Gym Leader Wu’s son? Onix?
Lin Fan’s gaze flickered slightly, becoming a bit more cautious.
None of the Gym Leader’s sons were characters to be underestimated. Given how much Su Wu praised Gym Leader Wu, his son’s strength was bound to be impressive.
“How is it? Feeling the pressure?” Su Wu watched Lin Fan with a relaxed air, a faint smile on his face.
“Pressure, huh… I wasn’t feeling any originally, but hearing you say that, I guess there’s a little.” Lin Fan smiled, a glint in his eyes. “But until I see their true strength, I’m confident that Beedrill won’t lose to anyone.”
“Hiss-pee!”
Beedrill cooperatively brandished its Double Needle, cutting through the air with whistling sounds that ruffled Lin Fan’s hair, revealing a hint of youthful spirit.
Su Wu paused, looked deeply at Lin Fan, patted his shoulder, and laughed heartily. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen a newcomer as sharp as you, whose strength matches their ambition. It’s a pity. If only it were before you chose your first Pokémon, I would have tried everything to pull you onto the path of a Fighting-type specialist.”
Lin Fan grinned. If he had specialized in Fighting-type, how would he have the strength he possessed now? Everything in his destiny had already been marked with a price in the dark.
“Alright, it’s getting late. Go rest. Don’t go overturning in the first round of the preliminaries.” Su Wu teased, then walked towards his room first.
“Overturning in the first round of the preliminaries? That would indeed be quite embarrassing, wouldn’t it, Beedrill?”
“Hiss-pee~”
Smiling, Lin Fan also walked towards his room.
Onix, known as the strongest physical defender? Interesting.
......
The next morning, Lin Fan woke up early. After a simple warm-up, he and Su Ling took a taxi to Xiyue Arena.
After separating to go to their respective areas, Lin Fan checked the time: 8:30 AM. There was still some time.
Many people participated in the competition, so there would be three days of preliminaries until the number of participants was filtered down to 128.
There weren't many spectators during the preliminaries, but the large number of participants still made the giant arena bustling with noise.
A passionate young man declared his intention to win: “This Zero Moon Cup Champion will definitely be me and Sandshrew!”
Someone immediately beside him unceremoniously shot him down: “You still want to be Champion? Didn’t you see how fierce that Pinsir was in the last match? And those other Pokémon that are no less powerful than Pinsir—Scyther, Heracross… In my opinion, winning this Zero Moon Cup is much harder than in previous years.”
Their conversation immediately attracted a circle of nearby contestants, who began discussing heatedly.
“That Ivysaur in Zone C is also very strong; it defeated its opponent very easily.”
“Tch, that’s because his opponent was too weak, just there to make up the numbers.”
“As if you’re not just making up the numbers.”
“Heh, wanna fight?”
“So what? Am I scared of you?”
Seeing the topic drift further and further off, Lin Fan covered his ears, a headache brewing, and walked through the noisy crowd to sit in a relatively quiet spot.
He had come to realize that most of the people here were just making up the numbers.
After watching a few ongoing battles, his thought was further confirmed.
Most of the newcomers here had not undergone any rigorous training, or it was even questionable if they had trained at all.
The sight of Oddish and Bellsprout pecking at each other like weaklings was truly unbearable.
In recent years, Xia Country has greatly supported new Trainers, and with continuous egg hatching, the Pokémon available to new Trainers are theoretically getting better in terms of aptitude.
However, with societal development, new Trainers are now experiencing a decline in strength. The root cause is a lack of competitive and crisis awareness.
Furthermore, with good-aptitude Pokémon in hand, they can achieve significant strength improvements even without training, so many newcomers are too lazy to train, or merely let their Pokémon train while they Slack Off nearby, leading to a complete lack of synergy with their Pokémon.
“Tsk, never mind. My goal is to win the championship. These people have no conflict with me; whether they are strong or weak doesn’t matter.”
After watching another eye-watering battle of Zigzagoon and Eevee head-butting each other stubbornly, Lin Fan averted his gaze, goosebumps rising all over him.
It felt like playing a MOBA game and encountering AI teammates, watching them perform a series of bizarre, completely inhuman operations. Looking at them any longer only added to his frustration and served no other purpose.
After waiting by the edge of the field for some time, the referee picked up the loudspeaker and called out his number. Lin Fan raised his hand to indicate he was there, then pushed through the crowd and walked onto the battle arena.
As a professional battleground, each field here was equipped with a protective barrier that would activate at the start of a battle, preventing stray attacks from injuring spectators at the side.
At the same time, Lin Fan also saw his opponent, the passionate young man who had just declared his ambition to win the championship.
“Sandshrew, huh,” Lin Fan murmured. This Pokémon is a pure Ground-type, and its speed isn’t fast; it would be difficult for it to even touch Beedrill.
“The battle rules are 1v1. Both Trainers, please release your Pokémon.”
Under the referee’s command, Lin Fan and the passionate young man each released their Pokémon.
Beedrill VS Sandshrew.
Lin Fan observed the Sandshrew opposite him. It was evident that its scales were regularly maintained, and its aura was quite good. Compared to the previous, indescribable Pokémon and Trainers, this was a very decent level of strength, no wonder he confidently declared his intention to win the championship.
“Don’t worry, I won’t let Beedrill hurt it for too long.”
The passionate young man was full of confidence, pre-empting the referee by claiming victory for the match.
Lin Fan: “…”
Looking at his opponent with a hint of speechlessness, Lin Fan didn’t know what to say for a moment. Once the referee announced the start, he immediately gave his command: “Headshot.”
“Headshot? What kind of move is that?” The passionate young man was somewhat bewildered and momentarily forgot to give Sandshrew a command.
Sandshrew stood foolishly in place, still waiting for its Trainer’s command, when Beedrill’s figure appeared before it like a ghost. The long spear in its hand unhesitatingly stabbed towards its head, piercing through the outer scales and directly into the flesh within.
Bang!
A dull thud spread out. Sandshrew’s figure flew backward, decisively losing its ability to battle.
“Sandshrew!”
The passionate young man cried out, immediately running to Sandshrew and embracing it, his face filled with disbelief.
“Sandshrew is unable to battle. Trainer Lin Fan, number 404, advances. Please check the Zero Moon Cup official account for information on your next match.”
The referee impassively announced the match result, clearly accustomed to such situations.
Lin Fan recalled Beedrill and walked off the field. He glanced at the passionate young man, hesitated, then spoke faintly: “Your reaction time is too slow; you’re holding Sandshrew back. For a Trainer, you either need strong on-the-spot reaction skills, or you need to let your Pokémon be independent, focusing on training their autonomous attacking ability from the start. If you want to win the championship, you can’t just rely on slogans.”
The passionate young man stared blankly at Lin Fan, then at Sandshrew, a complex expression appearing on his face. He recalled Sandshrew into its Poké Ball, gripping it tightly in his hand: “I understand. Thank you.”
Lin Fan nodded noncommittally and turned to leave.
Although he felt that the young man in front of him was a bit out of touch with reality and didn’t fully understand what a Trainer’s role truly was, his love and care for his Pokémon were genuine.
Temporary weakness and ignorance didn’t mean anything; having that heart was enough.
The impassive referee beside them showed a hint of surprise for the first time. Watching Lin Fan’s retreating figure, he nodded in approval.
A good young man. He could be observed closely; he had the potential to become a seeded player.