I Want First Place!

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As night fell, the sky turned into a deep navy-blue veil, dotted with twinkling stars.

"What luck..."

Bruce took advantage of the darkness to search for a place to camp, looking over the rolling hills in the night and sighing to himself.

Since he encountered that Loudred, he hadn't come across another Professional-level Pokemon. Of course, part of the reason is that Professional Pokemon are at the top of the food chain in the Oz Secret Realm. Each of these powerful Pokemon occupies its own territory, which keeps other Pokemon from entering.

If these Professional-level Pokemon were in a more advanced secret realm, they might be seen as mere prey by other Pokemon. But here, this territory rule made finding Professional Pokemon much harder and more time-consuming.

"Right, a Professional-level Pokemon is worth 500 points, so naturally, they wouldn't be easy to find," Bruce whispered to himself.

Besides, if there were too many Professional Pokemon, they'd intrude into other areas, causing quite a shock for the students. At this stage, each Professional-level Pokemon serves as an absolute BOSS for every student.

Because of this downtime, Bin, who was ranked second, used the opportunity to frantically seek out high-level Pokemon, accumulating a substantial number of points. He was only fifty points behind Bruce, and with one more victory, he'd surpass him again and reclaim first place.

But Bruce wasn't concerned with the rankings—his only interest was in leveling up. Of course, leveling up at night wasn't ideal; today's harvest had already been significant, so now, all he wanted was to find a safe camping spot and get a good rest.

"Not bad."

Using his flashlight, Bruce caught sight of a cave opening in a nearby cliff. It was a natural campsite, though possibly also a wild Pokemon habitat.

"Be careful," Bruce murmured to Combusken.

"Combusken!"

Combusken nodded, its sharp eyes glinting, claws ready as it moved forward, entering the cave first.

Following closely behind, Bruce shone his flashlight inside to see the entire layout. It was a fairly spacious cave, stretching about ten meters from the entrance to the far end, and no wild Pokemon in sight—completely empty.

"Perfect. It's an ideal campsite." Bruce nodded with satisfaction, confirming there was no danger.

Bruce then took out the firewood he'd prepared, lifted Courtney, and soon a bright flame lit the whole cave. He sent out Metang and Ralts as he began preparing food.

This field training exercise was a rare opportunity, with plenty of Professional-level Pokemon in the secret realm. So the first few days were dedicated to leveling up Combusken. Once they'd encountered all the Professional Pokemon here, they'd move back to areas with high-level Pokemon to focus on training Metang.

As for Ralts—well, Ralts was simply adorable during this time.

After preparing food for his three Pokemon, Bruce quickly had his own dinner, then pulled out his tent and sleeping bag.

"Man, I envy Ash for having storage space. He always seems to have everything for camping: pots, pans, tables, and chairs."

Complaining as he went, Bruce set up the tent. Just as he was about to settle in and rest, he suddenly heard a strange sound.

He glanced toward the cave entrance and saw a black, snake-like Pokemon emerge. It had a golden lower jaw and golden armor along its head and back. Sharp red fangs gleamed, its sword-like tail looked menacing, and its body was scarred from countless fierce battles.

Ah, wasn't this the Seviper that Jessie had once fought?

[Pokemon: Seviper (Poison Type) 

Ability: Shed Skin 

Qualification: Gym Leader 

Level: Lv 35 (Professional)]

Seviper, the nemesis of Zangoose, had fought countless Zangoose over the years, and its scars bore witness to those brutal clashes.

At that moment, Seviper's red eyes locked onto Bruce and Combusken in the cave, its face filled with suspicion.

Bruce was slightly surprised. Then he stood up and asked, "Is this your territory?"

"SSSsssss!"

Seviper ignored Bruce, letting out a furious hiss. Its eyes turned icy, and its sharp blade-like tail struck the rocks nearby, smashing them with powerful slashes.

Seeing Seviper's reaction, Bruce realized he had indeed entered its territory.

In the next second, Seviper slithered forward at high speed, closing in on Combusken in no time.

