The system had always had a very weak presence in Chen Mo's life.
Aside from occasionally using it to purchase things like healing medicine, the last time the system had actively made any noise dated all the way back to when he had first transmigrated into this world.
Back when he had changed his mind.
Back when he had decided to shoulder the responsibility and use livestreaming to educate the public about Pokémon.
At that time, the system had proactively granted him a beginner's gift package.
Namely—
The Eye of Detection, along with a beginner version of Aura Power.
There was no need to elaborate.
Chen Mo wasn't the type of person who attributed all his achievements to a "cheat system."
Still, he had to admit that being where he was today would have been impossible without the help of the Eye of Detection and Aura Power.
However—
After that, the system seemed to have completed its mission.
It completely fell silent, never making another sound, eventually becoming nothing more than a glorified shop interface.
Therefore—
When Chen Mo heard the familiar notification chime again, his first thought was that he might be hallucinating.
Yet when he reopened the system shop and saw the loading percentage displayed on the translucent interface, he finally realized—
This wasn't an illusion.
"Who would've thought... reaching maximum affection with six Pokémon would actually trigger something like this. That's pretty incredible..."
Among Chen Mo's six Pokémon—
Pikachu had reached maximum affection while it was still a little Pichu.
Next came Pidgeotto, Magikarp, Gengar, and finally Gible, who had joined the team last but whose affection had skyrocketed the fastest.
As for Absol—
Although it had been with the team for quite some time, its situation was different from the others.
Its affection had always increased very slowly.
"If I'd known the system would react like this after six Pokémon reached max affection, I would've spent more time bonding with Absol..."
Chen Mo unconsciously looked toward the yard.
Absol was currently playing in the sand with Gible.
Sensing Chen Mo's prolonged stare, Absol immediately felt a strong wave of ill intent.
Then—
To Chen Mo's astonishment, the affection value that had only just reached maximum dropped again.
Chen Mo: "..."
Once again, he realized something important.
Absol was different from the others.
Filled with maternal warmth, what it needed wasn't forced interaction but long-term companionship and the warmth of family shown through everyday life.
Just like today.
Everyone had gathered together.
Naturally, Absol's affection had crossed that final threshold and reached maximum for the first time.
Trying to force it would probably only backfire.
"Thankfully, the system update only seems to require six Pokémon to have reached max affection at least once. It doesn't seem to require them to stay maxed permanently..."
Chen Mo muttered to himself.
Watching the percentage on the translucent screen slowly approach one hundred, his heart couldn't help but race with anticipation.
He was genuinely curious.
What exactly would change once the update finished?
"It's here!"
Unlike certain apps that hit ninety-nine percent and then somehow reveal endless decimal places afterward, the system paused at ninety-nine percent for roughly ten minutes before finally reaching one hundred.
Immediately afterward—
A line of translucent text appeared.
[Please meet all Pokémon.]
"Hm?"
Chen Mo froze.
As his thoughts moved, the text slowly faded away.
What remained—
Was the exact same shop interface as before.
He casually flipped through several pages.
Even the item order hadn't changed.
"What exactly did this update update?"
Just as he was feeling completely confused—
He suddenly noticed something.
At the very top of the interface, a new symbol had appeared.
A golden four-pointed star.
"This is..."
Chen Mo frowned.
Seeing the golden star, his first thought was naturally that radiant llama-like Pokémon that always appeared bathed in divine golden light.
However—
He clearly remembered that Pokémon's iconic symbol was a cross-shaped ring.
Then—
A word suddenly surfaced in his mind.
Guidance.
In a daze, Chen Mo understood.
The golden four-pointed star seemed to represent something called guidance.
Following his thoughts, the star in his vision suddenly erupted with dazzling brilliance.
The entire interface transformed.
Only a single line of text remained.
[Aura Trial (In Progress)]
Meanwhile—
At another villa.
Ah Hui pointed seriously at the screen while speaking to Butterfree beside him.
"Pay attention to this movement where it pulls its body back before closing the distance. This is Xiao Sheng's Vigoroth's tell before using Uproar."
"Uproar is Vigoroth's only long-range attack."
"When you fight tomorrow, it'll definitely use this move."
"You need to memorize this action. The moment you see it, gain altitude immediately. Even if you can't avoid it completely, you should at least minimize the damage."
"Muyi..."
Butterfree repeatedly nodded.
"Alright. Let's rewind and watch this section again. Pay attention to the details."
Ah Hui dragged the video back and replayed it.
Again.
And again.
Only after Butterfree confirmed it had memorized every detail did Ah Hui move on to the next segment.
This process repeated countless times.
Ah Hui firmly believed in one principle:
Success always leaves clues.
Because of that belief, he had developed a habit.
Before every match, he would carefully review his opponent's previous battles.
Together with Butterfree, he'd analyze every movement, every decision, every detail.
Then they'd imagine themselves in that situation and think about how they would respond.
Those countless hours of study had given Ah Hui and Butterfree invaluable experience.
And they were the reason a Pokémon like Caterpie's evolutionary line—generally considered weak—had somehow achieved the miracle of advancing to the Round of 16 as the top seed.
"But... the Round of 16 isn't enough."
For many trainers, reaching the Round of 16 in a tournament as competitive as the Pikachu Cup was already an incredible achievement.
But Ah Hui's eyes had always been fixed on only one goal.
The championship.
Only by winning the Pikachu Cup would he earn the right to stand on the same battlefield as that person.
