Chapter 28: A Formidable Enemy Approaches

However, until the bus reached the entrance of the arena, Lady Ayana never opened her mouth to speak again.

Whether it was because she had nothing more to say, or because she simply hadn't remembered, was unclear.

This bizarre move made the contestants even more nervous; everyone was uneasy, and they suffered a merciless parting shot as they got off the bus.

"Brats, I hope there are still fifteen of you the next time you get on this bus."

The female driver laughed heartlessly, spouting words that sounded like encouragement but only made people more anxious, watching everyone disembark.

They had already arrived late; the area near the arena entrance was already packed with all sorts of people, driving convertibles or motorcycles, setting up sunshades and open-air tents of various colors to escape the direct sunlight.

Judging by the patterns painted on those canopies, clearly more than just the Houndoom Squad and the Quicksand Squad had set up camp here; this "grand event" had attracted others as well.

Strange pale-green drones flew in the sky, their cameras aimed at the ground, infrared lights blinking nonstop.

Closest to the entrance, an absurdly oversized big screen had been set up, broadcasting footage from various spots inside the camp.

"Ah... aerial Rotom, what a novelty."

Baimu squinted and looked up; those drones flying about were undoubtedly the special Rotom that had appeared in the latest Pokémon anime before his transmigration.

He just didn't know whether they still counted as cutting-edge technology at this point.

Have the 'audience' arrived? Or rather, are we in the pre-match introduction phase? There might even be a commentator.

He followed the main group toward their camp; among the countless tents, the ones with a sandy-yellow base color and simplified sand-tornado patterns belonged to the Quicksand Squad.

The Houndoom Squad's emblem was a Houndour's head, and their tents were primarily gray and black.

Their camp happened to be right beside the path they had to take.

This... who arranged it?

Baimu suddenly had a bad premonition, and that premonition was quickly realized.

Under the Houndoom Squad's sunshade, several people in gray-black uniforms suddenly started pointing at them, then hurriedly ducked into the tent behind, from which a large group of people poured out.

"Yo! Well, well, isn't that Lady Ayana?"

At the very front, a short, stocky dark-faced man wore a roguish grin. "Come out and see, little ones — the legendary flower of the Quicksand Squad! Hehehe!"

Behind him, a group of Houndoom Squad members around Baimu's age let out arrogant snickers and guffaws.

About fifteen people... is that all of them?

Baimu, somewhere in the crowd, observed silently.

"Which hole did you crawl out of? Have I met you before?"

Lady Ayana showed a trace of puzzlement, ignored the dark-faced man's suddenly darkening expression, and said coldly: "Since when did the Houndoom Squad have trash like you? Every generation really is worse than the last."

"Hehehe, once I rip those two legs of yours off, you'll know exactly what kind of trash I am." The dark-faced man, brimming with malice, pulled out a Poké Ball.

"If you want a fight, I'm right here. Cut the crap."

Lady Ayana also began to make a move.

Once the two leading cadres moved, the underlings naturally couldn't just sit by — whether they were competing or not, some pulled out Poké Balls, some started mouthing off.

Ōtsuka wore an "I want it all" expression, his face suddenly contorting savagely as he roared curses and prepared to brawl.

The commotion drew the attention of bystanders; more and more people came out to watch the show, their faces alight with the excitement of those who feared the world wasn't chaotic enough.

But without a doubt, with the aerial Rotom monitoring, this fight absolutely could not break out. Just as Lady Ayana and the dark-faced man were truly about to clash, a man in a suit abruptly appeared.

No one knew when he had arrived, nor where he had come from.

Baimu felt that in the blink of an eye, this person had just popped up — extremely eerie.

"You two, all forms of Pokémon battles are prohibited inside the camp. Could you please not make trouble for us?"

The man said with a smile that didn't reach his eyes, his tone remarkably blunt.

Yet when Lady Ayana and the dark-faced man saw the mediator, they unexpectedly reined in their fury and both backed off, turning their heads and pretending nothing had just happened.

"Please come with me, both of you. My lord has business to discuss with you — oh, and please keep these contestants in line. If anything goes wrong before the tournament starts, even your superiors won't be able to bear the consequences."

