Testing and Ranked Matches

The next morning.

Fully dressed, Su Hao took his keycard and left the residential area with Carbink, heading for the city's largest Training Facilities and Gym—the Rising Sun Gym, the Fire-type Gym run by Su Hao's father.

Before going to bed last night, Su Hao's father had given him this keycard, which was exclusively for Su Hao.

The Gyms in this world were much like those in the games and anime from his previous life.

Gym Leaders did not have being a Gym Leader as their only profession. Many had side businesses besides their Gym Leader duties, and for some, being a Gym Leader was even their side job.

For example, the Cerulean Sisters of the Cerulean Gym in the Kanto region were famous for their aquarium and water ballet, while hardly anyone paid attention to their battle strength. The same was true of the Lumiose Gym in the Kalos region. Its Gym Leader, Clemont, was more talented at research than running a Gym, and had even invented the Rotom Dex.

Compared to those unprofessional Gym Leaders from his previous life, Su Hao's father was exceptionally dedicated. He had merely set up apprentice courses and a large training ground inside the Gym.

As he walked, Su Hao considered his upcoming training plan. Before long, he arrived at the Fire-type Gym on the outskirts of Yang City—the Rising Sun Gym.

Since the entire Divine Land Alliance had only eighteen Gyms of different types, every one of them was built to the standards of a city landmark.

The Rising Sun Gym occupied an entire mountain within Yang City, covering a vast area.

Though it was only eight in the morning, all kinds of vendors drawn by the training grounds' popularity and foot traffic had already set up their stalls and started business.

Su Hao casually bought a Jianbing from a breakfast stall before heading toward the Gym's main entrance.

A long queue had already formed at the main entrance, but Su Hao did not join the crowd. Instead, he turned right into the staff passageway.

"Young Gym Leader, you're here so early!" A kind-looking cleaning lady greeted Su Hao.

"Yeah, I received my Starter Pokémon yesterday. I'm getting ready to start training today!"

All the Gym employees knew Su Hao, the Gym Leader's son. After all, he had grown up here.

Before long, Su Hao arrived outside the private training room his father had prepared for him, VIP6-6.

Su Hao held the card against the sensor beside the door. With a beep, the door opened.

The moment he stepped inside, a space the size of a sports field came into view.

The room was enormous, and the ceiling was high enough for Flying Pokémon to fly inside.

Su Hao picked up the tablet placed nearby. It contained introductions to every function in the room, along with their control buttons.

However, Su Hao had grown up in this Gym and already knew most of its functions. Besides, they were not useful to him at the moment.

Su Hao had come to the training ground today for a simple reason: to assess Carbink's current physical condition, observe all of Carbink's moves, and then head to the Gym's Battle Arena for a fight.

After releasing Carbink from its Poké Ball, Su Hao began communicating with it through Aura.

Su Hao explained that he wanted a general understanding of Carbink's physique and its mastery of its moves, then use battles to identify any possible shortcomings.

"Na na~" Carbink was extremely eager. (No problem.)

Ever since Carbink had begun carrying the Diancie Mega Stone Su Hao gave it last night, it had felt something.

It was an inexplicable feeling—or perhaps an instinct—that told Carbink it needed to become stronger as quickly as possible. Something was waiting for it.

After Carbink's demonstration, Su Hao had a rough understanding of its current condition.

Although Carbink was very slow, its move execution speed was outstanding. It could precisely control its energy and direct moves wherever it wanted, though they still lacked a little power.

Carbink's body was exceptionally tough. At its current level, most Pokémon of the same level would find it difficult to break through its defenses.

However, Su Hao had no intention of developing Carbink solely into a defensive Pokémon.

After Carbink became Diancie, its mediocre physical and special attack would both be remedied. Following Mega Evolution, its attack power would rise even further to a terrifying degree.

Su Hao planned to build Carbink's foundations in every aspect while it was still a Carbink and develop it in a balanced manner. Once it underwent its Mutation into Diancie, its potential would burst forth all at once. As a Mythical Pokémon, Diancie's abundant physical capabilities and energy were advantages that surpassed those of ordinary Pokémon.

After roughly testing Carbink's abilities in every area, Su Hao brought it straight to the Gym's battle facilities.

It was worth mentioning that the Divine Land Alliance had organized an official competition throughout the entire Pokémon League called [Ranked Matches].

As an officially organized competition, Ranked Matches held authority across every industry in the country.

As the name suggested, Ranked Matches allowed participants to raise their rankings and advance their tiers through Pokémon battles.

The first tier was the Poké Ball Tier. Since there were too many participants, every Trainer who registered for Ranked Matches was assigned to the Poké Ball Tier.

Because the Poké Ball Tier had such an enormous participant base, it was not included in the national rankings.

Next came the Great Ball Tier. The requirement for advancing from the Poké Ball Tier to the Great Ball Tier was simple: achieve ten consecutive wins in the Poké Ball Tier. Since opponents were randomly assigned by the computer, one might enter the Great Ball Tier easily—or have a winning streak interrupted by a powerful Trainer who had dropped down from the Great Ball Tier and was stomping weaker opponents.

No matter how many matches one lost in the Poké Ball Tier, there was nowhere lower to fall. But starting from the Great Ball Tier, losing too many matches would cause one to drop a tier.

Overall, the Poké Ball Tier was more like a massive sieve, filtering out some of the less capable Trainers.

Above the Great Ball Tier were the Ultra Ball Tier, the Master Ball Tier, and the [Elite Four Challenge] at the pinnacle of the Divine Land Alliance. The top thousand Trainers in the Master Ball Tier entered an Elimination Tournament, and the final eight competitors earned the right to challenge the five strongest people in the Alliance: the Elite Four and the Champion. Those who succeeded could even replace the Elite Four member or Champion they defeated and become one themselves.

As Yang City's only officially certified Ranked Matches Battle Arena, the Rising Sun Gym was naturally packed with people at all times.

However, Ranked Matches were not a competition that Su Hao and Carbink, who were still at Novice Level, could participate in.

Su Hao's real destination was a huge open space outside the official Ranked Matches Battle Arena.

Every year around this time, many Novice Trainers from Yang City who had just received their Starter Pokémon gathered there.

Only by fighting people at the same level could he determine where he and Carbink currently stood in terms of strength.