Fifth Battle

Name: Slowpoke (Slowbro)

Gender: Male

Type: Water/Psychic

Ability: Own Tempo. Effect: Immune to confusion and the negative effects caused by the Intimidate Ability.

Known Moves: Howl, Water Gun, Confusion, Water Pulse, Zen Headbutt, Ice Beam

Egg Moves: None

Rank: Late Intermediate

Evolution Progress: None (already at its final evolution)

Fodder?

Looking at the pink Pokémon standing on two legs across from him, with a Shellder biting its tail and twisting it into a spiral, Ye Lan's instinctive nervousness vanished.

This silly-looking little Pokémon was a notorious pink demon in the eyes of competitive battlers.

The Water/Psychic typing gave it six resistances and five type advantages, which sounded fairly ordinary.

Yet while resisting three popular types—Steel, Psychic, and Fighting—it also had an exceptionally well-distributed base stat total of 490.

Its physical defense base stat was a full 110, rising to an absurd 180 after Mega Evolution, instantly making it the Pokémon with the highest physical defense among Water and Psychic types.

Combined with its versatile movepool, it had become a favorite among many competitive battlers in his previous life.

Unfortunately, despite such a stat spread, it had been trained terribly. Ye Lan could hardly bear to look any longer.

"Servine, use Iron Tail!"

White Steel-type energy gathered around Servine's tail. As its tail muscles tensed, its figure vanished from Slowpoke's sight.

Slowpoke's pupils constricted. Before it could react, darkness fell over its vision, and it had already lost the ability to battle.

The audience fell silent for a moment before erupting into thunderous cheers.

The gap in strength was simply too great!

After consuming the "Pokémon Physique Candy (Purple)," the power of Servine's Iron Tail had risen several more levels.

Not only that, with the increase in its physical strength, training for previously less-used moves such as Bind and Slam had also been put on the agenda.

The current Servine was in its absolute comfort zone whether fighting at range or in close quarters.

"A late Intermediate Slowpoke couldn't even withstand one move from Servine. Just how strong is Ye Lan's Servine?"

The students from Mianzhou No. 1 High School in the front-row stands were left dumbfounded by Servine's fierce strike. Even Liu Yan, who had been prepared for it, had a flicker of astonishment in her eyes.

"Even an Intermediate Pokémon at full mastery would find this burst power terrifying. It can already fully rival an early Advanced Fighting-type Pokémon."

As the battles continued, even after the fourth match, Servine had not expended much stamina. Although its opponents from the fourth match onward were already at full Intermediate mastery, they still could not withstand a single Iron Tail from Servine.

Watching his opponent recall Linoone into its Poké Ball and turn to leave, Ye Lan had already understood.

The contestants in the previous rounds had not been particularly strong, as though they had been probing Servine's battling style. Only from this match onward had they gradually begun to get serious.

"Too bad Servine can't learn Leaf Storm at the Intermediate stage yet. Otherwise, combined with Glare, it would be an absolute weapon for a gauntlet match!"

Ye Lan shook his head regretfully.

As one of Serperior's most commonly used powerful moves after evolving later on, it was not something Servine could learn or master yet.

By that logic, the Snivy family was also a prime example of late bloomers.

"Please welcome our fifth contestant! Can Servine continue its previous fierce offensive and defeat its opponent in a single strike?"

On the floating platform, the substitute host energetically stirred up the crowd's emotions while also having to read advertisements during breaks in the battle.

"Bright Brand Pokémon Nutrient Solution! One sip and your newborn Pokémon will run, two sips and its moves will instantly defeat foes! For nutrient solution, choose Bright Brand—it tastes absolutely bird!"

Who wrote this trash ad copy? Why is there even dialect in it?! Host Little Li cursed inwardly.

Honestly, he was only an intern. On his very first day, he had been dragged into hosting a match watched by so many people, and the psychological pressure had already reached the limit of what he could endure.

And now there was dialect in the ad copy. His tongue was practically twisting itself raw from reading it.

Senior, where the hell did you go? Little Li wept inwardly.

The senior host who was originally assigned to the Intermediate arena had insisted that his female Machamp was giving birth today, so he had made Little Li take over hosting.

Before leaving, he had patted Little Li on the shoulder and kindly said, "Little Li, I'm handing this opportunity over to you. Make sure you seize it well!"

Then he had left the battle arena without even looking back.

Today's event was too big. If he failed to handle it, he would definitely be punished by the higher-ups.

What should one do at a time like this? Naturally, send in the intern!

After Little Li finished reading the ad copy, the fifth contestant had already arrived in the battle arena. Upon receiving the referee's signal, he threw out the Poké Ball in his hand.

As white light flashed, a Pokémon surrounded by black mist appeared before everyone. Its body resembled an inverted triangle, with two sinister claws floating before it.

"Wasta!"

