Round Two

After the referee announced the result, Yingnan quickly jogged over and scooped the injured Mudkip into his arms. Mudkip happily rubbed against his cheek, while beads of blood seeping between its scales stained the front of Yingnan's shirt red.

Shali and Xinhai struggled through the gathered crowd and met Yingnan as he came down from the field.

Shali fixed her gaze on Mudkip's wounds and said gravely, "We need to get to the treatment room quickly. The equipment there can handle some minor injuries."

Hearing that, Yingnan looked painfully at Mudkip's wounds and said, "Then let's go!"

"I know roughly where it is. I'll lead the way!" After saying that, Shali led the two of them in one direction.

Yingnan rubbed Mudkip's little head, recalled it into its Poké Ball, and followed Shali with Xinhai toward the tournament treatment room.

Treatment rooms were exclusive to large competitions. Usually, they partnered with Pokémon Centers to rent treatment equipment.

Of course, some event organizers prepared their own equipment specifically to treat Pokémon injured during matches.

As long as participants presented their competition passes, they could generally use the facilities freely and without charge. Non-participants could use them as well by paying a fee, but few people did so, since it cost more than treatment at a Pokémon Center. Most people still went to the Pokémon Center instead.

After all, these machines differed considerably from those at Pokémon Centers and could only handle relatively simple injuries. Serious wounds still required treatment at a Pokémon Center.

More importantly, people felt safer at a Pokémon Center. They did not have to worry about accidents or lingering hidden injuries.

The three hurried through the bustling department store hall and quickly found the treatment area on the first floor by following the signs.

The moment they entered the treatment room, the Qi of disinfectant mixed with the faint fragrance of Pokémon recovery spray washed over them.

Inside, three Pokémon treatment machines stood neatly arranged, each attended by a staff member in a nurse's uniform.

There were already quite a few Trainers in the treatment room, most of them holding competition passes. They were clearly participants in this tournament.

Xinhai and the others gave the room a quick look, then quietly joined the back of a line. It was not long before their turn came.

"Hello, how can I help you?" A pretty nurse approached with a smile and looked at the three of them.

Yingnan hurried forward and handed over his competition pass. "Hello, sorry for the trouble. Please treat my Mudkip."

The nurse smiled as she accepted the pass, picked up the scanner from the table, and gave it a light sweep. After confirming the information, she returned the pass and gestured toward an unused treatment machine beside her. "Please place your Pokémon in the treatment chamber. Once the scan is complete, it will automatically select a treatment plan."

Yingnan pressed the Poké Ball lightly. A flash of white light appeared, and Mudkip popped into the chamber with a soft "pop."

The little one opened its watery eyes wide and curiously examined the metal walls glowing blue around it.

As the chamber door slowly closed, a fine mist rose from the bottom. A holographic projection atop the machine lit up, and Mudkip's physical data rapidly scrolled across the screen: "Seven surface lacerations, minor injury to right forelimb, 42% energy reserves remaining..." The nurse watched the screen closely, her fingers quickly sliding across the control panel as she adjusted the treatment settings.

The process was extremely efficient. Only about five minutes later, the nurse spoke. "Hello, your Mudkip's treatment is complete."

The nurse pressed several buttons on the machine, and the treatment chamber door slowly opened. The restored Mudkip cheerfully leaped out, its former scale wounds completely gone. It cried excitedly, "Kahlo~"

A delighted smile appeared on Yingnan's face. Gently stroking Mudkip's little head, he said, "You did great today! I'll reward you with double Berries tonight!" Then he turned to the nurse and thanked her sincerely. "Thank you so much."

The nurse smiled and waved a hand. "No need for Qi. It's my job."

After leaving the treatment area, Xinhai looked at Yingnan and Shali and suggested, "Our matches are all over for today. How about we go back and rest first, then meet at the main entrance at nine tomorrow morning?"

Yingnan nodded in agreement. "Sure. We've watched matches for so long today, I'm pretty tired too."

Holding Eevee in her arms, Shali said, "Alright, then let's head back early and rest."

After Yingnan and Shali said goodbye to Xinhai, they headed toward Trainer School. Watching their backs disappear with their Pokémon, Xinhai turned and headed toward the nearby Pokémon Center as well.