"The championship..."
Ah Hui stared at the tournament bracket and fell silent.
After today's matches, the quarterfinalists from the upper bracket had already been decided.
The situation there was quite clear.
At present, Xiao You and Banette were overwhelmingly ahead.
Charmeleon and Fraxure were both strong, but most likely they'd ultimately lose to Banette's absolute power.
In other words—
The suspense in the upper bracket wasn't particularly large.
The lower bracket, however, was completely different.
There wasn't a monster like Xiao You and Banette.
But there were still numerous terrifying opponents.
Qiao Cheng's Electabuzz.
Zhao Xue'er's Frosmoth.
Chen Haoran's Munchlax.
Xiao Fan's Graveler.
Xuan Mengyu's Gothorita.
...
The gap between first-place qualifiers and second-place qualifiers in this bracket was almost nonexistent.
No one knew who would emerge victorious and eventually reach the finals.
Including Ah Hui himself.
If he defeated Xiao Sheng's Vigoroth this round, his next opponent would either be Graveler or Frosmoth.
Both were extremely troublesome.
The pressure was immense.
"I can't sleep..."
Every time he closed his eyes, he seemed to see those powerful opponents staring coldly at him from the darkness.
Turning his head—
He discovered that even Butterfree, who normally kept a strict sleep schedule, was standing by the window tonight, gazing silently at the moonlit sky.
Their eyes met.
Both could feel the excitement neither could suppress.
After a long silence—
Ah Hui suddenly jumped out of bed.
"Butterfree, let's go for a walk."
"Muyi..."
Ten minutes later.
What had started as a stroll through the garden of the villa district somehow brought Ah Hui in front of a brightly lit villa.
"I wonder what Brother Mo is still doing this late..."
After hesitating briefly, he rang the doorbell.
Very quickly—
A small yellow figure came sprinting over at lightning speed.
"Pika pika?"
Upon seeing Ah Hui, Pikachu immediately brightened.
It leapt up and skillfully pressed the electronic lock with its lightning-bolt-shaped tail.
Click.
The door opened.
Ah Hui picked Pikachu up and rubbed its head.
"Pikachu, why are you answering the door? Where's Brother Mo?"
The villas were extremely close together.
As long as Ah Hui was home, walks often ended exactly like this—
Somehow arriving at Chen Mo's doorstep and dropping by for a casual chat.
Normally, Chen Mo always answered the door himself.
Having Pikachu act as receptionist was a first.
"Pika pika..."
Pikachu sighed dramatically and spread its tiny hands in helplessness.
Then it tugged on Ah Hui's pant leg and pointed toward the second floor.
"Pika pika!"
"Did something happen?"
Ah Hui frowned.
Without hesitation, he followed Pikachu upstairs.
Pushing open the half-closed bedroom door—
He immediately saw the familiar figure sitting in front of a computer, rapidly clicking through page after page as though searching for something.
"Brother Mo?"
Seeing that Chen Mo appeared unharmed, Ah Hui relaxed slightly and called out.
But surprisingly—
Chen Mo didn't respond.
He remained completely focused on the screen.
Left with no choice, Ah Hui raised his voice and called again.
This time—
Chen Mo finally noticed him.
Turning around, he looked confused.
"Ah Hui? When did you get here?"
"Just now..."
As Ah Hui answered, his eyes couldn't help drifting toward the computer screen.
He was curious.
What exactly was so fascinating that Chen Mo hadn't even noticed someone entering?
"The Disappearing Island..."
Ah Hui slowly read the headline displayed on the screen.
Immediately, he found it strange.
It looked like a news website.
Was Chen Mo researching something?
A disappearing island...
"I thought you had a match tomorrow morning. Why aren't you sleeping yet?"
Chen Mo smiled lightly.
Ah Hui scratched his head.
"There are too many strong opponents left."
"I couldn't sleep, so Butterfree and I went for a walk."
"Then somehow we ended up here."
"I see."
Chen Mo stood up.
"Give me a second. I'll grab you something to drink. What would you like?"
"Don't bother. I just came over to chat."
Ah Hui's gaze kept drifting back to the screen.
Naturally, Chen Mo noticed.
"Curious?"
"Very."
Ah Hui nodded repeatedly.
Then, remembering Chen Mo's position, he quickly added:
"Brother Mo, if it's confidential, don't worry about it."
"You know me. I just came over to chat."
"No other reason."
Chen Mo chuckled and shook his head.
"It's nothing confidential."
"I'm planning to head to the southern coast after the Pikachu Cup ends."
"So I figured I'd gather some useful information first."
"The south?"
"Mm."
Chen Mo smiled.
"Every region has different Pokémon."
"I've already covered most of the common Pokémon in our province."
"So I was thinking it's time to visit somewhere new and introduce new Pokémon."
"The southern coastal regions should have plenty of species we never see inland."
"And since it's summer, it's also a great time to travel there."
"That actually makes sense."
Ah Hui stroked his chin thoughtfully.
"I remember you mentioning before that just like there are freshwater fish and saltwater fish, many Water-type Pokémon live exclusively in ocean environments..."
His interest steadily grew.
"Ocean Pokémon..."
Chen Mo watched him quietly.
He didn't interrupt.
After all—
He had lied.
He really was planning to visit the southern coast.
And introducing marine Pokémon was indeed one of his goals.
But the true reason for this sudden decision...
Was the system's guidance.
The mysterious destination hidden somewhere in the south—
The Trial of Aura.
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