Aron’s opponent was a Rhyhorn.
— Name: Rhyhorn Type: Ground / Rock Level: 7 Potential: Gym Rank Ability: Rock Head Held Item: Poison Barb Gender: Female Moves: – Tackle – Tail Whip – Smack Down TM Moves: – Take Down – Mud Shot – Rock Tomb Egg Moves: None — Rhyhorn possessed excellent potential, already reaching the Gym Rank standard.
Pokémon with Quasi-Elite potential were extremely rare on the market.
Whenever one appeared, it was usually purchased almost immediately.
Because of this, Pokémon with Gym Rank potential were the highest-quality partners most people could realistically hope to acquire.
Even then, if the Pokémon evolved into a powerful final form, its price generally exceeded 1 million Daxia Coins.
The Ground/Rock typing had both strengths and weaknesses.
It suffered a devastating 4× weakness to both Water and Grass moves while also being weak to Ice, Steel, Fighting, and Ground attacks.
However…
Its final evolution, Rhyperior, was an exceptionally powerful Pokémon.
The early stages might have weaker type matchups, but its future potential more than made up for it.
— “How long do you think Li Luo can last against Young Master Adrian?” One student folded his arms thoughtfully.
“Five minutes, maybe.” “Li Luo’s Rhyhorn has been trained pretty well.” Another student immediately shook his head.
“No way.” “Three minutes at most.” He confidently held up three fingers.
Steel, Ground, and Rock Pokémon were often considered closely related.
These three types shared many similar moves and were all renowned for their incredible defensive capabilities.
As the discussion continued…
The battle began.
— “Rhyhorn!” “Use Take Down!” Li Luo immediately seized the initiative.
Rhyhorn charged forward like a speeding truck.
Although it wasn’t particularly fast, its momentum was tremendous.
Against a quicker Pokémon, the attack might have been easy to dodge.
Unfortunately…
Adrian’s Aron possessed the Heavy Metal Ability.
Its naturally slow speed had become even lower.
“Use Tackle,” Adrian said calmly.
Aron slowly walked forward.
Its body wasn’t especially large.
Yet every step carried tremendous weight, giving the impression that a mountain was advancing across the battlefield.
Li Luo narrowed his eyes.
“I’m not afraid!” — Under the watchful gaze of the entire class…
Aron’s Tackle collided head-on with Rhyhorn’s Take Down.
Boom!
The instant they collided…
A miserable cry echoed across the arena.
Rhyhorn was sent flying backward.
It had charged forward like an arrow leaving a bow…
But it flew backward even faster.
After soaring more than ten metres through the air…
It crashed heavily onto the ground.
This time…
It couldn’t get back up.
It had been knocked out instantly.
— Li Luo stared blankly at his unconscious Pokémon.
Was my Rhyhorn made of paper?
Take Down was considerably stronger than an ordinary Tackle.
There was only a one-level difference between the two Pokémon.
Aron hadn’t even used a Steel-type move.
There was no type advantage whatsoever.
And Rhyhorn was famous for its incredible toughness.
Yet despite all that…
It had still been defeated in a single hit.
— “That’s ridiculous!” “It didn’t even last a full minute!” Another student corrected him.
“Not even a minute.” “It lasted exactly thirteen seconds.” Someone else sighed.
“I was actually thinking about challenging Young Master Adrian.” “But if I’m going to get knocked out in one hit like Li Luo…” “I’ll pass.” “I wouldn’t learn anything.” “I’d just embarrass myself.” The classroom erupted into excited discussion.
Nobody had expected Li Luo to defeat Adrian.
Most simply believed he could at least put up a decent fight.
Instead…
He had been completely overwhelmed.
— Li Luo’s expression wasn’t angry.
Just deeply disappointed.
He had never imagined his prized Rhyhorn would lose so miserably.
Instead of showcasing his own strength…
He had become little more than a stepping stone for Aron.
Meanwhile…
Adrian remained perfectly calm.
Everything had unfolded exactly as he expected.
He gently patted Aron’s metallic head.
“Well done.” Aron tilted its head.
It first looked at Adrian…
Then at the unconscious Rhyhorn lying on the battlefield.
Its eager expression clearly asked one question.
What’s next?
Nearby, someone muttered quietly, “Young Master Adrian’s Aron is terrifying.” “I’ll definitely think twice before battling him.” His friend nodded immediately.
“The gap is just too big.” “There’s no chance of winning.” After all…
Li Luo himself was far from weak.
— Li Luo recalled his Rhyhorn.
The Pokémon had merely fainted.
It would recover naturally after some rest.
Pokémon possessed remarkable vitality.
Most ordinary injuries healed through their own recovery abilities.
Adrian also recalled Aron.
However…
The little Pokémon clearly wasn’t satisfied yet.
It still wanted to keep fighting.
Adrian smiled.
“Don’t worry.” “There are more battles waiting for you.” Inside the Poké Ball…
Aron happily settled down.
Compared with Beldum…
Aron possessed an even stronger fighting spirit.
It was practically born for battle.
— The tournament continued.
Round after round…
Adrian relied entirely on Aron to defeat every opponent in his path.
Without much difficulty…
He advanced all the way to the finals.
His final opponent released a Koffing.
— Name: Koffing Category: Poison Gas Pokémon Level: 9 Potential: Quasi-Elite Ability: Neutralizing Gas Held Item: Poison Barb Gender: Female Moves: – Tackle – Poison Gas – Sludge – Smokescreen TM Moves: – Acid Spray – Psybeam Egg Moves: – Stockpile — Although Adrian had reached the championship match…
His opponent looked rather uneasy.
Poison-type Pokémon were notoriously troublesome.
They specialized in slowly wearing opponents down with poison, status conditions, and attrition.
Many criminal organizations preferred using Poison and Ghost Pokémon.
When handled properly…
These two types excelled at ambushes and assassinations.
A weaker Trainer could even defeat a stronger opponent through clever tactics.
Fortunately for Adrian…
Steel-type Pokémon were completely immune to most Poison-type attacks.
Since Koffing was still at a relatively low level, the majority of its moves were Poison-type.
Of course…
If a Poison-type Pokémon became overwhelmingly powerful…
Its corrosive attacks could eventually damage even Steel-type armor.
After all…
Absolute strength could overcome almost any advantage.
— As expected…
The battle ended quickly.
Aron’s powerful Metal Claw overwhelmed Koffing before it had any chance to establish control of the battle.
The match was over.
Adrian Sterling won first place in the Class Battle Tournament.
— For his prize…
He chose the 200,000 Daxia Coins instead of the training resources.
After recalling Aron, Adrian smiled.
“You earned this.” “After school…” “I’ll buy you a sweet fruit cake.” “Aron!” Aron nodded enthusiastically.
Since the prize money had been earned through Aron’s hard work…
Adrian naturally intended to spend it on his Pokémon.
— Steelix High School truly lived up to its reputation as an elite academy.
Even a simple classroom tournament offered a grand prize of 200,000 Daxia Coins.
For many ordinary families…
That was more money than they earned in an entire year.
— Their homeroom teacher, Xia Xiangyu, looked around at the class with satisfaction.
“I now have a good understanding of everyone’s current strength.” “Over the next few days…” “I’ll prepare personalized training and development plans for each of you.” “You can use them as a reference while improving your Pokémon.” Although Xia Xiangyu specialized in Steel-type Pokémon, he was still an Elite-level Trainer.
With his experience…
Guiding a group of rookie Trainers was an effortless task.
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