Mythical Pokémon Era: Global Ascension

Taking second place in the group was the equivalent of "doing badly enough to get your parents called in" for a recommended student.

Roy's arrival represented one thing.

"Before I face him, I can't afford to lose a single match. Otherwise, there'll be no room for error."

As Lin Shixian nervously began sweating from his palms, the large screen in the waiting room lit up.

"Group F, first round, first match..."

The two students called upon stood up, exchanged a glance, and left the waiting room brimming with fighting spirit.

Very soon, the screen began broadcasting their live battle.

There was no audience in the stands during the preliminaries.

Roy looked thoughtful.

Only people in the same group can watch the matches during the preliminaries...?

But contestants can freely use the internet, so information can still leak...

The ability to gather intelligence on opponents is also part of the test...

Roy watched the battle for a moment. The intense fight could only be described as... a beautifully terrible rookie brawl. He wore an expression of utter disgust.

Roy gave up watching and lowered his head, taking out his phone to read the information Mu Tianyang had sent him.

It was not until the fourth match that Roy was finally called up.

His first opponent was a chubby boy with glasses. With his hands on his hips, he sneered at Roy.

"Hehe, I'm really lucky."

Though the chubby boy was not a recommended student, he could barely be considered a second-generation Trainer.

Both his parents were Trainers, though neither had crossed the threshold into Professional-level. They could not compare to true second-generation Trainers, but he was still full of confidence when it came to crushing a Trainer like Roy, who came from an ordinary family.

This match was in the bag. The chubby boy tossed out a Poké Ball.

"Go, Onix!"

"..."

Roy threw out his Poké Ball as well, though he did not shout anything so embarrassingly dramatic.

The enormous serpent formed from stone raised its head and let out a long roar, its presence imposing.

Compared to Onix, Riolu looked as small and frail as a child standing before a sumo wrestler.

"Onix, Dragon Breath!"

Dragon Energy continuously gathered and condensed in Onix's mouth.

Naturally, Roy was not going to foolishly wait for his opponent to use a move.

Besides, this Onix—

It was way too slow at using moves!

"Quick Attack—!"

The instant Roy spoke, Riolu surged forward like a bolt of lightning, crossing dozens of meters in the blink of an eye and slamming into Onix's lower jaw!

"So fast, th-this, dodge—"

The chubby boy was so stunned that he did not even have time to finish speaking before he witnessed an absurdly contradictory scene.

Riolu crashed into Onix's lower jaw. Despite the difference in size, as though a mayfly were trying to topple a tree, it was the tree that got knocked down.

Dragon Breath was only half formed when Onix crashed to the ground.

"—Rock Smash!"

Riolu landed lightly beside Onix. Before Roy had even finished issuing the command, it seemed to understand him perfectly. White light flared from its right hand as Fighting energy gathered within it. Then, its arm swung down, striking Onix's head like lightning.

Bang—!

With a deafening crash, Onix let out an agonized howl. Its body dragged and rolled across the ground, kicking up waves of sand before being sent flying clean out of the arena.

Three seconds later, the referee announced the result.

"Onix has lost its ability to battle. The winner is Competitor Roy!"

In the contestants' waiting room, everyone except Lin Shixian wore the same expression as the chubby boy. Their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, and their jaws almost hit the floor.

I-instantly defeated!!??

"..."

As they watched the astonishing scene in the arena, the room suddenly fell silent.

While they were shocked by Riolu's strength, they also felt a little... awkward.

After all, just moments ago, most of them had looked down on Roy, and some had even openly insulted him.

Yet no one had expected the slap in the face to come so quickly.

Fortunately, they were all adults and fairly capable of handling awkward situations.

Before long, people began whispering among themselves.

"H-he's kind of strong."

"Kind of? Riolu's speed and power... to put it bluntly, most of us would get one-shot if we went up against it."

"Holy crap, was that Roy really born into an ordinary family?"

"Tsk tsk, judging by this momentum, I thought he was a clown trying to grab attention. Who knew he was a dark horse?"

