Chapter 962: Advancing from the Preliminaries

【Battle.】

【To me, it's a tool to revitalize Oure.】

Upon the mountain rock.

Shan Ren gazed at the central zone, utterly collapsed from the 【Earth Crack】, his eyes filled with both dread at Bai Mu's decisive action and a faint trace of envy.

Strength truly is something to envy.

If he possessed such strength, why would he have to tiptoe and dodge so carefully in the preliminary round?

Beep-beep-beep—

His watch emitted a shrill alert.

This marked the official end of the preliminary round, meaning the recent ground collapse had successfully reduced the remaining competitors to sixty-four.

Could there really be only sixty-four left?

Shan Ren stared at the collapse site, unable to suppress doubt—had Bai Mu's strike been this precise?

With doubt in mind.

He calmly waited for teleportation; thanks to his half-judge status, he and the injured were prioritized back to the Silicon Beryllium City competitor venue.

'Chairman! Congratulations on advancing!'

A familiar staff member appeared before him.

Though he had not yet officially taken office, everyone already called him Chairman, and no one found it odd.

Shan Ren grunted, 'How many serious injuries?'

'No serious injuries detected so far. Only one competitor has a fracture and is currently resting in a special ward. Lord Dines is preparing to visit.'

'I understand.'

The danger of this free-for-all format goes without saying.

Even if no one deliberately targets others with moves, trainers get too close and inevitably bump into each other.

Before the match even began, Shan Ren had prepared to soothe the seriously injured—or even issue a public apology. Fortunately, the reliable tech from the villainous side delivered the best possible outcome.

He went backstage to inquire about the elimination details.

After reviewing the match footage, he learned that exactly one hundred competitors remained after the final wave.

The ground collapse eliminated thirty-two instantly.

Darkrai launched a surprise attack on the returning Pokémon, wiping out two at once.

The Mega Alcremie who never reached the center eliminated one.

The Mega Corviknight eliminated one nearby.

The last one…

Shan Ren watched as Quilin, flung helplessly by a charging Kabutops, tumbled into the pit, along with his pale-faced young Trainer.

What was that kid's name again?

Right.

Fode.

He'd battled him at Huang Tie Arena before.

Shan Ren let out a helpless laugh—he hadn't felt this speechless in a long time; the preliminary round's conclusion was simply too dramatic.

'Begin preparing the banquet. Make sure the competitor standings are announced live.'

'Yes!'

Typically, the League Conference banquet is either not held at all, or held the night before the tournament begins.

The Oure League took an unconventional route: holding it right after the preliminary round.

First, to attract media outlets and prominently introduce the advancing competitors to the public.

Second, giving everyone a full day of rest after the preliminaries—no matter how drunk they get, it won't affect their performance in the next round.

Eliminated competitors are also invited; every participant receives an invitation.

But few are likely to attend.

This might draw criticism—a minor flaw.

Shan Ren methodically arranged the afternoon and tomorrow's pre-tournament preparations: the preliminary round consists of three rounds, each a three-on-three battle.

Besides the main arena atop the mountain, four satellite arenas have been built spiraling upward along the mountain's slope.

Sixty-four competitors, thirty-two matches—four battles per arena daily, completed in two days.

'I will personally draw the opponents for each round.'

Shan Ren looked at everyone present and said, 'Whatever you draw, that's your match. Understood?'

'Understood!'

The crowd responded loudly.

Two years of administrative work had given him his own trusted team, similar to the staff of the Malokomon Group.

Shan Ren had no intention of ruling Oure with an iron fist, but he would not allow anyone to conspire and drag his side down.

At the same moment.

Bai Mu returned to the scene.

Around him, glances of awe and fear were cast.

Though thanks to his 'restraint,' the match only became a solo performance at the very end,

every Trainer who had witnessed the rampage of the Super Gigalith knew exactly what kind of monster they had faced.

Like a gnat gazing at the blue sky.

'Hey! Made it through?'

Bai Mu spotted Cheng Hong, waving at him, 'Where's Da Zhuang? Did he advance?'

Cheng Hong turned, his face brightening, then darkening as he shook his head, 'I advanced. He didn't…'

Bai Mu's expression froze.

Didn't?

He remembered seeing Da Zhuang's face near the end—had he been caught in Gigalith's Earth Crack?

Cheng Hong continued, 'When Elder Brother used Earth Crack, Da Zhuang and I saw things turning bad and retreated early.'

'We didn't expect Darkrai to be blocking the exit—Da Zhuang's Croagunk got hit by Dark Void while saving my Dragonite's Headbutt…'

Darkrai!!

Bai Mu felt relief, but also anger and helplessness.

Before the match, he had repeatedly warned everyone to be careful of Darkrai—and they had listened.

