Analysis

"Roy, you're here?"

Wallace had arrived at the venue's prep room early. Coffee in hand, he sat on the sofa, leisurely enjoying the morning.

Roy yawned and sat down beside Wallace. He could barely keep his eyes open.

Seeing how exhausted Roy looked, Wallace wondered if he'd seen a ghost yesterday.

"Roy, did you see a ghost yesterday?"

Roy didn't understand why Wallace would ask that.

Wallace pointed to the full-length mirror in the prep room, telling him to look for himself.

Roy stood before the mirror and saw the huge dark circles under his eyes. Now he understood Wallace's question.

He really had seen a ghost—Flutter Mane. After staying up all night, he'd have to see a ghost for him to feel fine.

Erika came over with Chikorita in her arms when she saw Roy enter the prep room, and greeted his Litwick.

Yesterday, Xuanbo had searched every Pokémon Day Care in Rustboro City without finding a single Litwick. Only after asking the professional Advanced Breeder in his family had he learned that Litwick was a Ghost-type Pokémon.

He hadn't seen Erika's battle with Roy. By then, he'd already followed the people who had laughed at Erika out of the venue and taught them a "little" lesson.

Sleepy, Roy simply leaned against Wallace and closed his eyes for a nap. There were still thirty minutes before the battles began, and he might not be up first anyway.

But someone clearly didn't want him to sleep.

Wallace took out his Communicator and waved it in front of Roy.

"Roy, didn't you see yesterday's Rookie Cup headline?"

"What about it?"

"You don't know? You're the star of the show!"

Wallace pulled up a photo of Roy on his Communicator. It showed Roy at the trainer's stand yesterday, coaching Erika through her battle.

Whether to make Roy look more striking or for some other reason, the photo added another highlight on top of the light already shining on him.

Last night, Wallace had searched for clips of his own best moments. After all, he had eliminated his opponent faster than anyone else. Surely he deserved a spot in the preliminary round highlights.

His name hadn't even appeared in the search results.

The most-discussed topic was Roy and his Litwick.

And that wasn't the only place they were getting attention. Great Zijing Television's official account had posted photos of them too.

As if Roy outshining him yesterday hadn't been enough, Roy had now stolen the trending spotlight as well.

"I'm the star? What are you talking about?"

Roy opened his eyes and looked at his photo on the Communicator.

There were plenty of likes, shares, and comments beneath it. Roy's lingering drowsiness vanished at once.

He thought he knew where the 3,500 Popularity Points he'd gained last night and the 1,000 the system had awarded him had come from.

Beside them, Erika timidly chimed in:

"I saw you online too, Roy. Some people said mean things about you, so I called them big meanies."

Roy and Wallace exchanged a look.

With an insult that weak, she might as well not bother. I can't even tell whether she was rewarding them or scolding them. Still, Roy was glad Erika had stood up for him.

"Can't help it. This handsome guy is just that photogenic!"

"Right. Of course."

Wallace agreed without a shred of sincerity.

"Oh, add me on your Communicator. I forgot yesterday that you still haven't added my Holographic Communication."

"I don't have a Communicator."

"Come on. You're not even a big star yet, and you're already putting on airs?"

Wallace started rifling through Roy's pockets. Nothing here, nothing there. After making Roy confirm several times that he truly didn't have a Communicator, Wallace's disdain turned to shock.

"You don't have a Communicator?! Are you a Sinnoh immigrant from ancient times?"

Smart Communicators had only become widespread a year ago, but Devon Corporation and Silph Co. had invented the older kind, which could only make Holographic Communications and send telegrams, long before that.

Roy spread his hands. He was broke and couldn't afford a Communicator.

At Roy's punchable I'm poor, so what? expression, Wallace held back his anger. Getting angry caused wrinkles.

Where had yesterday's gentlemanly Roy gone? He seemed like a completely different person now, one who could leave someone speechless with a single remark.

Erika was about to say something when Wallace took a gray Communicator from his Spatial Bracelet. It was a third-generation model from Silph Co.

The fourth-generation smart Communicator had come out just last week, and Wallace had bought one immediately.

"You look so pitiful. I've replaced mine, so you can have this one."

Wallace handed Roy the Communicator with a flourish. Finally, I've got one over on him.

He expected Roy to thank him, after which he would graciously say, "You're welcome!"

Roy: "Can I have the new one instead?"

"You're welcome. This handsome guy... What did you say?"

It took Wallace a moment to process Roy's shameless request. Then he had one word for him: "Get lost!"

Wallace's third-generation Silph Co. Communicator fell somewhere between a smartphone and an older model. It had a touchscreen above a set of buttons.

Apart from the color, it was almost identical to the Communicator owned by the girl Roy had taken a photo with before.

Though Wallace had used it for a year, he'd kept it in excellent condition. It had much the same functions as phones in Roy's previous life, just without piles of apps like those short-video and shopping platforms.

If my Popularity Points could shoot up that fast yesterday, could I try doing something like...

While Roy was still exploring the Communicator's functions, an announcement sounded in the prep room:

"Contestant number 55, Wallace, please prepare for your match."

Wallace rose at the call and headed toward the arena, tossing his flowing hair with a flourish. Countless girls watched him go. Clearly, he already had a fan base of his own.

Roy watched the video feed in the prep room. Oddly, Agatha wasn't at the judges' table today. He wondered where she'd gone.

The elderly judges said they would score the matches together and that her absence wouldn't affect the results.

The sight of Wallace taking the field woke Roy up. He began to analyze the competition.

There were sixty-four contestants left. After yesterday's preliminary eliminations, nearly all the Pokémon below level 20 were gone. Those remaining ranged from level 20 to level 30.

Roy had watched their battles yesterday. Only three trainers truly posed a threat to him, and Wallace was the first.

The other two were a Pokémon Trainer who used Umbreon and one who used Mightyena.

Wallace was a threat because his Starmie had reached level 30. The Ghost type had an advantage over the Psychic type, but the Water type had an advantage over the Fire type too. On top of that, Starmie was fully evolved, with base stats high enough to rival two Litwick.

Roy couldn't think of a way to win, especially when Starmie also knew Recover.

He could only hope he wouldn't face Wallace before the finals.

Umbreon and Mightyena posed problems partly because of their type advantages. Both were fully evolved, with higher base stats than Litwick.

Umbreon, in particular, required an Eevee's friendship to reach 220—or its affection to reach 158—at night before it could evolve.

In reality, raising those bonds took more than a Pokémon Trainer's companionship. Many of the Pokéblocks and items used in training had to be high quality too.

The fact that the other trainer had evolved an Eevee into Umbreon before level 30 showed that money was no obstacle to training their Pokémon.

Roy wasn't foolish enough to think he could beat them head-on.

He needed to think of a tactical approach instead. The Haze, Minimize, and Will-O-Wisp combination he'd used against Onix at the Academy had worked well.

In the arena,

Wallace had been on the field for only five minutes when Starmie defeated the opposing Combusken with a single Hydro Pump, securing his place in the round of thirty-two.