As 9:00 a.m. approached, Chen Shi recalled Dragapult and the rest of his team before leaving the rest room. Taking the elevator down, he followed the signs toward Battlefield 48.
A staff member was already waiting near the entrance. After checking Chen Shi's badge, he pointed left.
"Please proceed down the left passage."
Chen Shi nodded and walked on. Soon, he arrived before a sealed metal door.
Right at 9:00, the door slid open with a sharp hiss.
Chen Shi stepped inside without hesitation.
Across the field stood a girl with a high ponytail and sharp, confident features. The moment she saw him, she raised her chin with arrogance.
"Looks like your luck is terrible—meeting me in your first match?"
"This is as far as you go."
Chen Shi's eyelid twitched, but he stayed silent.
Talking to people like this was pointless.
Battles would do the explaining.
The girl took his silence as fear and smirked even wider—until the referee stepped forward.
"Both competitors, prepare for battle."
"This is a 1v1 single match. Are both sides ready?"
Chen Shi nodded calmly.
The girl planted a hand on her hip. "Of course. I can't wait to crush him."
The referee raised his flag.
"Send out your Pokémon."
The girl tossed her Poké Ball.
"Go—my ace!"
A Roserade, Elite-peak, materialized.
"Rose—!"
Chen Shi sighed inwardly and released Metagross.
"Metta~"
Metagross floated effortlessly above the ground, glanced at Roserade… then looked visibly disappointed.
Clearly, it expected something stronger for its very first official tournament battle.
The girl froze.
As a Hoenn native, she recognized it instantly.
A shiny Metagross.
Only then did she realize—she might be in trouble.
The referee didn't care for her shock.
"Battle, begin!"
Chen Shi didn't waste a heartbeat.
"Metagross—Bullet Punch. Make it quick."
"Metta!"
Metagross shot forward like a fired cannon shell.
Only then did the girl snap back to reality.
"Roserade—dodge!!"
Far, far too late.
Metagross slammed Roserade into the wall with a single metallic fist.
The Grass-type collapsed instantly, knocked out cold.
The girl stood frozen, expression blank.
The referee checked Roserade and raised his flag.
"Roserade is unable to battle! Winner—Competitor No.18, Chen Shi!"
Chen Shi shrugged, recalled Metagross, and walked off the battlefield.
Behind him, the girl's legs gave out.
"I… lost… just like that?"
Then she remembered all the trash talk she had boasted earlier.
Face flushing red, she covered her cheeks and ran out of the arena.
Back in the Rest Room
Chen Shi released Dragapult and the others again.
The giant screen already showed his next battle time:
1:00 p.m. — Battlefield 25.
Plenty of time to rest.
He grabbed the remote to watch other matches, but the rest room door opened—
Cynthia, Daiu, and Furong walked in.
"Old Chen, you're done already?" Daiu dropped onto the sofa.
"Yeah. You all finished too?"
All three nodded.
Furong pouted.
"I thought the World Championship would be full of super-strong people… but so far it's kinda meh."
Cynthia shook her head.
"These are only the preliminaries. Once the main bracket starts, your opponents will get much stronger."
"And never underestimate anyone. You never know who's hiding a trump card."
"You don't want to get upset early."
"…Fine."
Furong slumped.
Daiu leaned back lazily.
"We'll probably have three rounds today. After that, the competitors will drop to about five hundred."
"Then two more rounds tomorrow. The top 128 will enter the main bracket."
"That's when the real World Championship begins."
"I already saw several familiar faces—they look pretty tough."
Chen Shi nodded.
This floor was for badge numbers 1–30.
No need to guess—these were the seeded prodigies.
"My next match is at 1 p.m. What about you guys?"
Daiu: "Noon."
Cynthia: "12:30."
Furong: "1 p.m. too."
"Then let's rest here. After round two, we'll go eat," Chen Shi said.
Everyone agreed.
He switched the screen to the live feed.
As he watched, he realized just how strong this worldwide pool of competitors really was.
Even the weakest contestants had Elite-level Pokémon.
Many had Gym-level power.
This was no ordinary conference—this was the summit of youth talent from every region.
Then—
"Hmm?"
Chen Shi spotted a familiar face.
"Isn't that Lorelei? Why is her first-round match only happening now?"
Daiu leaned over, surprised.
On the screen, Lorelei's Jynx fired a single Ice Beam, instantly freezing her opponent's Pokémon and ending the fight beautifully.
She exited the arena with her usual elegant air.
Chen Shi exhaled, disappointed.
He wanted to see her legendary Shell Smash Cloyster.
After all, building a true Dragon-Slayer Cloyster required:
Skill Link Shellder
Learn Shell Smash before evolving
Evolve into Cloyster
Give it a Focus Sash
Only then was it worthy of the title.
But Shellder naturally learned Shell Smash only at Gym-tier…
Raising one wasn't any easier than raising a pseudo-legendary.
Still—
once complete, the result was terrifying.
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