"What's wrong? Why are you angry?"
The Frosmoth glanced at a few Valarians nearby and spoke. As it did, an icy chill began to emanate from its body—
A bone-chilling cold!
"It's fine. Looks like when I compete in the next round in a couple of days, I'll need you to take the stage" Nathan said with a cold snort.
Calling me a coward? Insulting my country? Rigging the match to bully my fellow countrymen?
How could I let that slide without giving you a proper lesson?
Nathan had already made up his mind. In the upcoming matches, none of his other Pokémon would appear—only Frosmoth.
He had no other reason except for one: to use a Pokémon he had captured in the island nation... to crush Valar's trainers.
He wanted them to truly understand the meaning of despair.
After quickly descending the mountain, Nathan hailed a taxi and returned to his hotel.
As soon as he got out of the cab, he spotted Yue and Chad, who were just about to head out.
During the match, they had already been messaging and calling him.
So once Nathan came out, he replied to them right away.
As soon as they got his message, the two of them came down to wait.
Though they didn't participate in the competition themselves, this matter now involved their country—
Naturally, they were taking it seriously.
"Nathan, you finally showed up! If you'd taken any longer, I swear those people were about to come knock on our door to curse us out!"
Yue complained the moment she saw him.
"Don't worry, it's just a tiny country—I'm not even taking them seriously," Nathan replied calmly.
Honestly, if wars weren't forbidden these days, he'd probably already have started one.
If he went back to the Wandering Mountains and found Entei and the other two Legendary Pokémon and offered them some incentives...
Could three Legendaries not wipe out one measly island nation?
But even if he couldn't start a war, that didn't mean the Valarians were going to get off easy.
Back in his room, Nathan sat down and began drafting a post on his phone.
He wasn't normally the keyboard warrior type—
But just answering them on the battlefield wasn't going to be enough.
After writing close to 2,000 words, he posted the article online.
He also included some photos he had taken on the snowy mountain.
The general content of the post was this:
He'd been bored and decided to visit the mystic realm in Valar.
He claimed to have no idea what was happening in the outside world and expressed sympathy for his fellow countrymen who had been unfairly defeated in the match.
He also mentioned that he had casually captured a nearly champion-level Pokémon in that mystic realm, and that he planned to use it to defeat every opponent in the upcoming matches.
Though not a single line explicitly targeted Valar, every single word was clearly aimed at them.
Within less than an hour, the number of reposts exceeded 300 million!
Not just people from his own country—even Valar citizens saw the translated version of the article.
Less than three minutes after the post went live, Nathan received a call from Lily.
"You finally came out!"
Lily said with a bit of exasperation.
Of all the times to go into a mystic realm, he picked now.
During the five days Nathan was gone, Lily had nearly exploded from frustration.
…
"Relax. I'll smash them into the ground,"
Nathan said confidently, knowing exactly what Lily was concerned about.
After a quick chat, Nathan hung up the call.
But immediately, his phone started ringing again—
Call after call from people on his side.
After taking over a dozen calls, his phone finally quieted down.
Meanwhile, the nation of Valar was experiencing a round of collective humiliation.
They accused Nathan of being arrogant—
Using a newly captured Pokémon to try to win against them? How absurd!
But while Valar and Nathan's own country were locked in heated conflict, other countries were thoroughly enjoying the drama.
After all, the more fiercely Nathan clashed with the Valarians now, the fewer competitors there'd be left when the world tournament rolled around.
Online discussions were still raging, but Nathan didn't bother engaging.
He wasn't about to become a full-time keyboard warrior.
Instead, he quietly waited for the next round of competition to begin.
However, when it did start, the people of his country were furious!
Because the rules had suddenly changed!
Originally, it was an individual tournament.
No matter how many people a country sent, only the strongest trainers would make it to the end.
But now, the format had been abruptly changed to a country-vs-country team competition!
Though this might sound fine on the surface, due to earlier behind-the-scenes tampering, only Nathan and Evelyn remained from his country.
In other words, the upcoming matches would require Nathan and Evelyn to face off against entire teams from other countries!
Even though it would still be 1-on-1 battles,
as long as the opposing team had enough members, they could win just by throwing bodies at them in a war of attrition.
Evelyn was livid when she heard about the rule change.
Combined with the earlier shady match outcomes, she was now certain—
Valar was deliberately targeting them.
She even suspected that the World Pokémon League was involved in this manipulation.
