Ouyang Sheng Tian

Ye Lan generally did not use tactics that relied on luck.

Given the situation at the time, if Camerupt had unleashed Explosive Flame first, Servine would have been blown away by now.

Seeing Servine standing in the Battle Arena, covered in dust and grime, Ye Lan began feeling sorry for it as usual.

His little princess loved being clean under normal circumstances. Today, for the sake of the battle, she had really given it everything.

"How about we stop here?"

"Sss!"

"Then we continue!" Ye Lan's gaze gradually hardened.

"Ye Lan's quick response just now is also something you need to learn from."

In the seating area for Mianzhou No. 1 High School, Liu Yan was carefully explaining the details of Ye Lan's recent battle to several members of the school team.

"Although Ye Lan's decision involved an element of gambling, it was a perfectly reasonable choice."

"Camerupt is a dual Fire- and Ground-type Pokémon. If it knows Ground-type moves that can alter the terrain, then once the battle turns into a war of attrition, it will be very disadvantageous for Servine in her current state..."

Liu Yan's voice was like an unbearable chant, leaving the elite class students, who had originally been eagerly watching the match, utterly miserable.

Although Liu Yan was mainly explaining things to the four school team members, their seats were close together, and the other students were too embarrassed not to listen.

They had no choice but to attend an impromptu Pokémon Battle Theory class in the stands.

Cottonee was covering its ears with its tiny hands as well, unable to understand why this female human could talk so much.

"Continue," Ye Lan said calmly in the Battle Arena.

"Sss!" Servine raised her head and hissed in response to her trainer.

However, with her body covered in dust and her tail burned charred black, she looked less imposing than comical.

At that moment, in the conference room on the second floor of the Battle Arena, the previously quiet room suddenly became lively after Ye Lan successfully claimed his thirteenth consecutive victory.

"We can't let him keep winning! At this rate, he'll really exchange his points for a pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg!"

"Don't we have a group of Hunters at the Battle Arena? It's time to send them out to stop Ye Lan."

The upper management chattered endlessly. Some even believed that since Ye Lan had been brought in by Manager Lin, he should be responsible for all the losses!

Others believed that the membership card Manager Lin had issued without authorization was not recognized by the Battle Arena and that Ye Lan's qualification to battle should be revoked immediately!

Hearing this, Manager Lin, seated in the corner of the conference table, trembled in fear and did not dare say a word.

Every person present could be considered his superior. At a meeting of this level, a lowly manager like him was not even qualified to interrupt.

"Quiet!" At the head of the conference table, a young man in a suit suddenly slammed his hand down on the table.

The loud bang instantly silenced the entire conference room.

"Does our Battle Arena's second floor not even have a single pseudo-legendary Egg to spare? What are you all panicking for?"

The young man speaking was named Ouyang Sheng Tian, the only son of Ouyang Tian, the founder of Jindu Battle Arena.

Jindu Battle Arena had a unique management structure. The person in charge of each floor was an old subordinate who had followed Ouyang Tian across the land in his early years.

Anyone with eyes could see that the higher the floor, the stronger the battlers and the greater the risks. Naturally, the profits were also greater.

Back then, the Battle Arenas from Intermediate-level to Gym-level had been assigned according to the abilities of his subordinates. Aside from the revenue they had to submit every month, the rest could be freely distributed by the manager of each floor.

Ouyang Tian had always believed in those he employed and never employed those he doubted. Combined with his generous personality, the managers and their followers were fiercely devoted to the Ouyang family.

As Ouyang Tian's only child, born to him late in life, Ouyang Sheng Tian alone enjoyed the affection of the entire Ouyang Group.

Even his name, Ouyang Sheng Tian, showed just how high Ouyang Tian's expectations for him were.

Yet countless examples from history had shown that when a family was at the height of its prosperity, it was always prone to producing an oddball.

Clearly, Ouyang Sheng Tian was that oddball!

In this world ruled by Pokémon and Trainers, Ouyang Sheng Tian neither liked being a Trainer nor liked Pokémon.

His only hobby was making money—an enormous amount of money!

His father, Ouyang Tian, had once warned him that no matter how much wealth one possessed, without sufficient strength, it could not be protected.

But Ouyang Sheng Tian's answer left Ouyang Tian pondering for several days, unable to think of any way to refute his youngest son's words.

"If I can't protect my money, then obviously I just don't have enough money!"

After waiting for a while, one of the executives seated closest to Ouyang Sheng Tian stole a glance at the young master's expression. After hesitating, he finally said softly:

"Young Master, have you forgotten? When the family first assigned you to manage the second-floor Battle Arena, you were curious about what a pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg tasted like, so you had Chef Kalos make that pseudo-legendary Egg into egg fried rice!"

"...Did that happen?" Ouyang Sheng Tian's furious expression froze on his face.

Two and a half months ago, the original manager of the second floor had resigned to the family due to his advanced age and returned to his hometown to open a farm.

It was said that he now spent every day holding his grandson and leading a herd of Miltank out to bask in the sun on the farm, living a thoroughly carefree life.

The Ouyang family gave it some thought. Didn't Sheng Tian always like business? They might as well let Ouyang Sheng Tian manage the second-floor Battle Arena.

As the lowest-level Battle Arena, even if the Intermediate Battle Arena suffered losses, it would not be enough to hurt the Ouyang family. It was just the right place for Ouyang Sheng Tian to gain some experience.

"Young Master, you know that the most important thing about our Battle Arena's exchange system is credibility."

"If we can't produce the prizes battlers exchange for when the time comes, it will be a major blow to our second-floor Battle Arena," another executive advised.

"Is there any way to advance a pseudo-legendary Pokémon Egg from somewhere else? Our Ouyang family can afford the price!" Ouyang Sheng Tian had also realized the severity of the matter.

"Young Master, this isn't a matter of money. Pseudo-legendary Pokémon Eggs aren't like Pikachu—there aren't as many of them as stray dogs by the roadside!" the executive who had spoken earlier explained with a helpless laugh.

"It's still too early to consider that. Based on my understanding of Ye Lan, with Servine in her current condition, it will be difficult for him to achieve fourteen consecutive victories."

Seizing the opportunity, Manager Lin slipped in his own opinion.

It was not easy for the young master to finally become a floor manager. Since he had a chance to stand out, he naturally had to make the most of it.

"Manager Lin, are you sure?"

Sure enough, Ouyang Sheng Tian turned his gaze toward Manager Lin in the corner, his eyes full of questioning.

After all, compared to the many executives present, this obscure Manager Lin was the one who had had the most contact with Ye Lan.

"Of course I'm sure!" Manager Lin's eyes filled with wild delight. Sure? How could he be any more sure? The scales on that Servine's tail were practically falling off. How could she possibly still have the strength to fight?!

"Congratulations to Ye Lan for accomplishing the feat of fourteen consecutive victories! Let's congratulate Ye Lan—his points have reached an astonishing 8,191.5!"

On the big screen, host Little Li was so excited that his face had turned red. Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought he was the one who had achieved fourteen consecutive victories.

"???"

Noticing everyone's gaze in the conference room, Manager Lin slowly produced three question marks.

(The remarks about Pikachu in this chapter came from Ash's original line in Episode 3 of Pokémon: Indigo League, "Ash Catches a Pokémon": "But there are as many Pikachu by the roadside as stray dogs, so why are they trying to steal my Pikachu?"

The author likes Pikachu too. This was just a joke about the anime, hhhh~)