Clement's strength had far exceeded the expectations of the Fairview No. 1 school team. Seeing Caleb and Sarah —who usually topped the training leaderboards—fall one after another, the remaining members grew visibly tense.
"It can't be helped. This is the gap between our schools' resources," Dean Wu and Ms. Nina remarked. Having seen much of the world, they had come with a "learning mindset" and remained relatively composed.
Ethan, however, was fuming. Even though he had expected a result like this, it still felt like a personal insult—especially whenever he caught a glimpse of his rival Blaze's smug grin. Ethan was desperate to slap that look off his face, and Owen was his secret weapon—his only hope.
"You're going up?"
Seeing Owen stand up, Ethan mused, "They've only sent out one person, and they have nine more behind him. If you go out now..." He hadn't expected to play his trump card this early.
"Lynnea and Leo are even less suited for this matchup," Owen countered.
"True..." Ethan sighed.
"Then let me handle it." Owen ruffled Eevee's head. He had already negotiated "terms" with her; today, Eevee might just perform at 120% efficiency.
"Alright..." Weighing the pros and cons, Ethan knew Owen was right and nodded reluctantly.
"Boss!!" Leo was stunned that Owen had jumped the gun. He knew exactly what Owen was doing—he was going out to show off.
Owen just smiled. There was no other way; aside from Eevee, neither Munchlax nor Growlithe had enough certainty to take down that Rhyhorn. If Fairview kept losing like this, it would be too embarrassing to bear.
Eevee leaped from Owen's shoulder and trotted toward the arena.
"Leave the rest to me," Owen said casually as he passed a dejected Sarah Zhou on her way back. Sarah blinked in surprise and nodded.
Owen stepped into the position Sarah had just vacated and faced Clement.
"An Eevee??" Clement's expression shifted from triumph to bewilderment.
"Clement! Eevee is so cute, go easy on her! Don't lose your manners!!"
"Yeah, don't use too much force!"
The Riverside students in the stands were laughing.
"What's wrong with Fairview No. 1? At least give the Eevee an Evolution Stone before letting it fight."
"Have they run out of real trainers? Why send out a pet?"
"The wind is quite loud today..."
Owen rubbed his temples as the mocking chatter washed over him. This was the downside of an away game—the atmosphere was designed to rattle you. Especially Eevee.
"Vee!!" Eevee's mood was initially pleasant. So many people calling me cute? But as she heard the follow-up comments about "going easy" and "not using force," her expression hardened. Do I look that harmless to you?
"Vee-vee!!" Eevee let out a sharp cry. Owen understood immediately: she wanted to give them a taste of her "cuteness," so they'd know she wasn't a toy to be trifled with.
Clement sighed. He looked at his armored Rhyhorn, then at the small fox-like Eevee. It didn't even seem like they were in the same weight class. This felt like bullying a toddler.
As the match began, Owen looked at the dismissive Clement and asked loudly:
"Hey, do you think Rhyhorn's Stomp is faster, or Eevee's Quick Attack?"
Before Clement could even process the question, Eevee transformed into a streak of white light and charged!
The speed was so explosive that the Riverside teachers and students gasped. Even the professional trainers, Ethan and Blaze, widened their eyes.
"That speed... what is that?"
"Did she only eat four Salac Berries?" Ethan knew Eevee was naturally fast, but four berries shouldn't have resulted in this. Had Owen found some other miracle after the Little Phoenix King Cup?
Though the Quick Attack was beyond Rhyhorn's comprehension, the beast instinctively used Stomp!
Because the arena was large, the distance gave Rhyhorn just enough time to slam its front legs down. Clement breathed a sigh of relief, expecting the shockwave to interrupt Eevee's momentum.
However, Eevee had timed it perfectly. Anticipating the impact, she used her powerful legs to launch herself high into the air. Simultaneously, a metallic sheen began to spread from the tip of her fluffy tail...
This was the jump Owen had once joked was a "Splash" move. After countless hours of leg-strength training, Eevee's vertical leap was immense.
She soared over the Stomp's shockwave, tucked her body, and began to spin like a high-diver. Then, with pinpoint accuracy, she slammed her Iron Tail directly onto Rhyhorn's back!
Explosive speed, a practiced leap, and a spinning Iron Tail—Rhyhorn's counter had been utterly useless.
BOOM!!
The heavy impact of the Iron Tail slammed Rhyhorn into the dirt, kicking up a cloud of dust. The crowd sat in stunned silence.
But Eevee wasn't done.
BOOM! BOOM!!
Two more consecutive Iron Tails followed in rapid succession, completely crushing any hope of Rhyhorn standing back up.
Total silence fell over the gymnasium.
Looking at the hyper-violent Eevee standing triumphantly atop the fainted Rhyhorn, the students who had just been mocking her swallowed hard. The boy who had guided them earlier stared with his mouth hanging wide open.
"That Iron Tail is..." Ethan's eyelid twitched. She had only started learning the move half a month ago, yet her mastery was this high? This meant that even before she mastered Steel-type energy, Eevee had already trained her tail to its physical limit.
"Clement... one of our four vice-captain candidates... lost just like that?"
The Riverside students felt like they were in a fever dream.
"Ming, Kexin, Victor, Blake... which of you is going up?"
Blaze Zhao's expression turned grim. Tearing his eyes away from Ethan's gloating face, he turned to the Riverside bench.
Clement's strength was in the top five of their school team. As a vice-captain candidate, he had three rivals of similar caliber: Ming, Kexin, and Vyxe. Then there was Brandon—the undisputed ace and the man Blaze had already chosen as captain.
Clement's defeat meant that aside from these four, no one else stood a chance against Owen.
"Is Eevee their hidden ace? That old fox Ethan... he always finds a way to surprise me."
Blaze narrowed his eyes, his mood darkening by the second.
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