The Culprit

By the time Uncle Lei arrived at the campsite, panting as he followed the direction Cottonee had indicated, Ye Lan had already hurriedly packed up and left to make it back in time for the battle.

Fortunately, they learned from a Ludicolo that Ye Lan and the others had only left a short while ago, which led to what had just happened.

"No wonder my chest felt stuffy last night. So it was you, you little rascal."

After giving the little one's soft, pale cheek another pinch, Ye Lan finally stopped.

Honestly, Cottonee was warm and fluffy to hold, and its cheeks were soft too. Kneading them was incredibly stress-relieving.

"Cotton!"

Cottonee puffed out its cheeks. One pinch was one thing—how could he keep pinching them?

Seeing how even more adorable it looked when angry, Ye Lan could not resist rubbing it again.

"Since we're partners now, we'll let bygones be bygones."

"But if you want me to trade for a Sun Stone so you can evolve, you'll have to earn your own living expenses."

Didn't expect that, Uncle Lei? Servine is actually all I own!

Still, after taking another look at Cottonee's move pool, Ye Lan helplessly shook his head.

The moves it knew were all quite good, but without Protect and Substitute, it would be difficult for Cottonee's tactics to truly take shape.

On top of its obvious weakness of only being at the early intermediate level, Ye Lan had only just caught Cottonee. They still needed time to build coordination, so having it battle now would be far too much of a stretch.

"Forget it. Train for now. Servine can earn your living expenses."

"Servine?!"

Servine was shocked. Servine was furious!

Back then, every cup of Moomoo Milk it drank had been earned through battles!

"Don't want to? If you don't want to be the big sister, Servine, then I'll give the position to Cottonee." Ye Lan smiled smugly.

Tsunderes were exactly what he specialized in dealing with!

Sure enough, the moment it heard that, Servine stopped protesting.

As Ye Lan's first Pokémon, it knew Ye Lan would catch many more Pokémon in the future. It absolutely could not give up the title of boss—that was its bottom line and its pride.

That's right. It's only natural for the boss to look after the little ones. I'm not angry!

Seeing that Servine had finally tacitly agreed, Ye Lan comforted it. "Don't worry. No one on this team will be unnecessary."

"When we fight 3v3 or full-scale 6v6 battles in the future, you'll understand what this little one can do."

Among all competition formats, the most widely recognized were 1v1 singles battles, 2v2 doubles battles, 3v3 standard battles, and the most tactically demanding full-scale 6v6 battles.

That was also why, although intermediate Trainers could catch two Pokémon, large battle arenas like Jindu Battle Arena only held 1v1 matches in their intermediate division.

Rather than watch 2v2 singles, spectators might as well go to the advanced division and watch 3v3 standard battles.

As for 2v2 doubles, the viewing threshold was too high for the intermediate division, where ordinary spectators made up seventy percent of the audience. It was difficult for them to get invested.

However, the provincial tournament used a 2v2 singles format. The battle would not end until all of one side's Pokémon had lost their ability to fight.

There was no helping it.

Not only could very few students raise their strength to the advanced level by the provincial tournament, but simultaneously training and nurturing two Pokémon was already an enormous burden for many students.

The provincial tournament was a stage for students across the province to showcase themselves. To give more students that opportunity, the officials could only settle on this approach.

The moment Ye Lan got out of the taxi, before he had even entered the Battle Arena, many people recognized him.

The Arena officials had heavily promoted the news that Ye Lan would be making a push for a winning streak today.

After all, no one understood the strength of Ye Lan's Servine better than they did. Other than constantly arranging fully fledged intermediate opponents to wear down its stamina, they had no particularly good solution.

Since that was the case, they might as well promote it positively. Not only would boosting Ye Lan's popularity earn them some goodwill from him, but they could also use his current popularity for publicity and recoup much of their losses.

"Xiao Ye, you're back?" Seeing Ye Lan enter the lobby, the receptionist hurriedly greeted him.

Over the past month or so, Ye Lan had become familiar with most of the staff on the first and second floors.

"Yes, Sister Chen. You can start matching me for today's battles." Holding Cottonee in his arms, Ye Lan smiled as he spoke.

Since he was busy training every day, many matters that needed to be handled outside were arranged by this receptionist surnamed Chen.

"Is this the new Pokémon you caught? I didn't expect you to like the cute type."

Although Sister Chen was joking, her hands never stopped moving. Before long, she added Ye Lan to today's matchmaking list.

At that moment, a little boy grabbed the corner of Ye Lan's clothes, and a childish voice came from behind him.

"Big Brother Ye Lan, are you really going for a ten-win streak today?"

As soon as the boy asked the question, the middle-aged man beside him hurriedly pulled him into his arms and gave Ye Lan an apologetic smile.

Questions like that were sensitive, and many competitors did not want to answer them.

If they answered no, it would dampen the audience's enthusiasm. If they answered yes and then failed, they would be left embarrassed.

Ye Lan shook his head to show it was fine, then crouched down and looked into the little boy's eyes. "Of course. I've prepared for today for a long time. If I get the chance, I'll even try for a higher winning streak!"

In an instant, the crowd of onlookers was ignited, and the atmosphere turned fervent.

"So it's true! I thought the Battle Arena was exaggerating for publicity!"

"Exactly! There's never been such a high winning streak in the intermediate division. With ten straight wins, he'd have at least five hundred points, right?"

Five hundred points could be exchanged at the Battle Arena for an item worth 1.3 million on the market, yet that was not the endpoint Ye Lan had envisioned.

For ordinary people and intermediate Trainers in the intermediate division, that was already an enormous sum.

Hearing Ye Lan's words, the little boy's excited face turned bright red. He hurriedly asked, "Then... then can I bet all my New Year's money on you?"

Ye Lan froze for a moment before shaking his head. "Kids can't learn things like that. If you want to support Servine, come cheer for us from the stands!"

With that, Ye Lan rose and headed toward the competitors' waiting area.

Ten straight wins? No, his goal was fifteen straight wins!

"The next competitor needs no introduction! Let us welcome Competitor Ye Lan and his Servine!"

The entire arena immediately erupted in thunderous cheers, startling even Servine inside its Poké Ball.

Ye Lan ran one hand over the Poké Ball at his waist and soothed it. "There'll be provincial tournaments, national tournaments, even Elite Four challenge matches and Championship succession battles in the future. Our journey has only just begun!"

With that, Ye Lan strode into the preparation area and swept his gaze over the packed stands. He looked calm and composed on the surface, but inwardly, he was still a little nervous.

"Battle, begin!"

As the host gave the command, Ye Lan and the man opposite him threw their Poké Balls almost simultaneously.

"Come out, Slowpoke!"

"Servine, use Grassy Terrain!"

The instant the opponent's Pokémon landed, Servine had already spread Grassy Terrain across the entire battle platform.

That was the result of persisting with Poké Ball throwing practice.

Reality involved too many variables. Although the Poké Balls had been thrown at the same time, the proper techniques and training could still speed up both the Poké Ball's landing and the Pokémon's release.

The opponent's Slowpoke had done nothing wrong, yet it had fallen into an absolute disadvantage from the very start.

Even a genius Trainer like Red had once suffered permanent damage to his hand from practicing Poké Ball throws. Ye Lan knew he was only an ordinary person, so he had to seize every advantage firmly in his grasp!