Who could have imagined such bad luck right at the final hurdle to advancement?

Fate!

'Where's Da Zhuang?'

Bai Mu looked around—no sign of him, nor any of his other subordinates.

Cheng Hong smiled bitterly, 'He said he wants to be alone.'

'…Tch.'

He knew full well the guy had gone off to cry—failing his first major tournament's preliminaries was a crushing blow to confidence.

All six months of effort felt negated in an instant.

The bigger the goal before the match, the greater the fall now.

Bai Mu wanted to find Da Zhuang.

But Cheng Hong said, 'Elder Brother, you shouldn't go.'

'Why?'

'Da Zhuang ran off mainly because he's afraid of affecting you. Even though we all believe you'll win it all, we don't want to burden you—even a little. He can handle it himself!'

Cheng Hong's tone hardened, as if speaking of himself.

Bai Mu looked at him and nodded, 'Alright.'

Comfort from someone familiar only makes it harder to bear.

Sometimes, people are like that—the wound heals without comfort, but with comfort, it tears open again and again.

Victory above, defeat below.

Behind every thrilling, crowd-rousing battle lies a narrow path to heaven—one misstep, and you're pushed off.

Even if you fall on your own.

This cruel medicine wrapped in sugar only reveals its true taste at the moment of defeat.

Earlier, when Ash competed and didn't do well, he cried by the Link Lake, sank into silent sorrow—but later, he could smile about it.

Had his heart grown stronger?

Hard to say.

Bai Mu and Cheng Hong entered the rest room, where the list of qualifiers would be announced.

'Bai Mu!'

A deep voice came from beside him.

He turned—and saw a two-meter-tall, blond giant.

Without doubt.

It was Batrass, the Battle Mountain Master he'd glimpsed once on the streets of Silicon Beryllium.

"This should be our first official meeting, right?"

"That's right."

All All Baimu extended his hand and said, "I look forward to our battle."

Batrass gazed at him, reached out and shook his hand: "I look forward to it too. I won't give up my place at the Summit of Battle to anyone!"

The title of Battle Mountain Master was once granted only to trainers with a hundred consecutive victories.

Beside Batrass, Lei Ou also came over to greet him.

They weren't especially close, but compared to the former, Lei Ou had at least fought alongside him against Shadow Team.

"Long time no see."

Lei Ou, though outwardly cold, was actually very warm—he pulled All All Baimu into a big hug and laughed: "You did great in the preliminaries. You tunneled through the ground, didn't you? Very impressive!"

All All Baimu couldn't handle it and kept saying, "You flatter me, you flatter me."

As he had said.

The super-giant Steelix, bored out of its mind, had hollowed out the entire underground beneath the valley's center, waiting for the other competitors to enter.

【Ground Split】!

With a thunderous crash, it swallowed them all like the classic trap of Team Rocket's trio—the pitfall.

One can only say: Team Rocket's trio kept using that tactic until the very end for a reason.

He looked around and saw many familiar faces, but also far fewer than he expected.

He greeted them all one by one.

On the large screen in the lounge, the list of qualifiers appeared.

Eight by eight, totaling sixty-four people.

Even if all his acquaintances were placed in, they still wouldn't fill all sixty-four slots.

But unfortunately, it wasn't that lucky.

Kendall, Silver Monkey, and Silver Horse—all three trainers from Huang Tie Arena—were all eliminated; similarly, few competitors from Silicon Beryllium City remained.

The remaining familiar faces were—

Batrass, Director Director Zhengyi, Lei Ou, Long Ren, Lady Lady Ayana, Gragio, Ryuka, Daktou, Chenghong, Captain Captain Huoyan, Zheye, Malin, Shannian, Manchong, Ar Ar Jian Tai, Awu.

Excluding himself, only sixteen.

The remaining forty-seven, he had little memory of.

"Balza! Where's Balza?" All All Baimu suddenly remembered this friend and turned to ask Chenghong.

Desertion No. 1: Balza!

He'd at least been enhanced by All All Baimu—how could he not have made it?

It seemed he'd heard his name.

A boy with a spiky haircut ran over and said, "I know Balza! I beat him!"

"... Long Ren?"

All All Baimu's pupils trembled.

Long Ren nodded and smiled: "It's me. Thank you! Thanks to you, Lugia was freed from its suffering—I didn't even know its purification had failed!"

After saving Lugia, he went out traveling and adventuring.

Only when Lugia was returned to Oure for re-purification did he learn of this news.

"I don't thank you—you eliminated my good friend."

He sighed.

Long Ren laughed heartily: "Don't be so petty! Losing and winning in battle is normal! Didn't you eliminate someone else's friend too?"

"You're right. My fault."

