I Refuse to Accept This!

"If I'm not mistaken, Servine, you've gotten fat. You're even more than twice as heavy as other Servine at the same stage!"

"Servine?!"

For a proud lady snake, such news was utterly unacceptable—a bolt from the blue.

A month had already passed since their battle against that powerful Weavile.

During this time, Ye Lan kept their daily battles to two or three matches.

First, it was to help Servine adapt to her changing body. Second, it left more time for foundational training. Servine's strength had improved too quickly, and Ye Lan worried that if her foundation was not solid, the results of her third-stage evolution would suffer.

Before completing her third-stage evolution, everything was preparation for steadily improving her strength.

To that end, neither practical combat training nor foundational training could be neglected.

Servine had taken the "Pokémon Physique Candy (Purple)" a week ago, after reaching the peak of the intermediate level. It was gradually taking effect, preparing her to break through to the advanced level.

Although the item's description stated that it worked best when used at the advanced level, it also clearly said that taking it early would not cause its effects to dissipate. The energy would simply remain stored in the body.

According to Ye Lan's plan, she would first adapt to part of the energy. The majority of the remaining energy would then be used alongside her breakthrough to the advanced level and her third-stage evolution. It might even produce twice the result with half the effort.

It had taken Servine nearly a month to reach the peak of the intermediate level, and that was already with deliberate suppression.

Had he not intentionally held her back, Servine would have reached the advanced level the moment she consumed the "Pokémon Physique Candy (Purple)."

This approach would not only allow Ye Lan and Servine to sweep through the intermediate Jindu Battle Arena, but also because Ye Lan felt that Servine had not yet reached the limits of the intermediate level. Her foundation could still be made even more solid.

Servine was now 1.2 meters tall, a full head taller than others of her kind. She weighed forty kilograms, more than double the usual eighteen kilograms.

Yet from the outside, Servine's figure remained as slender as ever. With her high-quality diet, her scales had also become even more lustrous.

As for attributes such as strength and speed, they had risen exponentially, already far surpassing the limits an ordinary Servine could reach at this stage.

"Fine, fine, fine. It's all muscle, okay?"

As he repeatedly comforted the sulking Servine, Ye Lan wore a helpless expression.

After leaving the examination room, Ye Lan suddenly realized something important.

Servine was almost at the advanced level, yet he had not taken a single strength assessment!

Not only that, he still had no clue about his second Pokémon. He was just about to save enough points to exchange for a Moss Rock, so using his points for money now was something Ye Lan truly could not bring himself to do.

It seemed his only option was to try his luck in the wild.

As Ye Lan stepped out through the gates of the Jindu Battle Arena, he breathed in the outside air for the first time in a long while, feeling incomparably comfortable and relaxed.

There was a great flow of people outside the arena, and plenty of taxis passed by.

Before long, Ye Lan hailed a taxi that had just dropped off its passengers and headed for the Jindu Trainer Association.

"Huh? Dad, wasn't that person just now Ye Lan?"

The people getting out of Ye Lan's taxi were a father and son, both staring at the taxi as it drove away.

"He did look a bit like him..."

They usually watched battles from the spectator stands, where they could not see Ye Lan's face particularly clearly. Now that they had encountered him up close, they had not recognized him right away.

"Then didn't we come here for nothing today?" The little boy pouted, looking unhappy.

After a month of battles, Ye Lan had built up quite a reputation in the intermediate division.

Although he had not fought many matches each day lately, he was remarkably consistent. Not only could people see him every day, but he had maintained a completely undefeated record.

Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that Ye Lan was not afraid of losing. He was waiting—waiting for that Servine's strength to reach the limits of the intermediate level, then using a winning streak to earn a fortune in one go.

By then, even if the officials kept matching him against opponents at the peak of the intermediate level to stop him, Ye Lan would still be confident in continuing his streak.

After arriving at the Trainer Association's main hall and making a simple appointment at the front desk, Ye Lan went to the designated area to wait.

Such strength assessments existed solely to conveniently determine a trainer's true strength. Along with the corresponding benefits came corresponding responsibilities.

For ordinary trainers, the most important purpose of the assessment was increasing the number of Pokémon they could legally possess.

He did not wait long before the announcement called for Ye Lan to enter for his assessment.

The intermediate assessment required challengers to battle an official's Pokémon at the early intermediate level. Victory meant they could proceed to registration.

Overall, it was very simple—merely a verification procedure.

After hearing the announcement, Ye Lan entered the assessment grounds, threw a Poké Ball, used one move, recalled the Poké Ball, and then went to register.

The entire process took less than three minutes, and the assessors were already used to it.

Many trainers only remembered to take the assessment when they wanted to register the second Pokémon they had caught.

Bellsprout, blasted into the wall by an Iron Tail at twenty percent power: "Feed me peanuts!!!"

Inside the second-floor training grounds of Mianzhou No. 1 High School.

"Then the remaining four spots for the provincial tournament are confirmed to belong to those four. Does anyone else have any objections?"

Liu Yan calmly swept her gaze across the remaining fifteen students opposite her. Only after seeing that they had all lowered their heads in silence did she ask.

"Teacher Liu, I object!" Among the fifteen students, a crew-cut boy suddenly raised his head. With that one sentence, everyone's eyes turned toward him.

Seeing everyone looking at him, the hesitation he had felt suddenly turned into the courage of someone with nothing left to lose. He questioned, "Teacher Liu, there are clearly five spots on the school team. Why are only the top four from this competition being chosen?"

Though she had been challenged in front of the other students, Liu Yan's expression barely changed.

The person asking that question was obviously the fifth-place finisher in this competition. The school team's resources were extremely generous, enough to support members in raising a second Pokémon. No student would not be tempted.

"Have you forgotten that there is still—" Before Liu Yan could finish, Wang Zihao forcefully cut her off.

"Of course I know about Ye Lan. But more than a month has passed, and everyone's strength has improved to varying degrees. If Ye Lan hasn't improved much, why should he get a guaranteed spot on the school team?"

His words voiced the thoughts of some others. They simply did not have Wang Zihao's courage.

Indeed, Liu Yan could learn about Ye Lan's recent circumstances through her old classmate, and his record in the battle arena could prove his strength.

But the students in the elite class did not know that!

Although Wang Zihao also believed strongly in Ye Lan's strength, they had not seen each other for an entire month. What if Ye Lan had run out of momentum and his strength had stagnated, yet he still received the school team's resources for nothing? Wang Zihao would never accept that.

As a trainer, how could one admit inferiority to others without battling them?

In short, he refused to accept this!

(Today is the Double Ninth Festival. I wish all the elders in our readers' families long lives, good health, and constant smiles!)