Chapter 369

June 3rd, 9:30 AM, the breakfast hall of a hotel in Rongcheng.

Following two consecutive days of intense and thrilling elimination rounds, the Sichuan provincial division, now down to only sixteen contestants, announced a one-day break.

This provided the contestants with time to rest while allowing for repair work on the Archaic Arena, which had become pockmarked after dozens, if not hundreds, of battles.

At this moment, the five members from Yangcheng High School were sitting around a table, eating breakfast while discussing the post Su Hao had made the previous night.

"Su Hao, you were too impulsive..."

Zhong Li looked at him with concern, her voice tinged with anxiety; she felt Su Hao was simply too hot-blooded.

"The best way to handle this matter would have been a cold-shoulder approach. In the end, the arena is where the winner takes all. I have no doubt you can secure victory, but 'three moves' is also..."

As she said this, Zhong Li's tone grew dejected.

She truly didn't want these messy affairs to affect Su Hao, who possessed such exceptional talent.

Every budding talent was a future pillar of the Shenzhou Alliance!

Jiang Chengcheng set down her soy milk and offered some persuasion from the side: "Uh, Teacher Zhong, Su Hao must have a certain level of confidence to do this..."

Jiang Chengcheng herself might not trust Su Hao's ability to arrive on time.

But when it came to Su Hao's strength, she had been firmly convinced from beginning to end.

After all, this guy's strength had already ascended to a dimension different from theirs.

Not to mention the Incineroar, she hadn't even seen Su Hao bring out that outrageous Carbink to compete once.

She would bet her life that Su Hao was still hiding some major trump card.

Kong Lingwei, gnawing on a meat sandwich, mumbled as she persuaded: "Teacher Zhong, Su Hao wouldn't put himself in danger; he must have some other intention."

Beside them, Li Hua, who was inhaling his breakfast, put down his fried dough stick. He poked Su Hao and winked: "Brother Su, isn't now the best time to give an explanation?"

Su Hao frowned, slapped Li Hua's hand away, and said with disgust: "Don't touch my white T-shirt with your oily hands."

However, what Li Hua said did indeed make sense.

Now was indeed an opportunity to disclose it. Previously, they had kept it hidden because Zhong Li was exhausted from gathering data and planning tactics, and they were afraid of giving the elderly woman a scare.

Now, he was in Group A and had advanced to the group's top four; Li Hua in Group C had advanced to the group's top four; and Jiang Chengcheng and Kong Lingwei in Group D had advanced to the group's top four.

With Yangcheng High School in such a favorable position, the tense Zhong Li had clearly relaxed a lot, and sufficient sleep had left her in much better shape than in previous days.

Su Hao put down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a tissue. While lamenting that the rice noodles tasted quite authentic, he exchanged glances with Jiang Chengcheng and the others to signal them.

He gave a light cough and said seriously: "Teacher Zhong, please don't be afraid of what I'm about to say!"

Seeing Su Hao's serious expression, Zhong Li couldn't help but sit up straight: "I am a professional trainer and a teacher; I won't be afraid. Go ahead."

Su Hao blinked, his face turning red as he said shyly: "Actually... my Big Axe is already at the Professional level!"

Zhong Li's expression stiffened. For a moment, forgetting they were still in the hotel lobby, she stood up with wide eyes and exclaimed: "What did you say!?"

Kong Lingwei, sitting next to Zhong Li, saw that the people around the lobby eating breakfast just like them were clearly focusing their attention on them.

She quickly took a tissue to wipe her fingers clean, and with a mocking smile, she placated him: "Teacher Zhong, calm down..."

Li Hua, looking like a master detached from the world, crossed his greasy hands: "This matter... we only found out a few days ago too."

After wiping the soy milk from the corner of her mouth, Jiang Chengcheng added: "And it broke through based on its own natural quality, not through specialized techniques."

Zhong Li's vision went dark; she was completely stunned.

