“That arrogant kid from our class went to the battle arena again yesterday, and even said that there isn’t a single person in the Beginner Class who can fight, that they’re all trash…”
Little Fatty ran back to the classroom and recited the lines Roy had scripted for him in advance.
The tall, thin boy was surprised that Little Fatty hadn’t been beaten up.
“Fatty, how come you didn’t get beaten to death?”
Ignoring The tall, thin boy’s snarky comment, Little Fatty ran to the other classes one after another to spread the news.
Roxanne, accompanied by Bestie, found it unbelievable upon hearing this.
After listening to Little Fatty’s instigation, the crowd, fuming with anger, headed toward the battle arena.
When they arrived, they found a crowd already gathering at the entrance of the battle arena.
One person was blocking the entrance of the battle arena perfectly.
It was Roy.
At this moment, he was standing with his arms crossed, blocking the entrance to the training ground, with a sign standing next to him.
[The strongest Trainer in the Rustboro Academy Beginner Class!
Fight me if you dare!]
Countless students from the Beginner Class who had just finished their lessons were watching Roy, who was standing by the sign.
There were even a few members of the Advanced Class among them.
Being a member of the Advanced Class meant that the person had at least one Pokémon above level 40.
The crowd grew larger and larger.
Seeing this, Roy thought he should be able to gain quite a bit of popularity points today.
Among them, many had brought their Pokémon to train, and many others had come to see who was so arrogant as to say they were all trash after hearing Little Fatty’s words.
Little Fatty was quite effective; he had brought over quite a few people.
“Who is this kid?
He’s quite arrogant.”
Not receiving the mockery they expected, the crowd instead assumed Roy was a young master from some wealthy family and hesitated to step forward.
A few who recognized Roy as the Ghost-type Trainer who had defeated Roxanne’s Onix yesterday were unwilling to fight, recalling his tactics from the day before.
Roxanne’s strength as the Big Sister of the Beginner Class went without saying; she was tough and durable.
She had even once defeated a level 31 Sandslash while at a lower level.
Crucially, that opponent was an Intermediate Class student who had obtained a Beginner Trainer qualification certificate.
Yet, even such a Roxanne had been outplayed and defeated by Roy yesterday.
“What young master?
He’s just someone who relied on disgusting tactics to beat Big Sister Roxanne yesterday, right?
What’s so great about that?”
Little Fatty said with a look of disdain.
(Roy likes +1)
The tall, thin boy looked at Little Fatty in confusion; that wasn’t his attitude when he was dragged out by Roy earlier.
“So what?
We Ghost-type Trainers have always respected strength.
If you can win, you win.
In my opinion, isn’t it true that there isn’t a single person in Rustboro Academy who can fight?”
“If you’re not convinced, anyone here who beats me can get 10,000 Pokedollars.
If you lose, you lose nothing.”
10,000 Pokedollars!?
The crowd suddenly erupted.
For some of them, 10,000 Pokedollars was not a small amount.
Great rewards attract brave men.
A few Advanced Class students were the first to step forward to accept the challenge.
After all, no matter how skilled Roy was, he was still just a Beginner Class student, and under the pressure of level suppression, he couldn’t cause much trouble.
Although it was a bit embarrassing, 10,000 Pokedollars were real.
Roy pointed to the bottom of the sign and handed the other person a magnifying glass.
They saw a line of small text at the very bottom of the sign, which could only be read clearly using the magnifying glass Roy gave them.
[Only open to challenges from Beginner Class students.]
Roy wasn’t arrogant enough to think his Litwick could battle those level 40 Pokémon that had already reached their final forms.
Seeing that they had lost their eligibility to battle, they couldn’t help but Curse Roy for being so crafty, but the key was that they couldn’t even blame him.
Were they supposed to scold Roy for not letting them bully someone weaker?
Seeing the Advanced Class students retreat after reading the text at the bottom of the sign.
The other Beginner Class students, who were at that young and reckless age, were instantly provoked by Roy and became heated.
A Trainer who wasn’t very tall was the first to challenge Roy.
“I’ll challenge you.”
A deep voice came.
Roy turned his head to look at the source of the voice; it was a boy with short hair.
Little Fatty immediately recognized the boy as being from Class 2 of the Beginner Class; his name was Wale, and his strength was not to be underestimated.
Moreover, Wale’s Pokémon was the evolved form of the Kanto starter Charmander, Charmeleon.
