Chapter 435: Mysterious Reward

Shortly after Mu Dan secured a spot in the top eight, Shinji also claimed the second top-eight berth among Luo Mu's students.

Compared to trainers like Mu Dan and Shizuka, who had already trained several Pokémon with relatively mature combat capabilities, Shinji's shortcomings in this area were glaringly obvious.

A Turtwig still some time away from evolution and a Fuecoco on the verge of evolving constituted his entire strength.

Had it not been for the Garganacl Luo Mu lent him, he might not even have broken through to the top thirty-two.

Even if he had advanced, the moment he encountered Mu Dan or Shizuka, his true form would have been exposed.

In a certain sense, the luck of these three students today was absurdly good; somehow, none of them had collided with each other even once.

Aside from Shizuka, who fell in the match to advance to the top eight, Mu Dan and Shinji, who advanced successively, were fortunately placed in Zone A and Zone B respectively, meaning they would not meet before the finals.

Luo Mu even began contemplating the possibility of sleepwalking into bribing Clavell.

Looking at the tournament participant list in his hand, which was already mostly crossed out, Luo Mu raised an eyebrow.

Barring any unexpected developments, Mu Dan's next two opponents in Zone A would be Amary, who specialized in Poison types, and Ortega, who specialized in Fairy types.

This battle order was simply brimming with malice.

However, on the other side, the pressure facing Shinji was no less significant.

His first opponent in the quarterfinals was a senior student nearing graduation, and upon advancing, one of his potential semifinal opponents in the top-four match would be Ai Li Qi Si, a former student he himself had taught.

Based on intelligence he usually gathered, Luo Mu anticipated that it would take considerable effort for Shinji to defeat Ai Li Qi Si, after all, that Meowscarada had made tremendous progress recently.

Facts unfolded exactly as Luo Mu had predicted; in the match, relying on the Garganacl Boss's "Purifying Salt" ability, Mu Dan ignored the Varoom's poison.

Sticking to the unchanging principle of using Stone Edge to block Varoom's racing route, she seized the opportunity to apply Salt Cure, beginning a war of attrition until Varoom lost the ability to battle under the erosion of Salt Cure.

This highly formulaic strategy, combined with some adaptations, made the surrounding student spectators feel increasingly nauseated.

Following this, by setting numerous traps and advancing cautiously step by step, Shinji managed to secure victory in the match despite his Garganacl being slightly weaker than the opponent's.

Mu Dan versus Ortega, Shinji versus Ai Li Qi Si.

In a certain sense, this could also be considered an internal civil war among Luo Mu's students.

Even though there were still two minutes before class, Hassel, who was already poised to sprint a hundred meters, first made some exaggerated facial expressions at Luo Mu before running off in the direction of the art classroom.

Before leaving, he left behind a sentence.

"Looks like a battlefield of love~"

Luo Mu was somewhat speechless, wondering when he should challenge Hassel to a fight to curb his arrogance, and hugged his Mimikyu to watch the match with full concentration.

First to take the field in Zone A were Mu Dan and Ortega, yet another internal battle within the "Star Team," which had been butterfly-effect-ed into existence.

A moment's thought made it clear; after all, whether it was Mei Mei Luoke, Amary, or Ortega, or even Poppy who was out treasure hunting, these students became the Star Team bosses precisely because they possessed considerable trainer talent.

Luo Mu did not find it surprising that they had made it to the finals.

Between Mu Dan and Garganacl, and between Ortega and Gardevoir, a "fierce" duel unfolded; specifically, Gardevoir continuously dodged the incoming Salt Cure projectiles while applying Psychic and Fairy-type ranged attacks to deplete Garganacl's stamina.

Regarding this, Mu Dan, having witnessed Shizuka's defeat, had naturally prepared her own countermeasures; after a prolonged struggle, without relying on Salt Cure, the Garganacl Boss endured Gardevoir's Dazzling Gleam and ended the battle outright with Avalanche.

Mu Dan advanced to the finals.

Below the stage, Ortega's face was filled with reluctance.

". Damn it!"

No matter what he said about not caring about the battle results, actually tasting the flavor of defeat made his nose sting and his eyes turn red.

Two henchmen were quietly comforting him; Mu Dan, who had originally planned to leave the arena herself to watch the match between Shinji and Ai Li Qi Si, suddenly paused in her steps.

Perhaps due to being influenced by many people over these past few months, Mu Dan, who would absolutely have turned and fled out of fear of social interaction, hesitated for a moment before still stepping forward to speak to Ortega: "You are strong; if there is a chance, I would like to battle you using my own Pokémon."

