Chapter 184

Meanwhile, in the arena, Su Yu's opponent, Shi Chen, had no such complex thoughts.

In his heart, he felt nothing but shock at Su Yu's Salamence.

After all, the spectators outside the arena were not facing the Salamence directly, so they could not feel its overwhelming pressure.

Only Shi Chen, inside the arena, could truly sense the Salamence's power!

"Damn it! Why is this Salamence so strong!?"

Shi Chen thought in shock as he watched the Salamence in the air.

Nevertheless, for the sake of victory, he steeled his resolve.

"Tauros, use Take Down!"

After the initial fright, Tauros quickly regained its composure.

It planted three hooves on the ground and began scraping its right front hoof against the earth.

"Scrape, scrape!!"

Again and again, Tauros's hoof scraped the ground, emitting a hissing sound.

After building up a little momentum, Tauros immediately broke into a gallop, charging forward.

It lowered its head, aiming its hard, prideful long horns directly at the Salamence.

"Thump!"

After charging for a distance,

Tauros immediately leaped upward with great force.

Its long horns pointed straight at the Salamence.

"Salamence, use Dragon Claw!!"

The Salamence spread its blood-red wings in mid-air.

In an instant, sharp purple Dragon-type energy flared upon its keen claws.

Facing the lunging Tauros,

the Salamence chose to clash head-on!

This was because both Su Yu and the Salamence itself

knew clearly the Salamence's strength!

"Whoosh!"

The Salamence instantly slashed with both claws in mid-air.

In that instant,

two streams of energy crossed, one after the other, striking toward Tauros.

The Salamence's Dragon Claw instantly struck Tauros's gleaming twin horns.

Many had expected this to be an evenly matched contest.

However, the moment the immensely powerful Salamence struck Tauros,

it sent the latter flying directly away.

Its Take Down attack proved as fragile as paper before the Salamence.

"Bang!"

Tauros was immediately knocked flying backward.

It crashed onto the ground.

Witnessing this scene, Shi Chen's eyes widened in shock.

His usually invincible Tauros had actually been knocked away by the Salamence!?

This was simply too unbelievable!

His Tauros had actually been so thoroughly crushed in a close-quarters battle!

Shi Chen shook his head, forcing himself to calm down.

"Tauros, use Horn Drill!"

【Horn Drill: Pierce the opponent with a sharp horn to attack. This attack is guaranteed to hit.】

Tauros climbed up from the ground.

It shook its head, recovering from its dazed state.

Hearing its Trainer's command, it once again began charging and building momentum across the ground.

The pair of long horns on its head became enveloped in Steel-type energy.

Originally rather short, the twin horns immediately extended by nearly a meter under the energy's enhancement!

Tauros charged toward the Salamence once more.

"Salamence, Dragon Rush!"

Flapping its blood-red wings, the Salamence immediately soared into the sky.

In an instant, its entire body became wrapped in energy.

Upon reaching the highest point, the Salamence ignited its energy and dove down instantly.

Its target was none other than Tauros.

During its flight, the energy surrounding its entire body transformed into a fierce dragon head.

As it dove, the dragon head opened its massive jaws and bit down toward Tauros.

"Bang!"

In an instant, the two collided directly.

The twin horns on Tauros's head, now over a meter long,

Before the dragon head formed by Dragon Rush, it was instantly bitten into fragments!

After Dragon Rush destroyed Tauros's long horn,

it opened its massive jaws and bit down on the terrified Tauros.

"Bang!"

In an instant, a tremendous explosion erupted.

Tauros's figure flew out from the center of the blast.

At this moment, his body was already covered in wounds.

When he stood up,

all four of his powerful long legs began to tremble.

Now, the look in Tauros's eyes as he gazed at the opposing Salamence was filled with terror.

He kept retreating backward.

The flinch effect attached to Dragon Rush had activated!

Salamence's imposing presence upon entering the field, combined with the previous attack, had caused this result!

"Tauros! Pull yourself together!!"

Shi Ran desperately tried to encourage Tauros.

However, Tauros simply refused to heed his Trainer's words.

"Dragon Pulse!!"

Facing this scene, Su Yu calmly uttered four words.

Meanwhile, Salamence immediately began gathering energy in its mouth.

In an instant, a Dragon Pulse formed.

Salamence directly attacked the flinching Tauros.

In a flinching state, Tauros could not only not launch an offense, but even mounting a defense was difficult.

"Bang!"

The Dragon Pulse exploded upon Tauros's body.

Once again, it blasted him away.

Counting the previous attacks, Tauros had already been sent flying many times.

Even though his stamina was strong,

under such consecutive assaults, he could only collapse unconscious on the battlefield.

【Salamence defeated Tauros, gaining 5000 experience points!】

A clean and decisive first battle.

Relying on the formidable strength of his Salamence, Su Yu completely crushed Shi Ran.

This scene instantly sent the audience into an uproar.

"I remember Shi Ran wasn't weak in previous battles!? How could Su Yu defeat his first Pokémon so quickly!?"

"It's not that Shi Ran is weak; Su Yu is simply too strong! Once Salamence appears, no one can stop it..."

"Damn, is this Su Yu's Salamence? It's too fierce! In several direct clashes, Shi Ran's Tauros stood no chance!"

"Hiss... With this level of strength, he's very close to Bu Bu Step Miao Zhu and Wang Wang Shizhong!"

The audience discussed the match with great enthusiasm.