All All Baimu shook his hand with him.

Such is fate.

In a free-for-all preliminary, the chance of strong trainers eliminating weak ones increased dramatically.

Under other regions' preliminary rules, someone like All All Baimu—a monster—could at most defeat two or three.

How could he possibly have eliminated over eighty!

All All Baimu spotted Zheye and went over to greet him.

"Didn't expect you to show up."

"I had to come—if I didn't, by the time you became Oure Champion, we'd never get another chance to battle."

Zheye smiled with clear intent: "To avenge my earlier defeat!"

Then,

He sighed: "Did you hear Xiao Sheng came? But he was eliminated by a girl from Team Magma—"

"That's... me..."

Captain Captain Huoyan crept over like a ghost from the side.

Zheye was startled, his face turning pale; it took seconds before his color returned and he clutched his chest.

"Why do you still breathe so heavily?" All All Baimu asked, puzzled. "Never thought of improving?"

Captain Captain Huoyan fell silent, then tilted her head: "Boss... and Huocun said... this is my charm point?"

What a peculiar charm point!

But since you're pretty, go ahead and keep it!

All All Baimu shook his head and spotted Ryuka in the corner, walking over to greet him: "Boss~"

"Now you're the boss."

Ryuka glanced at him, radiating annoyance.

He'd been prison warden in the southeast—why was he as miserable as Qingshu next door?

All All Baimu smiled: "My title as boss is just a name—yours is real, isn't it?"

"Shut up! Don't think just because you're strong now I won't beat you!"

Ryuka glared at him, clearly unhappy as prison warden, gritting his teeth: "I'm using this chance to switch posts and become a Investigator! Whoever stands in my way—dies!"

Pokémon Investigator.

A specialized law enforcement role.

The distant Kanto and Johto League Champions, Agatha, were among them.

All All Baimu smirked: "Good luck, Boss. If you need anything, just say the word—I'll go through fire and water~"

Ryuka looked almost berserk—he'd been so wise and rational when they first met.

Maybe he was just someone who couldn't settle down.

No need to chat with Lady Lady Ayana—a simple thumbs-up from afar was enough.

Awu was chatting with someone; as the social terrorist who had once forced N and Shannian to reconcile, he was excellent at making new friends.

Manchong...

Was he deliberately avoiding him? Why wasn't he anywhere to be seen?

Gragio was gone too—was he injured?

Actually, no.

Lusamaine and Lillie had come to Silicon Beryllium City in person.

They'd seen the final footage and were deeply worried whether Gragio had been caught in the Ground Split.

But with Silver Guardian by his side, they could rest easy.

Ultra Beasts' counter-Pokémon could rescue Lillie from the tentacles of Vileplume—and they could rescue Gragio from the Ground Split too.

After the competitor list was announced,

The organizers provided a lunch banquet, open to all.

Even trainers who couldn't or wouldn't attend received meals delivered to their rooms.

Unexpectedly,

Far more people showed up than anticipated.

Of over four hundred competitors, only a dozen were injured and unable to attend, and four were absent.

Shannian stood on the central stage and delivered a speech thanking all competitors.

"... Thank you all—without you, Oure's first Grand Tournament couldn't have been so vibrant. It's your doing! Drink this cup to the bottom! Gratitude to you all!"

He downed the entire cup of wine.

Applause erupted—

A wave of clapping.

Out-of-town trainers found it novel: while the Valley Free-for-All preliminaries were dangerous, so too was wilderness adventuring.

So though everyone was injured, no one complained.

Instead, they surrounded All All Baimu—the very cause of their injuries—and fed him wine, half-complimenting, half-egging him on.

It felt like losing in the arena but winning back in the tavern.

Local trainers found it strange—they might never have attended charity tournaments, but their parents had all seen them.

Either willingly or unwillingly.

Now they were the ones being watched, just as Shannian had said.

Extremely unnatural.

But regardless, as things stand now.

The opening ceremony and preliminary rounds of the Orei inaugural event—were a tremendous success!

All All Baimu's final Earth Split topped all trending lists on blogs, Pokémon Sound, and other platforms.

The organizers didn't even need to run promotions.

Never had a start been so wonderful!

Cheers for Orei!

A lively banquet.

All All Baimu barely avoided letting those Trainers get him drunk; when he woke up the next morning and stepped out of his bedroom, he felt he might still be intoxicated.

On the sofa in the hall.

Miss Miss Liuqi crunched chips noisily, Adam sipped coffee elegantly, and the butler stood by.

"You're only eighteen—how can you drink?" Miss Miss Liuqi looked over and asked.

All All Baimu fell silent for a while, then said:

"Orei… doesn't follow Xiang Xiang Fengyuan's laws."