"If you have time, you are welcome to come to the Battle Café anytime so we can spar together."

Ortega froze, his ears turning red, yet his mouth still stubbornly spat out harsh words, "I won't lose next time!"

"Hmph, let's go!"

With those words, Ortega fled the playground as if escaping, carrying quite the flavor of a rout.

The two henchmen exchanged a glance, then very skillfully began cleaning up Ortega's mess.

"Sorry about that, student Mu Dan; actually, Young Master Ortega is very happy that someone invited him, and thank you for your invitation; we will ensure he doesn't act petulant!"

"Yes, yes, thank you for the invitation!"

After speaking, the two chased after Ortega's departing footsteps and left.

"Young Master Ortega, there's still the third-place match to decide next!"

Mu Dan stood in place for quite a while before finally reacting, muttering a complaint under her breath: "After all that trouble, it turns out he's just a tsundere."

A few minutes later, the second semifinal match commenced on schedule.

Shinji versus Ai Li Qi Si; for both sides, this was a battle they could not afford to lose.

"Garganacl, prepare for battle!"

Shinji tossed his Poké Ball high into the air; Garganacl landed heavily, causing the playground to tremble for an instant.

Ai Li Qi Si slapped his cheeks hard, his gaze first falling upon Luo Mu in the distant teacher spectator area.

Then, he murmured to himself in a low voice: "Please watch my progress during this period carefully."

"I'm counting on you, Meowscarada!"

Red light flashed, and an upright, humanoid Pokémon with light green fur appeared.

Inheriting the appearance from its Sprigatito and Floragato stages, Meowscarada's form possessed even more distinctive characteristics.

Whether it was the cape draping behind its back, or its mask and flower bombs, everything spoke to the fact that Meowscarada was a Pokémon skilled at using agile movements and ever-changing methods to confuse its opponents.

"Grass and Dark types, ability is Overgrow," Luo Mu recalled Ai Li Qi Si's previous data, murmuring thoughtfully to himself: "The type advantage is barely present; it's a pity it doesn't have the Protean ability, otherwise, the number of effective moves it could choose would be much greater."

Luo Mu had indeed battled a Meowscarada with the Protean ability before; facts proved that even though GF nerfed this ability in Generation Nine, in this real world, Protean still maintained its original effects perfectly.

Just like the Talonflame family that shared a forest territory with Corviknight and others, their Gale Wings ability still maintained the strength of its prime.

The battle began quickly.

"Garganacl, Iron Defense."

Just as always, Shiron intended to have his Garganacl bolster its defenses, but on Ai Li Qi Si's side, a choice was made that surprised many.

"Meowscarada, Taunt!" With Meowscarada's perfectly timed taunting expression, combined with the dark energy that had unknowingly coiled around Garganacl's heart.

The metallic sheen that had been flickering across Garganacl's body vanished instantly; its expression immediately turned furious, and it charged recklessly at Meowscarada.

Amidst the uproar, Luo Mu's eyebrow twitched.

That was it.

How could one prevent Garganacl from immediately entering the fatal rhythm of stacking up right from the start?

The answer was simple: just deny Garganacl the chance to stack, and interrupt its use of Iron Defense to enhance its own defensive capabilities.

Luo Mu sighed with emotion.

He remembered that a few months ago, before the Purification Campaign had begun at the Orange Academy.

It was Ai Li Qi Si who had raised the question then, asking how to prevent an opponent from boosting; the answer Luo Mu had given was a status move many Pokémon could learn—"Taunt."

Its effect was that during Taunt, Dark-type energy influenced the opponent's reason, making them angry and impulsive.

Just like the current Garganacl.

Seeing that Garganacl had indeed stopped releasing Iron Defense just as he had anticipated and was charging recklessly at Meowscarada, Ai Li Qi Si's face lit up with joy.

Teacher Luo Mu was indeed correct!

Under Ai Li Qi Si's command, Meowscarada slapped the ground with its front paws, leaped lightly into the air, and dodged Garganacl's wild charge.

While performing a high-difficulty gymnastic spin in mid-air, Meowscarada seamlessly snapped its fingers.

The next instant.

Thick vines burst forth from the ground, wrapping around Garganacl at the precise moment it took a step.

Boom! Accompanied by a heavy thud of falling, the Garganacl tripped by Grass Knot immediately took massive damage.

