Servine, Entering the Fray!

As the light of evolution completely faded, the once-adorable Snivy stood upon the Grassy Terrain in an entirely new form.

Servine, entering the fray!

Name: Servine

Gender: Female

Type: Grass

Ability: Contrary (Hidden Ability)

Known Moves: Tackle, Bind, Protect, Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Growth, Giga Drain, Leaf Blade, Slam, Coil

Inherited Moves: Glare (Mastered), Magical Leaf (Mastered), Iron Tail (Mastered), Grassy Terrain (Mastered)

Rank: Late Intermediate

Evolution Progress: 0%

The three newly learned moves were nothing special, but the increase in strength pleasantly surprised Ye Lan.

He had originally thought she would reach, at most, the middle stage of Intermediate rank. He had never expected that, after all that buildup, she would directly advance to the late stage!

"Damn it! She evolved at a time like this!"

The scar-faced man's eyes filled with anger, but he did not take it too seriously.

She had evolved, but this was reality, not a game.

Although evolving from Snivy into Servine had improved her physical abilities, her injuries had not recovered.

Weavile still held the advantage.

"Weavile, use Quick Attack!"

In an instant, Weavile's speed surged. It became a streak of white lightning and rammed toward Servine.

Servine merely slid her body to the right, easily evading the attack.

Compared to her time as a Snivy, Servine still had arms and legs, but they had both degenerated to varying degrees.

She appeared to move with her feet, but in truth, she was more like gliding across the grass.

Feeling the whistle of wind coming from behind her once more, Steel-type energy began gathering at Servine's tail.

A rapid series of metallic clashes rang out, making Ye Lan, who was watching from behind, break out in a cold sweat.

Then came another deafening bang. One of Weavile's claws was forcibly broken!

After evolving into Servine, her longer and more powerful tail had made Iron Tail, already the move she excelled at most, even more aggressive.

Servine, meanwhile, had not gotten off much better. The scales on her tail had shattered, and blood dripped down along with the broken scales.

The broken claw clearly disrupted Weavile's attacking rhythm.

Although it had suffered such a serious injury, Weavile had spent years fighting in battle arenas and did not take this level of injury too seriously. It pulled every fragment from its wound, quickened its pace, and charged at Servine once again.

"It's Agility!"

Ye Lan immediately realized what was happening.

Agility did not have the same burst speed as Quick Attack, but it lasted longer.

Even so, it consumed stamina much faster. The opponent was preparing to go all out!

At this stage, Weavile had the right timing, while Servine had the favorable terrain. As for the final advantage—the people—it would depend on their respective Trainers!

"Use Magical Leaf!" Ye Lan shouted from behind.

"Sss!"

Dense green motes gradually sharpened into focus around Servine, and countless tiny, razor-sharp leaves shot toward the constantly flickering Weavile.

For a moment, grass clippings flew everywhere. Although Weavile kept dodging, numerous bloody cuts still appeared across its body.

"Use Ice Shard to interrupt its attack!" the scar-faced man commanded as well.

A bead of cold sweat slid down his forehead, and his clenched palm was drenched in sweat.

Weavile, which had originally held an absolute advantage, was now gradually becoming evenly matched with Servine.

With the boost from Grassy Terrain, Servine's previously grave injuries had gradually stabilized. She even grew fiercer with every setback, while Weavile's situation became increasingly precarious.

"We can't keep stalemating like this. If I win this match, I can inherit half the points he just won!"

Weavile stopped dodging. Light began glowing from its hands and feet as it pounced toward the approaching Servine.

Servine's gaze gradually turned cold. Blue-green light extended continuously along her tail as she flipped her body and stabbed fiercely toward Weavile like a sword leaving its sheath.

Just as she was about to reach Weavile, Servine's Vine Whip lashed out and tightly bound Weavile's ankle.

"An opening!"

The scar-faced man and Ye Lan's eyes both flashed with intensity.

As the Vine Whip tightened, the distance between Weavile and Servine steadily closed.

While Servine gathered her strength, a dense Dark-type aura also accumulated in Weavile's mouth.

"Weavile, Dark Pulse!"

"Servine, one final Bind!"

As the energies collided, an explosion erupted, and smoke and dust obscured everything in the arena.

At that moment, not only Ye Lan and the scar-faced man watching from the edge of the battle arena, but even the spectators and host within the venue anxiously focused on the final result hidden within the smoke.

"We can see that both Servine and Weavile have very little stamina left! The result of this battle will depend on the power clash of this final exchange. Which side will claim the ultimate victory?!"

As the smoke slowly dispersed, it revealed the overlapping figures of the two Pokémon.

When everyone looked over, the one claw Weavile had exposed beneath Servine's coils trembled faintly once before finally going still.

"It was Giga Drain! At the final moment of using Bind, Servine used Giga Drain, allowing her to ultimately win this contest of moves!"

"Let us congratulate contestant Ye Lan and his Servine on claiming their sixth consecutive victory!"

After faintly hearing the host announce the result, the taut string in Servine's heart finally loosened. Her head tilted to one side as she lay flat on the ground.

As if sensing a familiar presence, Servine slowly opened her eyes. Ye Lan was already crouched in front of her.

"Sss?" (Did we win?)

"Of course. Sniv... I almost forgot. You're Servine now."

"Not only did you win, you won beautifully. Can you hear them? The cheers from the entire arena are for you." Gently stroking Servine's head, Ye Lan could not help sighing. He had not expected her to feel even better to pet after evolving!

After looking around, Servine seemed to suddenly remember something. With difficulty, she stretched her tail out in front of Ye Lan.

"Sss!" (We won, so clap!)

Looking at the tail before him, now a bloody mess, Ye Lan's nose could not help stinging despite his forced smile and his efforts not to ruin the mood.

He finally understood deeply why Teacher Lu Ye was unwilling to let Pokémon battle and did not want to become a Trainer. Just as Ye Lan was about to say something else, a rough voice came from behind him.

"Um, sorry to interrupt your touching moment, but could you let my Weavile out first?"

The scar-faced man looked as if he were about to cry, making his already fierce face seem several degrees more comical.

It was already painful enough that he had lost all the points he had earned today. He had wanted to get Weavile treated quickly and move on to the next match, but people like Ye Lan were rare after all.

Who could have expected that Servine would coil around Weavile so tightly that even the medical staff could not pry her loose despite using all their strength?

When they saw Ye Lan approach, everyone was delighted, thinking he was finally going to recall his Pokémon with a Poké Ball.

Who would have thought that Ye Lan would squat down, discover that Servine had only suffered superficial injuries, and start chatting with her instead?

When Servine tightened her coils around Weavile even further just to offer Ye Lan her tail, the scar-faced man finally could not take it anymore.

Other people's Pokémon lives mattered too! His Weavile was really, like, one tiny bit away from dying!