"That confident?"
The surrounding crowd erupted in astonishment. Generally, aside from one-on-one matches which didn't have many requirements, battles like two-on-two, three-on-three, and full-team matches typically had both sides releasing Pokémon simultaneously. It was rare for someone to send out their Pokémon ahead of time.
Lu Renjia's expression looked rather unpleasant. He felt like he was being looked down on, but there was nothing he could do about it. The two had attended the same high school, and his opponent knew exactly what Pokémon he had.
"Go, Exeggutor!"
"Swish!"
The flag dropped. The battle began.
"Emboar, Flame Charge!"
"Exeggutor, Magical Leaf!"
Both sides simultaneously ordered aggressive attacks. Emboar's entire body blazed with red flames as he charged at Exeggutor with a menacing grin, letting Magical Leaf strike his body.
Clearly, the two Pokémon knew each other and had probably battled many times before.
After using Magical Leaf, Exeggutor immediately retreated backward while scattering Sleep Powder in front of himself.
Now if Emboar wanted to attack Exeggutor, he'd either have to go around, or...
"Emboar, Flamethrower!"
Emboar spewed a pillar of fire, not only burning away the Sleep Powder in the air but sweeping the flame column toward Exeggutor.
"Light Screen!"
Exeggutor reacted lightning-fast, erecting Light Screen before the flames arrived, perfectly blocking Flamethrower.
"Exeggutor, Zen Headbutt!"
Seeing Light Screen block the flames, Lu Renjia breathed a sigh of relief, then commanded Exeggutor to counterattack.
"THUD!"
Before Zen Headbutt could be released, Emboar's hefty body slammed into him and sent him flying.
"Burn Up!"
Seeing Exeggutor knocked away, Lu Renjia felt something was wrong. He quickly pulled out his Poké Ball, preparing to switch Pokémon.
But Emboar's move execution was clearly faster. Intense flames instantly engulfed Exeggutor.
After seeing the flames cover Exeggutor, Emboar stopped moving, seemingly very confident in himself.
"Return, Exeggutor."
As the flames dispersed, Exeggutor lay quietly on the ground with swirls in his eyes, clearly having lost the ability to battle.
Lu Renjia's expression grew even worse. Although Emboar had lost his Fire typing, his next Pokémon was also weak to Fighting!
Lu Renjia looked up at the densely packed crowd in the spectator seats, gritted his teeth, but ultimately couldn't bring himself to say those two words of surrender.
"Go, Maractus!"
Looking at his opponent's smug smile, Lu Renjia felt both anxious and angry—helpless and furious.
"He's done for. Emboar's going to sweep."
Watching the grinning Emboar on the field and the wary Maractus, Jace shook his head.
Clearly, with Exeggutor—who could actually damage Emboar—taken out, the Maractus that replaced him posed even less of a threat. Even though Emboar had lost his Fire typing, he still wasn't someone Maractus could easily defeat.
"Emboar, Flame Charge!"
His opponent continued with the same tactic. With the speed boost from two Flame Charges, Emboar was now incredibly fast, closing in on Maractus in an instant and ramming him.
"Burn Up!"
"Destiny Bond!"
Again the same sweeping flames, but this time, something different happened—a ghostly light flew out from the flames and dove directly into Emboar's body.
As Emboar's eyes widened in shock, the flames dispersed and his heavy body collapsed.
"Clap, clap, clap~"
The second battle ended even faster than the first. While the venue was still silent, Lu Renjia's opponent, Wang Yeyun, was the first to start clapping.
"Clap clap clap! Clap clap clap!"
Seeing the victor applauding his opponent, the spectators also erupted in cheers and joined Wang Yeyun in applause.
Hearing the deafening applause throughout the venue, Wang Yeyun froze on the spot. Wait, I haven't even said my taunting words yet—why are you all clapping?
And Lu Renjia, seeing his opponent—the winner—applaud him first as the loser, then inspire the entire crowd to join in, was immediately moved.
After recalling his Pokémon, Lu Renjia quickly walked toward Wang Yeyun and hugged the stunned young man.
"I knew it—you're not that kind of petty, mean-spirited person. I misunderstood you."
Wang Yeyun came back to his senses and found himself being hugged by his opponent. He immediately felt disgusted and wanted to push him away, but the cheers and applause from the entire venue made him hesitate.
If he pushed him away now, would he get labeled as cold and arrogant at school?
While Wang Yeyun was hesitating, Lu Renjia had already released him on his own.
"I misunderstood you before. I'm sorry."
After speaking, he waved to the students in the spectator seats and headed off the field.
Wang Yeyun felt so frustrated. How had this turned him into the victor somehow?
Helplessly, he recalled his fallen Emboar, shook his head, and walked off the field. He still couldn't figure out how things had developed this way.
"The arena's warmed up! Are there any other students who want to battle? You can come up directly, and I—your beloved junior, Huang Jian from third year—will provide commentary!"
After the two left, just as the spectators were preparing to disperse, they suddenly heard a voice from the commentary booth. They got excited again and stayed to watch the next battle.
"!!! What are you doing?"
Auron was still thinking about what to eat later when he suddenly turned his head and saw Jace staring at him with gleaming eyes.
"Come on, let's go up and have a battle!"
"I'm not going. For this kind of occasion, you should take Peter with you instead."
Auron refused immediately. What a joke—with this many people, let Peter with his social butterfly syndrome go up and perform.
Jace shook his head and tugged at Auron's arm. "He won't work—he only has Drilbur, and we're tired of that. Let's go up there for a one-on-one. Just our Charmeleon—what do you say?"
Auron's whole body screamed rejection. "I! Won't!"
"Don't tell me there isn't a single person among this year's freshmen brave enough to come up for a battle?"
Huang Jian on the commentary platform said loudly with a hint of provocation.
Hearing this, Jace immediately took offense and raised Auron's arm.
"We'll go!"
Auron: ???
"Then let these two underclassmen bring us an exciting battle!"
With Jace's shout, everyone's attention focused on him and Auron. Now Auron had no choice but to go up.
Left with no option, Auron could only glare at Jace before walking with him from the spectator seats to the battle arena.
"Hehe, it's been a while since we had a real battle."
"I know. I'm about to beat the crap out of you!"
Auron said coldly to Jace, then shoved him away, making him go to the opposite side.
"Trainers, send out your Pokémon!"
"Go, Charmeleon!"
"Go, Charmeleon!"
"Graow!"
"Roar!"
The appearance of the two Charmeleon instantly froze the audience. Then, with the roars of the two Charmeleon, they snapped back to their senses and erupted into fervor!