The first battle

"You only dared to say that because you saw that Lingling and I both picked Water-type Pokémon, didn't you?" Xiao Ran said irritably.

"Hehe, if I don't beat you now, I probably won't have another chance later, even with a type advantage." Jiang Cheng grinned, not the least bit embarrassed.

"Such ambition!" Shen Yue shook her head helplessly, then looked at the two of them with equal curiosity. "How about we have a match too, Lingling? I kind of want to give it a try."

"Either way is fine with me," Ye Ling said flatly.

"Right? Right? You want to try it too! Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Jiang Cheng shouted excitedly, throwing an arm around Xiao Ran's shoulders and heading outside.

"What's the rush? Can't we finish enrolling first?" Xiao Ran grumbled irritably, but Jiang Cheng clearly hadn't heard a word. He kept dragging him toward the training grounds.

Nancheng University's main battlefields were all being used for freshman assessments that day. Only the campus Training Ground was still available. It was where students usually trained, and the university generally avoided commandeering it and disrupting their routines. After all, the Pokémon college entrance exams lasted about half a month.

When they reached the Training Ground, plenty of university students were already training there. Although it was the first day of admissions, not every student enjoyed joining the crowds. Battles between hopeless beginners held little appeal for them, so the Training Ground was still fairly busy.

"Whoa! Is that a Nidorino? It's running while pulling that huge cart?" Jiang Cheng pointed at one of the training fields in amazement.

It was a purple Nidorino, a Poison-type Pokémon with a three-stage evolution line. Its final form, Nidoking, would gain the Ground type as well, and its powerful base stats weren't much lower than those of starter Pokémon.

The little Pokémon was running around the field, pulling a cart loaded with rocks. Even an adult human might struggle to move a cart two meters long and one meter wide, yet it looked as though Nidorino had been running with it for quite some time.

"He's probably building up Nidorino's stamina. For most Pokémon, stamina is essential. A strong body lets them train more and improve further. After all, your body is the foundation for everything!" Xiao Ran said approvingly.

This Nidorino had clearly been raised well. Although Pokémon could wield world-shattering power, a Poison-type Pokémon couldn't sprint around a training field dragging something dozens of times its own weight without excellent physical conditioning.

It wasn't just Nidorino. Upperclassmen were training all sorts of Pokémon on the other fields, too. Anyone who came to train on a day like this clearly wasn't the sort of student who spent every day slacking off, so their Pokémon were all well raised.

For instance, a Pidgeotto in the distance made a simple Gust feel like a Sandstorm on an ordinary field. A Growlithe used Ember and Flame Wheel to set its entire field ablaze. On another field, a Chikorita, one of the starter Pokémon, filled the whole area with Razor Leaf. A beginner with shaky fundamentals might even mistake it for Leaf Storm...

"There's an empty field over there. Shall we go?" After watching for a while, Shen Yue pointed at an unoccupied training field.

"Let's go, let's go! I can hardly wait!" After watching for so long, Jiang Cheng could no longer contain his excitement and ran ahead to the other side of the field.

"Honestly! You two can go first, then. Lingling and I will referee," Shen Yue said, shaking her head helplessly.

"Guess that's our only option!" Xiao Ran shrugged and walked to the other side of the field.

"We're going to battle now!" Xiao Ran took out Popplio's Poké Ball and held it near his mouth, speaking softly.

"Arrooo!" A red light flashed, and a blue sea lion with a bright red nose appeared on the field, calling happily to Xiao Ran.

"Wow! Is that Popplio? I heard they were only recently introduced. You can't even find any information about them in the domestic Pokédex yet," Shen Yue exclaimed excitedly.

"Yep, one of the newest starter Pokémon introduced here. This little one is really strong!" Xiao Ran nodded with a smile.

Unlike other starter Pokémon, Popplio loved the spotlight. They enjoyed showing off and wanted praise, so Xiao Ran's compliments went down very well. To earn that praise, these Pokémon would also train diligently, perfecting themselves and creating more opportunities to perform, which in turn earned them even more admiration.

"Tch! What's so great about that? Whether a sea creature can even move on land is another question. Watch me beat you! Go, Magnemite!" Jiang Cheng curled his lip and shouted, throwing the Poké Ball in his hand. As the red light faded, a magnet-shaped mechanical creature appeared on the field. Yet nobody's attention was on Magnemite. Instead, they all turned to look at Jiang Cheng.

"Hahaha! You idiot, are you trying to make us die laughing? Hahaha!" After a brief moment of stunned silence, Shen Yue burst into merciless laughter.

