Chapter 86: Yamanashi's Reply

The first round of the Decisive Championship has been cleared.

This news quickly reached the Quicksand Team's territory.

The other two groups need not be mentioned for now, but at least within the Sand Group's base, things had become unusually lively. A member of the group had achieved an excellent result at the tournament, and many felt honored by association.

This also meant that when Baimu went to Master Liu Ge to file his report, visitors kept streaming into the office without end, even including several other cadres of the Sand Group.

It was enough to prove just how popular and how much attention the Huang Tie tournament commanded.

Then why was it that the squad leaders and cadres within the Quicksand Team so rarely took part in this kind of thing where winning could make one's name and fortune?

Flobo told him the reason was simple. Apart from some people genuinely having no time, it boiled down to two words—

Fear of losing.

The qualifying rounds and preliminary rounds were still fine; the semi-enclosed venues meant only they and their opponents knew how the fight had gone.

But the Decisive Championship was fought in front of several thousand spectators! They didn't have the ability to run gambling rings either. If they lost too badly, not only would they fail to make money, but how could they keep operating in the future?

How could they hold their heads up in front of their underlings?

The more imposing the big brother or boss, the more they cared about their face and their standing in the underworld. They utterly hated anyone gossiping about them behind their backs, and didn't even necessarily like hearing good words.

When they failed, even a single laugh from someone else felt unbearably sharp, like a personal mockery.

So-called "extreme ways" were exactly like this.

Other forces were much the same. The giant who lost to Baimu today was on the verge of utter disgrace. In the past, anyone who saw him would call out "Boss so-and-so." Now that he'd lost face so publicly in front of everyone, who knew how many underworld folk were secretly laughing that he couldn't beat a mere youngster.

Not only that, the matter of him bribing guests to deliberately steer gamblers into buying tickets had also been exposed. The underground gambling den was smashed up by angry gamblers led by someone with an agenda—but word had it that even so, he still made a killing.

Because Bai Niao had tricked many people into buying tickets from him, and no matter who they bet on, the gambling den could take a cut. Just from that alone, he'd raked in a fortune.

But compared to his plummeting reputation, which was more profitable depended on the individual.

Judging from the rumors on the street that he'd gone home and thrown a thunderous fit, it was clear this one cared more about his underworld standing than money.

Compared to that—

Although Baimu hadn't earned as much as him, his fame had suddenly skyrocketed. More people now knew that within the Quicksand Team there was a squad leader who, against the odds, had defeated a boss from another faction.

Under normal circumstances, when a member brought such face to the organization, the organization would certainly have to show some appreciation.

Before leaving, Flobo had also specifically told him that the Stone Group leader, Yugo, thought highly of him, and that once the tournament was over, the rewards wouldn't be lacking. He should strive to charge toward an even higher ranking.

——

"Higher, huh…"

Baimu sat on the bed, turning his head to look at the gloomy night outside the window. Before him sat the three little ones, quiet and still.

A pre-battle meeting to lay out tomorrow's combat plan.

Since the tournament had begun, they did this every day. Not only did it increase the probability of winning tomorrow, it also increased the closeness between trainer and Pokémon.

Of course.

Reviewing today's match was also part of the routine.

Today's win had been a close call.

If Rhydon hadn't traded blows with the giant's Hitmonlee, Mawile would have had almost no chance of consecutively defeating three Pokémon in a short time.

Hitting people also took a lot of effort.

Let alone launching attacks under high-intensity movement.

Once it reached that point, their odds of winning would drop to the lowest.

Baimu praised Rhydon without stint, reaching out to touch the several scars on its forehead left by Hitmonlee's kicks.

"Gurado~"

Rhydon raised its head in response to its trainer's touch.

In its view, battle scars were a symbol of strength. The scars earned from fighting Hitmonlee to a draw as the underdog were even more like a splendid medal—though it didn't know whether they'd be preserved after evolution.

