"That arrogant kid from our class went to the battle arena again yesterday. He even said there wasn't a single capable fighter in the beginner class, that we were all trash..."
Little Fatty ran back to the classroom and recited the lines Roy had prepared for him in advance.
The tall, skinny boy was astonished that Little Fatty hadn't been beaten up.
"Fatty, how come you weren't beaten to death?"
Ignoring the tall, skinny boy's foul mouth, Little Fatty ran to the other classrooms and promoted the challenge one by one.
After hearing the news, Roxanne and Guimi found it unbelievable. After Little Fatty finished provoking them, the furious crowd followed them toward the battle arena.
When they arrived, they found a crowd already gathered around the arena entrance.
Someone was blocking the entrance perfectly.
It was Roy. At that moment, he stood with his arms crossed, blocking the training field entrance. A sign stood beside him.
[The strongest Pokémon Trainer in Rustboro Academy's beginner class! Come challenge me if you disagree!]
Countless beginner-class students who had just finished class gathered around Roy and his sign. There were even several members of the advanced class among them.
Becoming a member of the advanced class meant that the person had at least one Pokémon above Level 40.
As more and more people gathered, Roy figured that, judging from the situation, he would probably gain quite a few more Popularity Points today.
Many of them had brought their Pokémon to train, while many others had come after hearing Little Fatty's words. They wanted to see who was so arrogant as to call them all trash.
Little Fatty had really come through. He had brought over quite a few people.
"Who is this kid? He's pretty arrogant."
Instead of receiving the mockery they had expected, the crowd assumed that Roy was the heir of some major family. For a moment, nobody dared step forward.
Several people recognized Roy as the Ghost type Trainer who had defeated Roxanne's Onix yesterday. Recalling his tactics from the previous day, they all became unwilling to fight him.
Roxanne was known as the big sister of the beginner class, so there was no need to mention her strength. Her Pokémon had thick skin and could take a beating. She had even once defeated a Level 31 Sandslash while fighting above her level.
What was more, she was a student in the intermediate class and had obtained a Junior Pokémon Trainer Qualification Certificate.
Yet even Roxanne had been outplayed and defeated by Roy yesterday.
"What heir? He's just the guy who beat Big Sis Roxanne yesterday with a disgusting strategy. What's so impressive about that?"
Little Fatty spoke with disdain.
(Roy's approval +1)
The tall, skinny boy looked at Little Fatty in confusion. When Roy had dragged him out earlier, he hadn't had this attitude.
"So what? Ghost type Pokémon Trainers have always respected strength above all else. If you can beat someone, then you can beat them. In my opinion, there isn't a single capable fighter in Rustboro Academy!"
"If you disagree, anyone here who beats me can receive 10,000 Poké Dollars. If you lose, you won't suffer any losses."
10,000 Poké Dollars?!
The crowd suddenly erupted. To some of them, 10,000 Poké Dollars was no small sum.
A generous reward drew brave challengers.
Several advanced-class students stepped forward first to accept the challenge. After all, no matter how powerful Roy was, he was still only a beginner-class student. With the level advantage, he couldn't cause much trouble.
It might be embarrassing, but 10,000 Poké Dollars was real money.
Roy pointed to the bottom of the sign and handed them a magnifying glass.
At the very bottom of the sign was a line of tiny text. It could only be read with the magnifying glass Roy had given them.
[Only beginner-class students may participate.]
Roy wasn't arrogant enough to let Litwick fight those Level 40 Pokémon that had already reached their final forms.
Realizing they had lost their right to battle, the advanced-class students couldn't help cursing Roy inwardly for being so shameless. The problem was that they had no way to criticize him.
Were they supposed to complain that Roy wouldn't let them bully someone weaker than themselves?
When the advanced-class students saw the words at the bottom of the sign, they all backed away.
The other beginner-class students were at the age when they were young and hot-blooded. After Roy provoked them like this, they instantly lost their tempers. One short Pokémon Trainer after another stepped forward to challenge Roy.
"I'll challenge you."
A deep voice rang out. Roy turned toward its source and saw a short-haired boy.
Little Fatty immediately recognized him as a student from Class Two of the beginner class. His name was Wu Ming, and his strength was equally formidable.
Furthermore, Wu Ming's Pokémon was a Charmeleon, the evolved form of the Starter Pokémon Charmander from the Kanto Region.
