June 24th. Saturday. 6:30 AM.
"I'll say this one more time—there are going to be a lot of people in the city today. You'd better not run around everywhere. Just stay home and watch the house, okay?"
Chen Mo stood before his Pokémon, lecturing them endlessly like an overly worried father.
Today was the opening day of the Pikachu Cup.
Although there wouldn't be any opening ceremony during the preliminary stage, Chen Mo, as the founder of the Pikachu Cup, had been invited to participate in an official tournament livestream program.
His role was basically to serve as a mascot while also providing commentary and Pokémon explanations for selected matches across the country.
Since commentary and educational segments could potentially last for a very long time, Chen Mo had specifically asked the Pokémon at home whether any of them wanted to come with him.
To his surprise—
Other than Pikachu, not a single Pokémon wanted to go out with him.
Sigh.
That hurt a little.
Still, Chen Mo didn't mind too much. Letting the Pokémon relax freely at home wasn't bad either.
However—
"Gible, you really don't want to come with me to the livestream?"
Chen Mo looked expectantly at Gible, who was standing beside Absol.
Pokémon like Absol and Pidgeotto were too large.
Even if Chen Mo brought them to the TV station, they would only be able to stay in the lobby area temporarily.
But Pikachu and Gible were different.
He could bring them around throughout the entire broadcast.
"Garchomp…"
Gible shook its head, then glanced toward Absol beside it.
"I see… you want to stay with Absol…"
A trace of disappointment flashed through Chen Mo's eyes.
But his low spirits didn't last long.
The next second, Chen Mo's gaze shifted toward gengar, who stood at the far edge of the group with an obviously restless expression.
His face instantly turned serious.
"gengar, I'm very happy that you voluntarily agreed to stay home this time."
"But I'm leaving you here so you can take care of everyone else."
"If you start causing trouble while I'm gone, then when I come back tonight, you're definitely not getting any good juice."
"gengar!"
(Got it, got it!)
gengar nodded repeatedly with a mischievous grin.
Seeing this—
Chen Mo felt even less reassured.
Still—
Leaving gengar at home really was better than taking it out.
After all, gengar's hands allowed it to do many useful things.
Like feeding Magikarp.
Or heating up the meals Chen Mo had prepared in advance and distributing food to the other Pokémon.
"I hope you remember the promise you just made."
Chen Mo sighed softly.
"Alright then, I'm heading out."
"gengar!"
gengar waved enthusiastically with one hand while using the other to somehow produce a white handkerchief, dramatically wiping fake tears from the corners of its eyes.
It looked incredibly reluctant to part ways.
Beside gengar—
Pidgeotto spread its wings and cried out loudly in farewell.
Magikarp poked its head out of the water.
Absol silently watched.
And Gible copied gengar by waving its tiny claws.
Chen Mo gave the five Pokémon one final look.
Then he turned around, waved behind him, and left.
However—
Right at the moment Chen Mo wasn't paying attention, Pikachu turned around and winked at the others.
"Pika~"
Several minutes later—
After circling high in the sky and watching the SUV disappear into the distance, Pidgeotto finally flew back down into the villa's backyard.
"Pidgeot!"
(He's gone far enough now!)
"gengar!"
(YES!)
gengar threw both hands into the air excitedly.
Then—
It turned toward Gible and Absol beside it, its tone full of anticipation and excitement.
"gengar gengar!"
(Wait for me to pack some stuff—we're leaving right away!)
"Absol…"
Absol nodded.
That's right.
For various reasons, every Pokémon in the house—except for Chen Mo himself—already knew that Gible was secretly participating in the Pikachu Cup.
And after learning about Gible's wish—
All the Pokémon had decided to help.
Now—
Their operation was officially beginning.
Very quickly—
gengar emerged from inside the house again, this time holding a phone while awkwardly tapping at the screen with its short little hands.
"Absol…"
(Are you really sure this is okay?)
Absol still looked somewhat worried.
With Zhou Yichuan's help, Gible had successfully registered for the Pikachu Cup behind Chen Mo's back.
However—
Things like matchmaking, checking battle locations, and other tournament operations all had to be handled through the Pokédex app on a smartphone.
That left Gible and the others facing a major problem.
They couldn't constantly contact Zhou Yichuan.
