Showdown

The vice principal coughed and asked, "Neither class's homeroom teacher has any objections, right?"

Zhao Xinran walked back to the front of her class and spread her hands to signal that she had no problem with it.

Class 3's homeroom teacher nodded in agreement as well.

"Good. There's already an arena in the dormitory area on Back Mountain, so everyone, please head over there now," the vice principal announced.

With that, the school administrators released their respective Flying-type Pokémon and flew off one after another in style, leaving clouds of dust billowing behind them.

Ye Qing made a point of looking. Young Master Zhang Qiang's Father's mount was a tall, imposing Charizard, certainly befitting his position as vice principal.

Ye Qing turned and asked, "Have you ever been to Back Mountain?"

Wang Yao shook his head. "No. Why would I go there for no reason? Besides, they normally don't let people in."

Zhao Xinran clapped her hands. "All right, don't fall behind. Line up, and we'll go together."

The Shanhai City First Pokémon Academy covered an enormous area. They walked for over twenty minutes and crossed a small hill before finally spotting the practical training area hidden in the forest.

The area contained three tall buildings and an enormous plaza.

Two buildings were dormitories, and the third was a classroom building. Apart from those three tall structures and the plaza with its basic facilities, the rest of the area consisted of training grounds with all kinds of terrain.

Artificial mountains and rivers, deserts and grasslands, volcanoes and icebergs-they had everything. These grounds had been built entirely for training Pokémon.

"It's beautiful."

Someone voiced their admiration, immediately drawing plenty of agreement.

Leading from the front, Zhao Xinran pointed to the ground beneath their feet and reminded them, "Watch your step, everyone. Don't trip over the branches and weeds."

After another five or six minutes of walking, the six groups finally reached an enormous battle arena in the very center of the plaza.

Everyone took their seats around it. The school administrators had already been waiting for quite some time.

Zhao Xinran called Ye Qing and Huo Mengyao over, thought for a moment, and asked, "Who came third in our class?"

"That was me, miss!"

A timid voice rang out. Ye Qing turned to see their class's study representative. The girl looked unremarkable and was rather timid. Honestly, he didn't have much confidence in her practical combat abilities.

Zhao Xinran beckoned with a smile. "Your name is... Zhang Na, right? Come over here. I'll work out a plan for you."

Looking at the three of them, Zhao Xinran tapped her head with a finger and asked, "Sorry, I've only just started teaching here, so I don't know much about you yet. What Pokémon do you three have? Do you know what the other three have?"

Ye Qing promptly shook his head. Never mind the other classes-he hadn't even bothered to remember his own classmates' Pokémon.

Huo Mengyao reported, "Ye Qing has a Chimchar, I have a Growlithe, and Zhang Na has a Staryu.

"Class 3's Young Master Zhang Qiang has a Charmander. The other two have a Bulbasaur and a Krabby."

"I see..."

After thinking for a moment, Zhao Xinran decided, "Unless they're stupid, they'll probably guess that we'll send out a Fire-type Pokémon first. That way, we can at least keep Staryu in reserve in case anything unexpected happens.

"In that case, they ought to send out Charmander and Bulbasaur. But from what I've observed, Young Master Zhang Qiang is extremely proud and concerned about appearances, so he'll definitely want to go last as their star player to satisfy his vanity.

"With him out of the picture, Bulbasaur won't go first, so Krabby will definitely lead off. That way, even if we don't send out a Fire-type Pokémon, they won't be at a disadvantage."

Ye Qing nodded. Ms. Zhao's analysis made sense. In short, sending Krabby out first was a safe choice for their opponents.

Zhao Xinran made her decision. "Then Zhang Na will lead off for our class, Huo Mengyao will follow, and Ye Qing will go last."

The three exchanged glances and agreed with Ms. Zhao's plan.

Young Master Zhang Qiang looked over at Ye Qing, sneered, and shook his head.

He admitted that he couldn't match Ye Qing in academic subjects, but when it came to practical combat and Pokémon, he was confident he could win easily.

After another short wait, the vice principal took his place in the referee's area. "Since both teams are ready, let's begin."

His own son was taking part, after all. To encourage him, the vice principal steeled himself and personally took on the role of referee. "The first contestant from each class, please enter the arena!"

"ROAR!!!"

Just as the two contestants were about to step forward, a long roar suddenly came from the horizon. A black speck rapidly grew larger, and in the blink of an eye, a Salamence appeared above the arena.

"The principal's back!"

Every student in the school recognized this Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon. It was the main Pokémon of the Shanhai City First Pokémon Academy's principal, and it was also what had secured his position as one of Shanhai City's three strongest Trainers!

As Salamence's imposing body descended, powerful gusts swept through the arena, leaving everyone unable to open their eyes for a moment.

Ye Qing squinted as he studied Salamence. He found that this Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon's aura was no weaker than those of the Dragonite and Hydreigon that had fought in Jinxi Forest.

He withdrew his envious gaze and silently swore that he would get a few Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon of his own to raise someday.

"Did I arrive just in time for a battle?"

An ordinary-looking middle-aged man with an immensely approachable air jumped down from Salamence's back.

The gray-haired old professor immediately stood up and said happily, "Principal Jiang, you're finally back from your study trip!"

Principal Jiang hurriedly waved a hand. "I'm back, haha! Don't worry, Elder Yuan. I brought back the materials you wanted while I was there!"

After handing the documents to someone else, Principal Jiang looked at Ye Qing waiting in the contestants' area and asked the people beside him, "Hasn't this Ye Qing always ranked dead last? How did he get selected for a competition like this?"

The dean beside him asked in surprise, "You recognize this student, Principal?"

Principal Jiang smiled. "Yes. I might not recognize the others, but I do make a point of keeping an eye on whoever ranks dead last."

"This Ye Qing is an incredible dark horse..."

The dean perked up at the subject and gave a detailed account of Ye Qing's performance over the past few days.

With Principal Jiang's experience, those few words were enough for him to realize that Ye Qing's family background must be far from ordinary. Otherwise, he couldn't have answered even the questions posed by a researcher like Zhao Xinran.

At that thought, Principal Jiang calmly announced, "I'm delighted to see such outstanding students among this year's intake. I've decided to award a mystery prize to whoever gives the most outstanding performance in this battle!

"And this won't just apply to today's match. From now on, every major competition held by the school will offer prizes in addition to prize money. You have my word!"

"A mystery gift?"

The eyes of Ye Qing, Young Master Zhang Qiang, and the others lit up as they wondered what Principal Jiang's gift might be. One thing was certain, though: it definitely wouldn't be anything shabby!