"Bzzt!"
The pitch-black wings on Beedrill's back began to vibrate at an incredible speed, faint arcs of electricity flickering along the delicate veins.
Whoosh!
Its twin stingers glowed a sharp emerald as it shot forward, meeting Primeape's charge head-on.
Actually—
Under normal circumstances, the smarter move against a raging Primeape was to stall for time.
In the wild, a Primeape's fury wouldn't fade until it defeated its foe.
But here, in an organized match, no trainer would risk letting their Primeape stay enraged too long—prolonged fury could stunt its growth or worse, cause injury.
If the battle dragged on, Wu Hao would have no choice but to forfeit.
However—
While that strategy made sense on paper, it didn't fit this situation.
Beedrill simply outclassed Primeape by a full tier.
If Su Qingxue still chose to stall instead of finishing cleanly, she'd draw ridicule from the crowd—and worse, insult Beedrill's pride.
So under these circumstances, a direct clash was the best answer.
Boom! Crack!
The instant their attacks met, the battlefield erupted.
Fueled by rage, Primeape's fists blurred into afterimages. Every punch sliced through the air with a violent rush of wind.
But—
Beedrill matched her strike for strike.
Its twin stingers flashed like lightning, calmly parrying every hit with surgical precision.
Having been raised in Lightning Valley, Beedrill's reflexes were unnaturally sharp—its body honed by countless battles under raging thunderstorms.
Even if they'd been of equal strength, Primeape wouldn't have stood a chance in close combat.
A full minute passed.
The two Pokémon had traded seventy, maybe eighty blows.
Primeape's breathing grew ragged; her footwork faltered for just a moment—
And in that brief instant, Su Qingxue's and Beedrill's eyes sharpened in perfect sync.
"Now!"
"Beedrill, [X-Scissor]!"
"Bzzt!"
Beedrill pulled its stingers inward, crossing them before its chest.
A surge of crimson Bug-type energy burst forth, forming a cross-shaped slash that tore through the air toward Primeape.
Already exhausted and off-balance, Primeape had no strength left to block.
Boom!
The impact landed squarely—sending Primeape flying backward as a cloud of dust exploded across the field.
"Primeape!"
Wu Hao's voice cracked as he peered through the haze.
When the smoke cleared, Primeape lay flat on the ground, eyes spiraled, groaning weakly.
"Primeape has lost the ability to battle! The winner is Beedrill!"
"Victory goes to Su Qingxue!"
The referee's flag swung high as the crowd erupted.
"So fast! As expected of the Bug Master's grand-disciple—her speed's unreal!"
"Wait—did anyone else see electricity coming from Beedrill's wings?"
"Oh! You saw it too? I thought I was imagining things!"
"Man, watching Su Qingxue's Beedrill makes me want to raise one myself…"
The spectators buzzed with excitement, voices overlapping as they debated what they'd just witnessed.
Once again, Su Qingxue's Beedrill had reminded everyone why the species' potential could reach such terrifying heights.
"Your Primeape's strong," Su Qingxue said, recalling Beedrill to its Poké Ball.
"If she were Ace-tier like Beedrill, this might've been a much closer fight."
Her tone was calm—gracious even, as expected of a victor.
Wu Hao had already accepted the loss, though he was still stunned.
Primeape had gone toe-to-toe with Ace Pokémon before and held out for ten minutes.
Yet against Su Qingxue's Beedrill, she hadn't even lasted half that long.
No wonder they called her the Bug Master's heir.
Returning his fainted partner, Wu Hao offered a polite nod.
"Thanks. Once Primeape reaches Ace-tier, I'll challenge you again."
They exchanged a few courteous words before Wu Hao hurried off toward the infirmary.
Contestants only had thirty minutes between rounds to heal their Pokémon, and with Primeape as his ace, he couldn't waste a second.
Su Qingxue, on the other hand, didn't even bother heading there.
Beedrill's battle had barely cost her any stamina—a few Pokéblock would be more than enough.
Not long after Su Qingxue's win, Hu Yan'er returned from her own match in triumph.
Her Pikachu—now fully Ace-tier—had learned to channel the Light Ball's energy with precision.
Against her opponent's Water-type Dewgong, a single Thunderbolt had sealed the deal.
As for He Yongsen—his fight was tougher.
Since he couldn't use Arcanine, he'd relied on his veteran-tier Wartortle instead.