And even if they did contact him—
He wouldn't understand what they were saying anyway.
Fortunately—
At this critical moment, gengar stepped up.
As a Pokémon that had lived for an extremely long time, gengar might usually act carefree and unreliable, but in truth, it was one of the smartest Pokémon on Chen Mo's team.
Even though Chen Mo had never deliberately taught it—
gengar had already figured out how to read the local written language.
And now—
This was finally its time to shine.
"gengar!"
(I got it figured out!)
gengar proudly waved the phone in front of Gible and Absol.
"Absol!?"
(Really?)
Absol still looked somewhat skeptical of its usually unreliable teammate.
gengar patted its chest confidently.
"gengar!"
(Just leave it to me!)
Meanwhile—
Inside Anping City—
At 7:30 AM, accompanied by the ringing of an alarm clock, a young man with messy hair abruptly rolled out of bed.
At first, his expression was dazed.
Then—
As he stared at the unfamiliar scenery outside the hotel window, his expression slowly changed.
Eventually—
It transformed into overwhelming excitement.
Beside the young man—
A pink Pokémon resembling a bulldog was curled up asleep atop the blanket.
The young man looked at his Pokémon, and a smile slowly spread across his face.
He leaned close to the pink Pokémon's drooping ears and softly shouted:
"Time to wake up!"
The moment the sound reached its ears—
The pink Pokémon instantly jolted awake.
Then it raised a paw—
And slapped the young man directly across the face.
"AH!"
The slap was so powerful that the completely unprepared young man was sent tumbling right off the bed.
"Ow ow ow ow…"
Clutching his face, the young man looked utterly wronged.
When he got back up to glare at the culprit—
The pink Pokémon had already rolled over and gone back to sleep.
This time—
The young man didn't dare shout into its ears again.
Instead, he gently nudged its body and spoke in a softer tone.
"Snubbull, it's time to get up."
"Don't forget what day it is today. No sleeping in."
"Bull…"
The pink Pokémon let out a low grunt.
Then it slowly raised one paw—
And held up five claws.
The young man looked utterly helpless.
He understood perfectly.
It meant:
Five more minutes.
"Sigh…"
The young man shook his head lightly before turning toward the window again.
Not far away—
A giant LED screen mounted outside a building was broadcasting the Pikachu Cup advertisement.
Occasionally, Pidgey carrying packages could be seen rapidly flying across the skyline.
He had finally arrived in Anping City.
And this day had finally come.
Watching the two Pokémon battling passionately beneath the spotlight in the commercial—
The young man's blood began to boil with excitement.
"I will definitely bring Bull onto that stage…"
"And make the whole world remember the name Wan Yushu!"
The more excited he became, the more dramatic his declaration sounded.
After finishing his chunni speech, Wan Yushu once again nudged the still-sleeping Snubbull and leaned excitedly toward its ears.
Ten minutes later—
When Wan Yushu finally emerged from the room, both sides of his face were bright red.
Snubbull followed behind him, yawning nonstop.
"Mr. Wan Yushu, you and Snubbull have to do your best!"
"Thank you, thank you!"
Along the way, countless people offered encouragement.
That only strengthened Wan Yushu's determination to advance into the main tournament.
"Bull, are you ready?"
"At 8:30, our first battle starts."
Wan Yushu looked toward his partner.
Under Wan Yushu's gaze, Snubbull finally stopped yawning.
Though its eyes still shifted awkwardly, it ultimately nodded seriously.
"Bull!"
"Very good! Full of spirit!"
"Bull, we absolutely have to win our debut battle!"
Wan Yushu clenched both fists tightly, his eyes overflowing with confidence.
He had prepared thoroughly for this Pikachu Cup.
Not only had he arrived in Anping City early—
He had also participated in many practice battles against local trainers.
His current record:
Thirteen wins, zero losses.
Completely undefeated.
That achievement had given Wan Yushu enormous confidence.
Sure, there were definitely stronger trainers he hadn't met yet—
But there were over a thousand spots available for the main tournament.
In Wan Yushu's eyes, qualifying would be easy.
"Let's go!"
Filled with confidence, Wan Yushu walked out of the hotel.
The next second—
His expression froze completely.
The streets were absolutely packed with people.
As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but moving crowds.
