Huang Mu did not care what Su Bai was laughing about. His Seismitoad was higher-leveled, so he opened by summoning rain, hoping to boost its speed with Swift Swim.
Su Bai wasted no words either and immediately ordered Pikachu to use Grass Knot.
The enormous Seismitoad hit the ground with a thud!
As expected of a professional trainer's Pokémon, Seismitoad had not gone down in one hit and was still struggling to get up.
"Seismitoad, you can still fight! Use Mud Shot!"
Huang Mu had not expected Su Bai's Pikachu to have that trick up its sleeve. Seeing the tutoring fees he had almost secured slipping away, he frantically shouted orders to Seismitoad.
Unfortunately, this was not a game. This was the real world, and without enough strength, Seismitoad could not even stand.
Pikachu finished off the weakened Seismitoad with a priority Quick Attack.
"Come back, Seismitoad!"
Huang Mu wanted to renege, but with Pikachu's cheeks sparking as the little Pokémon stared him down, looking both adorable and fierce, he did not dare try anything.
"Mr. Huang, the gym trainers' matches are about to end. Are you planning to keep making trouble here?"
"Just you wait, kid!"
Leaving that threat behind, Huang Mu recalled Seismitoad, turned, and walked away.
After Huang Mu left, Ming Tai's mother approached with a smile.
"Young Mr. Su, I'd like to sign an admission guarantee agreement with you."
"An admission guarantee agreement?"
Ming Tai's mother told Su Bai that Ming Tai wanted to attend J University. If he got in, Su Bai would receive three hundred thousand as compensation, with one hundred thousand paid up front. Even if Ming Tai failed to get into J University, Su Bai would not have to return the initial hundred thousand.
Lessons would still be once a week, two hours each. Ming Tai would discuss the hourly fees with the Origin Gym.
Su Bai had no objections, of course. He would not be leaving J City anytime soon anyway.
"Well, young Mr. Su, I won't keep you any longer. Let's leave it at that for today. I'll take Ming Tai home now."
Ming Tai's mother said she would have the contract drawn up by the next lesson, then left with Ming Tai.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission: Looking down on me, a baby Rayquaza?] [Rewards received: accumulated draws +10. Current accumulated draws: (39/100). Please keep rolling, host. My fate lies with heaven, not with me.]
The system had not rewarded him with any cash. Presumably, the huge sum it had promised was the compensation Ming Tai's mother had mentioned.
"System, since you've classified this money as a system reward, if I deposit all of it into the System Shop after receiving it, you won't charge the twenty-percent handling fee, right?"
[Correct. If the host deposits the compensation into the System Shop, the system will credit the full amount.]
Su Bai nodded. That was a win.
[Ding! Congratulations, host, on completing the mission: Never look down on a poor young man.] [Rewards received: Giga Drain TM, accumulated draws +10. Current accumulated draws: (49/100). Please keep rolling, host. My fate lies with heaven, not with me.]
Su Bai put the Giga Drain disc into the system inventory and trained Pikachu while waiting for his second student of the day.
A little over an hour later, a girl in her final year of high school arrived.
Her Pokémon was a Ducklett. A year would be enough for it to evolve into Swanna.
Su Bai explained Swanna's movesets and techniques to her and recommended that she teach it Aqua Ring.
Electric-type moves were Swanna's greatest weakness. Su Bai remembered that, in the anime he had watched in his previous life, Skyla of the Unova Region's Mistralton Gym had used Aqua Ring to block Electric-type moves.
The girl was hardworking and took her studies seriously. Apart from her habit of asking whether Su Bai had a girlfriend, there was nothing to fault her for.
Su Bai put real effort into teaching her and thought he could visit the Origin Temple when he had time to see whether there were any secret techniques suitable for her Swanna.
He was so dedicated because he believed that those who worked hard deserved to be rewarded.
Perhaps because the girl was too normal, the system issued no missions. It did not even reward him with a single White Rabbit milk candy.
That evening, Su Bai took a shower, collected his pay for the day from the gym's finance office, and went home with Pikachu and Growlithe.
He had an advancement match tomorrow, so he needed to rest up properly tonight.
The next day, Su Bai arrived early at J City's main stadium and found that the venue had already been set up the day before.
With tickets selling well, the organizers had money to spare. Every contestant had a private lounge.
The first round began at nine, and the matchups had already been released. Su Bai's opponent was the girl named Zhou Mo from J University of Technology's Pokémon Department.
J University, J Pokémon Institute, J Normal University, and J University of Technology had all been invited to this Health Cup tournament. Each school had sent a department-head-level administrator as a guest.
J University's special guest was naturally Li Rui, director of the Pokémon Department.
At nine sharp, the first match of the first round began: He Liang from J University against Bai Ze from Ji Province.
"Go, Vigoroth!"
He Liang's father, He Zhiguo, was the leader of a Normal-type gym, so Normal-type Pokémon were also He Liang's specialty. He had only switched to Quagsire earlier to counter Pikachu.
Thinking back on it now, He Liang bitterly regretted that decision.
Faced with the energetic Vigoroth and its sharp claws, Bai Ze led with Jangmo-o as usual.
The spectators grew excited at the sight of both Pokémon.
This was an advancement round, all right. The quality of the Pokémon had jumped immediately.
The host seized the opportunity to interview Director Li.
"Director Li, we can see that J University's He Liang has opened with Vigoroth, a powerful and aggressive Pokémon. What are your thoughts?"
"As He Liang is a student of J University, naturally, I'm rooting for him. His opponent, Bai Ze, is not someone to underestimate either. Sending out Vigoroth shows that He Liang is taking his opponent's strength seriously, which is very gratifying to see as his teacher."
Director Li's answer was polished, professional, and left no room for criticism.
Unfortunately, He Liang's performance was not nearly as impressive as her words.
On the field, Jangmo-o dodged two Slashes, used Dragon Dance through Vigoroth's Tickle, then knocked Vigoroth out of the arena with a single Brick Break.
It all happened in an instant. Director Li had barely finished speaking when Vigoroth was already unable to battle.
Although the directors from the other three schools took some pleasure in that, each of them was nervous too.
They could all see how formidable this Jangmo-o was. Their own students would probably struggle to defeat it.
If this student from Ji Province really took home the trophy, J City would suffer a serious loss of face.
They were unlikely to be held accountable. After all, the competitors represented only a tiny fraction of each school's students, and the event itself was hardly a major matter. Still, it would look bad, and criticism was inevitable.
They could only hope He Liang's second Pokémon would perform better.
"For my second Pokémon-come out, Slaking!"
He Liang sent out Slaking, and everyone perked up. Now there was hope.
With Slaking's raw power, how could it fail to defeat a first-stage Jangmo-o?
Only Director Li, sitting in the stands, kept her brow tightly furrowed.
"It's over."
Sitting in his lounge and watching the live match on the screen, Su Bai muttered to himself.
He had studied Jangmo-o's previous battles and remembered that it knew Protect.
"Slaking, Hyper Beam!"
Slaking pounded its chest with both fists and opened its mouth wide. An orange-yellow beam of energy blasted out, triggering a violent explosion.
The sheer, brutal spectacle fired up the spectators, and the host took the opportunity to whip up the atmosphere.
"There it is! Slaking's devastating same-type move, Hyper Beam! Will Jangmo-o go down?"
The smoke cleared to reveal Jangmo-o still standing there, completely unharmed behind a faint green shield.
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