Bruce took a few steps back, reminding Combusken loudly, "Watch out—it can secrete poison from its tail."

"Combusken!"

Combusken responded, indicating it understood.

Seviper's tail whipped down in a brutal strike, the toxic blade glinting in the dim light. The sound of the air being sliced apart echoed in the cave.

Combusken's sharp gaze followed Seviper's every move. As the tail was about to strike, it ducked, dodging just in time to avoid the blow. At the same time, Combusken breathed out flames, incinerating the poison in the air and engulfing Seviper in a blazing inferno.

The fire burned intensely, filling the cave with light. Bruce's face glowed red under its light as the temperature in the cave rose quickly.

Seviper took the direct hit from the Flamethrower and let out a dark breath, its blackened scales showing faint burn marks.

Immediately after, Combusken gripped Seviper tightly, its hands forming into blades that flashed a dazzling white light.

Slash!

Though Seviper's golden armor could withstand some damage, Combusken struck with precise, merciless force, piercing directly through Seviper's exposed torso.

Seviper let out a heart-wrenching wail that echoed through the jungle, startling every bird within earshot.

Fortunately, there were no other students nearby, or it would have been quite frightening.

After a long while, Bruce looked down at Seviper, who lay collapsed on the ground, utterly defeated, and murmured, "Looks like you'll have to sleep outside tonight."

"Alright then, if you have no objections, let's call it settled."

It was a good night, both for the experience points and the perfect campsite.

---

Elsewhere:

"Phew... finally done."

Under the flashlight's glow, Bin looked down at the Liepard sprawled on the ground and smiled with satisfaction.

"Chomp!" Gible danced happily beside him.

"That should put me back on top, right?"

"Well, even if it's only by fifty points, it's still a lead."

He muttered to himself, then turned on his phone to check the rankings. But as he looked at the list, he went silent.

[Bruce Bayne, 1950 points, Rank 1] 

[Bin Dragneel, 1500 points, Rank 2]

After a long pause, Bin regained his composure, his brows furrowing as he whispered, "Another 500 points, just like that."

"So Bruce must have defeated another Professional-level Pokemon."

"Could he be a Professional-level Pokemon Breeder?"

As soon as the thought came, he shook his head decisively, "No way—that's impossible!"

Even his uncle, whom he admired most, hadn't produced a Professional-level Pokemon during field training.

Countless thoughts crossed his mind, and for a moment, he could almost see his uncle standing with his hands behind his back, gazing at the sunset with a kind smile, saying, "Little Bin, remember that there will always be someone stronger, always a sky above this sky."

"Uncle, you've attempted Victory Road many times and always failed. As the saying goes, 'If you strike out too hard, you'll fail again and exhaust yourself completely.'"

"In my early years, I achieved small victories, and my arrogance made me think others were inferior, but now, it's hard to improve."

"An early lead proves nothing."

Lance Elite shook his head, patting him on the head, and sighed, "The true hero is the one who reaches the end."

Bin looked up at the starry sky, watching as Gible danced under the moonlight. He clenched his fists quietly and whispered,

"Soon, Gible will be ready to evolve."

Starting with a pseudo-legendary has made things difficult, but even at Stage 0.3, Bin remains firmly in the top three, unshakable.

And just as leveling up drastically boosts a Pokemon's power, evolution does too.

When Gible evolves into Gabite, his competitiveness will be on a whole new level.

"Whether or not Bruce has a Professional Pokemon, I won't let it faze me."

Kneeling down, Bin gently touched Gible's head, his eyes narrowing as he said, "I just need to go at my own pace."

"Everything else is just noise."

---

At the same time, Azalea felt none of these complicated emotions.

She glanced at the rankings, closed her phone silently, her dark eyes as calm as a still pond.

She lowered her head and met Gothita's gaze. After a moment, her cool voice sounded softly, "I won't be resting tonight."

"I want first place."

"Gothita!"

Gothita nodded firmly.

Under the misty night sky, Azalea's eyes glowed a crystalline blue as she searched for all the Pokemon hidden in the dark.

Tonight, sleep would wait.

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To be Continued

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