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The Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament.
It was a fishing-themed competition funded by the Azure Bay City government, created to enrich the city's culture, boost local tourism, and strengthen the bond between its citizens and their home.
It was one of several public events the city's Culture and Tourism Office had specifically launched to shape and promote Azure Bay's local identity.
In previous years, to ensure fairness and variety while making the tournament more exciting for spectators, the Bibarel Cup was usually held far out at sea, away from the coastline.
The event was scheduled for June, when Water-type Pokémon were at their most active, and most competitors were professional Trainers with solid Pokémon identification skills.
This year's tournament, however, was noticeably different.
Not long ago, in the waters outside Azure Bay City, a once-in-a-century mass Gyarados rampage had taken place.
Hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of Gyarados had gathered beneath a storm-dark sky and fired Hyper Beam into the clouds at the same time.
Even though more than twenty days had passed since then, footage of that terrifying scene was still sitting firmly at the top of every major video platform's trending list.
Now, thanks to the League's suppression efforts, most of the Gyarados had been driven into deeper waters where humans rarely ventured.
Even so, no one could guarantee there were no stragglers left behind.
Just imagine it.
A massive cruise ship carrying over a thousand people, and then something went wrong.
The entire Azure Bay administration would be torn apart by public outrage.
So, to guarantee the safety of the competitors, and to protect their own positions while they were at it, the city officials made a last-minute decision to move the tournament venue to Azure Crystal Marine Park.
This meant the variety of Pokémon might be more limited, and the viewing experience might lose some of its wild excitement, but at the very least, the contestants' lives were protected.
"Hello, everyone."
"I'm sure our viewers at home will recognize where we are right now. This is one of Azure Bay City's most famous tourist attractions, Azure Crystal Marine Park."
"This year's Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament will be held right here, and I'll be bringing you full coverage from start to finish."
"Now then, let's take a look at the competitors taking part in today's tournament."
"First, from Southshore City, we have…"
At the front-left side of the lineup, a beautiful young host with a graceful figure and a bright, sweet smile stood before the camera, microphone in hand, introducing the event with lively enthusiasm.
To attract as many viewers from around the world as possible and raise the tournament's profile, Azure Bay City had pulled a few strings and invited a star presenter from the official League television network, someone with enormous online popularity.
Crystal had only graduated from media college a few years ago, but with her strong professional skills and warm, approachable smile, she had risen rapidly through the network. In just a few short years, she had become one of its most popular faces, earning an excellent reputation and a massive following.
As long as she appeared on screen, even the dullest educational program could draw plenty of attention from her fans.
And now, in just the few short minutes since Crystal had appeared as host, the ratings for the Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament had shot upward several times over. They were already close to reaching the local viewership record set years ago when the legendary fishing champion Kade claimed the title.
Naturally, the officials at Azure Bay Television were already hiding in the control room, grinning from ear to ear at the unbelievable numbers.
As Crystal's gentle, pleasant voice carried through the broadcast, the camera panned across the faces of the competitors one by one.
Some looked solemn, as though silently gathering strength for the fishing battle about to begin.
Some had their eyes half-closed, resting and preserving their focus so they could erupt once the tournament started.
Most, however, were ordinary contestants, chatting with nearby rivals to exchange information while carefully observing the lake that would serve as the competition grounds.
Mason was one of those ordinary contestants.
Strictly speaking, though, he was not exactly ordinary.
Because his true identity was that of a player.
Mason was not a professional gamer signed to some major guild, but calling him a casual player who only logged in to admire the scenery would not be accurate either.
In real life, Mason had a fairly good job. Games were simply something he enjoyed in his spare time.
To make up for the sense of accomplishment he lacked in the real world, he often relied on his comfortable income to spend a considerable amount of money on games, raising his character's stats, upgrading his gear, and creating a clear gap between himself and ordinary players. That difference satisfied the competitive streak buried inside him.
In internet terms, he was what people would call a moderate pay-to-win player.
So when the virtual reality game Pokémon: World swept across the globe with unbelievable popularity not long ago, Mason naturally bought a full set of VR equipment from the official website and entered the game at the earliest opportunity.
Luckily for him, unlike the poor players on the forums who had spawned in remote beginner towns with harsh environments, Mason had started in Azure Bay City, a large, modern metropolis with a sleek, futuristic atmosphere.
Although he was frustrated that the game had not opened any cash shop or top-up system, Mason still used the advantages of his starting location to take on several part-time jobs at once, quickly earning his first pot of in-game money.
With that as his foundation, he purchased a Pokémon with fairly decent potential from the in-game market to serve as his starter and became a proud professional Trainer.
Now that he had Trainer status, he naturally qualified to enter the Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament.
He had many reasons for joining.
First of all, in the real world, he was a fishing enthusiast.
Aside from gaming, almost all his free time went into fishing, and he never missed his annual offshore fishing trip.
Now that he had entered a virtual game that was practically indistinguishable from reality, being able to continue his love of fishing here was naturally a wonderful thing.
And more importantly, in this world, the things he could fish up were all kinds of Pokémon.
That kind of thrill was something real-world fishing could never compare to.
Then came the most important point.
According to players working inside the League's official system who had leaked information on the forums, the reward for winning this year's Bibarel Cup Fishing Tournament was a rare Spheal Pokémon Egg.
Since it was being issued by the League as a champion's prize, the Pokémon's potential naturally would not be poor.
At the current average level of players, raising it as a main team member would be absolutely viable.
If not for the regional entry restrictions, this fishing tournament would have been flooded long ago by swarms of players like locusts. The native NPCs would not have had a chance to take part at all.
And since Mason happened to have spawned in Azure Bay City, he had naturally seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
He signed up without hesitation.
His goal was to use the expert fishing skills he had honed in the real world to claim the tournament championship for himself.
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~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!