Get Stronger by Pleasing Pokémon? Who Needs to Be a Trainer!

At the Wutong Sports Arena…

A handsome young man in a suit and tie stood tall on top of an Aegislash, microphone in hand.

"To all the spectators here at the arena, and everyone watching at home, welcome to the first-ever Wutong City Baby Cup, proudly sponsored by Woof-Woof Department Store," he announced.

"I'm your commentator for this event, Li Bing."

"For all the new Trainers preparing to embark on your journeys, Pokémon battles are an inevitable part of life…"

Blah, blah, and even more blah.

Lin Feng completely tuned him out.

The Baby Cup used an elimination bracket format.

The enormous circular grassy field, large enough to host Pokémon battles of gym-level caliber, had been divided into a giant nine-square grid.

The sections were marked out with white chalk, numbered one through nine.

After all, these were just battles between rookie Trainers. The arena didn't need to be meticulously perfect.

So the first few rounds would feature multiple matches happening simultaneously.

Round one had 124 participants, totaling 62 matches.

Spread across nine battlefields, it would only take four rounds of fights to determine who advanced to the next stage.

This part was called the group stage.

"Ninth group, fourth round?"

Glancing at his numbered tag, labeled 9 (4), Lin Feng murmured to himself.

All the Baby Cup contestants had been assigned waiting areas near their respective battlefields.

Lin Feng and Qin Shu had ended up in separate groups. She was in Group 8.

But since Groups 8 and 9 were close to each other, Lin Feng could still see what was happening across the railing.

And sure enough…

That yellow-haired nuisance, Michael Zhang, was also in Group 8, buzzing around Qin Shu again, clearly trying to pester her.

But this time, Qin Shu had learned her lesson.

She went straight to the nearby security officer and lodged a complaint.

One stern warning from the officer, and Michael Zhang didn't dare hover near her anymore.

Seeing that, Lin Feng nodded in quiet satisfaction.

"Alright, let the matches begin! Contestants for the first round, please enter your battlefields!"

At last, the commentator atop his Aegislash finished his long-winded speech and officially kicked off the tournament.

Lin Feng's expression grew a little more serious.

Despite being called the Baby Cup, this was actually the "babyest" of Baby Cups…

Since it had been a little over a month since the graduating high school seniors finished their final exams, there was a long-standing tradition in Wutong City.

Most students from the graduating class of Pokémon High School chose to embark on their first big journey: a trek toward university, challenging every city gym along the way.

Otherwise, the results of this tournament might have been very different.

Because the seniors at Wutong Pokémon High often had starter Pokémon in their second evolutionary stages and were frequently at high ordinary-level strength.

So, whoever scheduled this tournament had picked the timing perfectly.

Still…

Now that he had set his sights on first place, Lin Feng intended to take things seriously.

He decided to check the matchups for the ninth group's first-round battle to gather intel.

Okay then…

Caterpie vs. Weedle.

At first glance, it didn't seem like anything special, but Lin Feng was suspicious.

He thought silently to himself:

What if this Caterpie was holding an Everstone, and its Trainer was secretly trying to recreate the urban legend about a level-100 Caterpie evolving into Rayquaza?

Better safe than sorry.

He activated his Appraisal Eye.

Pokémon: Caterpie

Gender: Male

Ability: Shield Dust

Potential: White-grade

Level: 7

Skills: String Shot, Tackle

"Huh?"

It really was just an ordinary Caterpie!

Lin Feng didn't even know what to say. He gave Snivy a gentle pat.

Then he checked the other contender, the Weedle.

Hmm…

Level 6…

"Sni…vy?"

Snivy seemed rather frustrated.

It had been expecting at least one good battle today. But seeing those two Bug-types squirming around…

Snivy was worried it might accidentally use too much power and, well… accidentally kill them.

"Don't worry. Out of this whole crowd, there's bound to be some real experts. You'll get your chance," Lin Feng comforted it.

He shifted his attention to the other battlefields.

And he found himself both amused and a little exasperated.

If the entire arena's matches could be ranked into three tiers…

Group 9 was clearly the bottom tier.

Slightly higher up were matches featuring level-11 or 12 Pokémon, like Nidoran and Bulbasaur.

And at the very top… was Field 3, where Xu Kun was battling.

There was no denying it.

Out of the whole venue, Xu Kun, a recent high school graduate, was practically in a league of his own.

With just his Torchic, he'd managed to take down an opponent's level-12 Pidgey using Ember.

But battles of that caliber were rare.

Statistically speaking, among all the contestants in this tournament, only around four or five Trainers would have Pokémon as high as level 16.

It could be a bit more, or a bit less…

This kind of Baby Cup left even the commentator struggling for things to say.

During Torchic's battle against Pidgey, at least there'd been some excitement.

"Alright! Let's look at the action on Field One. Wow, we've got a Flying-type Pidgey going up against the Fire-type Torchic! Check out those blazing Embers from Torchic, so fierce that even Pidgey can't dodge them all!

Pidgey's Trainer is going for broke. He's ordered Pidgey to use Quick Attack!

Ah, what a pity… It failed. Pidgey's down from Torchic's Ember attack!"

"Now let's look at Group 9. Oh dear… Caterpie and Weedle. Their strings are tangled up around each other. Let's see how the Trainers handle this situation."

"Come on, Caterpie!"

"Hang in there, Weedle!"

The commentator fell silent.

Finally, after a full minute of stalemate, Weedle's Trainer had an idea. He ordered Weedle to use Poison Sting to poke a hole in the tangled silk. Then Weedle slowly chewed through the webbing and finished off Caterpie with a Poison Sting.

Spectators in the back rows, many of whom had come for the free admission, were left speechless by such a dull match…

Moving on to Round Two:

Group 9 had Spearow (level 9) facing off against Rattata (level 10). Spearow won.

Round Three:

Group 9 featured Pichu (level 13) battling Grimer (level 11).

Pichu emerged victorious.

Why do we say Pikachu instead of Pichu?

Because halfway through the fight, Pichu couldn't keep up… so it evolved.

By Round Three…

While Lin Feng and Snivy were starting to get bored out of their minds…

He finally spotted a Lapras.

On Field 7.

Its Trainer was a short, slightly chubby boy, who sauntered in with a bag of potato chips in one hand, looking utterly nonchalant.

He didn't look like he'd come to battle at all.

More like someone who'd wandered in to watch the matches.

His opponent was a girl commanding an Onix at level 15.

The moment both Pokémon were summoned…

The commentator immediately flew over to Field 7 on his Aegislash and launched into a wildly excited commentary.

"Oh my goodness, an Onix! Look at that colossal body and that gleaming, rock-hard hide. This Onix has clearly been exceptionally well-trained!

In the Baby Cup, a Pokémon like this can be downright intimidating. Let's see what her opponent will bring out…"

"Lapras! It's Lapras! I can't believe it's Lapras!"