The next morning, the sun shone on the boundless land, and a high-speed train, breaking through the morning mist, sped towards Xiyue City.
"I'm already on the high-speed train. Mm-hm, don't worry, with Uncle Su leading the way, what could possibly happen to me? It's only for a week, I'll be back soon, don't worry, wait for my good news, bye-bye."
On the high-speed train, Lin Fan hung up the call with his Lin Mom, took a deep breath, and looked at the pleasant scenery outside the window, his mood involuntarily becoming cheerful.
Since the arrival of Pokémon, transportation tools like high-speed trains and airplanes have undergone significant reforms; every high-speed train or airplane is now equipped with many Superior Trainers to prevent attacks from wild Pokémon.
However, correspondingly, their prices have also become much more expensive; at least Lin Fan, in his previous decades of life, had never experienced taking a high-speed train in this world.
His first experience was not much different from the high-speed trains in his past life, but perhaps because the global climate and environment had improved significantly since the arrival of Pokémon, the scenery outside the window was exceptionally beautiful.
Even Lin Fan, who never took photos or posted on his Moments, couldn't resist taking a few, captioning them: "But Mom, life is a wilderness."
Soon, the first like and comment appeared on his Moments.
Lin Mom: ?
Through the comment, Lin Fan seemed to already see his Lin Mom's speechless expression; he chuckled, turned off his phone, and his gaze swept over Su Wu and Su Ling beside him.
The two clearly took high-speed trains often, and for this journey that would take several hours, they chose to close their eyes and rest as soon as they boarded.
Perhaps infected by them, Lin Fan stretched, closed his eyes, and gradually drifted into a dream.
...
Xiyue City is famous for its rich mineral resources, and one of the eighteen Gyms of Xia Kingdom, the Rock-type Gym, is located there.
Lin Fan and his group got off the train at Xiyue Station and briefly looked around at the scenery.
Xiyue Station had a very distinctive Xiyue City characteristic; it was built on a small hill, and the howling mountain wind blew, giving it a unique, bold, and rugged feel.
"Let's go. First, we'll go to the hotel to drop off our luggage, then head to Xiyue Arena to register and get our numbers."
Su Wu took the lead and walked out of Xiyue Station, with Lin Fan and Su Ling following closely behind, both curiously observing the city and its residents.
The ubiquitous Rock-type Pokémon and numerous hikers dressed for outdoor exploration, the many buildings predominantly in black and gray yet not oppressive but rather grand, everything about this city imbued it with a bold character.
The group quickly arrived at the reserved hotel, a rather high-end place, and importantly, very close to Xiyue Arena.
The rookie competition organized by Ling Yue Company was quite well-known, which led to a surge in hotel popularity, and Su Wu almost didn't manage to get a reservation.
As a Professional Trainer, Su Wu enjoyed a 50% discount when booking hotels, a generous benefit that made Lin Fan incredibly envious, vowing that he too must become a Professional Trainer.
There were three single rooms in total; Su Wu and Su Ling chose the first two, and the last one naturally belonged to Lin Fan.
Before entering, Su Wu seemed to have remembered something and instructed Lin Fan and Su Ling: "You two should rest in your rooms first. You can also browse the official forum for this competition—the Zero Moon Cup Forum. There are many posts from participating contestants there. You can roughly determine the level of your opponents or see if there's any useful information."
Zero Moon Cup Forum? Zero Moon Cup should be the name of this competition, right?
Lin Fan nodded. Although it was a bit embarrassing that he didn't even know its official name so close to the competition, great men are not bothered by trifles, so there was no need to dwell on such details.
Entering the room and putting away his luggage, Heracross eagerly ran out to get some fresh air, looking left and right, nodding occasionally to show its approval of the hotel's environment.
"Zero Moon Cup Forum..."
Lin Fan typed these words on his phone, clicked the official link, and immediately jumped to a forum where new posts constantly appeared.
"I didn't expect this competition to be so popular... Well, it's even spread to Twilight City, which is so far away from here, so its popularity goes without saying."
Lin Fan murmured, his finger scrolling the screen as he began to filter for posts useful to him.
Although most were boastful, show-off, or self-important posts, there were also many posts showcasing Pokémon, providing Lin Fan with a lot of useful information.
"Nidorina... Nidorino..."
"Vulpix... Growlithe..."
"Scyther... Pinsir... Heracross..."
Looking at these showcased Pokémon, Lin Fan couldn't help but be a little surprised.
This batch of contestants truly had something.
Especially when he saw those Bug-type Pokémon, Lin Fan was incredibly envious.
Rich people are great; they choose such rare Pokémon as their starter Pokémon.
It's a pity he didn't see any pseudo-legendary Pokémon making an appearance.
But thinking about it, the breeding period for pseudo-legendary Pokémon is extremely long; although they are very powerful after final evolution, they don't have much advantage as starter Pokémon.
"Forget it, I won't look anymore. Looking too much makes me nervous."
Lin Fan turned off his phone, choosing to avoid seeing what he didn't want to.
It must be said that going out and seeing the world was a very good experience for him; only then could he more clearly know what level his strength was among his peers.
Before he came, he knew he was a top rookie Trainer in Twilight City; after he arrived, he realized he was the top rookie Trainer in the entire province.
Touching his cheek narcissistically, Lin Fan precisely returned the restless Heracross to its Poké Ball, walked out of his room, and followed Su Wu to the arena for registration.
On the way, Su Ling curiously asked Lin Fan: "Did you see the Pokémon of those contestants? How is it? Are you feeling any pressure?"
Lin Fan made a fist, placed it between his mouth and nose, and assumed a thoughtful pose: "There is indeed a bit of pressure. It seems I'll need to use thirty percent of my power to win the Champion title."
"Tch, you're really putting on an act."
Su Ling rolled her eyes dramatically, but a slight smile couldn't help but appear at the corner of her mouth.
Originally, she was feeling a lot of pressure, but now that Lin Fan had said that, she no longer felt nervous and regained her confidence.
Shrugging his shoulders, Lin Fan playfully fiddled with the Poké Ball in his hand, his eyes subtly glinting.
Claiming to win the Champion title with thirty percent of his power was indeed showing off, but he was serious about winning the Champion title.
After all, Heracross trained so hard every day, so how could he not go all out?
Of course, the generous prize money and rewards for the Champion title also attracted him a tiny bit.
Hmm, just a tiny bit, because as everyone knows, he is a man who regards money as dirt.