Otherwise, how could even the tournament format suddenly change?
Nathan, however, was not worried. He had complete confidence.
Even if it came down to him facing ten opponents in a row—he could handle it.
After all, they were still 1-on-1 matches, and he had plenty of high-quality resources.
He could easily rotate his Pokémon and replenish their strength with items.
Soon, the new round of matches began.
When Nathan met up with the other participants from his country, aside from himself—who remained calm and confident—
everyone else looked uneasy.
Evelyn felt especially overwhelmed by the pressure.
"Nathan, let me go first this round," she said. "That way, your Pokémon can conserve their energy for the tougher opponents later."
She had considered this for a long time before deciding to offer.
Partly because Nathan's Pokémon were indeed stronger than hers,
and partly because he had a much better shot at winning a place in the global tournament.
So she decided to sacrifice her own chances in this regional round to give Nathan a better shot later.
"No need. It's just a regional competition—I can handle it. You just sit in the stands and watch."
Nathan replied confidently.
Evelyn wanted to say more, but held her tongue.
Truth be told, she also wanted to enter the global tournament.
Nathan and the rest entered the venue.
Compared to the preliminaries, there were even more audience this time.
Nearly 50% were from his country!
As soon as they walked into the arena, they saw many supporters holding up eye-catching signs to cheer them on.
It was rare to see this kind of support at an international competition.
After all, traveling abroad wasn't something everyone could easily do.
Most people had jobs and responsibilities—it wasn't easy to take time off.
When Nathan, Evelyn, and the others walked in, cheers from their fellow countrymen erupted like thunder, wave after wave,
as if they were going to blow the roof off the Murakami Arena.
On the other hand, Valar's team looked quite displeased.
Even though they were the hosts, they hadn't received this level of cheering.
Still, when they thought about the upcoming match, some of their frowns eased.
So what if you have loud cheers? You think just two people can defeat all of us?
"Nathan! Use Valar's Pokémon to defeat Valar's team! We'll always support you!"
A loud shout rang out. One of his countrymen had pulled out a massive megaphone from who-knows-where and yelled across the entire arena.
The megaphone was clearly top quality—
its voice echoed throughout Murakami Arena.
The moment that voice rang out, it sparked another wave of deafening cheers.
Nathan laughed when he heard it.
As expected of his fellow countrymen—they really knew how to make an impact.
He was glad to see this kind of support.
But a few of the valarians looked grim.
Some of them understood his country's language, and they knew exactly what that shout had meant.
"Dear audience members, following the conclusion of the first round of preliminaries, the second round is about to begin."
Hana appeared in the center of the arena as the announcer.
She continued, "This round will see a format change—from individual matches to national team-based competition."
As she spoke, the screens in all four corners of the Murakami Arena displayed the new format for the second round.
There were still quite a few countries remaining in the Asia region.
Some weaker countries had already been eliminated in the first round.
Now, only 33 nations remained—just one more than needed.
"Because there is one extra country, one team will receive a direct bye into the top ten," Hana added.
The crowd immediately grew restless. A direct pass into the top ten?!
That meant skipping two whole battles!
Many countries were excited.
Some of them had only a few participants left, and making the top ten wouldn't be easy.
This direct advancement spot was incredibly valuable.
"Next, each country will send a representative forward to draw lots and determine their match-up. The team that draws number 33 will receive the bye!"
Hana concluded.
"You go. I feel like your luck might be better,"
Evelyn turned to Nathan and said.
Nathan nodded, not acting modest, and headed up to the stage.
As he walked up, a contestant from Valar approached from beside him.
"Hope you get the free win," he sneered. "Otherwise, I won't go easy on you."
With that, the valarian sped up and went ahead to draw his lot.
Nathan just chuckled lightly.
Please. You think you can beat me?
Many of the other nations also rushed forward to draw their numbers, afraid someone else might take the coveted bye.
Nathan, however, wasn't in a hurry at all.
He was confident—whether he got it or not, he'd make it to the top ten.
One by one, the representatives from the other 32 countries drew their numbers.
And somehow, none of them pulled number 33.
Only Nathan remained.
(End of Chapter)
(TN: Ok, I was thinking of editing or removing the hateful content but I was kinda getting into the fight so I'll keep some, if you guys can't get into it just imagine them like the nation where the shield hero was summoned in, in The Rising of the Shield Hero.)