Protect

Having arranged a time to meet with Mia, Ye Lan bid farewell to the Elite Class students and began browsing the items available for exchange on his wristband.

Ye Lan had originally planned to go home and visit his parents as well. After all, he had never been away from them for so long since he was little.

However, Servine's injuries this time were simply too severe. It would probably take two or three days before it fully recovered.

Ever since he agreed to Ouyang Sheng Tian's terms, the Ouyang family's attitude toward Ye Lan had become extremely ambiguous.

Not only had they arranged a private training room and bedroom for Ye Lan, but they had also waived all of Ye Lan's possible expenses at the battle arena.

According to Ouyang Sheng Tian, Ye Lan was now one of their own.

How could family spend money in their own home?

As the saying went, the more a person gave, the more they wanted in return.

Yet Ye Lan accepted all of it without hesitation.

After all, he was dirt poor and had nothing worth coveting to a prestigious family like the Ouyang family.

Thinking about it now, the quasi-legendary Pokémon Egg had most likely merely been a pretext. Perhaps their true target had been Ye Lan himself from the very beginning.

Manager Lin had now been assigned to Ye Lan specifically to handle everyday trivialities. Even Mia's accommodations had been arranged inside the battle arena.

Mia had originally wanted to return to the Pokémon Center, but her Servine, Qingqing, said that running back and forth was far too inefficient and wasted time that could be spent practicing moves. So, she stayed.

As for the membership card in Ye Lan's hand, it had been replaced with a jet-black card inlaid with golden patterns. Inside sat 1,306 points.

Why had the points not been halved according to the agreement? Ye Lan would not ask, and Ouyang Sheng Tian could not be bothered to bring it up himself.

Though more than thirteen hundred points sounded like a lot, after Ye Lan exchanged them for a Moss Rock, as well as the Substitute and Protect moves Cottonee needed, the remaining points left him with few options.

Ye Lan had originally intended to exchange for a Leaf Stone in case he needed one someday, but after considering the weaknesses Servine had exposed during this battle, he ultimately gave up on it.

During this battle, Servine had fought its way to fourteen consecutive victories, yet it had very few truly useful moves.

Its control relied entirely on Glare, while its damage relied entirely on the non-STAB move Iron Tail. Anyone unaware of the situation might have thought Servine was actually a Steel-type Pokémon, since its Steel-type move was instead the strongest among all its attacks.

Servine seemed to have always been lacking when it came to controlling Grass-type energy.

Not only had it failed to comprehend the crucial move Leaf Tornado for its current stage, but even Leaf Blade, a move perfectly suited to Servine's current fighting style, had consistently ranked below Iron Tail in priority at critical moments despite being a STAB move.

Now that it had the guidance of that royal Servine, Ye Lan hoped this aspect would improve.

In the end, Ye Lan chose the move discs for Solar Beam and Energy Ball, then exchanged all his remaining points for cash.

These moves could not only make up for Servine's shortcomings, but were also moves that royal Servine excelled at. With its guidance, Servine would surely learn them much faster.

There was still over a month until the provincial tournament, but Ye Lan's schedule was already packed.

In a few days, he would be heading to Gym Leader Huang Yuntian's Gym to become an apprentice. The Venusaur he had happened to see at the train station had left an exceptionally deep impression on him.

As for whether he could ultimately become an official disciple of the Gym, Ye Lan could only do his best.

Ever since he embarked on the path of a Trainer, Ye Lan had understood that he had neither connections nor money. If he wanted to grow stronger, he could only borrow the momentum of others.

Even obtaining the system had not changed that way of thinking.

The system merely accelerated the speed at which he grew stronger. Some real-world problems still had to be solved by himself.

The real world was far more brutal than in the anime. To become an Elite Four member or even a Champion, Trainer strength alone was not enough.

Whether an Elite Four member or Champion remained in office was of vital importance to the forces behind them.

Perhaps once they themselves reached a certain level, they would no longer care about such matters and would instead hope the League continually received fresh blood.

But whether the forces behind them thought the same way, or were willing to surrender resources they had controlled for many years, was impossible to say.

With the battle matter finally settled, Ye Lan let out a sigh of relief.

He picked up his phone and called his mother. After waiting for a while with no answer, Ye Lan remembered that it was a workday. Just as he was about to hang up, a voice came from the other end.

"Is that Xiao Lan? I was cooking just now. Chen Yang said you aren't coming back with your classmates, is that right?"

"That's right, Mom. Servine is seriously injured. Once it recovers, I'll be heading to the Gym for a month of study, and then it'll be time for the provincial tournament. Things are pretty urgent."

"I see." Mother Ye's tone clearly carried a trace of disappointment. She had thought her son would be bringing Servine home today, which was why she had deliberately gone home to prepare a feast.

But her son had grown up and had his own Trainer career to attend to. As parents, they understood.

"By the way, Mom, I'll send some money home later. You and Dad should find easier jobs. Don't work yourselves as hard as you used to."

Ye Lan's parents were both ordinary workers. Over the years, in order to save enough money to support Ye Lan's path as a Trainer, their faces had aged considerably. It pained Ye Lan deeply to see it.

"You don't need to worry about things at home. Your principal called and said you performed exceptionally well. The Mianzhou Trainers Association arranged jobs for us. They're not only easier, but the pay is much higher too!"

At the mention of this matter, Mother Ye sounded especially delighted.

When Chen Yang's father heard about it, he had been incredibly envious and praised Ye Lan repeatedly in front of Mother Ye.

As an advanced Trainer, Father Chen understood that this showed the Mianzhou Trainers Association valued Ye Lan's talent.

"There's something like that?" A sharp glint flashed through Ye Lan's eyes.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries with his mother and telling his parents to take care of themselves, he finally ended the call.

Sitting beside the hospital bed, Ye Lan glanced at the snake and cotton ball sleeping curled up against each other, then made another call.

This time, the person he called was Principal Liu Qingshan.

Ye Lan had already roughly guessed Mianzhou's intentions behind this string of actions.

They were simply worried that, at this crucial point so close to the provincial tournament, he would be tempted by the high prices offered by Jindu's three schools and switch sides at the last minute.

When Liu Yan had been here earlier, she had also tactfully expressed that meaning. However, she had not tried to morally pressure Ye Lan. She merely conveyed that they would send over a batch of resources as support, then allowed Ye Lan to choose for himself.

However, the Mianzhou Trainers Association was worrying far too much.

In fact, as soon as Ye Lan finished his battle, representatives from three universities had wanted to contact him.

After learning that Ye Lan was a student of Mianzhou No. 1 High School, they had become even more confident. Their only two competitors were the other two longtime rivals.

Yet what they had not expected was that the Ouyang family had "protected" Ye Lan far too well, leaving the three schools no opportunity whatsoever to contact him.