When Su Wen volunteered to take on the challenge, everyone was surprised.

  Over the past two months, Su Wen had shown impressive strength, but he was also notoriously id-back. Unless someone challenged him directly, he never initiated battles.

  In Css 2 alone, most students had sparred with Su Wen under the guise of practice.

  Su Wen never hid his strength, and every challenger ended up defeated by Charmander’s cws. As a result, Su Wen held considerable prestige among his peers.

  Today, however, Su Wen’s fighting spirit was unprecedented. The st time Wu Yan had seen Su Wen like this was during their own battle.

  "Su Wen, do you know that Japanese student?" Ni Xuanya asked hesitantly.

  Su Wen grinned but didn’t answer. Some feelings were hard for others to understand.

  In this world, Xia Kingdom hadn’t suffered the same fate as his previous life’s China, where neighboring countries had occupied much of its nd and nearly erased its history. Here, they had managed to keep their enemies at bay even during their darkest times, so they didn’t share Su Wen’s deep-seated resentment toward Japan.

  But Su Wen was different. Even after reincarnating, some things were etched into his soul and couldn’t be forgotten.

  Wu Yan didn’t understand why Su Wen was so eager, but it was clearly a good thing. He patted Su Wen’s shoulder encouragingly. "Alright, Haixu High has five students, so we’ll also pick five. When the Japanese transfer student steps up, he’s yours."

  Su Wen nodded and sat back down, closing his eyes to rest. Meanwhile, Wu Yan considered who to choose for the other four spots.

  "Ni Xuanya, Chen You, Zhou Wan, and Qiu Kun, you four will join Su Wen. Don’t hold back," Wu Yan decided.

  Wang Momomo wanted to participate too, but her objections were overruled, leaving her to sulk in the audience.

  Haixu High’s first contestant was a boy with a Bergmite.

  Bergmite resembled an irregur block of ice, with sharp edges and purple-and-yellow eyes. It could freeze enemies with air chilled to -100°C.

  Its icy armor protected it, and even if broken, it could quickly reform. Bergmite lived in frigid regions, often gathering on snow-covered mountains or floating ice.

  Its evolution, Avalugg, resembled an icy turtle, with amber eyes and a body made of ice. Its ft upper body had three cracks, and its belly was covered in icicles. Its cylindrical legs ended in sharp cws.

  Both Bergmite and Avalugg had exceptional physical defense. Normally, Su Wen’s Charmander would be the best counter, but with limited information, Wu Yan had to send Ni Xuanya.

  Unfortunately, Ni Xuanya’s Nidoran♀ couldn’t break through Bergmite’s defenses, resulting in a loss for Cloud High.

  Haixu High’s second contestant was a girl with a Shuppet.

  Shuppet had a mask resembling a human skull, with three teeth and two rge eye sockets. Its bck body and single red eye were hidden within the sockets, and it floated rather than walked.

  Shuppet was said to enjoy children’s cries and dislike sunlight, often inhabiting dark, eerie pces.

  It was unexpected for a girl to have a Shuppet, and her opponent was Chen You.

  Ghost-types countered each other, but Shuppet excelled in defense, much like its evolution, Banette. Both were typical support Pokémon.

  Though Shuppet’s moves like ?Disable and ?Confuse Ray harassed Rotom, it ultimately fell to Rotom’s relentless ?Thunder Shock.

  Haixu High’s third contestant was the Japanese transfer student, Kurokawa Shun.

  After a nod to Wu Yan, Su Wen stepped onto the training field.

  "少し興味を持ってくれたらいいな。(I hope you’ll give me some entertainment.)" Kurokawa Shun said with a slight smirk, looking down on Su Wen.

  "What’s he saying?" Chen You asked, but no one around him understood.

  Su Wen, however, understood perfectly. In his past life, he had been fluent in four nguages: Chinese, English, Russian, and Japanese.

  "一生忘れられない試合をします。(I’ll give you a match you’ll never forget.)" Su Wen replied calmly, though his heart seethed like a volcano ready to erupt.

  Kurokawa Shun was taken aback that Su Wen understood him but didn’t care. Haixu High’s intel was far superior to Cloud High’s, and he already knew what Pokémon he was up against. Su Wen, however, was in the dark.

  "行こう、ろうそくの光霊。(Let’s go, Litwick!)"

  Litwick had a purple fme atop its head and a body made of white wax. Its right eye was covered by a yer of wax, leaving only its bright yellow left eye visible.

  Its small smile beneath its protruding upper lip gave it an eerie appearance.

  Litwick and its evolutions were the only Pokémon in the textbooks known to drain life energy, making them inherently vilinous. Pokémon Centers strictly prohibited them from human-poputed areas.

  The audience, whether from Cloud High or Haixu High, instinctively shrank back.

  "Damn, why does Haixu High have all these creepy Pokémon?" Chen You muttered, though he wasn’t specifically targeting Shuppet or Litwick.

  Kurokawa Shun’s Litwick had the ?Fsh Fire ability, which nullified Fire-type moves. Knowing Su Wen’s Charmander was Fire-type, Kurokawa Shun was confident in his advantage.

  He couldn’t wait to see Su Wen’s shocked expression.

  But Su Wen simply released Charmander with calm composure.

  The uppercssmen from Cloud High, however, were nervous.

  "Charmander against Litwick? If that Litwick has ?Fsh Fire, isn’t Charmander doomed?"