Most of them couldn't perceive the actual strength of the Pokémon in the arena, so they could only judge based on the battle itself.

As for the contestants in the player's room, although they were equally shocked by this scene, it was still within their realm of acceptance.

"As expected, Su Yu's Salamence is on par with Garchomp and Metagross."

"I hope I don't encounter him later, otherwise I won't have the slightest chance of winning!"

"Too terrifying! I'm a senior, yet I don't dare to face him at all."

"No wonder Su Yu said during his earlier interview that he aimed for the championship; he indeed seems to have the potential."

Cui Cui Hongzhi, in the player's room, watched Su Yu's Salamence with a mix of admiration and complexity.

Just a few months ago, Su Yu's Salamence was slightly weaker than his Typhlosion.

But now, it had actually grown powerful to this extent!

What a terrifying rate of growth.

Moreover, Cui Cui Hongzhi remembered that Su Yu possessed a Salamencite for Mega Evolution!

If Su Yu's Salamence were to undergo Mega Evolution,

its strength would be beyond even Cui Cui Hongzhi's imagination!

In just a few months, has the gap between us widened this much?

Cui Cui Hongzhi bitter smiled in his heart.

Just as turbulent waves surged in Cui Cui Hongzhi's heart,

a figure walked up beside him and spoke.

"Su Yu truly possesses incredible strength; I'm afraid even I would not be his match."

Cui Cui Hongzhi quickly turned to look.

Standing beside him was none other than a top figure from Tianyun University.

Chen Luo, who could compete evenly with Bu Bu Step Miao Zhu and Wang Wang Shizhong!

"Chen Luo, what brings you here?"

The relationship between Cui Cui Hongzhi and Chen Luo was neither good nor bad; they were merely acquaintances.

Chen Luo crossed his arms over his chest, looked at Su Yu in the arena, and said,

"Seeing such a powerful freshman from our Tianyun University has left me feeling discouraged, so I wanted to chat with you."

Hearing Chen Luo's words, Cui Cui Hongzhi was instantly shocked.

"You, a super genius, can actually feel discouraged?"

Someone like Chen Luo was someone even Cui Cui Hongzhi had to look up to.

Yet such a genius claimed to be discouraged!

Wasn't this just joking with him?

At this, Chen Luo let out a bitter smile.

"Why wouldn't I feel discouraged? Precisely because I am a genius, I feel even more distressed, don't you think?"

Hearing Chen Luo's words, Cui Cui Hongzhi gradually regained his composure.

Thinking it over carefully, it seemed to make sense.

Geniuses are all aloof; every genius has their own pride.

However, when such geniuses encounter someone several times more monstrous than themselves, the sense of frustration they feel is even stronger!

It's like the last student in a class looking up to both the second and first place; their mindset remains balanced.

But the second-place student, facing a first-place student who has pulled far ahead, feels the gap even more acutely.

And this gap was achieved by someone several years younger than you.

Therefore, the pain felt is even more intense!

Chen Luo was exactly like this; although he was a genius,

after witnessing a monster like Su Yu,

he could feel the gap even more clearly.

After pondering this carefully, Cui Cui Hongzhi also began to understand Chen Luo's feelings.

Originally, his rivals were Bu Bu Step Miao Zhu and Wang Wang Shizhong.

There might be gaps among the three of them, but they weren't significant; with some effort and opportunities, they might surpass each other.

As a result, in the midst of their struggle, a demon king named Su Yu suddenly appeared!

Not only was he younger than all of them, but his Pokémon were also stronger than theirs.

At this point, facing a character who crushed him in both talent and strength,

he naturally understood that unlike Bu Bu Step Miao Zhu and Cui Cui Hongzhi, Su Yu was not someone who could be surpassed through luck and opportunity.

If you improve, others will improve even more!

This feeling, unless one avoids comparing themselves to him, will absolutely create a tremendous gap; in severe cases, it could even drive a person mad.

This is also the inevitable result of an era producing a brilliant figure.

Other geniuses pale in comparison beside him.

At this moment, Cui Cui Hongzhi suddenly felt that perhaps it was not so bad to not be a genius.

Otherwise, he would likely end up like Chen Luo, who, despite already being brilliant enough,

still appeared so insignificant under the radiance of Su Yu.

137: The ruthless crushing by the Salamence! A challenge letter from Wang Wang Shizhong!!

"There's no help for it; Su Yu is simply too monstrous. It's better if you don't compare yourself to him."

Cui Cui Hongzhi offered comfort as well.

He, whose strength was inferior to Chen Luo's, was now actually able to comfort Chen Luo.

It must be said that all of this was because of Su Yu.

"Rest assured, I won't be discouraged either; I will strive with all my might to surpass him."

In Chen Luo's gaze directed at Su Yu, there was full fighting spirit.

Even if the opponent is a genius, he must still give it a try!

"Then I wish you the best of luck!" Cui Cui Hongzhi also offered him encouragement.

Having such a goal is a good thing.

However, starting today, he would absolutely never again take Su Yu as his goal.

He feared that when comparing himself to Su Yu, he would die of shame.

In the arena, the competition continued.

Shi Ran's second spirit was a Water-type starter, Samurott!

Its limbs were covered in shell-like plating, and atop its head sat a helmet resembling a shell.

A long spear protruded from the helmet.

【Name: Samurott (Water)】

【Gender: ♀】

【Level: Lv. 0 (Elite)】

【Ability: Torrent (When HP is low, the power of Water-type moves increases.)】

【Potential: Elite】