What True Brothers Are For

"But luckily, we kept something in reserve."

Ye Lan smiled. "Snivy, watch your surroundings."

At Ye Lan's warning, Snivy slowed down and grew alert.

A cold glint flashed in the smoke as red claws slashed toward Snivy's back.

Feeling the rush of air behind him, Snivy leaped forward and barely dodged. Scorching heat washed over him, clinging to his back.

His green scales were burned black, and smoke curled from his leaf-shaped tail.

"That Charmander's senses are sharp even in the smoke. He found Snivy so easily."

Principal Liu Qingshan nodded. It seemed Lin Yan had grown a lot too, not just Ye Lan.

"I wonder what Ye Lan will do now."

Charmander kept launching surprise attacks from the smoke, quickly retreating whenever he missed. Liu Qingshan was curious how Ye Lan would respond.

Charmander's attacks forced Snivy to keep moving while his Fire-type moves cut off Snivy's escape routes.

The doubly effective attacks left more and more wounds on Snivy.

Yet even as Snivy fell behind, Ye Lan remained calm.

What a Grass-type Trainer needed most was patience.

"Here's our chance! Use Glare!"

As Charmander closed in again, the scales on Snivy's body seemed to come alive, shifting into strange patterns.

But Charmander appeared to have expected it. He slapped a claw against the ground and used the momentum to spring backward.

Clearly, Lin Yan and Charmander knew Snivy's fighting style and moves well.

At this stage, the paralysis caused by Snivy's Glare only lasted so long.

With enough distance and willpower, Charmander had a chance to break free before Snivy could launch another attack.

But Ye Lan had anticipated that.

Charmander's relentless attacks had hurt Snivy, but they had also drained a great deal of his stamina.

And not just his stamina. Tracking Snivy's position for so long had taken a mental toll as well.

Charmander couldn't shake off the paralysis quickly. Though he had put plenty of distance between them, Snivy still had enough time.

The balance had tipped. The snake that had waited so long was about to bare his fangs.

"Aim where he went! Use Magical Leaf!"

The instant Charmander was paralyzed, shimmering green leaves appeared before Snivy and shot toward him like arrows.

The gusts stirred up by Magical Leaf swept away a broad swath of smoke, clearing the view.

An explosion rang out. Charmander cried in pain and flew backward, only slowly getting to his feet when Lin Yan called to him.

But Snivy moved faster. In a few quick bursts, he was right in Charmander's face.

"Use Glare!"

"Protect!"

Snivy turned and swung his tail, fooling Lin Yan into calling for Protect. The move was wasted, and Charmander's physical defense had been lowered.

"Finish it with Iron Tail!"

As the pale blue shield from Protect vanished, Snivy's tail glowed white. His Iron Tail struck Charmander square in the stomach.

"Char!"

With another cry of pain, Charmander slammed into the arena floor.

A small claw stretched forward, trembling as he stubbornly tried to rise. In the end, his strength gave out. His eyes turned to spirals, and he could no longer battle.

"Charmander is unable to battle! Congratulations to Ye Lan, who takes first place in this assessment!"

The referee blew the whistle, and cheers erupted from the students outside the arena.

Snivy had been on the back foot moments ago, only to turn the match around in an instant. It had been thrilling to watch.

Lin Yan returned Charmander to his Poké Ball and laughed helplessly.

When it came to tactics, he was still no match for Ye Lan.

They were the same age, yet Ye Lan always seemed far more seasoned when giving commands, nothing like a trainer their age.

"I'll take Charmander to get treated. You won again, so you owe us both a meal!"

"When did he learn Magical Leaf? I've never seen you use it before."

"You kept Smokescreen hidden too, didn't you?" Ye Lan rolled his eyes. So this is true brotherhood?

"I actually had one more move up my sleeve. Shame the match ended before I could use it."

What?

Watching Lin Yan head toward Teacher Li, Ye Lan smiled and high-fived Snivy in celebration. Then he returned Snivy to his Poké Ball and went to get him treated too.

Of course, the celebration Ye Lan had spent so long planning wasn't just a simple high five. Snivy jumped, spun around, and slapped his leaf-shaped tail against Ye Lan's right hand.

Ye Lan had always thought it looked cool, but Snivy had flatly refused. It had taken a lot of persuasion to settle on it.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have gained 5 Sunshine Points!]

The system's voice rang in Ye Lan's mind. He handed the Poké Ball to Teacher Li, then walked out of the arena with Lin Yan.

The assessment rewards would not be handed out until the entire assessment was over. The arena would next be used to decide the final ten places in the elite class.

But that no longer had anything to do with either of them.

"What are you doing with your afternoon off?" Lin Yan turned to Ye Lan, who had already relaxed again.

"Training, of course. Today's assessment showed me where Snivy falls short in battle."

Ye Lan thought back to the fight in the smoke. If Charmander had known a powerful Fire-type move, Snivy would have lost.

Snakes were noticeably worse than other Pokémon at tracking things by sight.

But they had an advantage too: their sense of smell was far sharper than that of other creatures. With it, they could even pinpoint an enemy faster than they could by sight.

Ye Lan had clearly neglected that part of Snivy's training, which was why they had struggled earlier. If he hadn't prepared a countermeasure of his own, the fifty-thousand prize might have slipped away.

As for how to train Snivy's sense of smell, Ye Lan still had no idea.

He had heard that the elite class's homeroom teacher was a professional trainer. Hopefully, the teacher he had yet to meet could offer some advice.

"That's just like you! But I won't be training with you this afternoon. I'm going to the black market to buy some resources Charmander needs."

Ye Lan looked at Lin Yan's calm smile and asked softly, "Do you need help?"

Lin Yan paused, then shook his head, his smile widening. "The prize money is thirty thousand. Even after Charmander evolves, it should keep us going for a while."

Ye Lan nodded and said nothing more.

The exchange might have sounded abrupt, but Ye Lan was being careful of Lin Yan's pride.

Things were hard for Lin Yan's family. His mother had been ill for years and needed medication to stay well.

Lin Yan had insisted on becoming a trainer because he knew that, in this world, it was the only way someone at the bottom like him could change his fate.

Ye Lan was hardly flush with money himself, but he considered Lin Yan a friend worth keeping.

After all, a battle revealed a trainer's character better than anything else.