Water Metropolis.
It lived up to its name in every way.
All the buildings rose straight from the lake's surface.
The Xiang Provincial Tournament was being held here these days, and the city was already a famous tourist spot —
the place was absolutely buzzing.
Tourists held up cameras, taking photos with their Pokémon.
If the atmosphere was this lively before the tournament even began,
Lin Yu could barely imagine how chaotic it would get once the matches started.
Riolu walked beside Lin Yu.
It was the youngest, so Lin Yu wanted to show it how human cities worked.
After thinking for a moment, he let Frogadier out too.
But the second Frogadier appeared, a crowd swarmed around it.
And Frogadier… immediately struck a pose!
What could he say?
Beneath its aloof exterior, Frogadier was such a show-off.
"Ri-o…"
Riolu, meanwhile, sensed everything around it with Aura Power.
It was like a little monk,
training its Aura nonstop, no matter the situation.
But that motivated Lin Yu too.
He kept his own Aura active at all times.
With this much practice, he felt he would be able to use Aura Sphere himself soon.
"Hm?"
Someone was drawing him?
By the riverbank,
a striking flash of red stood out…
As the guardian of Water Metropolis, Latias loved taking human form to observe and understand people.
Recently, she'd noticed the city was packed.
But why was everyone crowding around that Frogadier?
Isn't that human boy much better-looking?
And…
there was something really nice about his energy!
Latias felt a sudden urge to snuggle up to him.
But she thought it would be too sudden.
So instead, she decided to capture the moment in a painting.
His Legendary Affinity Physique had kicked in.
Lin Yu, who'd been keeping his Aura active, noticed her right away.
Everyone else was focused on Frogadier…
but this girl was staring only at him, gesturing,
sketching on her canvas.
She sat by the water, a sketchboard in front of her. Her bright red twin tails fluttered in the wind. She glanced at Lin Yu, giggled to herself, then went back to drawing.
Lin Yu glimpsed her face —
slender eyebrows, almond eyes, stunningly beautiful.
In such a crowded place, she should have stood out.
But no one else seemed to notice her at all.
If he didn't have Aura Sense, he might have missed her too.
Glancing at Frogadier, who was eating up all the praise from the girls,
Lin Yu took Riolu's paw and walked over.
He was about to say hello and peek at the drawing…
when the red-haired girl yelped and sprinted away.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished into the crowd.
"Hey, you forgot your drawing…"
Lin Yu's voice trailed off. He looked down at the sketch.
It was him —
a helpless expression on his face as he stared at Frogadier.
"It's pretty good."
He couldn't just leave it here. He decided to keep it until he found her again.
"Did you hear? An Elite Four member's coming to watch the Provincial Tournament!"
"Really? Which one?"
"Who else? Our province's National Dragon-type Gym Leader — Elite Four Ye! He became an Elite Four Trainer at 27 — his future's limitless!"
"Elite Four Ye always explores Secret Realms. Why would he watch a high school tournament? He usually only goes to Nationals or youth championships!"
"Who knows? Maybe he's looking for an apprentice?"
"Lucky! If you became his student, you'd at least be a Master-tier Trainer later…"
The streets were noisy. Lin Yu didn't let Frogadier stay out too long.
He waited a while for the red-haired girl, but she didn't return, so he left.
For some reason,
he felt like there was something strange about her…
To prepare early, Lin Yu headed to the official water arena.
Water Metropolis Central Plaza!
This was the battleground for the Provincial Tournament.
It was huge —
the size of two or three full football fields.
Most of it was glittering lake surface.
When the matches began,
floating platforms would rise from the water.
Trainers wouldn't just focus on battling —
their first problem would be keeping their Pokémon standing on the water!
A clever twist for this year's tournament.
Water-type and Flying-type Pokémon had a huge advantage!
Fire and Rock types? They were at a terrible disadvantage.
But it didn't matter to Charmeleon.
It could fly~
"Frogadier, this is basically your home field. Go get 'em!"
There were 128 competitors in total —
young trainers from all over Xiang Province,
either winners of city tournaments or those who'd earned their spot by challenging Gyms.
"Frogadier!"
Frogadier was loving the spotlight more and more.
With a stage this big, it was already hyped for the matches.
The tournament would begin on March 1st —
the day after tomorrow!
Most of the people lingering around the arena were teenagers.
Their eyes were sharp, their expressions full of confidence.
They were all geniuses from city tournaments,
so arrogance came naturally.
Some had already sent out their Pokémon.
Lin Yu glanced over.
Starmie, Fearow, Butterfree, Golbat…
Most were Elite Mid-to-Late tier — solid, high-quality Pokémon.
But to Lin Yu, they weren't even close to a challenge.
He could take them all with one hand.
High in the sky,
a Dragonite hovered. It looked gentle from far away, but up close, a fierce scar sliced across its face.
A tough, sharp-jawed young man rode on its back.
Ye Rong.
As the National Dragon-type Gym Leader — one of eight in the country — he specialized entirely in Dragons.
"Lin Yu, huh…"
He stared down at the boy with Frogadier and Riolu.
A flicker of curiosity flashed in Ye Rong's eyes.
An accident years ago had forced his 5-year-old sister to live far from home.
From what he'd heard, this boy had saved her.
Even the family's Gengar spoke highly of him.
As an older brother,
he had to test the boy who'd captured his sister's heart.
Lin Yu suddenly yawned.
He looked up, feeling like he was being watched.
But when he glanced upward, there was nothing there.
He frowned in confusion.
He probed around with Aura, but found nothing.
Shrugging it off, he gave Riolu an encouraging pat.
He planned to let Riolu compete too!
Only after Lin Yu left
did Ye Rong reappear at the same spot in the sky.
An Elite Four Trainer like him… almost spotted by a kid?
"Aura Power, is it?!"