Ye Qing knew this couldn't go on, or Chimchar would definitely be knocked out.
"Go for broke! Run and dodge! If you can't dodge, block it with Fury Swipes!"
"Wah!"
Chimchar had been hit enough to get angry, too. He darted from spot to spot, using Fury Swipes to deflect the streams of fire he couldn't avoid.
Though stray sparks still burst against his body, that was better than taking every hit head-on. Besides, Ye Qing was waiting-waiting for a chance to turn the tables.
"Finish him off in one go!"
For some reason, Young Master Zhang Qiang suddenly grew nervous. He couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.
"Blaze!"
All the students in Class One shouted excitedly.
As stray sparks kept exploding against Chimchar's body, flames ignited in his eyes. A furious blaze erupted from his rear and swiftly spread over his entire body!
"Now! Use Flame Wheel!"
Ye Qing swept his hand forward, deciding to try this move that Chimchar hadn't yet mastered while Blaze was active!
"Waaah!"
Chimchar leaped into the air, curled his entire body into a ball, and rolled swiftly toward Charmander!
As he picked up speed, searing flames enveloped Chimchar, turning him into a blazing fireball!
"It worked!"
Ye Qing was thrilled. He hadn't expected Chimchar to actually pull off the Flame Wheel he hadn't fully mastered by seizing this opportunity!
Young Master Zhang Qiang's eyes bulged as he shouted indignantly, "Impossible! Use Ember again!"
Charmander bent over, panting heavily. Hearing the command, he could only squeeze his eyes shut and desperately spew out streams of fire!
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
A string of sparks exploded against the Flame Wheel, but they only slowed it down a little. They couldn't interrupt the move at all.
Boom!
Under everyone's gaze, Flame Wheel slammed into Charmander. The tremendous impact sent him flying straight out of the battle area.
Young Master Zhang Qiang gritted his teeth as he glared at Ye Qing. He had never imagined he would suffer one setback after another at the hands of this unknown kid!
"Awesome! We won! Ye Qing!"
All the students in Class One were ecstatic, roaring to let their emotions out!
"You... you! Just! Great!"
Young Master Zhang Qiang pointed a trembling finger at the smug Ye Qing. He had wanted to make some threats, but remembering that the school administrators were all present, he could only swallow his words in frustration.
Ye Qing rubbed Chimchar's head and recalled him into his Poké Ball, then looked at Young Master Zhang Qiang. "I'm doing great, of course. But someone has to bark like a dog now."
"Do you have a death wish?"
Faced with Ye Qing's provocation, Young Master Zhang Qiang couldn't hold back any longer.
Principal Jiang stood and applauded. "What a wonderful match. Ye Qing, was it?"
"Stand down!"
Noticing that his son was losing his composure, the Vice Principal hurriedly rebuked him in a low voice.
"Just you wait."
Young Master Zhang Qiang mouthed the words and slowly walked down from the Battle Ring. He was sure Ye Qing had understood him.
Watching his dejected figure retreat, Ye Qing suddenly felt at ease. Even if they had made enemies of each other, it was no big deal. An enemy he had surpassed would only fall further and further behind.
Principal Jiang naturally knew exactly what sort of person Young Master Zhang Qiang was. He had only tolerated some of his past behavior out of consideration for his grades and his father.
The school doctor, who had been waiting nearby, immediately had Chansey begin treating the injured Pokémon.
Ye Qing had just checked Chimchar's information and discovered that, although he had broken through to level ten, he still hadn't mastered Flame Wheel. It seemed he would need more practice to master it fully.
Walking up to Ye Qing, Principal Jiang laughed heartily. "I never imagined you'd turn out to be such a dark horse. I've misjudged you all these years. Here, this is your reward."
Ye Qing accepted the box with a smile. "Thank you, Principal."
Holding Ye Qing's hand, Principal Jiang said quietly, "I put a great deal of effort into this gift. Don't you go transferring to another school!"
"All right."
Ye Qing agreed without hesitation, his curiosity about the prize inside the box growing intense.
"First place! We're first!"
All the students in Class One hugged one another excitedly, while the other classes seemed rather dispirited.
After all, first place meant private accommodations, with a room for each person. The lower-ranked classes wouldn't get that treatment. Those in last place would even have to share a room between four people!
Ye Qing returned to the group and first greeted Huo Mengyao and the others. Before he could say anything else, a crowd surrounded him. Wang Yao was the most enthusiastic of all, smearing potato chip crumbs from his hands all over Ye Qing.
Principal Jiang clapped his hands and announced, "All right, now that the dormitory assignments are settled, teachers, please take your students to their dormitories to get settled."
Zhao Xinran quieted the students who were still making a racket and led them toward the Dormitory Area.
As they walked, Zhao Xinran explained that the plaza had more than a battle area with a Battle Ring. There was also a Pokémon Hospital and a Pokémon Supermarket. In short, almost anything sold outside could be bought here.
The Dormitory Area wasn't far from the plaza. Within a few minutes, two blue-and-white dormitory buildings came into view.
Pointing at the building, Zhao Xinran explained, "The fifth and sixth floors are all for our class. Please collect your room number tags and keys from me. Everyone is to assemble in front of the Teaching Building at one this afternoon."
Ye Qing picked one at random. 606-a nice number.
Wang Yao swapped with someone for room 605, then draped an arm around Ye Qing's shoulders as they headed upstairs.
Ye Qing jingled his key and asked, "What about our luggage?"
The question immediately gave Wang Yao a headache. Pretending not to care, he said, "Uh... forget it. There's a supermarket here anyway. Whatever you need, I'll buy it for you!"
Noticing Wang Yao's evasiveness, Ye Qing asked in surprise, "Wait, don't tell me you've broken up with Sun Xiaowei again?"
"Well, yeah... we broke up."
Seeing that he couldn't hide it, Wang Yao could only tell the truth.
Ye Qing slapped him on the shoulder. "What's wrong with you? You'd only been dating a few days, and you've already broken up again. You've gone through three girlfriends this month, haven't you?"
Wang Yao replied with complete conviction, "Her family watched you fall off Pidgeot and didn't even try to save you. Why would I stay with her instead of breaking up? I don't want a woman like that."
After hearing this, Ye Qing shook his head helplessly. As the victim himself, he really wasn't in a position to comment.
Wang Yao pushed Ye Qing toward room 606. "All right, all right. Let's check out your room first."
Holding the palm-sized box, Ye Qing pushed open the door and was immediately stunned by the dormitory's interior.
The first thing he saw was a spacious living room, fully furnished with a European-style loveseat, a table, and everything else.
At the far end of the living room was a sliding floor-to-ceiling window, beyond which lay a spacious balcony filled with flowers and plants.
Stepping inside, he saw that, apart from a bathroom, the living room had a door on either side.
The door on the left led to the master bedroom, which had a double bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and all the basic furnishings.
When he opened the second bedroom, Ye Qing was utterly stunned.
It was an empty room. Apart from the window, there was only a sand table mounted on the wall.
"Is this the Environmental Simulation System?"
Puzzled, Ye Qing walked up to the sand table. Apparently, this was equipment the school had recently added, so no one had seen what it was yet.
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