Protect! The Best Marnie in the World! (Double Chapter, Please Vote!)

The sky was a clear, brilliant blue. A warm breeze carrying Spikemuth's distinctive scent brushed against them, accompanied by a hint of commotion.

Volkner and Flannery had already started climbing the rankings, drawing quite a few of Spikemuth's "delinquents" over.

Jing He suddenly realized something.

Wait.

I'm already in the "Master Ball Class," so why am I still playing ranked matches?

But on second thought—

Rather than placing at the bottom in the "Master Exchange Battles" and potentially facing challenges from even more powerful Trainers, it might be better to—

Lose a few points now. At the very least, he should avoid finishing at the bottom of the "Master Ball Class." That would look pretty bad.

Jing He certainly did not think that, given his current reputation and strength, no one would dare challenge him in the "Master Exchange Battles."

By then, nearly everyone in the "Master Ball Class" would definitely be Champion-level, while those challenging through the "Master Exchange Battles," even if they were not Champion-level themselves, would surely be close.

What was there to be afraid of?

Besides, there were plenty of people like Wataru, Volkner, and Leon. They loved challenging strong opponents. The thrill and danger were the whole point, and only through such battles could they unleash even greater strength.

To avoid more "major trouble" later, dealing with some "minor trouble" now was not unacceptable.

While Peony had yet to arrive—

That would work too.

After thinking it over, Jing He said to Rotom, "Accept it. At worst, it'll be Nezu."

Since returning from the Alola Region, then starting the academy term, and now reaching this point, his Pokémon had not battled for quite some time.

"Alright, Rotom! Challenge accepted!"

The Pokémon League's matchmaking system was actually quite humane.

It did not forbid "cross-tier" challenges.

For