Chapter 203: The Finals’ Snorlax
Propping himself up with his chin on the ground, Long Ying, who crawled up like a caterpillar, looked at Lu Li stubbornly, with no trace of her previous arrogance and defiance in her eyes.
In its place were confusion and grievance.
From Long Ying’s eyes, Lu Li saw the last bit of stubbornness in this impudent girl.
She was obedient now, begging for mercy, but unwilling to bow her head.
Lu Li wanted to laugh.
This girl was simply too interesting.
As a proud dragon, Long Ying knew she had lost; their physical fitness was not even on the same level.
Lu Li could have broken both her arms with a single kick. If Lu Li had intended to kill, Long Ying felt she would already be dead.
Long Ying tried to save face and loudly shouted, “Deino! Dragon Roar?”
A Trainer’s skill lies in the art of command! Only fools rely on physical strength.
Long Ying comforted herself, refusing to admit she had lost.
Lu Li watched the young lady opposite him with great interest; this girl was too much fun.
As for command ability? Lu Li was self-aware in that regard; how could he, a self-taught trainer, compare to the young lady of the Dragon Family?
Receiving the order, Deino instantly changed its move.
A terrifying shockwave poured from Deino’s mouth.
Lu Li was no longer the novice he once was. Having encountered many secret techniques, Lu Li immediately recognized the uniqueness of this skill.
The so-called Dragon Roar was a move that fused Dragon Breath, Dark Pulse, and Dragon Pulse.
The effect was self-explanatory. Dragon Roar also carried paralysis and flinching as negative effects.
Even an Elite Level Tropius, if hit, would likely suffer for a while.
“Tropius! Leech Seed,” Lu Li commanded as well.
Lu Li did not attack Long Ying further, as continuing the fight might break her.
Tropius’s Leech Seed was extremely solid, even piercing through the shockwave of Dragon Roar to accurately hit Deino.
However, Dragon Roar also landed on Tropius simultaneously.
A brief paralysis effect triggered, and Tropius, its body stiffening, almost fell from the sky.
This was the downside of Flying Pokémon; they would fall and get injured if suddenly paralyzed.
Fortunately, Tropius’s life energy and strength were at that level, so Deino’s Dragon Roar only caused a temporary paralysis.
Long Ying, naturally, would not miss this golden opportunity.
“Pursuit!” Long Ying excitedly commanded.
Pursuit was a physical Dark-type attack. Its effect was to damage the target; if the target had taken damage in the current turn, its power doubled.
And Tropius had indeed taken damage just now. Although the damage was not high, it had taken damage.
As Tropius recovered from the paralysis, Deino had already rushed in front of it.
Pursuit struck, and two gruesome gashes were instantly torn into Tropius’s wings.
“Tropius, Body Slam!”
Seeing Deino directly below Tropius, Lu Li decided to go with the flow.
Upon seeing this, Long Ying’s pupils contracted, and she hurriedly shouted, “Deino, Protect!”
Rumble!
Tropius crashed down heavily, shaking the entire match venue.
Tropius flew up again and then looked at Deino with admiration.
At the critical moment, Deino had actually managed to block Tropius’s Body Slam with Protect.
Long Ying, seeing this, triumphantly boasted, “I was already prepared for this move!”
With both arms fractured, Long Ying let out a triumphant laugh, her hands dangling and swinging, looking incredibly comical.
Suppressing the urge to laugh, Lu Li asked meaningfully, “Champagne at halftime isn’t a good habit.”
“Tropius! Giga Drain!”
As Lu Li’s words fell, Long Ying excitedly interrupted, “Deino, Rest!”
Lu Li: “…”
Lu Li raised his eyebrows.
Tropius was just about to activate Leech Seed on Deino when Deino used Rest.
Rest restores all of the user’s HP and heals all status conditions, with the price being that the Pokémon falls asleep.
As for when it would wake up?
It depended on the Pokémon’s comprehension of the Rest skill, but no matter how skilled it was at Rest, it would take at least two turns to wake up after falling asleep.
Although Giga Drain was interrupted, it wasn’t a major issue.
“Tropius! Use Body Slam again, then Growth, and then Razor Leaf with maximum power.”
Seeing this, Long Ying looked at Deino anxiously.
She didn’t know if Deino could endure it, but it was the only option.
