Joyful Pokémon Get Stronger? Then I Won't Be a Trainer

An inexplicable impulse stirred within Li Bing's heart.

Aside from the owner of Wangwang Supermarket and himself, no one else knew.

This competition actually had behind-the-scenes manipulation.

The so-called manipulation

was his ability to control who the contestants would face after advancing from the group stage.

He had to find a way to let Lin Feng fight more purely against the trainer with the Lapras.

Chapter 23: Breaking Out of the Group Stage, Paving the Way for the Child

After the first round of battles ended, the second round followed immediately, with only five minutes of rest in between.

However.

For the Snivy, which had only used two moves, the consumption was nearly nonexistent...

And the second round turned out to be quite uneventful.

The opponent was the trainer with the Spearow. Upon seeing that he was up against Lin Feng, his face instantly fell.

Despite the Type Advantage, he really had no confidence that his Spearow could dodge that Snivy's Vine Whip.

It wasn't just his face that fell, though.

The expressions of all the contestants in Group Nine collapsed.

In the first round, they had already witnessed Lin Feng's strength.

So their confidence in breaking out of the group stage was not strong.

As Lin Feng expected.

The Spearow tried to evade from the start, but it still couldn't escape the Snivy's Vine Whip and was quickly smacked down with a single lash.

If this were out in the wild, maybe the Snivy wouldn't be able to catch up to a Flying-type Spearow.

But now, indoors, the arena was only so big—there was simply nowhere to run.

Then came the third round.

The opponent sent out a Pikachu...

Well, although Lin Feng had a deep impression of Pikachu, not every Pikachu was the Pika God, capable of fighting against type advantages.

It was easily bound by the Snivy and thrown straight out of the arena.

With that...

the morning's group matches all concluded.

A total of nine people emerged from the group stage.

In between, the Baby Cup organizers would provide meals and a two-hour rest period.

As soon as the matches ended, Qin Shu excitedly ran over to share the good news, saying she had also successfully advanced from her group.

Lin Feng nodded, not surprised.

He had basically watched the situation in every group.

Qin Shu had been pretty lucky.

In her group, the stronger Pokémon were countered by Squirtle's type, while the weaker ones couldn't dodge the fierce Water Gun at all. Making it out of the group stage just meant she and Squirtle had performed decently.

But in her eyes, it was a different story.

This first victory gave Qin Shu immense confidence.

She was already blissfully imagining herself as a top-tier Pokémon Trainer, standing on the biggest stage—the Pokémon Championship—battling alongside the Elite Four!

And winning.

To that, Lin Feng just smiled.

Qin Shu's dream had always been to become a Pokémon Master, standing under the spotlight, making everyone cheer for her and her Pokémon, and putting in "on-and-off" effort toward that goal.

But fantasies and aspirations were never wrong. When you're young, everyone hopes to become the hero they admire in their heart.

Whether or not it comes true in the future, at least it leaves behind a precious memory to look back on.

Two hours flew by in an instant.

Compared to the tight schedule of the morning, the afternoon matches felt much more relaxed.

After all, there were only nine people left now, requiring just four battles to reach the semifinals.

However, to avoid wasting time, the four battles were held simultaneously.

As for the last person, they would get a bye draw and advance directly into the top five.

At this moment.

Ten minutes before the match began.

At Competitor Seat No. 7, Chi Heng, the owner of Wangwang Supermarket and the planner of this entire affair, looked over the nine competitors who had emerged from the group stage.

To be precise, it should be eight.

Because he had excluded his own child.

These eight trainers all seemed fairly standard in appearance.

Logically speaking, this situation was the one he favored most.

But there was one Rookie Trainer and his Pokémon that he still couldn't quite figure out.

That was Lin Feng and Snivy from Group Nine.

After four matches, aside from the first battle, where Snivy used Vine Whip and Leaf Blade, in the other matches, it had only used the single move Vine Whip to defeat its opponents.

Although as a businessman, Chi Heng wasn't very proficient in Pokémon battles, he understood that this Rookie Trainer named Lin Feng was most likely hiding his strength, either for the prize money or for fame...

Thinking this, he couldn't help but call over Li Bing.

"What's up, boss?"

Li Bing flew over, looking confused.

Chi Heng said directly, "I want to see the Battle Schedule."

"Huh?"

Li Bing pulled out the schedule while asking doubtfully, "What's wrong, boss? It's arranged just how you wanted. There's still ten minutes until the match starts..."

"There's one competitor I've been a bit uneasy about," Chi Heng said, taking the schedule and scanning it, his brow immediately furrowing. "Where's that Lin Feng guy?"

Li Bing replied unhurriedly, "Oh, him. He got a bye this round. Didn't you say to arrange the early rounds randomly, and only have Lapras one-shot the opponent in the final match?"

Chi Heng shook his head. "No good. This Snivy hasn't shown its full strength yet, and I'm not confident. Here's what you do—match Xu Kun against this Lin Feng. Fire-type Torchic has the advantage over Snivy. See if we can force out its full power."

"Uh... fine..."

A trace of helplessness flashed through his mind.

It seemed his plan to temporarily keep Lin Feng under wraps had fallen through.

He was about to fly up into the sky to adjust the match schedule, but Chi Heng called him back, putting on a smiling face. "Young Master Li, although I don't know much about Pokémon battles, this matter is between you and me. If it succeeds in the end, I'll double your pay."

Li Bing was taken aback, feeling even more helpless inside, but he smiled and said, "This... how embarrassing."

"It's only right, only right."

Chi Heng nodded with a grin.

Only after watching Li Bing fly up into the sky did his smile fade.

He really didn't understand Pokémon battles.

But he understood business.

Only a relationship bound by mutual benefit was the most solid kind!

Unfortunately, this era belonged to trainers...

So he had to pave the way for his own child.

Five minutes before the match began.

The nine trainers were gathered together, undergoing the final draw.

Xu Kun, who had Torchic with him, looked at his assigned opponent and found Lin Feng, saying in surprise, "We're up against each other?"

He had just been at Field 1 and hadn't noticed what was happening with Lin Feng.

But what he hadn't expected was

that Lin Feng, who hadn't even chosen his first Pokémon during the college entrance exam, could already have a Pokémon capable of making it out of the group stage in the Baby Cup in such a short time.

"That's how it looks for now."

Lin Feng shrugged, not thinking much of it.

Xu Kun, however, sighed and walked over to Lin Feng. "Ah, your luck really isn't great. Don't worry, I'll go easy on you..."