Back in his room, Xinhai had barely opened the Poké Ball before Torchic impatiently jumped out. It happily ran circles around the room, the flame atop its head dancing along with it, overflowing with boundless energy.

"Chamo chamo~"

Ralts also emerged from its Poké Ball and obediently burrowed into Xinhai's arms.

"Ralts~"

Xinhai smiled and picked up Torchic as well. After washing up with the two little ones, he put them on the bed to play while he sat at the desk and seriously studied the knowledge in the Pokédex and his notes.

After playing around for a while, the two little ones saw that Xinhai was still studying and consciously began training as well.

Meanwhile, Yingnan and Shali successfully arrived at Trainer School. After having dinner in the school cafeteria, they each returned to their dorms.

"Finally, I can lie down!" Yingnan flopped onto the bed. Mudkip jumped up after him, and after playing around on the bed for a while, it fell soundly asleep.

After returning to her room, Shali sat on her bed and carefully brushed Eevee's fur. "We still have a battle tomorrow, so let's do our best, Eevee!"

"Eevee~" Eevee nodded happily.

Xinhai was woken by the alarm on his navigation device. After washing up with Torchic and Ralts and eating breakfast in the Pokémon Center cafeteria, he headed to the department store to meet the others.

Along the way, Xinhai saw many Trainers hurrying about. Most had Pokémon with them, and their faces showed both nervousness and excitement. It was easy to tell that most of them were participants in this tournament.

As soon as he neared the department store, he heard Yingnan shout, "Xinhai, over here!" He and Shali were waving at Xinhai.

Xinhai quickly walked over to meet them, and the three entered the department store together.

By the time they reached the competition venue, the hall was already packed with people. The electronic screen was scrolling through the day's match schedule.

Staring at the screen, Xinhai said, "Looks like we'll have to wait a while. The first round probably won't end until around eleven."

Yingnan nodded. "More or less. This is already moving pretty fast, considering there are over a thousand Trainers competing."

Shali suggested, "Then let's watch the matches first. We can see whether there are any strong contestants."

The three found seats with an excellent view and focused intently on the battles taking place in the arena.

Most of the Pokémon battles were just weaklings pecking at each other. Every now and then, though, there were fierce clashes between fairly strong competitors. Skill effects flashed everywhere, and the exciting duels drew waves of cheers from the audience.

It was not until eleven-thirty that the first round finally ended, followed immediately by the second-round draw.

The host announced loudly, "All contestants, the second-round draw begins now!"

On the big screen, the names of advancing contestants were paired together, and the new advancement brackets gradually became clear. Looking at the notifications on their Pokédexes, Xinhai and the others learned their match numbers and opponents as well.

Looking at the information on his Pokédex, Xinhai said, "Mine is Match 7 on the third arena. Which match are you in?"

"Match 27 on the first arena. Looks like we won't have to wait too long this time. What about you, Shali?" Yingnan asked with a smile.

"I'm Match 19 on the third arena. But it looks like Xinhai and I are in the same arena. We won't run into each other later, will we?" Shali asked worriedly.

Yingnan reassured her, "Don't worry too much. Each arena has eight slots, so the odds of running into each other aren't that high. The second-round opponents will definitely be stronger than those from the first round, so let's focus on preparing first."

As soon as he finished speaking, the host announced that the second round was about to begin. The three stood and headed toward the third arena together.

Massive holographic screens surrounded the third arena, displaying contestant information and battle rules in real time.

When they arrived in front of the arena, they saw the first match's contestant information: Trainer Sakamoto VS Trainer Kaneko.

Soon, the two contestants walked into the arena. The referee called out loudly, "Both sides, send out your Pokémon!"

"Come out, Poliwag!" "Torchic, win this for me!"

With the two shouts, Poliwag and Torchic appeared on the field, crying, "Poliwag!" and "Chamo!" respectively.

Looking at the Pokémon on the field, Yingnan said to Xinhai, "The Qi is pretty good. The first match has a Torchic, so you can use it as a reference."

Xinhai nodded, his eyes fixed on the Torchic in the arena. He compared its development with his own Torchic's and examined the details to see how it had been trained.

Seeing that both sides' Pokémon were ready, the referee waved his flag. "Battle begin."

"Poliwag, use Water Gun!" "Torchic, dodge with Quick Attack!"

With those commands, the intense battle officially began...