It was already Level 30, and Wu Ming had obtained his Junior Pokémon Trainer Qualification Certificate just yesterday. He was about to apply for the intermediate-class assessment at Rustboro Academy.
So he could still be considered a member of the beginner class for now.
How could I have forgotten about him?
Little Fatty suddenly felt that Roy was in danger this time.
Now that someone had finally come to challenge him, Roy wasted no words. He picked up the little sign hanging on his chest and walked into the battle arena.
He randomly selected the arena where he had fought yesterday.
When the referee saw Roy arrive, he had initially wanted to ask what Pokémon Roy had used yesterday, so that he could announce its name when giving the results next time.
Before he could ask, a crowd surged in behind Roy and followed him into the battle arena.
The referee was completely baffled. Why did so many people follow Roy every time he came? Though puzzled, he didn't forget his actual duties.
The referee blew his whistle.
The battle began.
"Go, Charmeleon! Show him what we've got."
A crimson Charmeleon appeared in the battle arena.
System Scan Pokémon: Charmeleon Level: 30 Gender: Male Ability: Blaze Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Fire Fang, Slash, Flamethrower, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath Held Item: None Egg Moves: Iron Tail, Metal Claw Individual Value: 17 Technical Machine/Move Tutor: Body Slam
A Level 30 Charmeleon with the Blaze ability?
"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower."
Before Litwick could use Haze, flames spewed from Charmeleon's mouth and shot straight toward Litwick.
It was clear that Wu Ming had plenty of battle experience as well. He knew he had to seize the initiative.
What he didn't know was that Litwick's Flash Fire ability made it immune to damage from Fire-type moves.
The flames Charmeleon spat out instead caused the flame atop Litwick's head to burn even more fiercely, absorbing the attack for its own use.
Litwick's Fire-type moves were strengthened.
A new idea suddenly occurred to Roy.
Through Mind Communication, he stopped Litwick, which had been preparing to use Minimize, and ordered it to pretend to be in excruciating pain after being injured.
Although Litwick didn't understand what Roy was trying to do, it immediately became an expert actor. Its candle-shaped body writhed painfully amid the flames, as if it were about to be burned to ashes by Charmeleon's fire.
Little Fatty watched from below, frantic with worry. Could they really lose in the very first battle?
Wu Ming fell for it, just as expected.
"Charmeleon, press the attack and use Flamethrower at full power!"
Charmeleon on the field increased the intensity of its attack, while Litwick writhed in "pain" amid the flames.
"You can still surrender while there's time. Don't let your Pokémon keep taking the attack head-on," Wu Ming taunted.
He had fought his way to the Bronze Tier at the Rustboro Dome Arena. Beating a tiny Litwick now was as easy as whipping a spinning top.
"We haven't lost yet! Litwick! Show him the bond between us!"
"Lit!"
The flame atop Litwick's head had evolved into a roaring blaze.
Damn! Why did it suddenly flare up like that?!
Of course, Litwick hadn't forgotten Roy's instructions. It pretended to have exhausted all its strength and stood up, while rainbow-colored light flashed from within its flame.
A Confuse Ray struck Charmeleon, which was busy spewing fire and had no attention to spare.
Charmeleon immediately fell into confusion. The flames in its mouth were interrupted, and it suddenly felt as though several ducks were circling around in front of it.
"Litwick, use Hex!"
Several ghostly shadows suddenly appeared within Litwick's flame and rushed toward Charmeleon.
Move: Hex Effect: Attacks repeatedly. Deals greater damage to opponents suffering from a status condition.
With the damage increase from Roy's own Extreme Ghost Power at 1% strength and the 10% boost from the Spell Tag, the damage bonus for Ghost-type moves had reached 11%.
On top of that, Charmeleon was suffering from a status condition, further increasing the damage. Several ghostly shadows slammed into Charmeleon, knocking it dizzy.
After being knocked down, Charmeleon struggled to rise. The flame on its tail suddenly grew larger—that meant its Blaze ability had activated. Charmeleon's confusion had also been dispelled.
"Charmeleon, use Flamethrower again and finish him off!"
"Litwick, Hex!"
The ghostly shadows and flames crossed paths in the center of the battle arena.
Flamethrower struck Litwick again, while the ghostly shadows crashed into Charmeleon.
Everyone leaned forward, wanting to see the final result before anyone else.
Charmeleon collapsed and lost its ability to battle.
Before you continue