Smoked Magikarp

"Roy! Teach me, quick!"

Roy had just returned to the preparation room and was about to sit down for a drink of water when Wallace hurried over.

The other Trainers, who had originally kept their distance from Roy, no longer looked at him with wariness and detachment. Their eyes now held curiosity and a hint of admiration.

"Teach you what?"

"That whole thing you did at the command podium just now."

Roy looked at Wallace in confusion. He had only put on that act because of the Popularity Points. What was Wallace's deal?

It turned out Wallace had imagined himself in Roy's place on the field. That feeling of being watched by the world, of being the center of everyone's attention, was something he had always wanted.

So!

Why weren't Water-type Pokémon discriminated against?

It wasn't fair!

Roy said that was all talent, and it couldn't be taught.

Wallace refused to give up, thinking Roy simply didn't want to share his secret. Just as he was about to ask again, the announcer called out the name "Wallace."

It was his turn to take the field.

Wallace might have been flashy, but he was undeniably handsome. The moment he stepped onto the field, cheers erupted from part of the upper-left stands.

So there were still some Wallace fans in the audience.

Wallace also defeated his opponent in just three minutes. Since he couldn't show off like Roy had, he would let his strength do the talking.

But Roy had completely stolen the spotlight in the previous match, and Wallace felt like nothing more than a green leaf there to set Roy off.

No matter how gorgeous Starmie's moves were or how smoothly they flowed together, they still seemed a notch below Roy's.

Most of the audience's discussion was still focused on Roy's previous match.

Roy's next opponent used a Raticate. Roy defeated him without much effort, earning a total score of 188 points and tying Wallace for first place.

There was no problem advancing to the later semifinals.

Today's events had come to an end.

Tomorrow's matches would be held at the same time.

Roy packed up his things and prepared to leave.

Erika followed after him as well, but she was too embarrassed to speak to Roy. She simply stood quietly a short distance away from him.

Erika's delicate face was flushed with shyness, and she was so nervous that she didn't know what to say. She was even more nervous than she had been during the match.

In the end, Chikorita at her side couldn't stand it anymore. It ran over and bit Roy's pant leg. Only then did Roy lower his head and notice Chikorita, bending down to pat its head.

Chikorita tugged Roy toward the uneasy Erika. Roy had watched Erika's next match as well. Her Chikorita had successfully defeated a Goldeen two levels higher than itself.

Roy gave her an encouraging fist pump.

"Keep it up in your next match too!"

Hearing Roy's encouragement, Erika was no longer so shy, especially when she recalled how he had looked at the command podium moments ago.

"Mhm! You keep it up too, Big Brother Roy!"

Roy nodded. After greeting Wallace, he headed out of the venue with Litwick.

Suddenly, Roy turned around instinctively. He had just felt someone watching him.

But when he searched for that gaze, he found that everyone around him was busy with their own affairs.

Was it just his imagination?

After Roy left, Erika carried her Chikorita out through the back entrance of the Pokémon Contest venue. She kept looking around, as though waiting for someone.

Before long, a black extended sedan nearly eight meters long stopped about a meter away from Erika. A middle-aged man in a butler's uniform stepped out of the car.

The butler walked to the rear right side of the car and opened the right rear door. Watching Erika jog over with a kindly expression, he repeatedly said, "Slow down, slow down."

"Uncle Xuan, I made it to the semifinals today!"

"As expected of our young miss. Please get in."

Just as Erika was about to enter the car, she noticed specks of blood on Uncle Xuan's white gloves. There also seemed to be a faint scent of blood lingering around him.

Her delicate face creased into a frown as she took Uncle Xuan's hand and asked worriedly,

"Uncle Xuan, are you alright?"

The middle-aged butler noticed the bloodstains on his gloves and silently cursed himself for being careless enough to worry Erika. More importantly, he had indeed been quite angry today.

"I'm fine, Miss. There's no need to worry. I merely ran into a few fools who didn't know their place."

Only after confirming that the butler was truly fine did Erika get into the back seat. She casually took out a Leaf Stone from a small box in the middle of the rear seat and placed it on Chikorita's leaf, allowing it to absorb the Grass-type energy within.

"Uncle Xuan, I want another Pokémon."

Hearing Erika's request, Uncle Xuan, who was driving in front, asked,

"Oh? What kind of Pokémon would you like, Miss? When we return, I'll have one of the family's breeders bring one to you. There are many outstanding Pokémon at the family's breeding grounds."

"I want a Litwick."

Thinking of Litwick's heart-shaped effects when it appeared, the little girl said softly,

This time, Uncle Xuan was completely stumped, his head full of question marks.

What the heck was a Litwick?

Still, he didn't think much of it. It was just a Pokémon. Spending a little money would solve the problem.

After all, there was nothing money couldn't buy.

And if there was, then he'd add more money until the other party was willing to sell.

But this time, he might have to change his view, because even the Pokémon Day Care didn't have any Ghost-type Pokémon.

When Roy opened the system, he saw that his Popularity Points had soared to 11,500.

He had earned over 10,000 Popularity Points in a single day. It seemed that showboating earlier had really paid off. Showing off in front of people and basking in their awe really did feel great.

Roy pushed his old bicycle to the roadside food stalls at the night market outside the venue. He was getting tired of eating cafeteria food every day, so he might as well try some of Purple Jade City's local specialties.

Before long, Roy arrived at a barbecue stall. He had been drawn over entirely by its sign.

[Machoke Barbecue]

A heavily muscled Machoke was grilling skewers with iron sticks, while its Trainer, a bald middle-aged uncle, handled the rest of the barbecue. Business was clearly quite good.

In this world, many Pokémon could also take part in human jobs. For example, Machoke moving crews, Pidgeotto and Delibird delivering letters, Timburr working as miners, and Chansey and Blissey nurses assisting Nurse Joy... Pokémon had already integrated into every aspect of human life.

Most people came here for Machoke's grilled skewers. Roy even spotted the Trainer who had defeated Headband Guy with a Machoke during the Pokémon Contest.

The man was still drawing in customers when he immediately recognized Roy. Roy's performance in the battle arena today was hard to forget.

He hurried over and invited Roy to sit down for some barbecue, saying this meal was on him.

It turned out this stall belonged to his family, and the Machoke grilling the skewers was his father's Pokémon.

Perhaps influenced by his father, he had also caught a Machop as his starter Pokémon.

Intrigued, Roy stepped forward and ordered more than a dozen meat skewers and two grilled fish.

While waiting for the barbecue, Roy noticed that there was even smoked Magikarp on the grill.

Yazi had mentioned at Mt. Pyre that Magikarp had practically flooded the rivers in recent years, seriously affecting the ecological environment.

So, in order to limit Magikarp numbers, the Pokémon League had even adopted an encouraging stance, encouraging residents to eat Magikarp.

Unlike in the games,

not every Magikarp could leap over the Dragon Gate and evolve into Gyarados upon reaching level 20.

Most Magikarp simply lived out their lives with dull, vacant eyes.

Naturally, smoked Magikarp cost more than ordinary grilled skewers.

Before long, Machoke brought over Roy's order. It tasted quite good, especially with the special sauce on top.

Litwick on Roy's shoulder couldn't understand what was so delicious about the skewers on those iron sticks.

As Roy ate, he glanced at his wristband. It was already nearly nine in the evening.