It made the match a bit more demanding—but only slightly.
With years of experience as a Pokémon firefighter, He Yongsen's battle instincts far outstripped those of ordinary freshmen.
He wrapped up his match barely six or seven minutes later than Su Qingxue and Hu Yan'er.
From then on, the three of them—Su Qingxue, Hu Yan'er, and He Yongsen—cruised through the rounds, racking up ten straight victories apiece.
Each easily secured first place in their respective groups and advanced to the Top 32.
Their dominance was so clear that the audience had already begun speculating who would take the crown.
Because anyone with sense could see it—the champion would come from one of those three.
The rest?
They were just there to make up the numbers.
Of course.
Even without the championship title, rankings in the Freshman Tournament still held huge appeal for every participating student.
The higher the ranking—the greater the rewards from the school, and the more academic credits they'd earn.
For students with real strength, this was a perfect opportunity to solidify their foundation.
Especially for those from poorer families who couldn't afford expensive training resources—this was a rare chance to ease that burden.
Naturally, they fought with everything they had, determined to place well.
But with over a thousand students competing this year—
When the first day finally ended, aside from clear standouts like Su Qingxue,
many contestants were tied in points.
It took four full days before the list of the top thirty-two was confirmed.
Once the lineup was finalized, the school granted everyone two days of rest—both to let the finalists recover and to give their Pokémon time to adjust.
They wanted the next matches to be the best the audience had ever seen.
When the Round of 32 arrived, the atmosphere reached its peak.
Even the school leaders appeared in person at the arena.
After all—barring any surprises, these thirty-two students would become the future pride of Shanghai Pokémon University.
And among them, Su Qingxue, Hu Yan'er, and He Yongsen drew the most attention of all.
They couldn't help it—their teacher was Guo Yi.
Soon after the principal's long, predictable opening speech, the Round of 32 officially began.
Thirty-two contestants, sixteen matches in total.
The first few matches didn't feature any of Guo Yi's disciples.
Then, during the fifth round—it was finally Hu Yan'er's turn.
"Hu Yan'er and Student Ishimori, please proceed to Field Six for your match."
"Hu Yan'er and Student Ishimori, please proceed to Field Six for your match."
Urged on by the gym's broadcast, Hu Yan'er waved to Su Qingxue and made her way toward Field Six.
By the time she arrived, her opponent, Ishimori, was already waiting.
However—the moment she saw him, Hu Yan'er couldn't help but frown slightly.
Ishimori wore a yellow miner's helmet, a small lamp dangling from his chest, and his canvas shirt and shorts were dusted with gray dirt.
Anyone who didn't know better would've thought he'd wandered in from an actual mine.
Noticing her curious look, Ishimori scratched his cheek in embarrassment.
"Ah—sorry! I just came back from the mine in the school's Secret Realm and didn't have time to change."
For a top-tier Pokémon institution like Shanghai Pokémon University, having its own Pokémon Secret Realms was a given.
In fact, those Secret Realms were precisely what set the school apart from the rest of the country.
Pokémon cultivation depended heavily on resources.
Without a dedicated Secret Realm to draw from, most universities simply couldn't meet their students' needs.
As for why Ishimori had been mining right before the match—the answer was simple: to feed his Pokémon.
Rock- and Ground-type Pokémon weren't easy to care for.
"The next match—Hu Yan'er versus Ishimori. Contestants, please summon your Pokémon!"
At the referee's signal, both trainers threw their Poké Balls.
Since competitors in the Top 32 could use two Pokémon, giving them more flexibility, Hu Yan'er decided not to lead with her Pikachu.
Instead, she sent out her newly captured Chimchar.
[Chimchar (Fire-type)]
[Gender: ♂]
[Level: Lv20 (Qualified-tier)]
[Ability: Blaze]
[Moves: Flame Wheel, Fury Swipes, Ember]
[Tutored Moves: Swords Dance, Brick Break, Flamethrower]
[Egg Move: Fake Out]
[Held Item: Charcoal (Elite Four-tier)]
[Potential: Champion-tier]
At the moment, Chimchar was only a step away from breaking through to Excellent-tier.
Hu Yan'er hoped this battle might help push it past that threshold.
Across from her, Ishimori sent out a Lv29 Rhyhorn—a Rock- and Ground-type with a full nine-level advantage.
The matchup looked brutal on paper.
For Chimchar, this was going to be one seriously uphill fight.