This Meowth Would Take Charge Sooner or Later

Much of the form Old Liu sent over was blank, making it very different from a standard application form.

If digital documents hadn't become so popular these days, the ink on it probably wouldn't even have dried yet.

[Fill out the digital version first. We'll deal with the paper version after the Academy Cup. I pulled some strings for you. As long as your results are good enough, you'll have more options.]

The digital version had to be entered into the system first, if only to prove that this competitor belonged to their school.

The rest came down to certain allowances Old Liu had secured for him. The Academy Cup wasn't a one-time event.

As long as Xin Mu performed well, he would probably go straight from a temporary competitor to an official one. That meant several years of results to Old Liu's credit.

No matter what, he was the one who had recruited Xin Mu, so the better Xin Mu performed in the future, the better Old Liu's own prospects would be.

That was the fundamental reason he was doing his best. The world was vast, but finding someone willing to do things for you for no reason was almost impossible.

Anyone like that around you deserved to be treated well.

[Got it, but this won't cause any trouble, will it?]

[No. Other schools would also find ways to keep a promising talent if they found one. The extra slot we've given you wasn't taken from anyone else.

The total number of slots offered externally won't change whether you're here or not. Besides, this doesn't need to be publicly announced, so it won't affect anything.

Come see me once you're back from the rally. I'll take you to do your tryout.]

If he failed the tryout, there might be some other problems, but Old Liu hadn't even considered that possibility.

Old Liu didn't think Xin Mu would stumble at the tryout. Unless Rong Lei had brought his son along to stage the whole thing with Xin Mu, there was no way the performance in that Gym battle could have been faked.

He had even chosen to watch this recreational rally from start to finish.

Although a competition like this couldn't reveal a Pokémon's overall strength, it could show the coordination and trust between a Pokémon and its Trainer.

Coordination and trust weren't tangible, nor did they directly affect a Pokémon's strength, but they could determine whether a Trainer's commands were carried out smoothly in battle. They could even directly affect the execution of many tactics.

The fact that Xin Mu let Meownei throw him out and catch him again was enough to show their trust.

After all, trust went both ways. Even trust displayed by one side could reveal a thing or two.

"A tryout today... do they want to see where Meownei's limits are?"

Xin Mu kept feeling that someone had deliberately arranged the tryout for today. Otherwise, with so much time available, choosing today was a little strange.

"Meownei, how are you feeling?"

"Meow~ (Great. Want some of this?)"

There was also a rest station set up by volunteers at the finish line. Since she had arrived relatively early, it was practically a buffet for Meownei.

While Xin Mu discussed things with Old Liu, she had quietly been eating and collecting food, holding quite a lot in her arms.

As for the stamina she had used up...

Even if a Pokémon lost in the arena, it could recover some stamina after a while once it left, even without visiting a Pokémon Center.

Meownei had already recovered almost completely from this simple long-distance run.

"Meow, meow! (If they're still at the level of that Gym, I can take ten right now! Ten at once!)"

"All right, I know you're the strongest. Then let's go do the tests this afternoon."

"Meow~"

Unnerfed Protean made it very difficult to land a super-effective hit. To do so, an opponent would have to strike first while Meownei was unable to use any moves, which was undoubtedly extremely difficult.

That difficulty increased even further in the arena.

Under these circumstances, finding Meownei's limits would probably require a Regional Champion traveling with their main team.

Boom!

An explosion suddenly rang out farther back along the course, and several dark shapes streaked across the sky into the distance.

Meownei's ears twitched. She vaguely seemed to hear cries along the lines of "We're blasting off again!"

"Meow~"

Meownei put down the snacks in her hands, tugged on Xin Mu's clothes, and pointed at the sky.

"Meow. (Looks like your five hundred thousand flew away again.)"

"You sure remember that clearly. I'll ask Officer Jenny later how much of a bounty they've put on Team Rocket..."

If the bounty was high enough, Xin Mu planned to find an excuse to contact Ash and invite them somewhere for a few days.

According to an unscientific law, Team Rocket periodically respawned around Pikachu. That would make for a perfect way to collect the bounty.

As for why he didn't just tell Officer Jenny that keeping an eye on that Pikachu would let them catch those people...

Someone would have to believe him first. It might even stir up some other trouble.

Xin Mu didn't need to worry about what was happening over there. Someone would naturally deal with it, and the race results had also been confirmed.

High-speed camera footage showed that Meownei had crossed the finish line ahead of Ponyta, winning the race and receiving the winner's mystery prize: a Luxury Ball.

Unlike ordinary Poké Balls, which cost 200 each, Luxury Balls sold for much more. Their black exterior and gold detailing were all about extravagance.

They were positioned as luxury goods. Their catching performance was the same as an ordinary Poké Ball's, but their interior was supposedly more lavish, allowing them to increase the friendship of the Pokémon caught inside.

"That guy told me it was a cash prize... forget it. I can use it later. If nothing else, I'll find a way to turn it into cash."

Xin Mu felt that Zhang Lin had fed him bad information again. He hadn't even used the Poké Balls Ash had given him to offset the cost of his bicycle yet.

This was the city center, so wild Pokémon weren't roaming everywhere. Xin Mu hadn't been going far lately, either. Forget finding one he liked-he had barely seen any wild Pokémon at all.

Once the competition was over, he also planned to look around and expand his team.

"Meownei, do you have any thoughts about future teammates?"

On the way back, Xin Mu asked Meownei what she had in mind.

Reality wasn't a game, where offensive, defensive, or balanced teams were built entirely around a Pokémon's traits, and the Pokémon would carry out commands at the press of a button.

Even if newly caught Pokémon could train using items from the game, catching up to Meownei wouldn't be easy. Her place as Xin Mu's main battler was unlikely to change.

It wouldn't be good if the team ended up fighting among themselves.

"Meow~ (Anyone you like is fine.)"

"Are you sure?"

"Meow! (Of course! But I can train our new teammates for you. I understand Pokémon's traits better than you do!)"

As she said this, a barely noticeable smile appeared at the corners of Meownei's mouth.

She didn't mind Xin Mu catching other Pokémon, provided those Pokémon didn't "overstep." That was why, while she still had him all to herself, she was trying to take control of their training.

If she had to name a preference...

Then she hoped all the other Pokémon would be male.