"You're only one kick away from that threshold. It wouldn't be strange if you evolved at any moment."

Baimu gently admonished Rhydon.

The latter nodded.

"Mawile worked hard today too." He turned to praise Mawile, who was hugging a plush toy. Seeing it wear an expression that said 'of course,' he couldn't help but smile slightly.

Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan had almost both been taken down by it.

But that wasn't to say the Chansey that had successfully put the former to sleep had contributed nothing.

On the contrary, if Hitmonlee hadn't been put to sleep, the matches after taking down Hitmonlee wouldn't have gone so smoothly. However…

Baimu rubbed Chansey's rounded head, thinking that although it had indeed played a major role—

Its inability to deal damage on its own was also a tremendous drawback.

After all, in proper battles, switching opportunities were pitifully few. Once this one took on the role of a tool, it might not get a safe chance to leave the field. Even if it luckily did leave, it would easily cause the replacement teammate to come out and take a beating.

He keenly realized that he had to get Chansey to learn Toxic as soon as possible.

Come to think of it, he still had two TM's with selectable types that he hadn't used. Should he try picking Poison-type?

…Forget it.

Newly learned moves had too low proficiency; accuracy and release speed were both lacking. Using them would more likely hold them back.

"Let's go over tomorrow's plan once more."

Baimu said softly to the three little ones.

Half an hour later.

He soothed the Pokémon, letting them rest easy and conserve their strength.

Tomorrow's match was nerve-wracking.

Just from the information Flobo had given him, apart from himself, almost every one of the top eight contestants possessed at least cadre-level strength—that is, their Pokémon were generally all above level fifty on average.

They were stronger than the giant, not weaker, and were often young, yearning to make big money, and not so concerned about their reputation and standing within the town.

These people's Pokémon weren't necessarily all raised by themselves.

But regardless of whether that was the case, as long as they were willing to obey orders and shed blood for their big-money schemes, they counted as the other side's strength.

The current Top Sixteen tournament had completely concluded.

The opponent for the next round was confirmed — precisely that extraordinary-aura male Trainer from this morning named Shanren.

Don't be fooled by how impossibly baby-faced the other party looked; All Baimu felt he was the most likely to take the championship. Just from his performance in battle, it was clear enough that the other party had real substance.

In every respect, he far exceeded the level Huang Tie Town ought to have.

Just like the legendary boy Takuto who suddenly appeared in the anime's Diamond & Pearl, even without legendary Pokémon, he still bulldozed his way through on sheer hard power.

Even the round of sixteen to eight was no exception.

How could he win?

Unless Shanren threw the match.

Speaking of which, if Shanren really did come from another region, what level would his strength be at? Could he have taken on eight Gyms to enter the conference?

The simulation didn't display the levels of the simulated targets' Pokémon, which left him unable to determine that.

Even if it did, the strength needed to challenge Gyms across different timelines wasn't necessarily the same — there was even the possibility of a Gym Leader giving out a Badge out of pity.

Thinking this, he reached for the phone on his bedside, intending to search related entries on some public social platforms.

The screen lit up.

"Huh?"

A new message occupied his field of vision, and the sender...

"Professor Yamanashi!"

All Baimu sprang up abruptly, startling the two Pokémon under the bed and at the foot of the bed, and the Mawile next door also hugged its plush toy and shuffled over, rubbing its eyes.

"Chato?"

"It's nothing, nothing, go back to sleep."

He soothed Mawile for a moment, then quickly pacified Roggenrola and Chansey, and immediately opened his phone to carefully read that reply signed by Professor Yamanashi.

The result was that the other party's very first sentence left him dumbfounded.

What was this about "little children have to sleep properly to grow up big and strong, and playing with your phone in the middle of the night is wrong"?

But on second thought, he felt this was perfectly normal.

All Baimu's written language had never been very good, leading the other party to mistake him for some child who'd stolen a parent's phone, and due to the time zone difference, when he sent the message it happened to be the middle of the night in Sinnoh.