Knowing how terrifying Tropius’s secret technique, “Giga Drain,” was, Long Ying could only do this.
Long Ying was unsure if Deino could hold out until it woke up, but Deino definitely wouldn’t survive another Giga Drain.
Razor Leaf landed on the sleeping Deino, and Deino fell unconscious in its slumber.
“Young Pokémon are great, falling asleep instantly. Truly a dragon,” Lu Li commented sarcastically.
Long Ying, her face flushed red with anger, glared at Lu Li through gritted teeth.
Without any further resistance, Deino ultimately couldn’t hold on until it woke up.
“It seems I’ve won,” Lu Li said teasingly to Long Ying, then waited for the referee to announce the match result.
After confirming Deino was unable to battle, the nearby referee announced the match result.
“Don’t get too cocky! When I find a way to counter your secret technique, I’ll get my revenge,” Long Ying said before recalling her fainted Deino and disappearing into the player tunnel without looking back.
Lu Li also recalled Tropius and turned to enter the player tunnel.
Moves that removed status conditions were quite effective against Tropius. The core of BJ Tropius’s secret technique, “Giga Drain,” was Leech Seed.
“But it’s not entirely unavoidable. At worst, I can directly use Special Growth the moment Leech Seed successfully takes root,” Lu Li finally thought of a less-than-ideal solution.
In the lounge, Long Du looked helplessly at Long Ying, whose arms were hanging limply.
“Are your arms okay?”
Long Ying shot Long Du a glare and asked sullenly, “What do you think? They’re broken!”
With a smile, Long Du urged, “Let Chansey heal you quickly.”
The Chansey next to Long Du gave an okay gesture, looking as if to say, “Leave it to me, no problem.”
A fusion of light flashed, enveloping Long Ying and Deino.
Since the treatment was timely, Long Ying’s arms had no lingering effects. As Long Du sighed in relief, he continued to tease, “You must have a thick skull to think of competing in physical strength with the Rainbow Hero, right?”
Long Ying: “…”
As a poor student, Long Ying asked sullenly, “Is the Rainbow Hero’s physical strength very strong?”
“Every Rainbow Hero is an Aura Warrior, and they became Aura Warriors through their physical strength. What do you think?” Long Du retorted.
“Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Long Ying’s voice instantly rose several decibels.
As if she had thought of something, Long Ying stared intently at Long Du.
“You didn’t do it on purpose, did you?” Long Ying accused.
Long Du glanced uncomfortably at Long Ying and, bracing himself, denied it, “How could that be? I never imagined you, a girl, would agree to a fight with a boy.”
Long Ying: “…”
Never mind. She had already been beaten; there was no point in dwelling on it.
Looking at his seemingly carefree sister, Long Du narrowed his eyes and reminded her, “Do you remember our bet?”
“Got it. After the match, I’ll take him as my subordinate,” Long Ying replied dejectedly.
Long Du emphasized, “You will be his subordinate. Don’t get the order wrong.”
“It’s all the same, all the same,” Long Ying chuckled sheepishly, clearly trying to brush it off.
Long Du didn’t press the issue further. “Don’t feel wronged. This is a benefit I worked hard to get for you. You’ll thank me later.”
“Got it,” Long Ying waved her hand dismissively.
Following a Divine Envoy in the first place was a boon in itself. An invincible dragon could rival a god. Long Ying truly had no aspirations regarding Divine Envoys.
The match was won, and the next step was the finals, with about two more matches.
His championship was basically secured.
The only opponent in this match had fallen before even getting started, and no one could stop him from winning the championship anymore.
Lu Li could only say that Rayne’s death was well-timed.
It was rumored that the Wang Family was behind Rayne’s death. Lu Li glanced at his opponent for the next round.
Yes, he wasn’t mistaken; it was that Miss Wang.
Her strength wasn’t particularly high, certainly not comparable to Long Ying.
Moreover, Lu Li had no good feelings towards families who colluded with foreign powers, so he decided not to hold back in the next match.
After eating lunch, Lu Li began the next round of matches.
Without any surprises, Tropius thoroughly outclassed a Pokémon at the Normal Level Late Stage. Miss Wang had clearly entered the competition with a mission and had no desire to win the championship.
She wasn’t sad about losing at all; instead, she even tried to recruit him.
Lu Li refused without a second thought.
Upon returning to his residence, Lu Li released Tropius.
