Chapter Ninety-Six: Advancing to the Finals

The evening’s review had produced striking results.

On the following day’s practice, Ralts, by using Confusion in advance, was able to briefly maintain a floating state in the air after Teleporting.

The longest it could last was only a few seconds, but that was already a tremendous improvement.

That night, they continued to review the training, focusing chiefly on coordination and balance.

By the third day, Ralts could already remain suspended in midair for six or seven seconds, and when in good form, sometimes for nearly ten.

That was enough.

According to Butterfree’s summary from that day, they must not pursue prolonged hovering in the air too aggressively; before mastering Psychic power, it would place an enormous burden on Ralts.

A brief hovering window was sufficient for Ralts to move through the air by means of Teleport.

On the fourth day, Ralts achieved aerial instant movement for the first time, and the simplified version of flight was officially complete.

Of course, it would still take plenty of time to grow accustomed to it little by little, but it would be an immense advantage, and it also boosted Teleport proficiency along the way.

In the blink of an eye, the finals of the final week arrived.

Fewer students were waiting at the competition hall, and the security outside had also become far tighter.

More than a dozen students prepared in the lounge, each on their own, with little conversation between them. Everyone was a little nervous, but excitement mattered more.

Whether they could advance to the final main tournament would be decided in this one battle.

Tang Yi also met his opponent, Chen Ding, as well as the Houndour girl with a solemn expression. She had bone-like adornments on all four limbs and a short, stubby tail.

The two sides exchanged nods, but no one bothered with hollow words like encouragement. At this stage, who was going to cheer for whom?

Group semifinal, Ralts versus Houndour, begin!

The instant the whistle sounded, the Houndour girl’s muscular little legs burst into motion, and she sprinted forward at remarkable speed. It was clear she had put a great deal of work into training her pace.

"Howl!"

Still running, Houndour roared, and a flash of light surged over her as her offensive power rose rapidly.

"Teleport!"

Tang Yi immediately abandoned any thought of using Disarming Voice. Houndour was simply too fast. With Howl boosting its battle strength, he had no choice but to have Ralts evade first.

Teleported several meters away, widening the distance again, Ralts drew a deep breath, and her song finally began to ring out.

Chen Ding was not surprised by Tang Yi’s choice, and Houndour simply ignored Disarming Voice, turned around, and charged straight in.

"Teleport!"

Tang Yi pressed the attack in reverse. The moment Houndour turned, he immediately instructed Ralts to Teleport again. The opponent was too fast; in a situation like this, they absolutely could not be greedy and overuse skills.

As long as she stayed alive, she could deal damage.

Even if it meant briefly interrupting Disarming Voice, Teleport had to come first.

"Keep after it!"

Houndour sniffed the air, then suddenly changed direction again.

The moment Ralts landed, Houndour had already rushed in ahead of her.

That judgment was extremely precise. It was scent tracking, then.

Tang Yi made the assessment in silence.

In the previous match, Nidoran had also been able to sense the signs of Teleport ending through hearing.

But Houndour was clearly one step ahead of Nidoran. Scent tracking let it catch the approximate position before Teleport even completed. Though it was only a matter of a fraction of a second, it had already narrowed the distance between them again.

Dark energy began to gather in Houndour’s jaws, the sign of a Dark-type move. At this stage, learning Bite was not difficult for Houndour.

There was no time left to use Disarming Voice. Under the relentless pressure, Ralts could only continue using Teleport to widen the gap. If she were bitten even once, things would become very bad.

Wait.

No.

Tang Yi suddenly tensed. With a sharp sweep of his hand, the words on his tongue changed at once.

"Get into the sky! Now! Immediately!"

Ralts startled. Was he going to reveal their trump card this quickly?

Chen Ding was equally stunned. Flying? Was that a joke?

Yet Ralts still carried out Tang Yi’s order without hesitation. She took a deep breath, and after her body blurred for a moment, she appeared high in the air, blue psychic power faintly wreathing around her and keeping her suspended.

Relying on scent tracking, Houndour almost immediately pinpointed the post-Teleport position and instinctively lifted its head to spit out a mouthful of murky vapor.

Tang Yi felt a chill of fear after seeing it.

As expected, a close-range Dark-type move like Bite was only a smokescreen. Houndour had actually been secretly gathering Poison-type Smog.

Although it was a Poison-type move with very low power, it was effective against Fairy types and could even inflict poisoning. Most importantly, it was a ranged attack that required no contact.

However, the moment Ralts appeared in the air, the murky vapor rose only two or three meters before scattering and falling back to the ground in drifting wisps. Houndour even had to back away so it would not be swallowed by the haze itself.

Then Houndour was left a bit at a loss.

It was completely dumbfounded. Its running steps came to an abrupt halt, and it stared stupidly up at Ralts before turning to look at its trainer.

I can’t fly.

What am I supposed to do now?

For Chen Ding, this was entirely unforeseen. Before the match, he had analyzed Ralts very carefully, and Teleport had been completely within his expectations.

But flying had truly never been something he had considered.

"Keep using Disarming Voice!"

Tang Yi would not wait for his opponent to slowly think up a countermeasure. The song spread through the air once more, and this time there was no need to worry about Houndour suddenly charging in. Ralts now had far more time to let her voice shine.

"Jump up there!"

"Use Smog!"

Chen Ding had not given up, but Houndour’s jumping ability was still inferior to its running speed. It leaped into the air and used Smog again.

But Ralts had already Teleported once more, now five meters away in the sky.

Having exhausted itself in that full-force leap, Houndour could not remain suspended in midair after exhaling Smog. It could only drop back to the ground, gather its strength, and leap at Ralts again.

Leap.

Smog.

That was the only attack method Houndour had that could pose an effective threat to Ralts, unless it somehow learned a fire-based ranged attack like Flamethrower.

But in an elimination round of this level, that was virtually impossible.

Ralts’s Disarming Voice continued to ring out. As long as the timing was right and she Teleported again the instant Houndour jumped, she could avoid the Smog.

Under the repeated onslaught of Disarming Voice, the pain on Houndour’s face grew increasingly severe, and each jump looked more and more laborious.

Chen Ding had almost no good way to respond. Before the match, he had never imagined he would have to fight an aerial battle.

In the end, Houndour, completely drained of stamina, collapsed to the ground and could not rise again.

"Houndour is unable to battle. Ralts wins!"