An Unexpected Surprise!

The afternoon sun shone on Songjiang No. 1 High School's gymnasium as students trickled back inside after lunch.

Only the top forty had qualified to battle, but there was no limit on spectators.

When many students from the Regular Pokémon Class saw Mu Yun's score, their curiosity came with a hint of doubt.

They weren't questioning whether Mu Yun deserved first place. They wondered whether his score could really be that high.

Mu Yun knew nothing about it.

Even if he had, he wouldn't have cared.

After all, he'd used a cheat, not performance-enhancing drugs. He had nothing to fear from a few doubts.

"All students who qualified to battle, please proceed to the preparation area."

At around one in the afternoon, Wang He's voice came over the loudspeakers.

He then announced the battle rules.

The rules were simple: single-elimination, one Pokémon per competitor. Lose once, and you were out.

The matchups depended on the morning's rankings. First place would face fortieth, second would face thirty-ninth, and so on.

"Doesn't that mean the people near the bottom are pretty much guaranteed to lose?" Wu Tu asked, scratching his head.

The rankings came from the morning's tests, and a higher score generally meant a stronger Pokémon.

Even someone like him, who wasn't much of a thinker, could see the gap between the bottom-ranked students and those at the top would be huge.

"The whole point is to pick the ten strongest. Of course the others are going to get eliminated," Zhao Hailong replied.

"Oh, I see..."

Wu Tu punched his right fist into his left palm, looking as though it had finally clicked.

"Competitors in the first match, please report to the main battle arena!"

Before long, the referee's voice sounded over the loudspeakers.

Mu Yun stood and headed out. A