Name: Haunter

Gender: Male

Type: Ghost/Poison

Ability: Levitate. Effect: Immune to attacks from Ground-type moves.

Known Moves: Hypnosis, Lick, Shadow Ball, Astonish, Sucker Punch, Ice Punch

Egg Move: Will-O-Wisp

Rank: Intermediate Full Mastery

Evolution Progress: 48%

"It's actually a Haunter!" Ye Lan frowned as he looked at the data panel before him.

It was not that he lacked confidence in defeating this Pokémon. Rather, defeating it would consume too much stamina and cause trouble for the battles ahead.

"Haunter, Shadow Ball!"

Haunter seized the initiative. A Shadow Ball gathered in its hand and shot toward Servine.

Two Vine Whips lashed out, crossing before Servine to block the Shadow Ball's advance.

Grass-type energy and Ghost-type energy collided, yet the expected explosion did not occur. Instead, the powerful flexibility of the Vine Whips forcibly bounced the Shadow Ball back!

Before the first Shadow Ball had even been knocked away, another continuous barrage of Shadow Balls flew forth, blasting the Vine Whips into fragments.

I absolutely can't let it get close. Its close-combat ability is far too monstrous. Haunter's trainer, a thin young man, made up his mind.

Perhaps because he had spent too long around Ghost-type Pokémon, the man's afro gave people an eerie feeling.

Though the Vine Whips were repeatedly destroyed by the unceasing Shadow Balls, Servine did not appear flustered.

As it continuously glided across the Grassy Terrain, Magical Leaf poured down upon Haunter like raindrops.

As the many Shadow Balls exploded like balloons pierced by needles, the swiftly moving Servine kept circling while continuously drawing closer to Haunter.

Like a venomous snake steadily shrinking its prey's range of movement, Haunter, whose space to dodge was becoming ever smaller, likewise realized Servine's intentions.

Purple Will-O-Wisp flames radiating intense heat spewed forth, burning the Grassy Terrain into a mess as Haunter attempted to use the blaze to halt Servine's advance.

After dodging another attack from Magical Leaf, Haunter had yet to sigh in relief when Servine's Iron Tail had already pierced through the purple flames and struck toward its abdomen.

Seeing Servine already closing in, the afro-haired man hurriedly shouted, "Haunter, use Hypnosis with all your strength!"

Haunter's eyes bloomed with an eerie light as it stared directly toward the direction from which Servine was charging.

Yet Servine's Iron Tail did not pause in the slightest, smashing viciously into Haunter's body, which was like purple gas.

(Note: Everything below is the author's rambling and does not affect normal reading. Feel free to skip it!)

Because the author releases the daily two chapters one day in advance, when this chapter was published, it was actually only the beginning of November.

The serialization started on October 8, and now it was already November. Even though there still were not many words, the author had made many friends.

Xu Hantian Who Likes Thirty-Seven Flowers, Luo Hong Who Loves Loofah and Lean Pork Soup, Dai Yan from Yingkou, Man Mo, User, Bai Wanling, Wang Zongyan the Old Daoist of Yumen.

This group of readers had been following since the beginning. Reader "Xu Hantian Who Likes Thirty-Seven Flowers" was especially notable among them; the author saw them every day. If they showed up too late, the author would feel briefly uneasy, only relaxing after seeing them later on.

Reader "Man Mo" also left a deep impression on the author. No matter how your name was recognized, it just could not be typed out, which gave the author quite a headache. Hahahaha~

Even Gods Envy My Jiangbao, Wait for Me to Grow Up, User, User, Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Chicken Bro, Yun 4345, User.

This group of readers began following around the middle. Among them, reader "Even Gods Envy My Jiangbao" not only followed frequently but also gave the most rewards. What a generous boss!

Readers "Wait for Me to Grow Up" and "Yun 4345" also followed every day. Seeing you all every day made the author feel so warmly familiar, and the author would always think, Ah, they're still here. That's wonderful.

Readers "", "", and ""—bet you didn't expect that. Even though you had not changed your names and only had system codes, the author could already recognize you at a glance. You might not have the inclination to change your names, but you still took the trouble to tap follow every day. Thank you so much for staying with the author all this way~

"Chicken Bro," if you have any more questions next time, the author will reply as soon as possible!

Reader Azure Wasteland Cultivator, End. Void, Want to Play Almost Enough, Yue Xin'er Who Loves Tofu Shrimp Cakes.

This group of readers had only recently started following. The most memorable was reader "Want to Play Almost Enough," whose avatar was an incredibly adorable Sylveon! The author likes Sylveon too!

Although that damn Ye Lan could not capture a Sylveon, the author had already set up the later plot...

Ahem, no spoilers here. Keep reading!

Many readers did not have the habit of tapping follow, but that did not mean the author did not know you existed. You are all equally important. It is precisely because every one of you is here that Ye Lan's story will continue for a very, very, very long time...