Little Cup

Black Market Balls were no different from ordinary Pokémon Balls, except that they had no serial numbers and were not subject to official monitoring.

Since they were prohibited and could only be bought in places without oversight, they were called Black Market Balls.

Su Bai was not yet familiar with the prices of Pokémon items in this world, and there was nowhere to check the price of something illegal like this. Still, it had to be worth quite a bit.

I'll put it away for now. If I randomly get some powerful Pokémon later, I can catch it and keep it as a trump card.

Over the next few days, Su Bai accompanied Cynthia on a proper vacation in J City, occasionally having a battle and getting thrashed by her.

Growlithe improved rapidly during those few days. Not only did it become increasingly proficient with Dig, but it also learned Morning Sun by taking inspiration from Roserade's Synthesis.

Although Pikachu did not master any new moves, its battling skills improved considerably.

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and Cynthia received news from the Sinnoh League.

Bertha, one of the Sinnoh Elite Four and the acting Champion, had returned to Sinnoh after visiting her relatives and accepted Cynthia's challenge in the Champion League.

As long as Cynthia defeated Bertha, she could be crowned Champion of the Sinnoh League.

Over those few days, Su Bai also asked Cynthia some questions and established roughly when he had arrived in this world.

If he had to place the current point in time on the anime's timeline, it would have been a year to a year and a half before Ash began his journey.

At this point, becoming a regional Champion did not yet require challengers to battle the Elite Four consecutively without healing.

After defeating one member of the Elite Four, challengers could restore their Pokémon at a Pokémon Center before challenging the next.

If the Elite Four member being challenged needed it, the challenger could also wait a while before battling, as had happened with Bertha.

Cynthia had little luggage to begin with, just a few changes of clothes. At Su Bai's suggestion, she also left the toiletries she had used over the past few days at his home, so there was little to arrange. She bought a plane ticket to the imperial capital that very day.

The imperial capital's international airport had a dedicated takeoff platform for flying Pokémon. Once there, Cynthia could ride Garchomp straight to Mt. Coronet.

"Little Bai, I'm heading back to Sinnoh. I had a wonderful time spending this week here with you."

"Yeah, I had a great time too."

Su Bai placed a plate of dumplings in front of Cynthia. They were his favorite: shrimp and two other savory fillings.

"Dumplings before departure, noodles upon arrival. Try some."

Su Bai also shared his specially made Pokéblocks with Cynthia's Pokémon, as well as Pikachu and Growlithe.

"Garchomp, all of you do your best! Pikachu and Growlithe, make sure you eat plenty too!"

Over the past few days, Su Bai had randomly received cooking mastery, a household Berry Blender, a bag of Great White Rabbit milk candies, and a case of Old Godmother chili sauce.

With the Berry Blender, Su Bai began trying his hand at making Pokéblocks.

His success rate was fairly good: a 15% chance of producing premium Pokéblocks, a 35% chance of producing high-grade Pokéblocks, and a 50% chance of producing mid-grade Pokéblocks.

The batch he fed Garchomp, Pikachu, and the others consisted of the premium Pokéblocks he had saved up over that time.

"These are delicious! Little Bai, thank you for all the effort. Garchomp and the others are happy too."

Although Cynthia could not yet afford to raise her Pokémon without regard for cost, she still spared no effort. Their Pokéblocks and Pokémon food were all top quality, so Garchomp and the others had become rather picky eaters.

Cynthia had never seen her Pokémon enjoy someone else's homemade Pokéblocks so much.

"There's another big jar of Pokéblocks specially prepared for Garchomp. They're premium yellow Pokéblocks made with Sitrus Berries. Even battling right after flying back to Sinnoh won't be a problem."

Su Bai took out another glass jar containing over thirty translucent, springy Pokéblocks.

"Where should I put it?"

"Thank you, Little Bai. Just put it in my bag for me."

Cynthia was busy attacking the dumplings in front of her and told Su Bai to put it in her bag without even looking up.

Su Bai did not stand on ceremony either. He simply opened her bag and placed it inside.

Over the course of the week, the two had grown much closer.

"I'm off, then. Remember to watch my match."

"I'll be cheering you on, my Valkyrie. You'll definitely become Champion."

"Mm. I prepared a present for you too."

Cynthia blushed and gave Su Bai a quick hug. Then, without telling him what the present was, she ran off as though fleeing.

After seeing Cynthia off, Su Bai felt a little bored.

Before leaving, Cynthia had bought Pikachu an enormous rodent play park. It occupied almost half the living room and reached all the way to the ceiling, with an antistatic slide, an exercise wheel, chew sticks, a water dispenser, a burrowing maze...

Pikachu spent all day happily playing inside, but when it noticed that Su Bai seemed down, it ran out and climbed onto him.

"Pika pi!"

"It's okay. I'm fine."

Seeing how much Pikachu enjoyed playing, Su Bai could not bear to make it come out just to keep him company, so he carried it back into the play park.

With Cynthia gone, the house felt empty. He even began to miss Garchomp's murderous stare.

Su Bai had not slept well over the past couple of days either. As he lay on the couch watching television, he drifted off.

In his dream, Su Bai found himself in Michina, face-to-face with Arceus.

Arceus said that he, a transmigrator, did not belong in this world. Before Su Bai could explain, a blast of Judgment came hurtling toward him.

Judgment turned into an enormous mountain and slammed down on Su Bai.

"I can't breathe!"

Su Bai jolted awake, gasping for breath and drenched in cold sweat.

Looking closely, he found Growlithe lying on his chest, its eyes gleaming with wisdom.

After seeing Pikachu climb onto Su Bai, it had wanted to copy it, only to nearly suffocate him under its weight.

"It's already six in the evening."

Resigned, Su Bai rubbed Growlithe's head, emptied a can of Pokémon food for it, and opened a can of orange juice for Pikachu.

At that moment, a promotional announcement on television caught Su Bai's attention.

It was essentially announcing that J City would soon hold an amateur Pokémon tournament.

Su Bai immediately took out his phone and searched for it while lying on the couch.

The tournament was called the "Health Cup." Although its name sounded official and its scale was fairly large, it was actually sponsored by the Devon Corporation's subsidiary in J City.

Since it was an amateur event, entrants did not have to be Pokémon Trainers. They only needed two Pokémon.

All they had to do was scan a QR code and register through the Feixin mini app.

The prizes were this year's latest Devon Scope and a Devon-brand Good Rod.

Su Bai was immediately interested.

According to the rules of J University's Pokémon Department, placing in the top four in an amateur city-level tournament also earned ten academic credits. If he won the championship, the university would offer an additional reward.