“But luckily, we kept something hidden too.” Evan Lane smiled faintly.
“Snivy, pay attention to the movement around you.” After Evan’s reminder, Snivy slowed her movements and began staying alert to her surroundings.
Inside the smokescreen, a cold flash suddenly appeared.
Red claws slashed viciously toward Snivy’s back.
Sensing the rush of air behind her, Snivy leaped forward and barely dodged.
Even so, the scorching heat swept over her and clung to her back like a curse.
Her emerald scales were burned black, and black smoke rose from her leaf-shaped tail.
“That Charmander’s senses inside the smoke are very sharp.
It can find Snivy’s position so easily.” Principal Marcus Greenhill could not help nodding.
It seemed that not only Evan, but Lucas had also grown quite a lot.
“I wonder how Evan plans to deal with this.” Watching Charmander constantly launch sudden attacks from within the smoke, then quickly pull away even if the strike missed, Marcus could not help feeling curious about Evan’s response.
Charmander kept using attacks to force Snivy to move, while also using Fire-type moves to seal off Snivy’s movement routes.
The Fire-type attacks, dealing double damage, left more and more wounds on Snivy’s body.
Seeing Snivy gradually fall into disadvantage, Evan still did not panic at all.
What a Grass-type Trainer needed most was patience.
“Now.
Use Glare!” Just as Charmander closed in on Snivy again, the scales on Snivy’s body seemed to come alive.
They twisted and shifted, forming strange patterns.
However, Charmander seemed to have expected this long ago.
It slapped the ground with one claw and used the force to leap straight backward.
Clearly, Lucas and his Charmander were both extremely familiar with Snivy’s battle style and the effects of her moves.
At Snivy’s current stage, Glare’s paralysis effect had a duration limit.
By pulling far enough away, and relying on its own willpower, Charmander had a chance to break free from the paralysis during the gap before Snivy launched her next attack.
Fortunately, Evan had already predicted this.
Charmander’s earlier high-frequency attacks had caused Snivy quite a bit of damage, but they had also consumed a lot of its stamina.
Not just stamina either.
Locking onto Snivy’s position for so long had also drained Charmander mentally.
It could not break free from paralysis in a short time.
Even though Charmander had already pulled a fairly long distance away, the time left for Snivy was enough.
The scales of victory had already tilted.
The viper that had waited so long was finally about to reveal its sharp fangs.
“Aim in the direction it just retreated.
Use Magical Leaf!” The instant Charmander was paralyzed, leaves glowing with crystal-clear green light appeared in front of Snivy.
Like a volley of sharp arrows, they shot toward Charmander.
The waves of air brought by Magical Leaf scattered a large patch of black smoke ahead, and the view became clear again.
An explosion rang out.
Charmander let out a pained cry and was blasted backward, only slowly standing up again after Lucas shouted for it.
However, Snivy moved even faster.
In a few flashes, she had already closed in right in front of Charmander.
“Use Leer!” “Protect!” Snivy’s turn-and-tail-swing movement successfully misled Lucas’s judgment.
Not only did Charmander waste Protect, but its physical Defense was also weakened.
“Finish it.
Use Iron Tail!” Once the pale blue light shield from Protect disappeared, white light lit up around Snivy’s tail.
Her Iron Tail struck Charmander solidly in the stomach.
“Char!” With another pained cry, Charmander smashed heavily into the floor of the battle stage.
One small hand trembled as it reached forward, stubbornly trying to rise.
In the end, its strength ran out, its eyes turned into spirals, and it completely lost the ability to battle.
“Charmander is unable to battle.
Congratulations to Evan Lane for taking first place in this assessment!” As the referee blew the whistle, cheers erupted from the students outside the battle court.
No one had expected Snivy, who had clearly been at a disadvantage just moments ago, to overturn the battle in an instant.
It had been incredibly satisfying to watch.
Lucas recalled Charmander into its Poké Ball and smiled helplessly.
In terms of tactics, he was still quite a bit behind Evan.
They were clearly the same age, but every time Evan gave commands, he seemed far more experienced, not at all like a Trainer their age.
“I’ll take Charmander for treatment first.
You won again this time, so you’d better treat me and Charmander to a meal!” “When did you learn Magical Leaf?
I’ve never seen you use it before.” “You hid Smokescreen too, didn’t you?” Evan rolled his eyes.
So this was what true friendship looked like?
“Actually, I was hiding one more move.
The battle ended before I could use it.
What a shame.” Evan: ?
Watching Lucas walk toward Ms.
Lawson, Evan smiled and gave Snivy a high five to celebrate.
Then he recalled Snivy into her Poké Ball and went to get her treated as well.
Of course, the celebration gesture Evan had thought about for ages was not that simple.
It was Snivy jumping up, turning in midair, and using her leaf-shaped tail to high-five Evan’s right hand.
Evan had thought it looked incredibly cool from the start, but Snivy had absolutely refused.
After much coaxing and persuasion, they had finally settled on it.
[Ding!
Congratulations, host.
Obtained 5 Sunlight Points!] The system’s voice rang out in his mind.
Evan handed the Poké Ball to Ms.
Lawson, then left the field together with Lucas.
The rewards for this assessment would only be distributed once the entire assessment was over.
This field would next be used to decide the final ten members of the elite class.
However, that no longer had anything to do with Evan and Lucas.
“How are you planning to spend the afternoon break?” Lucas turned to look at Evan, who had already slipped back into his lazy expression.
“Training, obviously.
Today’s assessment made me realize Snivy has weaknesses in battle.” Evan thought back to the earlier scene inside the smokescreen.
If Charmander had known a few high-power Fire-type moves back then, Snivy would already have lost that battle.
Snake-like Pokémon were clearly weaker than many other Pokémon when it came to capturing information through vision.
But that also had its advantages.
When it came to detecting scents, snakes were clearly superior to many other creatures.
By using that advantage, they could even lock onto an enemy’s position faster than through sight.
Evan had clearly neglected that aspect of training before, which caused him to fall into disadvantage during the earlier battle.
If he had not also prepared a hidden move, that $5,000 prize might have slipped away.
As for the specific training method, Evan still did not have much of an idea.
He had also heard that the elite class homeroom teacher this time was a Professional Trainer.
Hopefully, when the time came, this teacher he had yet to meet could give him some advice.
“That really is your style.
But I won’t be training with you this afternoon.
I’m going to the black market to buy some resources Charmander needs.” Looking at Lucas’s calm smile, Evan quietly asked, “Need help?” Hearing this, Lucas was stunned for a moment.
Then he shook his head, and the smile on his face deepened.
“The prize this time is $3,000.
Even if Charmander evolves after a while, it should barely be enough to hold us over for some time.” Evan nodded and said nothing more.
The seemingly random conversation was actually Evan protecting Lucas’s pride.
Lucas’s family situation was very bad.
His mother had been sick for years and needed medicine to maintain her health.
Lucas insisted on becoming a Trainer because he knew that in this world, only by becoming a Trainer could someone at the bottom like him change his fate.
Although Evan’s own funds were not exactly abundant, in his eyes, Lucas was a friend worth keeping close.
After all, battling was the best way to prove a Trainer’s character and personality.