Seeing this, even Shiron, who had remained calm throughout, had several drops of sweat seep onto his forehead.

He gritted his teeth, his face filled with gravity.

This was troublesome now.

In the faculty spectator area.

Professor Professor Huangbo was cheering with wild gestures, cheering for Ai Li Qi Si one moment and for Shiron the next, looking even busier than the two trainers battling above.

Only under Nurse Nurse Mimosha's restraint did she finally calm down enough to share her excitement with Luo Mu.

"That child is truly excellent; he was the most hardworking and diligent one in class too. Even I didn't expect that disgusting move could be countered in such a way!"

Even though they had spent a long time together, Nurse Nurse Mimosha still found Professor Professor Huangbo's boisterous personality somewhat unbearable; she exchanged a glance with the Hypno beside her and smiled with mutual understanding.

After all, in their eyes, Professor Professor Huangbo was the living embodiment of every stereotype about Fighting-type specialist trainers! Yet Professor Professor Huangbo's boisterousness did not affect Luo Mu's careful observation of the battle on the field.

After enduring for a while, Shiron predicted the timing of Meowscarada's Taunt release, had Garganacl use Protect to hold on for a moment, and then seamlessly used Recover to restore lost stamina, restarting its stacking of boosts.

With both sides trading blows, the battle had thoroughly entered a white-hot phase.

Luo Mu's eyes flickered slightly.

He had never taught Shiron a course on prediction; one could say this was entirely a self-breakthrough mastered by him as Ai Li Qi Si step by step drove him to the brink of despair.

But this was not strange; just like that peak duel at the Sinnoh League in the anime, Shiron had often used prediction to toy with Ash, so he inherently possessed this talent.

As for Ai Li Qi Si on the other side, he too had given Luo Mu quite a few surprises.

Not only had Meowscarada's basic strength undergone a huge change compared to not long ago, but his own commanding style and battle intuition had also become sharper, which was very good.

Perhaps, after a period of observation, he could ask him and Orla whether they had any intention of joining the Battle Specialization Group.

In another while, when Blueberry Academy came here for an exchange, perhaps he could let them show their skills.

Especially Ai Li Qi Si; his older brother at Blueberry Academy seemed to be on the visitor list as well.

This was a very good opportunity.

After fighting fiercely for nearly twenty minutes, in the end, Garganacl's stamina proved superior, and under Shiron's command, it wore Meowscarada down to death through sheer attrition.

After recalling Meowscarada, Ai Li Qi Si left the training ground dejectedly; he needed time to calm himself.

Shiron fell silent for a second, yet still did not chase after him to offer comfort.

First, he and Ai Li Qi Si were not close.

Second, Garganacl could not be deployed in the next battle; it would be his solo match, so he had to study how Turtwig should battle against Flareon.

Five o'clock in the afternoon.

The campus tournament, which had lasted nearly an entire day, drew to a close.

On the award podium, Clavell, with a kind expression, sequentially pinned the bronze, silver, and gold medals he had personally crafted onto Orla, Shiron, and Penny.

In the battle that decided third place, Orla, relying on his starter Pokémon Fidough, had defeated Ai Li Qi Si's Meowscarada, while in the finals, Penny's Flareon had displayed powerful fire-attack capabilities, leaving Shiron and Turtwig with almost no ability to resist, thus losing the battle.

Clavell looked at the three students with a beaming smile, as if gazing upon the future of Grape Academy, and called out to the side: "I'll leave the matter of presenting the mystery reward to you, Director Luo Mu."

"... Don't call me Director."

Luo Mu walked onto the high platform, his face full of speechlessness.

But when he reached Penny, whose face was full of anticipation, he cleared his throat, adjusted his facial expression, and smiled: "Congratulations on winning the championship, Student Penny."

"Of course, Student Shiron's runner-up position and Student Orla's third place were both excellent as well."

Penny and Shiron politely expressed their thanks, while Orla snorted and said, "It was just so-so; this young master only came to play."

"Director Luo Mu, hurry up and show everyone the mystery reward."

At Clavell's signal, under the curious gazes of countless eyes from the training ground, Luo Mu picked up a box from the tray held atop Mimikyu's head and opened it in front of everyone.

A crystal-clear round bead, shaped like a Poké Ball but composed entirely of crystal, was exposed to everyone's view.

"The champion's reward this time is a Terastal Orb exclusive to the champion, provided by Director Geeta!"

Amidst the uproar, Luo Mu announced.

(End of Chapter)