In the next two rounds,
Lin Yu only sent out Ralts. It was practically a case of "one move conquers all".
Hardly any Normal-stage Pokémon could break free from its grip.
Even if they did manage to struggle free,
Ralts simply showed them what true precision control meant.
With just a slight nudge to the opponent's body mid-attack,
it could make their moves miss completely.
If you couldn't land a single hit, how were you supposed to beat Ralts?
After watching these matches, Lin Yu also noted several dangerous opponents.
One of them had a Butterfree that had actually reached Elite stage!
A Level 21 Butterfree. It left many competitors trembling with wariness…
yet utterly helpless.
On the afternoon of the 16th,
the fourth round began.
The top-eight elimination round to decide the final four was a double battle.
This tested not just the strength of the Pokémon,
but the Trainer's ability to command and coordinate.
Among the eight contestants, three were from Third High —
already an outstanding result.
Coach Luo Xing down below could not stop smiling.
The three were Lin Yu, Qing Fei,
and the silver-haired beauty, Xue Nai.
Her Braixen had exquisite control over fire,
and she'd had great luck — most of her opponents were Bug- or Grass-types,
making her matches surprisingly easy.
Besides Third High, Second High had two Trainers,
First High had two,
and the last was from Fourth High.
The other schools…
Sadly, they had no impressive results to speak of.
But in the top-four qualifier,
bad news struck:
Lin Yu was matched against Qing Fei.
"You got lucky so far, but this is where it ends!"
Qing Fei stared at Lin Yu with a hateful expression, spouting arrogant words without hesitation.
In his mind,
Charmander was still just a Charmander,
and Ralts was still Ralts —
neither had even evolved once!
His Grovyle, on the other hand, had already evolved.
More importantly, that Charmander only knew Ember and Fire Punch.
From its fight against Growlithe, Qing Fei was certain:
it stood no chance against Grovyle.
Grovyle's speed was nothing like Growlithe's.
The only problem, he thought, was that Growlithe would slow him down.
Lin Yu's two Pokémon both had decent combat power,
while he only really had Grovyle.
So he had to finish this quickly!
But absence makes the heart grow fonder —
and in this case, made the opponent completely out of date.
The Charmander he'd imagined was the one from days ago.
The moment Lin Yu sent it out,
a brilliant white light burst forth.
Right then and there,
Charmander evolved!
Qing Fei, who'd been brimming with confidence just moments before, froze completely.
The white light faded.
A ferocious, monster-like Charmander…
No — a Charmeleon roared skyward.
The shockwave rippled visibly across the arena.
Normally, Charmeleon stood around 1.2 to 1.3 meters tall.
But Lin Yu's Charmeleon, fresh out of evolution, was already 1.5 meters.
Nearly a full head taller than Grovyle.
Some spectators in the crowd held their own Pokémon,
who shrank into their Trainers' arms, trembling at the roar,
staring in awe at the Charmeleon on stage.
To have such presence right after evolving…
Truly a bright future ahead!
"Yes! Charmeleon!"
Lin Yu's blood boiled.
Evolution had been expected,
but seeing it still left him thrilled.
"Wow! As we can see, in this top-four qualifier,
Lin Yu's Charmander has evolved!"
The commentator clearly hadn't expected such a shocking twist.
Everyone had been debating who would win.
Both Trainers had amazing records so far.
Grovyle's blades and speed were terrifying —
few Pokémon could take two of its slashes.
And while Lin Yu's Ralts was stunning,
flaws were visible:
its Confusion struggled against extreme speed.
A weakness Grovyle was supposed to exploit perfectly.
And even though Charmander had type advantage,
Grovyle was a fully evolved Pokémon.
In the audience's eyes,
the scales of victory had tilted heavily toward Qing Fei.
But…
was seeing really believing?
"Begin!"
At the commentator's shout,
the tense atmosphere on the battlefield erupted.
Lin Yu remained relaxed,
while Qing Fei's face twisted with gravity.
The second the match started, he shouted:
"Growlithe, use Ember! Hold Ralts down, don't let it move!
Grovyle, use Bullet Seed!"
Pokémon: Grovyle
Trait: Overgrow
Gender: Male
Talent: Gym-tier
Level: 18
Moves: Bullet Seed, Leaf Blade, Pound, Slam, Agility, Fury Cutter…
As the evolved form of Treecko, Grovyle's gaze was sharper,
its battle instinct fiercer.
The leaf blades on its arms glinted coldly under the lights.
Dozens of energy-formed seeds shot toward Charmeleon like bullets.
"Charmeleon — show him how strong you are now!
Flamethrower!"
This time, Lin Yu did not plan on holding back.
Raging energy gathered in its mouth.
Before the bullet seeds could cross halfway,
a flamethrower as thick as a barrel engulfed them entirely.
Grovyle, charging right behind the green seeds,
suddenly felt as if Death had clamped its claws around its throat.
If it kept going, using speed to close in with Leaf Blade after the clash…
it would be met with infernal fire.
Long-honed battle instinct kicked in.
It instantly used Agility and dodged sideways.
"Khamo!"
The green seeds collided with the flame and turned to ash in an instant.
A miserable shriek followed.
Even with Grovyle's quick reflexes,
its left side was grazed by the pillar of fire, turning completely charred black.
The once-sharp Leaf Blade now glowed with ember-like red marks.
Even a glancing blow had nearly paralyzed half its body,
one arm hanging limp.
If it had taken the full hit…
"Huff… huff…"
Grovyle panted violently.
This time, when it looked at Charmeleon,
there was no more gravity — only fear.
"Growlithe, what are you doing?!
Can't you aim your fire prope—"
Meanwhile, Growlithe was spitting fire at Ralts,
but only a tiny telekinetic adjustment to its jaw
sent its flames flying wildly off-target.
All thanks to Ralts's precision control over its psychic power.
"Charmeleon, Fire Punch.
Ralts — stop playing around."
In the next instant, Lin Yu gave the order.
Qing Fei clenched his fists so hard his knuckles whitened, his hair standing on end.
"There's no way I'm losing to you!
Grovyle, Leaf Blade!
Growlithe, Fire Fang!"
Lin Yu almost laughed out loud at his commands.