"Holy crap, Chi, you actually pulled it off?"
After Xia Chi returned to the dorm, Chen Zhenze stopped him in the common area.
He excitedly held up his phone, nearly shoving the screen into Xia Chi's eyes. "The Shanghai Pokémon Cup main tournament! Do you know what that means?"
The Shanghai Pokémon Cup's official website updated the preliminary results in real time.
So it was hardly surprising that Chen Zhenze, who was useless at everything except digging up gossip, knew Xia Chi's record.
"What else could it mean? Top thirty-two rookie trainers under eighteen in the Shanghai area?"
Xia Chi's matter-of-fact tone left Chen Zhenze at a loss for words.
Damn it, he got to show off again!
Actually, Chen Zhenze had secretly taken his Clefairy to compete that day too, but he had made a dismal exit with a 2-2 record before getting through four rounds.
As the saying went, your own failure was frightening, but your buddy's success hurt even more!
Chen Zhenze said sourly, "You're now the only one left from Shanghai University outside the Pokémon Battling Department. No, wait, there aren't even many first-years left at all!"
"That brutal, huh?"
Xia Chi genuinely hadn't known that the rest of his year had already fallen in battle. When he thought about it that way, maybe he really was pretty good?
He nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm, I work so hard every day. It's only natural that I qualified."
Chen Zhenze: "..."
I live right next door and go to class with you. How could I not know? Work hard, my ass. You mean working hard every day to rake in cash through your streams?
Jokes aside, Chen Zhenze was genuinely happy for his good friend.
He had gone from having absolutely nothing when he first enrolled to raising two Pokémon and running a thriving livestream channel.
Xia Chi really did have a level of planning and dedication beyond his peers, along with a sincere love for Pokémon.
In a sense, he really had earned this.
Of course, the help and guidance Chen Zhenze regularly gave him must have played a part too!
Feeling rather moved, Chen Zhenze patted Xia Chi's shoulder and encouraged him. "My brother, carry my hopes with you and keep going!"
Xia Chi: "?"
Dude, what have you randomly dreamed up this time?
After a night's rest, Xia Chi set off for the Hongqiao Pokémon Arena again with Sprigatito.
Today, he left Misdreavus at home.
It wasn't because Misdreavus was socially anxious or afraid to meet people. Misdreavus wasn't afraid of people, only ghosts.
But it loved scaring people.
After spending the whole day out yesterday, Xia Chi had been approached every so often by other trainers bringing their sobbing Pokémon over to complain.
Xia Chi was worried it might get him disqualified today, so he simply left it at home to sleep.
Compared to the somewhat chaotic preliminaries, the Shanghai Pokémon Cup's main tournament truly felt like a professional competition-
Each of the thirty-two contestants had their own lounge, the entire tournament would be broadcast live on both television and the internet, and even the stands at the Hongqiao Pokémon Arena, which could hold over seventy thousand people, were mostly full.
That wasn't as absurd as it sounded. Given how much people in this world loved Pokémon battles, plenty went to watch matches in person whenever they had a free weekend.
Today would feature two rounds: the round of thirty-two and the round of sixteen.
Xia Chi's match was scheduled as the fourth in the upper half of the bracket, at around ten.
That meant he could spend a good long while before his match in the contestants' lounge, snacking and watching everyone else battle.
Just as Xia Chi leisurely ate a grape Sprigatito had brought to his mouth with a vine, a line of text appeared on the screen and made him pause.
Shanghai Pokémon Cup, lower bracket, match three: Lin Lange vs. Wang Yang!
Then the camera happened to cut to close-ups of both contestants. On the left side of the screen, a pretty girl with an icy expression stood straight, holding a Luxury Ball.
Lin Lange... isn't she that "Paul" who abandoned Sprigatito?
Xia Chi turned to look at Sprigatito, only to meet its expressive crimson eyes.
Without a doubt, it had also seen the person it once should have been able to trust most.
Afraid of upsetting Sprigatito, Xia Chi deliberately teased it. "What, don't recognize our ex anymore?"
To his surprise, Sprigatito shook its head without a care. "Meow~"
It didn't mean it didn't recognize her. Instead-
"Nothing to do with me."
Sprigatito had figured it all out long ago.
To be honest, Lin Lange hadn't treated it badly.
Food, drink, supplies, raising it, training it-she had provided the best of everything on the material side.
Of course, all of that came with conditions. It had to meet her demands.
Training volume, physical benchmarks, learning moves and mastering them, and winning battles. Fail to meet her standards, and it would be released.
It was just like a boss setting KPIs for employees and firing them if they failed to meet them. Nothing more.
It simply hadn't seen things clearly soon enough and had invested feelings that had no place there.
But none of that matters anymore. Now, I've already found the treasure that truly matters, and the person truly worth giving everything for.
Sprigatito gazed steadily at Xia Chi as that thought passed through its mind.
Sometimes, a look was the most efficient form of communication.
Although Xia Chi had no way of knowing what Sprigatito was really thinking, the intense emotion in its crimson eyes said everything.
Xia Chi smiled in relief. And here he had been worrying about upsetting Sprigatito.
It turned out he was the one who hadn't seen things clearly.
He had even been wondering whether to help Sprigatito vent its anger and avenge its abandonment with some "Return of the Dragon King" scene where they showed off and put her in her place.
Now, it seemed there was no need.
"All right, we'll leave it alone."
Xia Chi rubbed Sprigatito's head and made his final decision.
Although her connection to him as his Pokémon's former trainer no longer mattered, she was still an opponent he might face later.
Xia Chi watched the match carefully and discovered that Lin Lange's reputation as one of the favorites to win this year's Shanghai Pokémon Cup was well deserved.
Her Servine perfectly embodied what people imagined Grass-type Pokémon to be: solid, tenacious, and airtight.
At first glance, it seemed unremarkable, with no particularly outstanding qualities or powerful attacks capable of instantly defeating an opponent. Yet you simply couldn't break through its defenses.
But once it dragged you into a prolonged battle, its nimble, tenacious Vine Whip would slowly strangle you.
Even though Lin Lange's opponent was a Quilava, another second-stage starter Pokémon with a type advantage, it was still dragged into the abyss by that suffocating battle style.
She has a deep understanding of Grass-type Pokémon.
That was Xia Chi's assessment after watching the match.
Actually, he had often seen Lin Lange's name on the forums ever since enrolling.
"The emotionless battling machine," "the Guangfu Gym Leader's daughter," "the future Grass-type Elite Four member."
Those were all names the gossipmongers called her. Xia Chi simply wasn't in the university's flagship Battling Department, so he didn't know much about her.
Today, he finally got a firsthand sense of her strength.
If I face her in the final, can I win?
Okay, I'm getting a little ahead of myself. Let's get through the match in front of me first.
"Contestant 9527, Xia Chi, please get ready and proceed to Arena A1. Your match is about to begin!"
As the announcement repeated over the loudspeakers, Xia Chi took out a Poké Ball and bounced it in his palm.
"Let's go, Sprigatito. We're up."
Before you continue