Chapter 81: Opening with Doom

On the day of the Decisive Championship.

The number of people coming to the Iron Arena had increased once again.

After all, it was an annual grand event, and it also let people watch others' battles from the inside — something extremely rare within Iron Town's territory.

So even though its tickets weren't cheap, it remained as popular as a charity tournament.

Furthermore, although the battle tournament didn't carry the same heavy hostility as the charity tournament, the grand scenes of intense Pokémon battles could only be seen at the battle tournament, making it perfect for those who longed for powerful Pokémon.

And just like the tournaments held outside, this one had also invited several guests from Geolite City who were no different from commentators, mainly to explain things the audience couldn't understand.

Inside the arena.

As the host introduced the guests one by one to the seated audience, the two trainers of the first match also took their positions.

In the competitors' ready room.

Baimu sat all alone, tilting his head back to look at the large screen TV mounted at the very front.

His match slot was the third group, and his opponent was a giant of a man no shorter than Cang Zhi Lang. Speaking of which, the people of Iron Town were extremely polarized in height — either one-nine, two meters, or one-six, one-seven.

Someone like him at a middle value of one-eighty was actually rare.

He looked around.

The remaining dozen-plus competitors were also here, some standing, some sitting, silently watching the ongoing battle on the TV.

Every one of them looked like someone not to be trifled with… hm?

Baimu's gaze fixed on a certain spot, because compared to the surrounding people who obviously hailed from Iron Town itself — no matter how rich, all bearing weather-worn faces.

That person was simply too young, too fair-skinned.

So fair-skinned that his whole being seemed untouched by a speck of dust, and at a glance he belonged to the sort who'd never done a day's manual labor, from a rather well-off family background.

From Geolite City?

Baimu glanced at the guests on the TV and felt the bearing didn't quite match.

Rather than saying he was a visitor from neighboring Geolite City, it would be more accurate to say he came from outside, from some other region.

When he'd browsed through the qualifiers' photos earlier, he really hadn't been able to discover that a living person could actually have this kind of special bearing.

Was this person here last year?

He didn't remember seeing them on the list he'd gotten from Flobo.

Just as he was silently pondering, the other party seemed to sense that they were being observed, and suddenly turned their head, their gaze meeting his.

Both were briefly startled, then smiled and nodded at each other.

"Yamatsumi… is it?"

Baimu withdrew his gaze, well aware that no matter what background this person had, they were probably not to be trifled with — quite possibly a strong contender for the championship!

"*** competitor's Mankey takes it! The victory is decided!"

The voice from the TV signaled that the first match had already ended, and the second match was about to begin, while he in the third match also needed to start making some preparations.

——

In a corridor shrouded by dim lighting.

The defeated left the field.

Baimu, whose match was about to begin, happened to brush past them, sensing their dejection and inexplicably growing nervous himself.

Following the charity tournament's cameramen and the onlookers during the territory capture, this time he would face even more prying eyes, and the pressure was unlike anything before.

The key was whether Chansey and the others could get used to their battles being watched by so many people?

Enduring others' attention also required courage.

Immature.

From every aspect, Baimu knew that he right now was still very immature.

At the end of the corridor.

The blinding white light and mountain-tsunami-like roars instantly flooded his ears; he stepped out, and the roars instantly became much clearer.

The clearest of all were the spectator stands on both sides of the path — those people clutching betting slips with ferocious faces, shouting either cheers or reverse cheers, venting their emotions for the sake of overnight riches.

Beneath the flickering spotlights.

The new field swapped in by the arena's black technology gleamed brightly, even the drifting white smoke clearly visible,

The host's voice spread through the broadcast to the entire venue.

"Let us welcome a young warrior from the Quicksand Team — Baimu!!"

Baimu walked slowly into the field, looking from afar at the giant of a man opposite.

That fellow's heh-heh strange grin was clearly visible.

The Decisive Championship's various settings were all different; among them, the match format had been changed to three-on-three, and the field had been directly expanded from fifty meters to eighty meters, giving the Pokémon more room to maneuver.

But it also caused the trainers' range of activity to increase, greatly raising the physical stamina demands.

In the commentary room.

After the host finished the introduction, he quickly handed the floor to the guests beside him. "Mr. Shirotori, how do you see this match?"

"I think this match is rather unfavorable for competitor Baimu."

The guest named Shirotori spoke frankly: "You see, just looking at the selections from the previous matches, competitor Baimu's Pokémon — Roggenrola and Chansey are both weak to Fighting-type, so their natural typing doesn't give them an advantage.

"Moreover, if I'm not mistaken, his Chansey should be a very purely support-oriented Pokémon."

The host quickly picked up the thread, "Oh? Could you explain what you mean by a support-oriented Pokémon?"

"It's a Pokémon meant to build advantages for other Pokémon." Shirotori spoke at length. "Among Pokémon, not all of them possess the ability to stand on their own; some exist that, compared to attacking, are better suited for support work.

"When facing this kind of Pokémon, you just need to not give it the chance to use status moves — competitor *** clearly won't give it the chance."

The host sighed, "Then isn't competitor Baimu doomed to lose?"

"Not necessarily!"

Shiratori waved his hand and said calmly, "Trainer Baimu still has a Fairy-type Mawile. If I were the one using it, I could definitely turn defeat into victory. If he uses it himself, there's still a chance to win — it just depends whether he can seize it."

"Hahahaha, thank you for your comments, Mr. Shiratori. Then let's wait and see what Trainer Baimu does."

The host laughed awkwardly twice, his gaze falling on a certain spot in the audience. The members of the Quicksand Team there were already cursing up a storm, and sweat involuntarily trickled down his temple.

These out-of-town guests really don't give face — that lofty, high-and-mighty attitude would have gotten them stuffed in a sack and beaten if they'd pulled it outside the arena.

But those words deliberately targeting Baimu — who knows, maybe he took money from the latter's opponent.

The host knew perfectly well that these so-called guests had no professional integrity whatsoever.

——

Inside the arena.

Baimu also vaguely heard that Mr. Shiratori's commentary, and understood in his heart that his own data had probably long been thoroughly familiar to his opponent.

But everyone was in the same boat.

Flobo had also given him data on all his opponents.

As for whether he could put that data to its greatest use, it still depended on himself.

"Fighting-type specialty, huh… being countered really is annoying." Baimu muttered softly.

The ready light began to flash.

The next second.

The green light lit up.

Baimu and the giant man both ran toward each other and threw out their Poké Balls.

Bang bang!

Two beams of white light flashed.

Mawile landed on the ground, and its standard electromagnetic levitation activated immediately.

Crackling currents clung to its body as it floated up into the air.

On the opposite side, a Hitmonlee that resembled a human boxer also ran toward Mawile while swinging fists that looked wrapped in boxing gloves, and a dark red glow drifted around its body.

A terrifying momentum was gathering on its body, its muscles visibly swelling and tensing up.

Stripes and strands like tough steel cables.

"Bulk Up!"

Without the opponent actively revealing it, Baimu also knew the true identity of this move.