Saturday, July 19th, marked the official start of the League City Rookie Cup.
Due to the large number of participants, the preliminary rounds of the Rookie Cup were held directly at various high schools. Everyone was randomly assigned to ten battles, and players would be selected for the main competition based on their accumulated points.
Once the main competition began, the venue would shift to the Pokémon Grand Stadium in the center of League City, and at that time, there would be live broadcasts by dedicated media outlets.
David's luck was pretty good—his randomly assigned battle venue was precisely at No. 1 High School.
Although it was the weekend and only a little past 8 AM, the school was completely devoid of its usual weekend quietness. Instead, it was bustling with people, appearing exceptionally lively.
The annual Rookie Cup naturally attracts many participants, and with it being a weekend holiday, besides the contestants, there were also spectators coming to watch and join the fun, as well as parents cheering for their children. The school was practically packed to capacity.
"Over here, David, look!"
As soon as he entered the school gate, David heard a familiar voice.
Looking up, he saw Emma waving at him not far away, and standing beside her was not Luke and Miles, but Willow.
It seemed their luck wasn't bad either—they were assigned to No. 1 High School, just like him.
"Emma, Class President."
Walking over and greeting them, David casually asked, "Emma, where are Luke and Miles?"
Emma waved her hand. "Oh, don't even mention it. They're the real unlucky ones—the system directly assigned them to the New District. They're probably still on their way now."
David grimaced. The New District was already outside the traditional city limits. He figured if their battles were scheduled late, they might not be able to return tonight. Luckily, he wasn't assigned there.
Willow, standing nearby, interjected, "David, when is your battle?"
David picked up his phone and glanced at the message he had just received. "Let me see... Number 179... Battle Arena 17, sixth match... Estimated time is 9:20. There are so many people here."
Seeing this, Emma rolled her eyes at David. "Be content! The estimated time for the Class President's and my first match is already past ten. I knew we shouldn't have come so early."
Willow, on the other hand, breathed a sigh of relief. "That's normal. After all, our No. 1 High School is one of the largest venues, and the number of people choosing the Trainer major this year has probably increased quite a bit."
"But luckily, our groupings are all different, so we won't run into each other for at least the first five matches."
"How so? Are there any special rules?" David asked.
"David, are you even here to compete?! How can someone start a competition without even knowing the rules?!" Emma said helplessly.
"Hehe! You know, I've been training with Zorua so intensely these past few days that I just rested last night and didn't pay much attention to these details."
"Besides, what does it matter! Since I'm here to compete, of course I'm aiming for the championship. As long as I defeat all my opponents, isn't that enough!"
David smiled, speaking with casual confidence.
It wasn't that he was being overconfident—Zorua's progress these days had been remarkable, far surpassing its strength when battling with its companions. As a fellow Rookie Trainer, David didn't believe there would be anyone who could defeat him and Zorua.
Moreover, the League's registration threshold for rookie events was very low. Many second-year students who didn't plan to pursue battle-oriented paths also participated, making the skill level quite varied. In just a short while, he had already seen several contestants carrying fish tanks or potted plants.
Come to think of it, David was also very puzzled. What exactly were Bellsprout and Hoppip, which had just hatched and could be blown away by the wind, or Goldeen and Magikarp, which couldn't even withstand short periods of being out of water, doing here?
You know, there were no pools in the preliminary battle arenas. David found it hard to imagine how they would fight later. Surely they wouldn't lose their battle capability just because their fish tank was broken, right? That would be too bizarre.
Willow, standing nearby, smiled and began to explain the rules to David.
"For the preliminary rounds, each contestant will have ten battles. The first five matches are all on the battle arena drawn initially, completely random, used to determine a general skill level. However, the last five matches are slightly different."
"The subsequent five matches will involve another round of matchmaking. At that point, the better your performance in the earlier matches, the higher the probability you'll be matched with high-level opponents."
David understood immediately. This was simply the first five matches determining the lower threshold and qualification, and the last five determining the upper limit and ranking!
The few of them chatted idly like this, and an hour passed quickly. At this point, David's phone received a notification that his match was about to begin. So, he parted ways with the two girls, each heading to their respective assigned battle arenas.
...
"Battle Arena No. 17, Contestant No. 179 versus Contestant No. 422. The match is about to begin. Both contestants, please take your positions."
It was finally starting. Hearing the referee's voice, David yawned and walked into the battle arena.
At this moment, on the other side of the field, David's opponent was already standing there. Facing him was a somewhat shy young girl who looked completely inexperienced. Just standing on the field, being watched by the surrounding spectators, she was already on the verge of her legs giving out.
She kept her head down, not even daring to glance in David's direction.
Seeing his opponent's demeanor, David was a bit speechless. He hoped he wouldn't make her cry.
Just as David was lost in thought, the referee's voice nearby promptly pulled him back to reality.
"Contestants in position, battle begin!"
"Zorua, prepare for battle!"
"W-we have to go, Cleffa."
Name: Cleffa
Type: Fairy
Gender: ♀
Energy Level: 7 (Novice)
Aptitude: Green
Ability: Magic Guard
Held Item: None
Moves: Pound, Splash, Sweet Kiss, Charm
Looking at the Cleffa on the field, looking left and right, completely unaware that it was in a battle, the system's Pokédex automatically scanned it, and all its information appeared directly before David.
Hmm... as expected, his opponent was indeed a complete novice with no battle experience, not one of those legendary "dark horses" who pretend to be weak to hide their strength.
Although the Cleffa looked quite energetic, it was only level 7, and out of its four moves, only Pound was a damaging move. And this sole damaging move was a Normal-type attack, which Zorua was completely immune to thanks to its Ghost typing. What was the point of even fighting?!
The released Cleffa seemed very curious about the arena, looking left and right, showing no intention of battling.
Zorua looked at its opponent, then scratched its little head with a paw, turning to look at David.
This was the first time it had seen such an opponent. Even the weakest Pokémon in the Secret Realms didn't lack battle experience like this Cleffa. After all, in a wild environment, such a Pokémon would likely struggle to survive.
Seeing this, David could only say helplessly to the little fox, "Zorua, Shadow Sneak. Remember to hold back."
He was afraid that if Zorua hit too hard, it might cause serious harm to his opponent, and it would be bad if he actually made the opposing Trainer cry.
As David's words fell, an elongated shadow instantly extended from in front of Zorua to behind Cleffa. As expected, Cleffa didn't even have time to react and was directly knocked down by Shadow Sneak.
It was only then that the young girl on the other side belatedly snapped out of it, shouting, "Get up quickly! Cleffa, hang in there!"
Unfortunately, the opposing Trainer wasn't Ash, and Cleffa wasn't Pikachu. The miraculous power of a motivational shout naturally failed, and with the referee's declaration, David swiftly secured victory in the first match.