The moment Sceptile fell, Qing Fei froze on the spot.
He could not believe it — even with all that forced power, he had still lost.
"Qing Fei, send out your next Pokémon!"
"G-Go… Arcanine…"
Qing Fei called out his Arcanine in a hollow voice. Normally proud and fiery, the Arcanine now stood on the battlefield with clear fear in its bearing.
Years of neglect and scorn had left deep scars on its spirit.
Especially when it saw Charizard —
the memory of their last fiery clash burned vividly in its mind.
It let out only a quiet, trembling whimper.
"You don't care at all about your Pokémon's heart, do you?"
Seeing Arcanine's state, Lin Yu knew Qing Fei had never bothered to understand his partner.
What a waste…
This Arcanine…
With a decent trainer, it would never be this timid and broken.
"Flamethrower."
Lin Yu could only shake his head. It was not his Pokémon to save.
Charizard unleashed a stream of white-hot flames that tore straight through Arcanine's weaker yellow fire.
"Dragon Claw."
One more strike would finish it off.
But then Charizard stopped.
It stood right in front of the cowering Arcanine.
"Arc…"
Arcanine whimpered and stepped back.
"Hm?"
Lin Yu realized what Charizard was doing — it was trying to convince Arcanine to leave Qing Fei.
He did not stop it.
This Arcanine deserved better.
Even wandering wild would be better than staying with this man.
"Arc… arc…"
Arcanine lowered its head, torn by a terrible inner struggle.
Loyalty.
Arcanine were the very embodiment of loyalty once they chose their trainer.
The commentator spoke in disbelief:
"What's happening? In the middle of a national tournament match, Charizard is actually communicating with Arcanine! Are they making peace?"
This was the first time anything like this had ever happened in the National High School Tournament.
"Arc…"
Arcanine shook its head, glanced back at Qing Fei, and slowly walked toward him.
It had chosen loyalty…
even blind loyalty.
"Sigh…"
Lin Yu let out a quiet breath.
Making an Arcanine abandon its trainer was nearly impossible.
Qing Fei had no idea what had passed between them. In truth, he no longer cared about winning or losing.
"Qing Fei has lost his will to battle! The winner is Lin Yu from Hunan Province! Congratulations to Lin Yu for advancing to the finals!"
When Qing Fei failed to send another Pokémon, the commentator checked the Elite Four platform.
With a nod from the referees, he declared the result.
"Incredible! This semi-final has been breathtaking — the finals will be insane!"
"I can't wait! Goddess Ye hasn't even used her Dragon Power yet!"
"That Charizard could dominate the Youth League. It's unreal!"
Amid the roaring crowd, Lin Yu slowly left the battlefield.
The entire nation watched the live broadcast.
When viewers saw two students from tiny Shuimu City standing in the national semi-finals —
from the same high school —
Shuimu No.3 High School erupted like a boiling kettle.
Lin Yu, in particular, was heading to the finals.
Overnight, the school's reputation exploded.
Investors poured in massive funding.
Shuimu City was set to experience explosive economic growth.
Such was the influence of one person.
If Lin Yu won the championship, that influence would grow even greater.
Truly, when one person rises, their whole hometown rises with them.
Later, on a street in the capital.
After the post-match inspection, Qing Fei wandered aimlessly through Jingcheng, numb and lost…
He could not understand why he still could not beat Lin Yu.
Or rather, why he could not beat that Charizard.
It had started as a useless Charmander that could barely use Ember!
How had it become this strong?
Where did its white flames and monstrous physique come from?
Qing Fei shouted in bitter frustration:
"Why?!"
His phone rang. It was his father.
"One loss means nothing. Use the plate properly. If you master it, your Pokémon can reach Champion-tier at least…"
Qing Fei stood frozen, then light slowly returned to his eyes.
"Alright."
But when he called Sceptile back out,
the plate was gone.
He snapped at Sceptile: "Did you hide it?!"
Sceptile shook its head, its gaze cold and empty.
Qing Fei realized the truth.
The plate must have fallen during their final clash.
A cold dread washed over him, and he collapsed to the ground.
He screamed at Sceptile, calling it useless and weak.
Yet Sceptile only stared at him with cold, disappointed eyes.
Once his rage faded, Sceptile leaped away and vanished into the city.
It had lost all faith in its trainer.
Only Qing Fei remained, stunned and alone.
Later tales spoke of a Lord-tier Sceptile in a Secret Realm outside the capital, filled with hatred for all humans.
Night fell. Back at his accommodation.
"So other types can only be raised up to Champion potential at most?"
Lin Yu sighed as he held the Broken Normal Plate of Arceus.
He dared not draw on its twisted energy — it warped a Pokémon's heart and personality.
For Normal-type Pokémon, this fragment could raise potential all the way to Level 3 Legendary.
For any other type, the limit was Champion-tier.
Well, another treasure to gather dust in his system space.
[Notice: Plates of Arceus attract one another. The attraction is far stronger between plates of the same type.]
"Hm?"
Lin Yu's eyes lit up. This was the first time the system had spoken on its own.
He quickly asked: "Can you tell me why Arceus no longer has its plates?"
[…]
"Cold much…"
Lin Yu sighed when he got no reply.
[Collect all fragments of the Normal Plate of Arceus to unlock an extra Annual Entry draw!]
"Yes! A real quest!"
Lin Yu's eyes shone. This was the first incentive quest the system had ever given — and the reward was an Annual Entry!
He silently wished to find more Plate fragments soon.
"Ralts~"
A familiar Ralts appeared soundlessly beside him, greeting him softly.
"Back for more stories?"
Having long realized this was no ordinary Ralts but a Legendary, Lin Yu smiled warmly.
This wasn't fear — it was sense.
Every Legendary in this world could level mountains.
And this one was so powerful his Inspection Eye couldn't read it at all.
Definitely a big shot.
He had already attached a Pokémon Summon Card to this "Ralts".
If danger ever came, this would be his secret ace.
"Ralts!" (Yep, yep!)
Mew happily floated over to Lin Yu.
"Alright, everyone, come on out."
Lin Yu could make up stories on the spot easily now.
Knock, knock, knock~
Just then, someone knocked at the door.