"Huh, look at Lin Shixian. He's so calm. Did he already know Roy was this strong?"

Those who also came from ordinary families were excited by the rise of this dark horse.

Those with keen observation noticed something unusual about Lin Shixian, a recommended student.

And those who were simply there for the drama took out their phones and began farming forum points.

Lin Shixian remained impassive on the surface, but inwardly, he nodded.

Very good. That Riolu's performance isn't much different from yesterday's. That means the tactics I prepared will come in handy.

Yesterday's defeat had left Lin Shixian so furious that he could not sleep. In his eyes, the outcome of that battle had hinged on a single thought.

Their Pokémon were not far apart in strength, and he was clearly the superior Trainer. Lin Shixian believed he had lost solely because Riolu had suddenly unleashed its potential in the heat of battle.

Knowing that Roy would definitely pass the preliminaries and that they might meet in the elimination rounds, he had spent the entire night devising tactics specifically for Roy and Riolu.

Who would have thought they would meet during the preliminary stage instead?

"Perfect. I've been wanting to redeem myself too."

Lin Shixian could not help revealing an excited expression as he rose from his seat.

He was the next contestant.

Lin Shixian entered the contestants' passageway and happened to brush past Roy, who was returning from the arena. He suddenly murmured, "Roy, don't lose before you face me... Otherwise, you won't deserve to be my worthy rival."

"..."

Roy turned to look at his back, his expression strange.

Were they really that familiar? He had actually called him by his first name.

And worthy rival...

Men really stayed embarrassingly dramatic until the day they died...

Though Roy found it a little funny, he also became wary. His opponent had a deeper foundation as a Trainer than he did. There might be some hidden trump card, so he had to avoid an upset.

Even if it would not affect his qualification, he did not want to lose a single battle.

An intense desire to win was an essential quality for becoming a top Trainer.

Roy reached down and patted the Poké Ball at his waist, making a decision.

"Perfect. I can use Lin Shixian to test Riolu's capabilities after taking off that..."

When Roy returned to the waiting room and watched the matches, he unsurprisingly saw Lin Shixian swiftly and decisively defeat his opponent.

The preliminaries proceeded extremely quickly, with almost no rest time between matches.

The damage caused by rookie Pokémon was trivial to the treatment pods, which were practically black technology in this world. Injuries could be healed in an instant, so there was no need to worry about exhaustion.

These black-tech treatment pods were sufficient until the Professional-level stage.

It was said that battles between Professional-level Trainers required several days of rest for full recovery. Even the black-tech treatment pods could not completely heal them. Roy had no idea why...

Roy's second match soon began.

Riolu's opponent was a Psychic-type Drowzee.

In terms of type matchups, Fighting-type Riolu was at an absolute disadvantage.

Yet the battle was still easy. Psychic moves were essentially materialized Inner Focus. But if even its Inner Focus could not keep up with its opponent's speed, there was no point even talking about Psychic moves.

Under the overwhelming gap in physical attributes, Drowzee lasted only two rounds before being defeated.

Those who had believed Riolu had only one-shot Onix because of a type advantage were finally left speechless. They had no choice but to grudgingly acknowledge the birth of this "dark horse."

Within Group F, Roy and Lin Shixian pulled far ahead at the top of the standings. Almost none of their opponents could last more than three rounds.

Lin Shixian's performance was only natural. That was the level expected of a recommended student.

But Roy's performance truly defied common sense.

Thus, just a few days later, Roy and Riolu once again became a hot topic on Sheng Hai University's forum.

"I got placed in the same group as Roy. He's so strong. He's probably at the level of a recommended student."

"I'm at the venue. I just got instantly defeated. That Riolu's speed is insane. You can't react to it at all."

"I'm shocked. He trained Riolu to this level in barely a week. Did this guy really not hide his identity? Was he really born into an ordinary family?"

"Can you stop hyping him up first? You ordinary Trainers really have no idea what real strength looks like. Beating you makes him strong? Lol~~"