“The finals are next,” Lu Li announced.
“Tra~”
Tropius made a gesture as if grasping something firmly.
Tropius was full of confidence, and Lu Li was very satisfied.
After a bit of playful interaction, Lu Li suddenly said with emotion, “You know, I suddenly miss Charmander a bit.”
Although Charmander liked to set fires, it was indeed a fun dragon. With it around, life would have a different kind of color.
As night fell, he didn’t enter cultivation. He was waiting for a call.
Soon after, Ekaterina called.
The content was probably just congratulations and encouragement.
Then came Yao Yifei, Yu Lili, and others…
The next morning.
The much-anticipated College Entrance Examination Grand Finals horn sounded with the first ray of dawn, and Zhongdu seemed to instantly hit the “carnival” button.
The last time this city was this lively was during the Heavenly King selection matches.
Spectators swarmed in from all directions, pouring into the Pokémon Center like a tide. The audience seats were packed, colorful, like a giant, moving rainbow.
People wore various outfits, some dressed as their favorite Pokémon, others wearing exaggerated headwear, their faces painted with colorful pigments, excitedly waving their arms and shouting the names of their favored contestants.
“Tropius! The green overlord of the sky!” A group of children, wearing decorative wings resembling large leaves on their backs and holding homemade green vine props, jumped with excitement.
Their screams echoed through the crowd, as if they were participating in a unique “screaming competition.”
Next to the elementary school children, a group of young girls wore gorgeous green plant-themed outfits. Their skirts flew with their movements, like green waves.
They held green glow sticks, waving them to the rhythm and singing songs to cheer for Tropius. The melody was exceptionally pleasant amidst the din.
Even Lu Li, who disliked crowds, felt a sense of losing himself in the waves of cheers.
“Tropius, it seems you have quite a lot of fans,” Lu Li praised softly to Tropius inside the Poké Ball.
“If only I could participate on stage,” Milotic listened enviously to the cheers from the audience seats.
It loved the feeling of enjoying the adoration of the crowd under the spotlight, but unfortunately, all of this belonged to Tropius and its trainer.
Lu Li comforted it, “Don’t worry, Milotic. The audience at a Contest is even more enthusiastic than these spectators. You might find it too much then.”
“Na~”
（ I’m going to train extra hard when we get back! I’ll become the most beautiful and magnificent Pokémon in the world! Then I’ll enjoy this feeling of being in the spotlight.）
Listening to Milotic’s “grand ambition,” Lu Li promised, “That day will surely come, and it won’t be far.”
Lu Li’s opponent was a boy who looked a bit chubby, but he wasn’t just fat; he was strong.
“My name is Peng Kaka. Please guide me,” the chubby boy greeted politely.
“Don’t worry, I’ll give it my all,” Lu Li promised with a smile.
Lu Li dared not take this chubby boy lightly. As a scion of a noble family, Peng Kaka wasn’t very famous, but he had reached this point through absolutely no luck.
After all, the Peng Family was the Normal Type family among the Eighteen Great Attribute Families.
The Normal Type was quite ordinary among the eighteen attributes, not even drawing much attention. The Peng Family was the same.
The world knew the prestige of the Eighteen Great Attribute Families, and most people subconsciously overlooked the Peng Family. Firstly, the Peng family members were all very low-key, and secondly, the Peng family had always been understated, with most people never having heard of any achievements or merits from them.
As the nearby referee announced the start of the match, Peng Kaka released his Pokémon.
Peng Kaka’s starter Pokémon was a Snorlax. There weren’t many powerful Pokémon in the Normal Type, and Snorlax was considered a representative Pokémon of the Normal Type.
Lu Li also released Tropius.
In the audience seats, Miss Wang asked, “Who do you think will be the champion?”
Hearing this, Long Ying immediately replied without thinking, “Lu Li!”
“What else? Peng Kaka’s Snorlax has the strength of a Veteran Level Late Stage,” Miss Wang retorted.
Long Ying confidently stated, “Since the big guy could defeat me, how could he be a match for a mere Peng Kaka?”
“That’s not necessarily true. As far as I know, Peng Kaka’s Snorlax has mastered Gigantamax,” Miss Wang said meaningfully.
“What?”
Upon hearing this, Long Ying looked at Peng Kaka on the battlefield in disbelief.
