Chapter Twenty-Nine: Rising All the Way

"Alright, the match is about to begin, so let's start discussing our strategy for what's next."
Tang Yi soon changed the subject, steering the conversation away.
Ralts was annoyed—couldn't he let her be moved for a little longer?
The opponent for the second round was Lu Renjia. He was much like Tang Yi had been—average results, nothing particularly noteworthy. In fact, aside from a handful of outstanding students, this was the norm for most.
Tang Yi had little impression of him, only recalling that his Pokémon partner was Oddish.
He glanced toward the crowd and, as expected, saw a fresh-faced girl with five green leaves sprouting from her head. Beside her stood Lu Renjia, wearing glasses. Having passed the first round, both appeared quite cheerful, chatting with their classmates.
The college entrance selection tournament was a 1V1 format. As novice-level trainers, each could only have one Pokémon partner, so there were no secret trump cards—victory purely depended on whose partner was better trained.
"Do you see that Oddish girl? That's our next opponent, and we have the advantage in terms of type. This round is in the bag!" Tang Yi made no effort to hide his delight—psychic against poison, a solid advantage.
Lu Renjia chatted with classmates for a while, then looked around and spotted Tang Yi. He soon brought the Oddish girl over and greeted him with a smile. "Tang Yi, you're amazing—knocked out the class monitor. I doubt I’ll beat you in the next round."
Tang Yi replied modestly, "It was luck. Your Oddish looks spirited and strong. I was just worrying about how to get through the second round."
Ralts shot him a disdainful glance—wasn’t he just saying this round was a sure win? So hypocritical!
As the match time approached, the two walked together, laughing and chatting, toward the tenth arena. Unlike the first round, a handful of spectators sat scattered in the stands—students eliminated in the first round who hadn’t left yet, curious to see Tang Yi’s true strength.
"Arena Ten, contestant 145 versus 187, the match begins!" The referee blew the whistle.
"Ralts, use Psychic!"
As soon as the words left his lips, Ralts’s hands glowed with a blue psychic light.
The slow-moving Oddish girl was instantly bound by the psychic force. Lu Renjia was stunned, entirely at a loss.
The green-haired girl struggled, but her abilities paled in comparison to Squirtle. Ralts was far more at ease than in the previous match, guiding Oddish to the edge of the arena and tossing her out.
The match was over.

The entire process took less than thirty seconds.
Tang Yi exhaled in surprise—it seemed his first-round opponent had been unusually strong, leading him to mistakenly believe all subsequent matches would be difficult.
Oddish’s abilities lagged far behind Squirtle’s—she reacted slowly to the initial psychic attack and had no idea how to counter once bound.
The audience was dumbfounded—many hadn’t even settled into their seats before it ended.
While the tournament was essentially a battle between beginners, this was far too quick.
"How do you feel? Any strain on your mental energy?" Though Ralts was completely unharmed, Tang Yi was concerned about whether her psychic strength had fully recovered.
"It’s fine, it was easy just now, so I didn’t use much psychic energy."
The trainer’s concern warmed the girl, and her tone grew lighter.
"What? You used a lot? Looks like you’re tired, Ralts. Let’s hurry back and rest!" Tang Yi quickly interrupted, loudly, and led her arm toward the rest lounge.
Passing the edge of the arena, Tang Yi said to Lu Renjia, "Sorry, Ralts is a bit exhausted, so we’ll head back to rest and prepare for the next match."
"Go ahead, your Ralts is amazing." Lu Renjia understood and wasn’t discouraged by defeat—he’d come for the experience, after all.
Once in the corridor, Ralts finally managed to free her slender arm from Tang Yi’s grip and pouted, confused. "I’m not tired at all! Oddish isn’t nearly as strong as Squirtle."
Tang Yi shook his head and smiled. "Didn’t you notice? There are some unfamiliar faces in the audience—likely students from other classes."
Ralts blinked, puzzled.
"If I advance today, tomorrow I’ll have to face another class’s top student in an elimination match to determine who represents the school in the city selection tournament. I suspect those hoping to win in other classes might ask eliminated classmates to gather information."
"Can they really do that?" Ralts’s large eyes fluttered in surprise.
"Absolutely. It’s only natural—after all, college entrance exams shape many destinies. Collecting intelligence on opponents is standard practice, so we can’t reveal all our cards. Let’s give them a false impression."
"Humans are so complicated."
"Yes, the world is beautiful, but human hearts are complex. So you must be careful outside—never let yourself be fooled by pretty words." Tang Yi seized the opportunity to educate the girl. He was still a student, unable to accompany Ralts every hour of the day.

Ralts tilted her head. "Pretty words—is that what you say to me all the time?"
"Yes, I mean, no! That’s entirely different—I’m just caring for you." Tang Yi was startled, nearly letting something slip.
Seeing the girl giggle uncontrollably, Tang Yi sighed—Ralts was learning to set traps for him now.
Back in the lounge, after a short wait, matches at other arenas concluded as well.
Only a handful of classmates remained. As expected, Jiang Chen and her Hoothoot girl were eliminated, but she was cheerful, chatting and laughing with her opponent as they left the corridor.
The tournament’s early intra-class matches fostered harmony—losers congratulated their opponents and encouraged them, while winners didn’t gloat.
"I’ll gather information on the other classes for you. No matter who wins, we can’t let our class lose face tomorrow." Jiang Chen, though eliminated, had no intention of leaving.
Everyone expressed their thanks—having someone collect intelligence was invaluable.
Originally, everyone assumed the class champion would be Qin Donghai. Now that he was eliminated early, others grew bolder.
Third round: Ralts versus Abra. As Abra happened to be sleepy, the girl dozed off in the arena, granting Tang Yi victory by default.
Fourth round: Ralts versus Shinx. Lu Renyi’s Shinx hadn’t even mastered Thunder Shock, relying only on Normal-type tackles, which couldn’t contend with Psychic. The match ended in seconds.
Fifth round, the final intra-class match.
Tang Yi versus Lu Renyi; Ralts faced Zubat. The bat girl, with her deep purple wing membranes, kept harassing with Supersonic, proving unexpectedly troublesome.
Yet Zubat’s type was ultimately countered by Psychic. Ralts seized an opportunity and finished the match with a single psychic attack.