Chapter 216: School Team Practical Assessment
In the Alliance, there is a league for university students. As a result, almost every university has a school team, composed of the most elite students.
For an average university, the team members might only be at the Advanced-rank, with maybe one or two at the Pro-level.
But Centralis University was different. As one of the top institutions in the country, even the reserve members of the Centralis team were, at a minimum, Pro-level trainers.
The main roster was often filled with the best of the best at the Pro-level, with some even possessing peak combat power comparable to a Gym Leader.
Unfortunately, the intensity of the university league was still a bit too low. The only real rivals for the Centralis University team were a handful of other schools in the entire nation.
Therefore, to maintain their peak condition and strive for greater improvement, the members of the Centralis team usually also participated in the Alliance Professional League.
The Pro League only had restrictions on strength, not age, and the intensity of its battles was far higher than the university league.
However, as it was the start of the school season, most of the Centralis team members had returned to campus.
On one hand, the school had training assignments, especially for team battles. Players needed to practice coordinating with each other, or their skills would get rusty and their combat effectiveness would drop.
On the other hand, it was to check out the new students and see if there was anyone worth investing in.
Although the agreed-upon time was 8:00 AM, Basalt set out at 7:20. He first went to the cafeteria for breakfast and arrived at the team training hall at 7:50, a solid ten minutes early.
"Facial recognition to enter?"
Basalt arrived at the entrance, but the main door required a face scan.
However, when Basalt's face entered the scanning range, the recognition was successful, and the electronic lock clicked open.
"Hm? They already entered my data? That's pretty thoughtful."
Basalt raised an eyebrow and pushed the door open, entering the hall.
Inside the hall, a few people were already scattered around, training. There were also several wide-eyed newbies just like Basalt, looking at everything with curiosity.
The beautiful Sylvie was, unsurprisingly, among them.
"Morning," Basalt said as a greeting.
Sylvie responded with a sweet smile.
Seeing this, a buzz-cut boy not far away had a look of envy in his eyes. At the same time, Basalt felt a faint, challenging aura from him.
After waiting quietly for a few minutes, Bella Bai appeared at 8:00 AM sharp. She was followed by five or six students who looked slightly older than Basalt, all of them sizing up the new recruits with smiles.
"Seven, eight, nine, ten. Good, looks like no one is late."
Bella counted the newcomers. There were exactly ten, the size of a full team—five main and five substitutes.
"Hello, everyone. I'm Bella Bai, the one who contacted you yesterday. I'm also the captain of this year's Centralis University team."
Bella gave a simple self-introduction, then scanned the group. "The ten of you are all special-intake students. You all have great potential, and you are all members of the school team's reserve."
"But I must remind you: 'team reserve' doesn't mean you'll automatically be on the team when you're seniors. It just means you have the potential to become a team member. Whether you can actually make it will depend on your hard work and performance from here on out."
"Alright, I'll cut the chatter. Let's have you show me your strength, so I can get a good measure of you."
Bella had long hair and was wearing sneakers, but she was all business. "The rules are 2v2. There are exactly ten of you, so you can pair up freely or pick any opponent you want. First come, first served. The person challenged cannot refuse. Who wants to go first?"
"I'll go first!"
The first to raise his hand was, predictably, the buzz-cut boy who had been eyeing Sylvie.
Bella checked the files in her binder, compared the photo to the person, and nodded. "Shane, is it? Who do you want to battle?"
Hearing this, the buzz-cut boy, Shane, was the first to step onto the battlefield. He raised his hand and, in a cocky gesture, swept his finger across the entire group.
Finally, his finger stopped, pointing directly at Basalt.
Shane smiled. "Basalt, you're the Rookie King of Centralis Province. You've got the biggest reputation of all the freshmen. My ears are bleeding from hearing about you. It just so happens that I only want to fight the strong. I might not be able to beat you, but I'm still choosing you!"
Basalt was baffled. It all felt so sudden.
But since the guy had called him out by name, Basalt couldn't refuse. He shrugged and walked onto the field with a helpless look.
"Very good. The first match will be Shane versus Basalt. Will both competitors please get ready!"
Bella nodded, and a professional referee stepped forward to officiate.
"Whoa, the first match is already this intense? This year's rookies are really fired up!"
As Shane and Basalt took their positions, the older team members began to whisper among themselves.
"Who do you guys think will win?"
"Hard to say. Basalt is the Centralis Rookie King; his strength is undeniable. I've seen the battle videos of that Excadrill. Its attack power is insane, and its speed is just monstrous. A very tough opponent. But in terms of... resources... Shane might be stronger. It's a 2v2, so it's really hard to say."
