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"Damn it! Scrafty, use Acid Spray!"
Seeing that even in close combat, the sluggish Scrafty was still being easily outmaneuvered by Zorua, the middle-aged man, after much deliberation, had no choice but to use Scrafty's only other ranged move—Acid Spray.
Instantly, a purple energy orb emitting a corrosive odor appeared in Scrafty's hand, and it threw the orb toward Zorua not far away.
"Sizzle~ Sizzle~ Sizzle!"
Zorua quickly dodged, and the purple orb landed where she had been standing, splashing corrosive acid everywhere that sizzled as it burned the ground.
"Keep using Acid Spray!"
Having almost been splashed by the exploding acid, Zorua was furious. The damage from this acid wasn't much, but if it stuck to her, it would definitely leave unsightly corrosive marks on her body.
For Zorua, who was always conscious of her appearance and made David meticulously groom her fur after every training session, this was naturally unbearable.
Still angry, she saw her opponent once again shamelessly throwing such filthy attacks at her, which made her even more enraged.
"Zorua!"
Zorua, whose anger had reached its peak, had her eyes glow with pink light. Invisible Psychic power unfolded, intercepting all of the opponent's attacks in midair, then manipulating these Acid Sprays to return them all to Scrafty.
Against the Dark-type Scrafty, Zorua's Psychic-type moves indeed couldn't directly affect it, but this didn't include redirecting attacks the opponent had launched.
All the returned Acid Sprays rained down on their original user. Although Scrafty tried its best to dodge, it had no ranged means to intercept them and was exceptionally clumsy.
Scrafty was still hit directly by several Acid Sprays.
Its originally brown exterior turned completely purple under the corrosion of Poison-type energy.
"Payback!"
Seeing this, David immediately commanded Zorua to press the attack.
Eerie, dark purple flames emerged around Zorua. Ever since she had absorbed the negative emotions remaining in the Light Stone two days ago, the already chilling resentment contained in Zorua's Payback had become even more terrifying.
David, merely standing nearby, could even vaguely hear countless wails emanating from the flames of resentment.
Instantly, a sea of flames—a convergence of resentment—surged toward Scrafty. Having already had its Special Defense lowered by its own Acid Spray, Scrafty simply couldn't withstand the invasion of the resentful flames.
Unable to put up any resistance, the terrifying energy poured directly onto Scrafty's body.
"Scrafty!"
A moment later, the sea of flames dissipated, and the unconscious Scrafty lay sprawled on the ground, emitting black-purple smoke.
"Scrafty... Scrafty..."
Looking at the fallen Scrafty, the middle-aged man turned pale, lowered his head, and murmured "Scrafty... Scrafty..." no longer bearing his previous arrogant demeanor.
"Scrafty is unable to battle. The match is over. The winner is—Trainer David!"
Regardless of either Trainer's mood, the electronic screen still truthfully broadcasted the battle's result, the cold electronic voice declaring David's victory.
Upon hearing the result, David, having completed his task for the day, bent down to pick up Zorua and left the arena without looking back, not even sparing the middle-aged man a glance. As he had said at the beginning, he had no time to waste on a loser.
"Let's go home, Zorua. I'll cook for you all when we get back!"
"Zorua~ (＾－＾)V"
Leaving the battle venue, David checked the time. It was just 3:20 PM. That guy had dragged his feet, arriving just on time, wasting a full eighteen minutes, and then was swiftly dispatched by Zorua in two minutes.
He casually opened the ranked match app and smiled with satisfaction, seeing his newly promoted rank.
Name: DavidRanked Match ID: 128328648Identity: Rookie TrainerRanked Tier: Great Ball Tier V (Promoted)Consecutive Wins: 10 (Ongoing)Total Wins: 10
At this time, David's rank had changed from the initial Poké Ball tier to Great Ball tier, but a V mark was also displayed after Great Ball.
Because the number of people at the Poké Ball tier was large, the entry barrier was low, and the promotion conditions were straightforward, there was only a single tier.
However, from Great Ball tier onward, each major stage was divided into five smaller ranks, represented by Roman numerals I to V, very similar to a game David had played before the world changed.
This could be considered another unique aspect of the Cloudspire League style, David thought.
Globally, there were many competitions similar to ranked matches, and most had their own regional characteristics. According to what David knew, for example, in the Europa League, a ranked match similar to the Battle Chateau from the anime seemed to be prevalent.
Due to historical reasons, a large number of castle buildings remained throughout the Europa League. For instance, the Galar region alone had at least twenty thousand castles.
Apart from a few privately owned castles, these castles were operated by the League as battle venues.
Their ranked match tiers weren't simply divided by Poké Balls like in the Cloudspire League, but rather mimicked the aristocratic titles of old Europe. They were divided into Battle Knight, Battle Baron, Battle Viscount, and so on, all the way up to Battle Grand Duke.
It was a ranked match system with strong regional characteristics. David thought that if he ever traveled to the Europa League, he would definitely try it out.
Upon reaching Great Ball tier, the system also sent a notification that he could claim the reward for promoting to Great Ball tier. However, like the Rookie Tournament, rewards could be accumulated, so David naturally chose not to claim them for now.
According to what Teacher Dominic had said in the morning, their task for the day was to achieve ten battle victories. Since he had already completed the task, there was no need to waste more time here.
Looking at his completed ten-win streak, if it was as Teacher Dominic said, then his training course's final exam requirement would already be met, as long as he maintained his Great Ball tier and didn't drop in rank.
However, David already had higher aspirations. "Let's set another small goal: strive to be promoted to Great Ball Tier I by the end of the semester!"
There was no need to stay any longer. David found Dominic, who was discreetly observing nearby, greeted him, and then left the Battle Center with satisfaction.
Watching David's retreating figure, Dominic wondered, "Perhaps next time, I should set a more specific standard for this kid?"