Kyogre had come and gone in an instant.
It vanished before forces from across the globe could fully react.
Elite Four Ye, stationed closest to Guangdong Province, arrived first on his Dragonite — the fastest flier among them all, capable of crossing the entire country in a single day.
After Lin Yu recounted everything that had happened, the two Elite Four members were stunned, especially at the thought of Manaphy summoning Kyogre.
"Kyogre, Manaphy… Latias… kid, you must have some kind of constitution that draws Legendaries to you, don't you?"
Not to mention Articuno, too…
Ye Rong stared at Lin Yu, convinced there was something unusual about him.
Most people went their whole lives without seeing a single Legendary.
But this guy?
Barely long after leaving the Eon Islands, he'd run into Manaphy and Kyogre.
"Alright, enough messing around. Team Rocket, pirates — acting this brazen! We haven't cracked down hard enough lately."
"Rest easy, kid. Team Rocket's gonna have a terrible time from here on out."
As he spoke, Ye Rong's eyes glinted with cold killing intent.
In China,
no organization dared to act too openly.
The moment they stepped out of line, the Pokémon League hit them with full force.
May 4th.
The day monthly Entries reset — also the first day since Manaphy left.
Today, four Entries would refresh:
daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
He unlocked them in order, starting with the daily.
[Green Entry (Photographic Memory) — Remember any material seen once perfectly.]
Next, the weekly Entry.
[Blue Entry (Lucky Strike) — Double the chance of inflicting status conditions with moves. Cooldown: 3 min.]
This one… Lin Yu thought it over. Solid.
Whereas Purify granted immunity to negative conditions,
this one let him inflict them on the opponent.
He could raise a Ghost or Poison-type Pokémon for this later.
He decided not to dismantle it.
The monthly and quarterly Entries arrived together.
Red and purple light blazed brightly.
[Purple Entry (Judgment) — After landing an attack, cancel 30%~70% of the target's stat boosts, based on their strength.]
Today's Entries were all about status manipulation.
Moves like Swords Dance, Dragon Dance, and Work Up were key for many Pokémon to turn fights around at low health.
Others, like Leech Seed and Drain Kiss, let them steal health.
This Entry could wipe out most of those buffs.
Incredibly useful.
The quarterly Entry…
[Red Entry (Silence) — When hitting the opponent in battle, has a high chance to interrupt their charged move. Exclusive to Psychic-type Pokémon. Cooldown: 3 min.]
Silence, huh?
Fitting for a red-rarity Entry.
Best of all, it had no level limit — land a hit, and you could silence them.
A brutal effect.
Paired with Lucky Strike,
he could push the chance to nearly 100%.
It was only for Psychic-types, but still amazing.
He assigned both Entries to Latias for now.
Ever since learning Dira was Latias, he hadn't given her any Entries at all.
As for Judgment, he'd keep it in reserve.
It was universal — any Pokémon could equip it.
He'd pass it around mid-battle depending on who needed it most.
Then there was the Ocean Core, brimming with the power of the sea.
It had instantly boosted Greninja, Charizard, and Gardevoir to level 40,
and Lucario to level 29.
Everyone had grown by leaps.
But…
it was time to leave Qingshui City.
Lin Yu glanced out at the hotel balcony.
There, in human form, Latias stood quietly, lost in thought.
Nostalgia mixed with hesitation.
The bond between Trainer and Pokémon ran deep — but so did friendship between Pokémon.
After a moment, he called Gardevoir back out.
"Gardev…"
Gardevoir shrank back nervously.
Through telepathy, she could tell he was going to scold her
for stepping in front of him to take the hit earlier.
When he saw her pitiful, anxious expression,
the words he'd planned died on his tongue.
All he said was:
"Don't do things you aren't sure about from now on, okay?"
"Gardev~" (Okay, Lin Yu.)
Lin Yu patted her head. Just then, his phone rang.
A push notification from the Pokémon League?
He blinked and read it carefully.
— Pokémon League Announcement —
The National Tournament schedule has been confirmed!
To give all participants ample preparation time,
the event will include a Qualifier Round and a Main Tournament.
The Main Tournament will feature 64 Trainers who excelled in their provincial leagues.
The roster will remain secret for now.
Fear not — an additional 64 spots in the Main Tournament will be decided through the Qualifiers!
Top performers in the National Tournament will receive pseudo-legendary Pokémon such as Dratini and Beldum,
plus various rare treasures!
To all genius Trainers — what are you waiting for?
He opened his messages and found an official text from the League.
Dear Student Lin Yu,
Due to your outstanding performance in the Hunan Provincial League, we are writing to confirm:
Do you wish to participate in the National High School Trainers' Tournament?
Reply 1 to confirm, TD to decline.
Lin Yu replied with 1.
The National High School Tournament would be held in the nation's capital — Jingdu.
As the biggest stage for high school Trainers across the country,
both its scale and the quality of participants
represented the rising talent of China's Trainer community.
Simply taking part meant a future almost guaranteed to reach Master rank or higher.
It was one of China's two greatest competitions:
the National High School Tournament,
and the National Youth Tournament.
The former was for high schoolers — a little green, but no less thrilling.
The latter was for those under 24, requiring Gym Badges just to enter.
So his next stop would be Jingdu.
Conveniently, his paper On the Evolution of Riolu into Lucario was finished.
He could submit it while he was there.
One thing to keep in mind:
in past National High School Tournaments,
the finalists typically fielded Lord-tier Pokémon.
With the country's best young Trainers gathering,
starter Pokémon were common,
and all kinds of rare species often appeared.
Taking first place there wouldn't be easy.