The mediator finished speaking in an ambiguous tone and turned to leave.

The usually domineering Lady Ayana, as if she hadn't picked up on his tone at all, turned to the group and said: "Everyone head to camp in a bit. Don't wander around if there's nothing to do, don't get into fights with people casually. Trash-talking is fine, got it?"

"Yes!"

Baimu and the others replied in unison, watching the mediator with curiosity.

The spokesperson for the organizers?

For Lady Ayana to not argue back at all, the person backing him must be either the mayor of Iron Town or the owner of the Iron Arena.

On the other side, the dark-faced man likewise carefully admonished the Houndoom Squad's contestants, and after keeping a certain distance from Lady Ayana, swaggered off after the mediator.

With the leaders gone, the onlookers mostly dispersed too.

The contestants from both sides watched each other, and the mood that had just settled began to surge up again.

Enemies meeting face to face see red all the more; what more when they'd just had a clash, all of them at an age full of hot blood — who could stand it?

Soon, the trash-talking resumed.

"A bunch of trash hiding behind a woman, pfft!"

"Since when can gray-skinned dogs speak human? You look halfway decent — bark a couple times for us?"

"What the hell did you just say?"

"Dog bark?"

Back and forth they went, chattering and bickering noisily; the content quickly shifted from snide remarks to outright insults. Baimu, somewhere in the crowd, cursed along a few times, maintaining a united front with the surrounding Quicksand Squad members.

Then.

The situation changed again.

One person from the Houndoom Squad suddenly stepped forward, his eyes — brimming with malice — swept brazenly over the Quicksand Squad group, and Baimu noticed that Ōtsuka and the others' expressions changed drastically at this person's appearance.

"How is it him!"

"Isn't he over twenty?"

"The Hound Squad must be cheating! He's clearly over the age limit!"

Amid the clamor, All Baimu got a clear look at the man at the center of the commotion — indeed, he didn't look eighteen; you could easily believe he was twenty-eight or thirty-eight, and neither his build, his face, nor his mannerisms resembled those of a teenage boy.

"Tch."

That Hound Squad member scoffed disdainfully, his bone-white teeth quite eye-catching under the blazing sun. "What a waste of time. A bunch of lowlife trash who don't deserve the stage — wash your necks clean and wait for death obediently."

This guy's eyes were like a starving Houndoom, bloodthirstily aiming at every person's throat, setting off alarm bells in the hearts of the Quicksand Squad members, who wore wary expressions.

But after finishing his words, that Hound Squad member turned and went back into the tent, while the remaining Hound Squad members exchanged glances, tossed out a few more harsh lines, and followed him.

Clearly, they took their orders from that guy alone.

The Quicksand Squad members no longer lingered either, silently turning to head toward their camp.

On the way, through Otsuka's hushed introductions, All Baimu came to understand the background of the man from earlier.

In the traditional clashes of Huang Tie Town's factions, although they often got carried away and stopped following the rules, there was still an unwritten convention — soldier against soldier, general against general — meant to prevent "the big bullying the small."

And the man from earlier was named "Ken," a rather famous rising star in the Hound Squad, whose status was equivalent to a regular member of the Quicksand Squad, yet he could casually command squad-leader-level Pokémon.

In other words, in this match meant for regular members, there was an extra squad-leader-level trainer.

No wonder everyone was so worried.

Don't be fooled by the gap of only about ten levels — if the species base stats of the Pokémon are generally not low, the difference in every aspect of strength is still very obvious, just like in the game, where it's easy to be suppressed.

Unless it's a type disadvantage going the other way.

Sensing the solemn atmosphere within the camp, All Baimu said nothing.

Otsuka, thinking he was worried, forced a smile. "It's fine. If we can't beat them, can't we still run? Worst case, if we run into them, we just run."

"You won't be able to run, you know… the Hound Squad's Pokémon are best at tracking…"

Shi Yuan Du chimed in eerily.

All Baimu turned his head, swept a thoughtful glance at this guy, and the latter's expression instantly stiffened. "Wh-what is it?"

"Nothing."

He shook his head.