"

Iron Tail came crashing down with fierce momentum. With a boom, Wartortle, tucked inside its shell, was blasted away like a cannonball, and a conspicuous crack appeared on its shell.

"What tremendous power!"

A bead of cold sweat trickled down Wang Siqi's cheek. She did not dare imagine how badly Wartortle would have been injured if it had taken that move head-on.

Fortunately, however, every move her opponent made was within her calculations.

"Snivy, Protect!"

"Hold on, Wartortle! Now, Skull Bash!"

Using the momentum of its descent, Wartortle in midair rammed headfirst toward Snivy.

A transparent barrier flashed into existence. Wartortle's ferocious attack was directly blocked by the Protect barrier, producing no effect at all.

"How could this be?!"

Wang Siqi's eyes widened. She had not expected her opponent to predict her move in advance.

Still, forcing out the opponent's Protect was not an unacceptable result.

"Wartortle, Hydro Pump!"

"Snivy, split it apart with Iron Tail!"

Ye Lan's command stunned everyone present.

Split it apart? With what? The power of Hydro Pump was incomparable to Water Gun.

Everyone believed Ye Lan had made an error in judgment. Yet Snivy did not hesitate in the slightest. The instant the Protect barrier vanished, Iron Tail was already poised to strike.

A streak of white light flashed past, directly splitting apart the formidable Hydro Pump. Iron Tail continued onward with unstoppable force, whipping toward Wartortle.

This scene not only drew gasps from the surrounding students, but also left Wang Siqi nearly frozen where she stood.

They were both starter Pokémon. She could not understand why the Wartortle she had spent so many resources evolving was so much weaker than a Snivy in its initial stage.

Yet in Ye Lan's eyes, the opposing Wartortle was like a child firing wildly, possessing great power but unable to control it.

That Hydro Pump looked fierce, but its force was actually scattered. Combined with the opponent's earlier mistake in commanding, which had boosted Snivy's defense, that was what led to this result.

As Wartortle was sent flying again by Iron Tail, Wang Siqi gave another command. "Wartortle, Protect!"

"Wartor!"

"Snivy, Glare."

At Ye Lan's calm command, the expected attacking move did not come. Mysterious patterns flickered across Snivy's body, and Glare's unique paralysis effect left Wartortle stiff and frozen in place.