It was currently level 30, and he had just obtained his Beginner Trainer qualification certificate yesterday and was about to apply for the Rustboro Academy Intermediate Class assessment.
So, he was still considered a member of the Beginner Class for now.
How could he have forgotten him?
Little Fatty suddenly felt that Roy was in danger this time.
Seeing that someone was finally coming to challenge him, Roy didn’t waste any words and walked into the battle arena with the small sign from his chest.
He randomly chose the battle arena he had fought in yesterday.
When the referee saw Roy arrive, he wanted to ask what Pokémon Roy had used yesterday so he could announce the name of the Pokémon when declaring the results next time.
Before he could ask, a crowd of people surged behind Roy and followed him into the battle arena.
This left the referee bewildered—why were there so many people every time Roy came?
Confusion aside, he didn’t forget his job.
The referee blew the whistle.
The battle began.
“Go, Charmeleon, let him see how good we are.”
A crimson Charmeleon appeared in the battle arena.
System Scan
Pokémon: Charmeleon
Level: 30
Gender: Male
Ability: Blaze
Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Fire Fang, Slash, Flamethrower, Smokescreen, Dragon Breath
Held Item: None
Egg Moves: Iron Tail, Metal Claw
IVs: 17
TM/Move Tutor: Body Slam
A level 30 Charmeleon with the Blaze ability?
“Charmeleon, use Flamethrower.”
Before Litwick could use Haze, flames spewed from Charmeleon’s mouth, aimed directly at Litwick.
It was clear that Wale had a lot of battle experience and knew how to seize the initiative.
But what he didn’t know was that Litwick’s Flash Fire ability made it immune to Fire-type move damage.
The flames spewed from Charmeleon’s mouth actually made the flame on Litwick’s head burn even brighter, absorbing it for its own use.
Litwick’s Fire-type moves were enhanced.
A new tactic suddenly occurred to Roy.
Using telepathic communication, he stopped Litwick, which was about to use Minimize, and commanded it to pretend it was in great pain after being injured.
Although it didn’t understand what Roy was planning, Litwick immediately became an actor, its candle-shaped body writhing in pain within the flames, as if it were about to be burned to a crisp by Charmeleon’s fire.
Little Fatty, watching from below, was anxious.
Surely it wouldn’t lose the first battle, right?
Seeing this, Wale fell for it.
“Charmeleon, press the attack!
Use Flamethrower at maximum power!”
Charmeleon increased its output on the field, and Litwick was in “agony” amidst the flames.
“It’s not too late to concede now; don’t make your Pokémon keep holding on.”
Wale mocked.
He was someone who had reached the Bronze rank in the Rustboro Dome Arena; fighting a tiny Litwick now was as simple as spinning a top.
“We haven’t lost yet!
Litwick!
Let him see the bond between us!”
“Lit!”
The flame on Litwick’s head had evolved into a raging inferno.
Damn!
Why did it suddenly light up like that, hey!
Of course, Litwick hadn’t forgotten Roy’s instructions; it pretended to be exhausted, stood up, and a colorful light flashed within the flame.
A Confuse Ray hit Charmeleon, which was busy spewing flames and couldn’t pay attention to anything else.
Charmeleon immediately fell into a state of confusion, the flames in its mouth were cut off, and it only felt like there were a few ducks circling around it.
“Litwick, use Hex!”
Several ghost shadows suddenly appeared within Litwick’s flame and rushed toward Charmeleon.
Move: Hex
Effect: Attacks in succession.
Deals significant damage to opponents suffering from status conditions.
With the boost from Roy’s own 1% power from Extreme Ghost Force and the 10% from the Spell Tag, the damage increase for Ghost-type moves had reached 11%.
Coupled with the fact that Charmeleon was suffering from a status condition, the damage was boosted again.
The ghost shadows slammed into Charmeleon, knocking it dizzy.
The knocked-down Charmeleon struggled to get up, and the flame on its tail suddenly grew larger—this triggered the Blaze ability, and Charmeleon’s confusion status was also resolved.
“Charmeleon, use one more Flamethrower and take him out!”
“Litwick, Hex.”
The ghost shadows and the flames crossed paths in the center of the battle arena.
The Flamethrower hit Litwick again, while the ghost shadows slammed into Charmeleon.
Everyone leaned forward, all wanting to be the first to see the final result.
Charmeleon collapsed to the ground, unable to battle.