"Hm? Shane's resources are stronger? What's his background?" one of them asked, confused.
"You didn't read the file? His Pokémon are listed in the binder. You'll get it once you see."
"Gasp... This guy even has that Pokémon?"
The person quickly flipped through the files. When he saw the entry for Shane's starter, he sucked in a sharp breath.
The way he looked at Shane was suddenly very different.
"Alright, quiet down. The match is about to begin," Bella said at just the right time, and everyone immediately shut up. As the team captain, Bella had a lot of authority.
On the battlefield, Basalt and Shane released their first Pokémon.
Shane's Pokémon was a bipedal creature with a rough, angular body covered in spikes. Its head was red, it had two wings, a segmented abdomen, and relatively long, powerful arms. It looked fierce and tough to beat.
"It's a Druddigon!" Someone recognized the Dragon-type Pokémon, Druddigon.
While Druddigon was sometimes called "the shame of Dragon-types," it was actually very powerful, aside from not being able to fly. A strong Pokémon, for sure.
But the awe for Druddigon only lasted a second. The moment Basalt released Bronzong, everyone's attention was instantly captured by its sheer size.
"What the hell is that? That Bronzong's size... isn't that a bit ridiculous?"
"Seriously! A Bronzong that's over two meters tall? That's unheard of!"
"And look at the sheen on its body. You can tell its defense is incredible. With that size and weight... could it be a physical attacker build?"
"Very likely!"
...
When he saw Bronzong, Shane was a bit disappointed.
He had sent Druddigon out first specifically to counter Excadrill.
The skin on Druddigon's red face is harder than rock. It lives in narrow tunnels dug by Excadrill or Onix, charges at enemies face-first, and uses its sharp claws to capture prey.
In theory, Excadrill was one of Druddigon's prey items, so there might even be an instinctive advantage.
But with Excadrill not coming out first, Druddigon couldn't be used as intended.
But this is fine, too, Shane thought. Excadrill is famous. Beating it in the second, more critical round will have an even greater impact. ...Of course, that's assuming I can beat it.
"Both trainers, take your positions! Battle, begin!"
With the referee's command, the fight was officially underway.
"Druddigon, Flamethrower!" Shane launched the first attack.
"GROOAR!"
With a roar, Druddigon spread its blue wings and arms slightly, and an incredibly thick stream of fire erupted from its mouth, its power intimidating.
"Hm? This Druddigon seems to have been specially trained in Fire-type moves. For a non-Fire-type to use a Flamethrower that powerful is quite impressive."
"No kidding. None of the special-intake students are going to be slouches."
"Bronzong will have to defend, right? With that much power, if it hits, Bronzong will be half-dead, especially since it's super effective! It can't be careless."
One of the team members, unable to hold back, was already predicting the next moves.
But unexpectedly, Basalt didn't defend.
And the command he gave left the team members completely baffled. They had no idea what he was thinking.
"Gravity!"
Basalt's lips curled up as he let the Flamethrower smash into Bronzong.
"What's going on? Gravity? Why would he use Gravity at a time like this?"
"A misplay?"
It wasn't just the crowd; even Bella Bai couldn't understand Basalt's move.
BOOM!
The flames struck Bronzong, knocking it back several meters.
At the same time, an incredibly intense gravity descended upon Druddigon, making it feel as if a mountain had been dropped on its back.
"GROOAR!" Druddigon roared, its eyes cold.
The amplified gravity was strong, but its body was also tough. It wasn't difficult for it to tense all its muscles and endure the weight.
"Nice job, Druddigon!" Shane was overjoyed.
The opponent had just taken a full-power Flamethrower; its stamina had to be almost gone. Meanwhile, his side had tanked the Gravity. The advantage was clear!
But in the next second, Shane's smile froze.
Druddigon, which had been tensing its body to resist the gravity, was suddenly launched into the air. It was as if it had bounced, jumping involuntarily three feet high.
"Awooo?"
Druddigon had no idea what happened, but it felt the crushing burden on its body completely disappear.
Not only that, it felt light as a feather, as if it had just had a deep-tissue massage.
But as a Pokémon that couldn't fly, being so high in the air felt instinctively wrong.
In mid-air, it had no leverage, no control.
And at that exact moment, Basalt's voice rang out again: "Bronzong, Heavy Slam!"
"BROONZ!"
With a deep chime, Bronzong's body glowed with a metallic sheen as it slammed mercilessly into the airborne, defenseless Druddigon.
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