"Wave Guiding Aura…"
High above the ground, through layers of thick clouds,
Ye Rong and his father each rode a Dragonite, watching the battle unfold below.
"See, old man? This kid's a Wave Guiding Aura wielder!"
"And get this — not long ago in the Eon Islands, his aura was way weaker than this. To improve that much in such a short time? His talent is one of a kind." Ye Rong sighed in amazement.
Beside him hovered a Dragonite far larger and more imposing than his own.
Ye's father, sitting on its back, flicked Ye Rong's head hard twice, clearly annoyed.
"Watch your tongue — who are you calling 'old man'?"
His daughter meant everything to him.
People only truly cherish what they've lost.
All these years Ye Qingxue had been living apart from the family had weighed heavily on him.
"Not bad… a Wave Guiding Aura user. Impressive, but that alone won't be enough."
He shot his grinning son a look of bitter disappointment.
"Stop worrying about your sister. You're already 28, pushing 30, almost 40! When will you finally find a girlfriend?"
Ye Rong: "???"
Me? Almost 40?
When it came to winning girls over, though… he was completely hopeless.
He'd even managed to ask a girl out on a date, but still made zero progress.
According to Gengar, this kid down below had shown up in the capital with another pretty girl by his side?
How was he so popular with girls?
Maybe he should go ask him for dating advice…
In the square.
Crowds murmured excitedly as Rotom replayed the match.
"That was incredible! This Larvitar's perception is insane — it locked onto Charmeleon perfectly even through Smokescreen!"
"Not only that, the Trainer trusts his Pokémon completely! He let Larvitar calmly weaken Charmeleon with Screech while the smoke was still up!"
"Awesome strategy!"
Lin Yu praised Larvitar as his rank jumped to 198th.
The qualifier had nearly 3,000 contestants in total.
Winning just one battle put him at 198 — meaning plenty of others had already fought their first match.
"Buddy, up for a second round?"
Someone challenged Lin Yu immediately.
"My Pokémon is a Blastoise, Water-type… you gonna use Larvitar again?"
Lin Yu rolled his eyes. "Do I look like an idiot?"
"Lucario!"
Against Blastoise, Lucario was the obvious pick!
The first day of the qualifiers was always the most chaotic.
Everyone fought fiercely for ranking, with first place switching hands every single second.
After a full day of high-intensity battles,
Lucario and Larvitar both gained massive experience — especially Larvitar.
It had been eating nonstop, so its energy control was still unstable.
It desperately needed constant battles to stabilize its power,
which would serve it extremely well when it evolved into Tyranitar.
The energy burned in battle only made Larvitar hungrier,
especially right on the cusp of evolution.
Right now, it was back to stuffing its face like a little food fiend.
Meanwhile, Lin Yu thought about the tournament rewards.
As the most prestigious event for young Trainers,
one of the top competitions nationwide,
the prizes were extraordinary.
The most valuable reward was a pseudo‑legendary Pokémon —
and the winner could choose any pseudo‑legendary from the Pokémon League.
Meaning they could pick one that perfectly complemented their team.
The League would even cover all basic resources for it until it reached its final evolution!
That added up to tens of millions in resources.
No wonder young Trainers across China were so passionate about the National High School Tournament.
Even just passing the qualifiers earned over a million in breeding funds or equivalent resources!
"Garchomp, Metagross, Dragonite… so hard to choose…"
Lin Yu swiped through their profiles in the Pokédex, deep in thought.
Garchomp was a pure physical attacker with great speed and stamina.
Good old Dragonite excelled in physical attack and was well‑rounded overall.
Metagross shined in both physical attack and defense.
All three were incredibly cool.
"Meh, I'll figure it out once I win first place!"
Lin Yu was still confident he could take the top spot.
If push came to shove,
he wouldn't mind showing the whole country the power of Mega Evolution.
"Guess I should write that paper on Mega Evolution soon…"
"I wonder what Teacher will think when she reads it…"
Mega Evolution boosted a Pokémon's strength by an enormous margin!
At dusk, in another district of the capital.
A Meganium panted heavily, staring at the Arcanine in front of it. The red petal-like scarf around its neck was singed and blackened.
Arcanine, by contrast, stood tall and fierce,
its fur flowing majestically —
though its eyes lacked a certain spark of spirit.
"Arcanine, Extreme Speed followed by Bite!"
"Woof!"
Arcanine's speed surged instantly. Before Meganium could react, its teeth glinted as it clamped down on Meganium's neck.
Meganium let out a pained cry and collapsed to the ground.
Rotom moved to check if it could still battle.
Qing Fei gave another cold command.
"Flamethrower!"
Raging flames blasted point-blank into Meganium's face,
scorching its skin bright red.
Rotom jolted in alarm and quickly announced the result.
"Meganium!"
Meganium's Trainer, a girl, teared up at the sight of her injured Pokémon.
She shot Qing Fei a hateful glare, recalled Meganium, and sprinted toward the nearest Pokémon Center.
"Heh, useless trash."
Qing Fei scoffed dismissively.
He was just like always —
he saw Pokémon only as tools for gaining power.
If they were weak, tears meant nothing.
"Return, Arcanine."
Only after Qing Fei left did the crowd start whispering.
"Who is that guy? A Gym-peak Meganium didn't stand a chance against his Arcanine!"
"But that was brutal! He used Flamethrower even after Meganium couldn't battle anymore!"
"That must be Qing Fei, the Guangdong champion, right? I heard he fights viciously — he nearly broke a Cloyster's claw in a previous match…"