Who am I?

Where am I?

Why do humans exist?

"Is it okay to just leave Teacher Zhong there?" Su Hao worried.

Before leaving the hotel, he could still hear Zhong Li constantly muttering things like "the waves behind," "I'm old," "I'm useless," "pervert," and "only five"

—obscure and difficult-to-understand words.

It seemed that as a veteran professional trainer, she had received quite a blow.

Su Hao didn't know her well, so he was a bit worried.

Li Hua rubbed his head and gave a dry laugh before saying: "Haha... after all, the strongest Pokémon in Teacher Zhong's team, the Rhyperior, is only at the late Professional level. Her Dao heart as a teacher must be damaged."

Jiang Chengcheng straightened her spotless white dress and said with certainty: "Lingwei is there keeping her company, it shouldn't be a big problem."

Su Hao thought that was all they could do and said helplessly: "... Alright then, let's set off for the Rongcheng Pokémon Breeding Center."

"Oh~ so this is the Rongcheng Breeding Center?" Li Hua said, eyes wide with surprise.

The massive oval-shaped building complex before them was their destination—the Rongcheng Pokémon Breeding Center.

"It looks quite large in scale, and this is only a small portion of the Pokémon; more are in the designated ecological zones in the suburbs!" Jiang Chengcheng replied while flipping through information on her encyclopedia.

It was her first time here too, so using the encyclopedia to check information was naturally the best choice.

"Come to think of it, my Big Axe was also adopted here, but the Rongcheng Breeding Center only handles the Alliance's distribution tasks." Su Hao said with a look of nostalgia.

The Rongcheng Breeding Center merely undertook the Alliance's mission, responsible for temporarily housing those nine Fire-type starters with exceptional talent prepared by the Alliance.

He had gone straight to that highly confidential room upon arrival, and he hadn't seen the business the Rongcheng Breeding Center opened to the public with his own eyes yet.

"Oh? The encyclopedia says that besides selling Pokémon to the public, they also have trendy small businesses like Pokémon egg blind boxes, raw ore blind boxes, and lucky draws." Jiang Chengcheng said, surprised as she looked at the advertisements precisely pushed by big data on her phone.

Li Hua complained with a bitter face: "Trendy? Anything associated with that word is usually expensive and a rip-off."

He had been scammed by a so-called trendy Pokémon experience hall before. The advertisement claimed you could have personal contact with Pokémon and play with them in an environment like a 5A-level scenic spot.

After paying the 1,000 Shenzhou coin entrance fee, not only was there a long line, but the time for contact with the Pokémon was actually on a countdown!

And every minute added afterward cost extra money.

If he had known, he would have been better off going to Su Hao's house to interact with the Pokémon at his gym.

"Come to think of it, Su Hao, you definitely had the conditions back then, so why didn't you raise Pokémon from a young age like other children from big families?" Li Hua turned and poked Su Hao.

"High school is one thing; large-scale exams and competitions strictly forbid using Pokémon captured outside of that period. But this fair-play ban is lifted in university. Some people can even pull out one or two Professional-level Pokémon..."

Jiang Chengcheng was also a bit curious. She and Li Hua hadn't thought of this layer before, so naturally, they hadn't asked Su Hao.

His parents were both very busy people, and they didn't just throw a Pokémon to their son for company.

Suddenly asked this question, Su Hao looked embarrassed: "... There are very deep-seated reasons for this."

He gave a hollow laugh and then consciously changed the subject: "Being able to raise one or two Pokémon in advance can indeed bring advantages, but what determines everything is the trainer themselves."

"The Pokémon others have raised since childhood are only at the Professional level, while my Incineroar reached the Professional level in just about five months. Doesn't this just prove that point?"

Hearing Su Hao's answer, Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng looked at each other and confirmed one thing.

This guy is changing the subject!

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Oshawott. **【370-0】 A Cliché Sideshow**