"Ready!"
Both trainers and their Pokémon had taken their positions on the small practice court inside the training room. Both spoke at the same time, looking toward Su Tingxi.
"Go!"
"Hyah!"
Su Tingxi brought the iron bar down through the air like a flag.
The bar fell — the battle began!
"Farfetch'd, Quick Attack!"
"Ralts, Fire Punch — stand by!"
The moment the battle started, Ralts underwent a complete transformation.
Gone was the swaggering arrogance it had been projecting five minutes ago. In its place: careful, precise focus.
Ralts's right fist ignited with flame. Both eyes locked hard on Farfetch'd as it became a streak of white light racing straight toward it.
*Thud!*
The two Pokémon closed distance fast.
Farfetch'd swung its leek in a wide sweep aimed right at Ralts.
Ralts held its ground without flinching, throwing a Fire Punch directly into the leek.
The gap in raw strength was real. Ralts had blocked — but the leek still sent it tumbling.
"Ralts!"
Sui Yan's voice was taut. But Ralts simply rolled across the ground and got right back up.
And unless Lu Ze was imagining things, he could swear Ralts was... smiling?
"Yan?"
*Mocking me?*
Lu Ze wasn't imagining it. Farfetch'd had caught the smirk curling at the corner of Ralts's mouth too.
"Quick Attack's the problem — Farfetch'd is just too fast with it."
Watching Ralts stand back up, Sui Yan let out a breath and began thinking through his options.
"Ralts, Growl!"
Whatever the plan, shaving off Farfetch'd's Attack first was always a safe opening.
"Farfetch'd, Quick Attack!"
Once something works, keep using it.
Another Quick Attack. Farfetch'd charged straight into Ralts's Growl and closed the distance in an instant.
The Attack drop was real — but not enough to matter much.
"Night Slash!"
"Shhhk!"
The leek leveled and drove straight for Ralts.
"Knock Aside!"
*Crack!*
In Farfetch'd's utterly disbelieving eyes — Ralts had smacked the leek clean off course.
"Fire Punch!"
Sui Yan lit up the moment his move connected. With Farfetch'd's attack deflected, he pushed the advantage immediately.
Ralts moved fast. The right fist blazed back to life and swung hard toward Farfetch'd.
*You think I'm just going to stand here and take that?*
Not a chance.
"Farfetch'd — Counter!"
Fine. Farfetch'd would take it, just this once.
Farfetch'd's eyes set with iron resolve. White light rippled across its body as it locked into a defensive stance.
By the time Sui Yan registered what was happening, it was already too late — Fire Punch had already landed.
And then, in Ralts's wide-eyed horror, a leek filled its entire field of vision — growing rapidly.
*Crack!*
The sweeping leek, carrying the doubled force of Counter, sent Ralts airborne a second time.
This time, Ralts didn't get back up.
Newborn Pokémon stamina only goes so far. Ralts had already taken one solid hit. By the time it threw its second Fire Punch, it had already been showing signs of fatigue. Counter's doubled damage on top of that was simply too much — it went down.
*[Note: Psychic and Fairy types each resist Fighting by 2×, giving 4× total resistance. But Counter's damage is fixed — it deals exactly double the physical damage received, with no modification from type advantages or resistances in either direction. The only exception is Ghost-types, which Counter cannot target. Farfetch'd's ability is Scrappy, however, so Ghost-types are no exception for it.]*
"Beautiful — worthy of my master!"
Before Su Tingxi could even announce the result, Wang Quan burst into applause from the sidelines.
"Ralts is unable to battle — Farfetch'd wins!"
"Get Ralts to the treatment room, quickly."
Su Tingxi called the match, then immediately turned to Sui Yan.
"Yeah."
Sui Yan nodded, stepped forward, scooped Ralts up, and jogged out.
Farfetch'd, meanwhile, shouldered its leek and marched back toward Lu Ze at a measured, regal pace.
"Nice work."
Lu Ze gave Farfetch'd a thumbs-up, then looked over at Wang Quan and Yuyou standing at the edge of the court.
"When did you two get here? I didn't even notice."
Wang Quan waved a hand, eyes already fixed on Farfetch'd with open curiosity. "Just a few minutes ago. Your Farfetch'd has some serious stamina — is it really born today?"
"Would I lie to you?"
Wang Quan gave a slow nod. "Fair point."
"Honestly, my Shellos probably doesn't stand much of a chance against your Farfetch'd. How about this — want to pit it against my Jirachi instead?"
*[The author renamed Jirachi in the Chinese localization — and honestly, the old name looked better.]*
Lu Ze caught Wang Quan's raised eyebrow and returned one of his own. "Sure. But let Farfetch'd rest first — how about I use Huhu?"
"Qu chii!"
Before Wang Quan could even respond, Huhu had already turned and was staring at Lu Ze in undisguised alarm.
"Huhu — what do you think? Feeling confident?"
"Qu chii!"
*No!*
Lu Ze nodded sagely, then gave Huhu a pat on the shell. "Great — glad to hear it."
He looked back at Wang Quan. "Well? You in?"
Wang Quan rubbed his chin, eyeing the increasingly distressed Huhu. "I'm game. Though your Huhu doesn't exactly look enthusiastic."
"It's fine — go ahead."
"All right."
They were already deep enough into the exchange that backing out would be awkward. Wang Quan nodded and headed over to where Sui Yan had been standing.
"Come on, Huhu — win this, and I'll throw in extra food tonight!"
"Qu chii…"
Huhu was on the verge of tears. She didn't need extra food. Could she please just not have to do this.
Unfortunately, Lu Ze had absolutely no idea what was running through Huhu's mind.
Su Tingxi resumed his spot as referee.
"Both sides, release your Pokémon!"
Wang Quan grabbed a Poké Ball and sent it sailing through the air. "Go — Jirachi!"
*[System display:*
*Pokémon: Jirachi*
*Gender: Male*
*Type: Psychic*
*Ability: Magic Guard (…)*
*Quality: Red*
*Base Moves: Teleport, Confusion, Spoon Bend, Disable, Phantom Ray, Reflect, Court Change, Psycho Cut, Swift, Tri Attack, Energy Ball*
*Egg Moves: Confusion, Psycho Shift, Psychic Terrain, Ice Punch]*
After reading through Jirachi's panel, Lu Ze looked down to find Huhu hadn't made it very far from his feet — she was inching toward the court at the pace of a very reluctant Pokémon.
Lu Ze smiled and crouched down beside her without any rush. "Come on. Win this, and I'll give you a Berry you've never tried before."
A Berry?
Huhu's head shot up.
"Trust me — one you've genuinely never had."
That was all it took. Huhu perked up in an instant and began making her way onto the court with a new briskness — chest out, head up.
The reason was simple. Over these past weeks at Lu Ze's place, whether he was making Energy Cubes or pressing Berry juice for fermentation, he always needed Berries in large quantities. The list of Berries Huhu *hadn't* tasted was getting short — so the promise of a genuinely new one was more than enough to light a fire under her.
"Hyah!"
The moment Huhu stepped onto the court, Su Tingxi brought the bar snapping down.
Battle start!
*(End of chapter)*