Second Place (Please Bookmark, Vote, and Send Monthly Tickets!)

Aron ran with Jiang Jing every day, not only building its stamina and endurance but also improving its speed. Even though it was heavy, speed could still be trained.

It just might not be as fast as Pokémon that specialized in speed.

Aron was a whole level faster than it had been in the previous matches. Chespin failed to react in time; its vision blurred, and something had already flashed past it.

Aron dodged the Vine Whip. Just as Chespin desperately directed its vines to launch another attack at Aron—

Aron suddenly began weaving around. It seemed able to sense where the Vine Whips would land and evade them in advance.

Chespin missed Aron several times in a row, and the frustration ignited a flame of irritation within it.

"Chespin, use Rollout!"

Seeing Aron about to crash into it, Chespin hurriedly curled into a ball and rolled away.

Chespin rolled at high speed, seemingly preparing for an all-out head-on clash with Aron.

Jiang Jing thought to himself, Perfect! I want to see who is stronger in a head-on clash between Pokémon of the same level and Aron.

Liang Shen remained as confident as ever. He ran a hand through his hair, feeling ridiculously handsome.

With everyone watching, Aron calculated the distance, then leaped into the air. Its head thrust straight forward, seeming to gleam with a metallic sheen beneath the sunlight.

Then Aron collided violently with the rolling Chespin.

"Bang!"

"Gasp—"

Some spectators winced just watching the two Pokémon collide.

The result was both unexpected and perfectly understandable. Aron was knocked back onto the ground by the recoil, while Chespin, just like the Pokémon from the previous matches, was sent flying.

Early-stage Pokémon battles were that simple. I come straight at you; you either dodge or take me head-on. If you could not withstand it, you lost. If you could, then you had a chance to win.

Chespin let out a cry of pain as it flew through the air and slammed into the ground. It felt like its whole body was about to fall apart, and its head spun.

This Aron was really tough—too tough. There was no way it could withstand it. Why had it gone looking for trouble?

"Beautiful, Brother Jing!" Liu Bin shouted excitedly from the contestants' room.

"Aron, you're awesome!"

The instant Chespin was defeated, Liang Shen's face turned green. This was nothing like what he had expected. "Chespin, get up! Keep fighting!"

Chespin struggled to its feet and shook its head hard, indicating that it could continue fighting.

But that was useless. Aron was not about to give it a chance to rest. This was not a turn-based game where you hit me once and I hit you once.

The situation in battle changed by the second. The Chespin in the videos he had watched at noon had all managed to turn things around in desperate situations, so he could not give it even the slightest opportunity.

"Aron, use Headbutt again!"

"Chespin, watch out! Use Vine Whip!"

Two Vine Whips hurriedly shot out from its body and lashed toward Aron, but Aron did not dodge. Instead, it charged straight ahead.

"Smack! Smack!"

The Vine Whips hurt a little when they struck Aron, but it could endure it, and its speed did not slow at all.

Aron leaped up, its head driving forward like a hammer toward Chespin.

As Chespin watched Aron attack, it did not think of counterattacking. All it could think of was the intense pain in its body after being struck earlier. It had been hurt by that collision, and instinctively wanted to dodge.

But it was already too late. At a critical moment like this, the more it thought about running away, the less it could escape.

Aron slammed into Chespin with perfect accuracy.

"Bang!"

Chespin was sent flying again and crashed into the ground, its body completely covered in dust.

This time, it did not move at all. Three seconds passed without the slightest response before the referee announced, "Chespin has lost its ability to battle. Aron wins."

Jiang Jing looked at Liang Shen mockingly. "If you had used Drilbur, I would not have had any chance at all. I definitely would have lost. I admit that."

"But!"

"I really do not know who gave you the confidence to think that one Chespin could defeat me."

"I hope this battle taught you something."

Liang Shen's expression changed drastically. "Fuck, who do you think you are? You think you can show off in front of me? You just got lucky. You only beat my Chespin because of dumb luck."

As he spoke, he took out a Poké Ball and recalled Chespin. "And you useless trash, what the hell are you even good for? You were done after getting hit twice."

As he walked off the battlefield, the angrier he became. No one had ever beaten him and then dared to show off in front of him like this. It was all Chespin's fault. If it had not been so useless, how could he have suffered such humiliation?

Thinking this, he raised Chespin's Poké Ball and was about to smash it against the ground.

"Boss, no! Don't do that! Pokémon are innocent!" Jiang Jie, the chubby boy, paled and hurried over to stop Liang Shen from throwing it.

Liang Shen struggled after being held back, but after a while, he realized he could not break free from Jiang Jie's grip.

He calmed down a little as well. Thinking about it, smashing Chespin's Poké Ball really would have been inappropriate.

But if he did not vent somehow, he would go crazy. He snarled, "Let go of me, Jiang Jie."

Jiang Jie took Liang Shen's Poké Ball before releasing him. Liang Shen walked over to a chair.

"Bang!"

He kicked it flying with a raised leg, venting his anger viciously before letting out a loud roar. Actually, his foot hurt, and he roared deliberately so he would not lose face.

The noise startled everyone else. Jiang Jing walked over, saw Liang Shen like this, and thought of one phrase: impotent rage.

Liu Bin came over and said, "Awesome, Brother Jing. That was so satisfying. Look at Liang Shen—he's practically dying of anger. Hahaha."

Although Liu Bin tried his best to lower his voice, he was too excited. The contestants' room was also small and silent, making his voice especially obvious.

Liang Shen shot Liu Bin a vicious glare, then said to Jiang Jing, "You got lucky this time. You beat me, but let me tell you—poor trash like you should just raise ordinary Pokémon properly."

"But you insist on raising Pokémon with two-star talent. Those are not Pokémon you people can afford to raise."

"Jiang Jie, let's go."

"Okay, Boss!" Jiang Jie said.

The two of them then left the contestants' area and headed outside, apparently not intending to attend the awards ceremony.

Lin Manman sat in the corner and said excitedly, "Xiao Wan, you're amazing. That Jiang Jing really won. Later, beat him up properly and get revenge for me."

Zhou Wan smiled. "Sure, no problem."

Ten minutes later, the final match began: Jiang Jing versus Zhou Wan.

Only by facing each other personally could they know the other's true strength.

Jiang Jing lost. He accepted the loss completely—he simply could not beat her.