Meanwhile, countless cars clogged the roads so badly that traffic had completely stopped.
Wan Yushu, who had originally planned to take a taxi to the battle venue, was utterly dumbfounded.
"Oh no…"
He had never imagined the Pikachu Cup would attract this many tourists.
Compared to two days ago, the current situation was on a completely different level.
If this continued—
He might actually be late!
Feeling extremely anxious, Wan Yushu hurriedly pulled out a Poké Ball and opened the latch.
He aimed it toward Snubbull beside him.
"Special circumstances, Bull."
"You'll have to stay inside the Poké Ball for now."
"I'll let you out once I reach the battle venue."
The Poké Ball lightly tapped Snubbull's forehead.
Instantly, Snubbull transformed into white light and disappeared inside.
Then—
Facing the massive crowd, Wan Yushu took a deep breath.
"Excuse me!"
"I'm a Pikachu Cup participant! Could you let me through!?"
Thankfully—
Although the streets were packed with tourists, once people heard he was a Pikachu Cup contestant, they all voluntarily moved aside.
That scene deeply moved Wan Yushu.
And then—
He ran even faster.
Meanwhile—
On the eastern outskirts of Anping City—
Far from downtown, the number of tourists was still large, but nowhere near as terrifying as the city center.
Qiao Cheng walked calmly toward his battle venue while holding his phone.
On the video call displayed on-screen were several young men and women in police uniforms.
"Brother Qiao, you absolutely have to win the championship!"
"I'm seriously moved. Little Qiao actually became a trainer to revive Lavender Town. This feels like something straight out of a Japanese anime!"
"Little Qiao, since Teacher Mo won't appear during the preliminaries, but contestants entering the main tournament will definitely interact with him, please!"
"I only have one wish in life—you have to help me get Teacher Mo's autograph!"
"With your relationship with him, that should be easy, right?"
"Little Qiao, good luck!"
Listening to the encouragement through his earphones, Qiao Cheng smiled faintly.
He touched the Poké Ball in his pocket with one hand and said seriously:
"I'm definitely winning the championship."
Meanwhile—
Inside the villa district—
"Idiot brother, can you hurry up already!?"
"Even though our battle isn't until noon, didn't Sister Fenglan say there are way too many people today!? We need to get to the venue early!"
A beautiful single-ponytailed girl with a Vulpix at her feet shouted toward the inside of the villa.
Soon—
An exhausted voice replied from inside.
"Alright, alright, stop rushing me…"
"And Munchlax, stop eating already! I'll buy you more food once we get there!"
Northern District, Anping City—
"Axew, we should get going too."
"Axew~"
Responding to the girl's voice, a small dark-green dragon Pokémon with oversized tusks sticking out from its mouth happily ran over.
Watching Axew stretch out both arms asking for a hug, Mo Yu crouched slightly and scooped it into her arms.
"Axew~"
Axew affectionately rubbed against the girl's cheek.
Meanwhile—
On the phone in Mo Yu's right hand, her class group chat continued flooding with new messages.
[Mo Yu, good luck!]
[Teacher Chen said that if Mo Yu can represent our school and make it into the Pikachu Cup main tournament, the school might organize students to go cheer for her live at the arena! As her classmates, we should definitely get spots too, right!?]
[Arena tickets sold out ages ago. If we can piggyback off Mo Yu and watch the tournament live, that'd be amazing.]
[Stop talking about random stuff already. The important thing right now is cheering for Mo Yu. Sigh… I wonder if she's even reading these messages. She hasn't replied at all.]
Meanwhile—
Western District, Anping City—
Battlefield No. 3.
"Brother Hui! Charge!"
"Ten-year fan of Brother Hui reporting in!"
"No wonder Brother Hui disappeared from the group chats these past few days—he was secretly preparing something huge!"
"Metapod really evolved into Butterfree! Holy crap, I seriously think Brother Hui might actually have a shot at reaching the main tournament now!"
Noisy cheers erupted around the arena.
But Ah Hui himself remained perfectly calm.
"Go, Butterfree!"
"Go, Caterpie!"
Two flashes of white light appeared simultaneously.
When Ah Hui saw the familiar green figure on the opposite side of the battlefield, his expression first froze in surprise.
Then—
He couldn't help but smile.
"What a nostalgic feeling…"
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