Battle with Lin Yan

"Too easy to predict. Snivy, use Vine Whip."

Ye Lan shook his head. Pokémon battles, generally speaking, were a game of rock-paper-scissors influenced by the individual Pokémon.

Singles battles did not fully demonstrate this aspect. When it came to full 6v6 battles, that was when a Trainer's strength truly showed.

"Wartortle!"

With a cry of pain, Wartortle was struck by Vine Whip once again. The double damage caused by the Grass-type advantage left its body swaying unsteadily.

"Hang in there, Wartortle! Use Hydro Pump!"

However, the side effects of forced growth had become fully apparent. With Wartortle badly injured, the power within its body became even more unstable, greatly slowing Hydro Pump.

With a casual leap, Snivy easily dodged Hydro Pump.

"Don't stop! Keep using Hydro Pump!"

Wang Siqi had already lost her composure. She had originally intended to crush her opponent with superior stats, only to find that her opponent was evenly matched with her.

When she tried to compete in technique, she discovered that the gap between them was far from small.

Hydro Pumps shot out one after another as Snivy's nimble figure constantly dodged through the gaps between the attacks.

With the continuous use of moves, Wartortle's stamina began to drain rapidly.

As it continued dodging, Snivy gradually closed the distance between itself and Wartortle.

"It's over. Finish it with Iron Tail."

"Snivy!"

White light gathered around Snivy's tail. It flipped around and swung its tail, striking the crack it had created earlier.

With a bang, one corner of Wartortle's shell shattered. Blood flowed as Wartortle rolled across the ground several times before completely losing consciousness.

"Wartortle has lost the ability to battle. The winner is Ye Lan!"

As the referee's whistle sounded, enthusiastic cheers erupted around the field.

"That Snivy is seriously strong! Even Wang Siqi's Wartortle wasn't a match for it!"

"Even with a type advantage, the difference shouldn't be this huge, right?"

"Hey, did you notice? Ye Lan's Snivy knows Protect too. Didn't they say he came from an ordinary family?"

In the stands, Liu Yan nodded. "His command ability is excellent as well. He's a promising prospect."

"He's only been training Pokémon for a week and has already achieved this much. If his Snivy can evolve before the provincial tournament, he might really place near the top."

Liu Qingshan, standing nearby, was also very satisfied with Ye Lan's performance. The Protect move disc he had given away had clearly been more than worth it.

The reason move discs were so expensive in this world was entirely due to their efficiency and convenience.

As long as the move disc was placed near the switch on a Poké Ball, the Pokémon inside could quickly grasp the techniques required to learn the move.

After using the move disc, Snivy had merely put it into practice in its battle with Charmander and had already completely mastered it.

The first battle had ended, yet Ye Lan saw Wang Siqi turn to leave without any intention of recalling Wartortle.

Ye Lan frowned and reminded her, "Your Wartortle is badly injured. It needs treatment immediately, or it could suffer lasting complications."

"My Pokémon is none of your business! I used so many resources to evolve it, and it still couldn't beat a beginner Pokémon. Trash is trash!"

With that, Wang Siqi walked off the field without looking back.

This sudden turn of events caught not only Ye Lan off guard, but also the teachers watching the battle.

This was one of the three starters. Was she really just abandoning it?

Outside the battle field, Teacher Li, who had been standing by to prevent accidents, hurried forward with Audino to treat Wartortle.

"Snivy!"

Snivy glared angrily in the direction Wang Siqi had left. It clearly despised a Trainer abandoning her companion.

"We'll meet plenty of Trainers like that in the future, so we need to become stronger too. We can't lose to people like them!"

"Snivy!"

Snivy nodded, then turned to look at its Trainer beside it. Thick long hair, slightly curled bangs, and prominent aegyo-sal beneath his clean features.

For the first time, Snivy thought its Trainer was actually rather handsome.

Ye Lan sighed. It was his first time seeing something like this in the real world, and his feelings were complicated.

Back when he played Pokémon on handheld consoles, he had also caught and discarded many Pokémon in search of suitable Abilities and Natures.

There was nothing wrong with raising Pokémon with better talent.

But reality was different. Pokémon were living beings of flesh and blood, and bonds existed between them. The strange chemistry between Trainers and Pokémon was also the key factor that determined victory or defeat.

When Ye Lan came back to his senses, Lin Yan was already standing across from him.

"Do you want to take a break? If you battle my Charmander right after finishing that match, it'll be easy for you to lose."

Lin Yan smiled at Ye Lan, while Charmander roared at Snivy.

"You're underestimating us too much. That was just a warm-up!"

"Snivy!"

At that moment, Snivy's fighting spirit completely surged forth. Its black vertical pupils fixed tightly on the guy across from it who loved burning its tail.

Ye Lan's lazy expression also faded, and his entire bearing became completely different from before.

"Why does Ye Lan feel like a different person?"

"Maybe he just didn't consider the earlier opponents worthy of being his opponents?"

Quite a few students around them began discussing it. Some girls even gradually blushed when they saw Ye Lan's serious expression.

"Battle start!"

At the referee's command, Lin Yan was the first to issue an attack order.

"Charmander, Fire Fang!"

Charmander charged forward rapidly as flames blazed around its mouth, as though it had put on a mask of fire.

Just as it was about to reach Snivy, Snivy leaped into the air. White light gathered around its tail before it smashed heavily toward Charmander's face.

With a boom, the clash of moves sent dust billowing across the field.

As the dust dispersed, Snivy and Charmander both leaped backward at the same time.

Snivy's leaf-shaped tail had been scorched black in places. As for Charmander, the bloody marks across its face proved that it had not had it easy either.

"The power of those moves has already surpassed the beginner level."

Liu Yan watched the situation on the field, a smile appearing at the corner of her lips.

"They've really given me quite a few surprises!" Principal Liu Qingshan was also visibly delighted.

In less than a week of training, they had already reached the strength of intermediate Trainers. Let's see who would dare say Mianzhou was lacking after this!

The situation on the field changed in an instant. Before Charmander could recover from that Iron Tail, two Vine Whips lunged out of the dust at it like pythons hunting in the night.

With no time to dodge, Charmander quickly raised both arms in front of itself.

However, the whipping strike Snivy was known for never came. The two soft yet resilient vines tightly bound Charmander.

"Charmander, Smokescreen!"

Just as Charmander was about to be dragged before Snivy, black smoke like ink spewed from its mouth, instantly obscuring the field from view.

"Well, aren't you something, Lin Yan? You actually slipped in a hidden trick!"

Ye Lan had never seen Lin Yan's Charmander use this move when they battled before.

He had thought he was having a fair battle with his good brother. Since he had not checked Charmander's data screen, Ye Lan had almost been unable to hold himself back.