"You... if your plan was to win by making me laugh myself to death, I have to say, you've succeeded!" Xiao Ran said helplessly, his mouth twitching.

"A slipup, just a slipup! It won't affect my performance." Jiang Cheng laughed awkwardly and jogged back to his position.

"I couldn't tell whether your ball throw looked cool, but you certainly looked pathetic picking it up!" Even Ye Ling's usually impassive expression seemed to twitch.

"Hahaha! You really hit the nail on the head, Lingling!" Shen Yue laughed.

"Hmph! Once I beat him, you'll see how cool I am! Let's go! Magnemite, use Thunder Shock!" Ignoring their mockery, Jiang Cheng shouted for Magnemite to charge forward.

"Popplio, take your time. Make a Water Balloon, then dodge as needed!" Xiao Ran said calmly.

Magnemite had decent potential, but it had only mastered its two innate moves, Thunder Shock and Tackle. Across such a large training field, it might not hit Popplio even if its opponent stood still, never mind how slowly it launched its attacks.

Crack!

Sure enough, just as Popplio was about to ride its Water Balloon out of the way, the Thunder Shock struck a spot a meter away. Bewildered, it turned to look at its trainer. Was that really aimed at me?

"What a noob!" Shen Yue sighed, pressing a hand to her forehead. She could hardly bear to watch her boyfriend's performance.

"Uh, just a slipup! Magnemite, let's get closer and use Thunder Shock again. We'll definitely hit this time." Jiang Cheng laughed awkwardly. He had clearly noticed Magnemite's problem too, and had no choice but to have it close the distance first.

"Popplio, get ready to jump with your Water Balloon, then finish it with Water Gun. Go easy on it," Xiao Ran said casually. A battle between untrained Pokémon really couldn't hold his interest, and the difference in their levels was a little too large.

"Arrooo!" Popplio answered, then sprang off the Water Balloon beneath it, leaping swiftly toward Magnemite. At the same time, it blew a new Water Balloon from its bright red nose.

Making Water Balloons was a special ability unique to Popplio. They could turn the air exhaled through their noses into Water Balloons, then use those balloons for all sorts of tactics in battle. As such, practicing Water Balloon creation was an essential part of their regular training.

Although Xiao Ran had only had Popplio for two days, he already had a basic grasp of its moves. Water Balloon was the ability it knew best and used most skillfully, followed by Water Gun. Those two could be considered the foundation of Popplio's capabilities. Like Magnemite's Thunder Shock, however, its Water Gun wasn't especially accurate, and still needed plenty of practice.

"Damn, it can do that? Magnemite, use Thunder Shock! Let's see it keep jumping around in the air!" Jiang Cheng's eyes widened at the way Popplio moved, and he hurriedly gave Magnemite an order.

Another bolt of electricity struck, but Popplio easily dodged it with the Water Balloon it had just made. By then, it had drawn close enough. Without waiting any longer, it fired a Water Gun straight into Magnemite, which had yet to recover from releasing its Thunder Shock, knocking it out of the air and onto the ground.

"Magnemite!" Jiang Cheng shouted, immediately running toward it while waving at Xiao Ran. "I surrender! I surrender!"

Magnemite's level was still too low, and its base stats weren't high either. A Water Gun from the level-five Popplio wasn't enough to knock it out completely, but it was enough to make Jiang Cheng recognize the gap between them. There was clearly no point in continuing.

"Magnemite surrenders. Xiao Ran wins!" Shen Yue announced. The others then ran over to Magnemite as well. Jiang Cheng took a Potion out of his bag and sprayed it on Magnemite, only relaxing once he was sure it wasn't seriously hurt.

"Hmph! Magnemite's level is just too low right now. Once we get stronger, we'll definitely beat you," Jiang Cheng said, unwilling to accept defeat.

"I'll be waiting! Popplio won't go easy on you next time!" Xiao Ran shrugged, smiling at Popplio as it lay on his shoulder.

"Arrooo!" Popplio nodded, its eyes full of fighting spirit.

"All right, our turn next! You'd better be careful, Lingling. I'm nothing like this noob!" Once she was certain Magnemite was fine, Shen Yue stroked the Charmander beside her and spoke to Ye Ling.

"Mm!" Ye Ling said nothing more. She simply nodded and walked over to where Xiao Ran had been standing.

"Then it's our turn to referee. Froakie versus Charmander!" Xiao Ran said, walking to the sidelines with Jiang Cheng and leaving the battlefield to them.