Chapter 159: The Captain of the Mining Corps
After lunch, Shigeru eagerly dragged the group towards the training grounds. In reality, only his Turtwig was as excited as he was. The others were all rather unenthusiastic about battling.
Celestia and her Budew weren't interested. Besides, Budew was still too small and didn't have the ability to fight other Pokémon yet. Will, having fought for three lifetimes, was tired of it. On a day that was supposed to be for rest, he really couldn't be bothered. As for Meowscarada, she had never been interested in battling in the first place. The only reasons her level was so high were that half of it was because Will had forced her, and the other half was because she wanted to catch up to him. Her only real interests were singing and eating.
The training grounds were close to the restaurant, so it took them less than five minutes to get there.
"Oh?"
Arriving at the edge of the battleground, Will was a little surprised by what he saw. He had assumed that in this era, a "battleground" would be just like the backyard of a future Pokémon Center, with a few lines drawn in the dirt. But this was actually a bit different. For one, the ground was covered with a lawn. In terms of visual effect, it was much more beautiful than the barren fields of the anime. Around the field, there were even some chairs for spectators, but there weren't many, and they were already full.
"It's not even peak time yet. In the evening, after the students and office workers get home and have dinner, that's when this place really gets lively," Celestia explained. It wasn't her first time in Jubilife City.
"So many people, and only one battleground. You could wait all day and not get a turn," Will said, shaking his head. There were still too few battlefields in the cities of this era.
But he quickly realized something was wrong. The number of people who were actually keen on battling was not that large. Most were just here to watch the excitement. It was the feeling of not wanting to be at home alone, of coming to a crowded place to dispel the loneliness. What they were actually doing wasn't important.
"The activity of battling is currently most popular in Kanto and Johto, followed by Sinnoh and the Orange Islands. I'm not sure about the more distant regions. Perhaps Paldea is more popular," Celestia explained the phenomenon.
In the southern hemisphere, battling and breeding had originated from the 800-year-old Orange Academy. In the northern hemisphere, they had started in Kanto and Johto, respectively. Sinnoh, being the closest to them, had been quite deeply influenced.
"Hey! Rowan! You brought two incredible Pokémon with you! Hurry up and have a match with me!"
Shigeru was a celebrity at the training grounds; the moment he appeared, someone called out to him. Will glanced over. It was a girl about the same age as Shigeru. The Pokémon by her leg was a Pachirisu. Don't be fooled by its small size and cute appearance; its role is that of a light tank, and it's quite durable. At the same level, it would be a bit tougher than a Turtwig. But judging by its size... its level was not high. Forget challenging Will; it wasn't even qualified to challenge Meowscarada.
The girl's voice, however, had turned everyone's attention to Will and Meowscarada.
Meowscarada instantly entered her "ice queen" state, crossing her arms and standing by Will's side, her gaze fixed forward, as if nothing in the world could enter her eyes.
Will was even more direct. He glanced at the crowd once and then looked away, putting on the air of a being who had looked down upon the world and found no worthy rival. This wasn't him deliberately acting cool. It was just that among the Pokémon at this training ground, there really wasn't a single one who could fight him.
"Well? Are you two going to go up? It looks like everyone is very interested in you," Shigeru said, turning to them, his eyes sparkling. He also wanted to see their combat power.
"Forget it. There are no opponents," Will shook his head.
He was a little confused about the power levels of this era's human society. Two hundred years in the future, there was a clear hierarchy: Champion at the top, then the Elite Four, then Gym Leaders, Frontier Brains, and so on. But now, there were no such things as Champions or Elite Four in the Leagues. There was no organized power structure. This made it difficult for him to judge whether his own strength was high or low. But based on the performance of these ordinary trainers, his level should be quite high.
"How about I be your opponent?" a voice called out from outside the training ground.
Everyone turned to look and began to murmur.
"Whoa, that's Gavin from Oreburgh City. A big shot has arrived."
"Isn't he the captain of the League's Mining Corps? What's he doing here?"
"I heard he's an elite among trainers. His Pokémon are as strong as monsters, not on our level at all."
"Do you think that Sceptile will accept?"
Will's ears twitched as he listened to the crowd. He turned to look at the newcomer. It was a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard, wearing a miner's helmet, a white shirt, and gray work pants.
"Golem, show them what you've got. Let's see if you're worthy of being his opponent," Gavin said, reaching for his waist.
A large, rock-covered sphere appeared on the spot. A Golem, the Rock/Ground-type Pokémon. A normal one is 1.4 meters tall. Gavin's was 2 meters. Its strength was visibly immense.
However, using a Golem to fight a Sceptile was a joke. Rock/Ground is 4x weak to Grass. Golem is a physical tank, but Sceptile is a special attacker. On paper, Golem was at a complete disadvantage.
But the current situation was... Will couldn't see the Golem's level. This meant its level was higher than his own. How much higher, he couldn't confirm. He would have to exchange a few blows to get a rough idea.
"Meow?" Meowscarada looked at Will, asking if he needed her to handle this.
"Forget it. You're not quite there yet," Will shook his head.
Believe it or not, although Meowscarada had the stats, moves, and ability that a Sceptile dreamed of, when it came to fighting a Golem, she was actually not as suitable as he was.
With that, Will himself walked into the center of the battlefield. His desire to fight wasn't strong, but he and Meowscarada would likely be in Jubilife for a long time. He'd better show off his strength now to make his future days a little quieter.
"Ooh-ooh~ Is Sceptile going up?! Go for it!" Shigeru yelled, extremely excited. The field immediately erupted in cheers. Anyone could tell that an exciting duel was about to begin.
"I wonder who's stronger," Celestia said, also feeling a rare surge of excitement. Although she wasn't interested in battling herself, watching a good fight was always fun.
Of course, in her heart, she still felt that Gavin was stronger. After all, the Oreburgh Mining Corps belonged to the Sinnoh League. Although "Captain" sounded like a logistics position, that was not the case. During the mining process, they often dug into the homes of underground Pokémon. If they ran into a hot-tempered one, a battle was inevitable. So, the Captain of the Mining Corps was actually a combat commander, and his strength was definitely much greater than that of an ordinary league inspector.
And based on her observation of Meowscarada, her strength was about the level of an inspector's main Pokémon. Then the Sceptile traveling with her was, at most, at the level of an inspector's ace. In that case, compared to Gavin, the captain of the corps, he was still lacking.
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