Chapter 245: The Green Hall

Considering the tight schedule.

Sister Fragrance didn't linger long in Fuan Town, heading north all the way to Qiuye Town.

She was very familiar with this place, because her family's old residence and garden were nearby. Many acquaintances lived in the small town, and upon seeing her arrive, they greeted her one after another.

The Gym Leader of Qiuye Gym was likewise well acquainted with Sister Fragrance. According to the narration, this female Gym Leader was on familiar terms with her parents, and Sister Fragrance often came to the Gym to play as a child, coming into contact with all kinds of Pokémon.

The specialty was the Flying type, which in terms of type matchup was even more of a counter than Fuan Gym, making it so that Sister Fragrance had to fight twice before winning.

And after the Gym battle ended, upon discovering that Sister Fragrance still only had five Pokémon, the Gym Leader gave her one of the Pokémon under her care that had taken a liking to her—

Tropius.

And stated that Tropius's ability to carry people in flight might help her in the future.

【You obtained Tropius, your traveling companion has increased】

Sister Fragrance accepted it, bid farewell to her relatives and friends in Qiuye Town, and set off toward Shuijing City to the east of the Hoenn region.

On the way, she passed through Yinyu Town.

【You have arrived at Yinyu Town, seen the many houses built upon great trees, and feel it all very novel】

Because this place hadn't yet developed to the scale of a city, the roads along the way weren't very easy to travel. Fortunately, with Tropius's help, she arrived smoothly.

Yinyu Town was home to many bird and bug Pokémon. By collecting the scale powder from the bug Pokémon, Sister Fragrance made new progress on the path of perfume research and development.

Heading east all the way.

The scene shifted, and Shuijing City was right before her eyes.

【You have arrived at Shuijing City】

As the most populous eastern city of the Hoenn region, even several decades ago it still appeared incomparably bustling.

Sister Fragrance looked at the surging crowds, regretting that she didn't have time to stay here long, and hurried without pause toward Shuijing Gym.

The Gym Leader here was a man who appeared quite burly and sturdy, an old man who used Fighting-type Pokémon.

Although it was the seventh Badge, the process still appeared somewhat difficult, making All Baimu break out in a cold sweat for her. But relying on these two Flying-type Pokémon, Rain Moth and Tropius, she ultimately passed it in one go by good fortune.

This was probably the least smooth blue-talent simulation subject for fighting Gym battles.

But perhaps because the League Conference had only been held for a few years and many places were still in the exploratory stage, the strength levels set by Gym Leaders based on how many Badges a challenger held could truly be called uneven.

The gap between the fourth and fifth Badge levels of strength was outright absurd. Although type matchups were also a factor, the strength of the Pokémon used by the Gym Leader did indeed carry a hint of exceeding the standard.

Wouldn't the contestants produced this way all be considered elites?

While All Baimu was lost in thought, Sister Fragrance arrived by boat at the city where the final Gym was located—

Liuli City.

【You have arrived at Liuli City. The unusual construction, with most buildings located inside a volcanic crater, forces you to use Tropius to enter】

This year's Liuli City hadn't yet been fully opened to facilitate communication with the outside world. For people wanting to get into Liuli City inside the volcano, they either had to walk through the caverns, or could only figure out a way to climb over on their own.

Sister Fragrance chose the latter.

The Liuli Gym Leader was unquestionably not Mi Ke Li. After all, at this point in time his master Adam might have only just been born. Taking advantage of having relatively many Grass-type Pokémon, and also employing the Sunny Day tactics learned from Fuan Gym, Sister Fragrance successfully achieved the final victory.

【You have defeated the Liuli Gym Leader and successfully obtained the Raindrop Badge】

At this point, because Sister Fragrance had hurried the entire way, there were still over two months until the League Conference began.

In her excitement, she immediately threw herself once more into the vigorous perfume business. Although she hadn't forgotten about battling either, she ultimately spent more time on healing and making perfumes on a regular basis.

Seeing this, All Baimu knew the probability of winning the championship this time probably wasn't great.

Sister Fragrance could be called diligent in battling. To make up for her lack of experience, she often battled various wild trainers and asked them for advice on all kinds of techniques, and would also learn tactics from various Gym Leaders, such as weather warfare.

Unfortunately, she ultimately loved healing and perfume more…

Making it into the top eight or top four would count as victory.

——

In the scene, two months of time flew by.

These two months, Sister Fragrance lived a very full life, wandering back and forth among several cities in eastern Hoenn, seeing more Pokémon she hadn't seen before, and crafting more perfumes suited to Pokémon of different types.

Although she still couldn't mass-produce them, there were still many people who came to her by reputation seeking to purchase.

Of course.

Sister Fragrance also didn't forget about continuing to train Pokémon and prepare for the Conference. This first time participating in the Grand Competition might also be the last time, and she hoped to obtain a satisfying good result.

With such thoughts, the sixth Caiyou Conference officially began.

What surprised All Baimu was that there were far fewer participants than before. There wasn't even a preliminary round to determine whether trainers were qualified in Gym battles, and it started directly from the initial round, the Top 64.

Only sixty-four people passed eight Gyms in an entire year?

On one hand he was shocked by the difficulty, and on the other hand felt that sure enough, everything slowly developed over time. The Conference from several decades ago probably hadn't yet become trainers' dream destination.

And because there were only sixty-four participants, the strength of the first opponent Sister Fragrance encountered far exceeded many of the previous simulations, and winning could be said to be quite a struggle.

Fortunately, the "beating up" patients secret technique was always effective, plus Sister Fragrance had always been secretly learning various tactics.

By the Top 32, the opponents' strength had increased significantly—the two even knew each other, having mixed in the same circles in Kanaz City before. But at the Conference, even when acquaintances met, they were still especially hostile, and everyone brought out their full strength.

In the end, Sister Fragrance's skill was a notch higher, and she took him down with powder-type moves.

The subsequent Top 16 was the same. Although Grass-type Pokémon were admittedly somewhat weak offensively, relying on powder-type moves plus endurance, she could still make the opponent terribly headache.

【You have defeated your opponent and successfully advanced to the Championship Bracket】

Top eight secured.

All Baimu also breathed a sigh of relief along with her. He, just watching a simulation, was more nervous than people actually fighting. Mainly because in this era, opponents who could defeat eight Gyms were all very strong.