  "Probably. Haixu clearly did their homework. Look at how they’re strategically picking their contestants."

  "This is bad. It’s best-of-five. If we lose this one, our margin for error is slim."

  On the stage, Haixu High’s vice principal chuckled at Cloud High’s principal. "Sorry, Principal. Looks like we’re about to take another win."

  The principal merely smiled faintly. "Let’s just watch the match."

  Meanwhile, Chen You and the others watched with rexed interest. They knew Su Wen and Charmander’s strength better than anyone.

  "ジルコニア (Tch~)" Kurokawa Shun clicked his tongue, disappointed that Su Wen didn’t look panicked. He ordered Litwick to use ?Ember.

  Litwick’s control over fire was impressive. It split the fmes into three streams, attacking Charmander from multiple angles.

  The audience grew even more worried for Charmander, some silently hoping it wouldn’t lose too badly.

  If Charmander’s fmes were bright and intense, and Cyndaquil’s were wild and unrestrained, Litwick’s pale green fmes felt eerie and chilling, like a lingering curse.

  Even a rge boulder would slowly corrode under Litwick’s fmes.

  But Charmander wasn’t a rock. At Su Wen’s command, Charmander exhaled three crimson fmes—its own ?Ember.

  The three fmes, like agile firebirds, cshed with Litwick’s fmes. Instead of merging, they canceled each other out like water and fire.

  "Impressive!" someone couldn’t help but excim.

  This single move showed that Charmander’s control over fire was at least on par with Litwick’s.

  The perfect defense not only nullified Litwick’s attack but also left no extra fmes for Litwick to absorb, preventing it from activating ?Fsh Fire.

  But the real shock was yet to come.

  Kurokawa Shun, seeing Charmander’s fwless defense, muttered in disappointment and prepared his next move. With ?Fsh Fire, Litwick still had the advantage against Charmander.

  However, the moment the fmes dissipated, Charmander moved.

  Wreathed in a faint fiery aura, Charmander closed the distance to Litwick in seconds, appearing before it like a streak of fire.

  To the audience, Charmander seemed to have transformed into pure fme.

  This wasn’t some strange skill but a rudimentary application of ?Fre Blitz.

  Even with Su Wen’s Aura assistance, Charmander had barely mastered ?Fre Blitz before the TM broke.

  Using ?Fre Blitz now would be reckless, likely harming Charmander more than its opponent.

  But over the past two months, with Wu Yan’s guidance, Su Wen had broken down ?Fre Blitz into manageable stages, allowing Charmander to use parts of the move effectively.

  This time, Charmander used ?Fre Blitz’s speed for movement, but its real attack was ?Dragon Cw, which glowed like jade.

  The cws sshed through Litwick like a bde through fire. Two sharp swipes—one from the top right, sending Litwick spinning, and another from the left, nearly piercing through Litwick’s body.

  "Drip~ Drip~ Drip~"

  As Litwick colpsed, the entire arena fell silent, save for the ticking of time.

  "Holy crap! Charmander’s amazing!" Chen You was the first to break the silence, shouting in excitement.

  The referee, flustered, raised the red fg. "Litwick is unable to battle. Charmander wins!"

  It wasn’t the referee’s fault. The previous two matches, involving Ni Xuanya and Chen You, had sted over ten minutes each.

  This one? Forty-seven seconds.

  The principal gnced at Haixu High’s vice principal, whose face had turned ashen. "Well, that ended quickly. Should we watch the repy?"

  The vice principal clenched his trembling hands, forcing a smile. "Cloud High truly lives up to its reputation, nurturing such talent."

  On the field, Su Wen shrugged at Kurokawa Shun. "残念ながら、ドラゴンを進化させる前に素晴らしい戦いがあったと思います。(Too bad. I was hoping for a good fight before Charmander evolved.)"

  In other words, Kurokawa Shun was too weak to be a challenge.

  Kurokawa Shun, who had been so composed earlier, staggered back, his pale face turning even whiter.

  As if to prove Su Wen’s point, Charmander’s body began to glow with a radiant light—the precursor to evolution.

  Su Wen had known Charmander was on the verge of evolution, and the battle had pushed it over the edge.

  The entire arena’s attention was drawn to Charmander. Every Pokémon evolution was a celebration of life.

  What a wondrous world, to create such magical creatures as Pokémon.

  The light enveloped Charmander, its form elongating and changing. As the glow faded, Charmander’s evolved form, Charmeleon, stood proudly before everyone.

  Charmeleon resembled Charmander but with a deeper hue and more intense eyes. A horn-like protrusion grew on its head, and its snout became more beak-like. Its limbs and tail were longer, its cws sharper, and its tail fme burned brightly.

  Compared to Charmander, Charmeleon excelled at spewing fmes and could learn more Fire-type moves. It had a strong tail and sharp cws, often using its fming tail to knock opponents down before tearing them apart with its cws.

  Like Charmander, Charmeleon’s move power was tied to its emotional state. When excited, it could unleash bluish-white fmes, and its tail fme would burn fiercely.

  Charmeleon was known for its fiery temper and stubbornness, always seeking battles. In the anime, Ash’s Charmander had become disobedient after evolving into Charmeleon, so Su Wen was a bit nervous.

  But when Charmeleon ran over to Su Wen, asking for a hug, Su Wen knew his Charmander was still the same—just in a new form.