Pokémon Battle Net.
A forum website jointly created by Pokémon battle enthusiasts.
Its earliest members dated back to before the official change from "magical beasts" to "Pokémon."
Back when they still didn't own Pokémon of their own, most of the site's discussions revolved around analyzing Chen Mo's livestreams and fantasizing about what they would do once they finally got their own Pokémon.
Well—
Most of the early posts on the website were basically members indulging in wishful thinking.
However, as the times changed, many members gradually began obtaining Pokémon of their own and started training Pokémon and exploring Pokémon battles under near-zero guidance.
Although their findings naturally couldn't compare with official research results, overall, many useful discoveries still emerged.
Because of this, more and more trainers registered accounts.
And with the launch of the Pikachu Cup, Pokémon battles spread across the nation while simultaneously exploding within the trainer community.
Pokémon Battle Net also entered a period of rapid growth thanks to the Pikachu Cup.
On the very first morning of the main tournament, before noon had even arrived, the Pikachu Cup section alone had already surpassed a thousand new posts for the day, and the number was still climbing rapidly.
Opening any recent thread would reveal trainers proudly showing off their current results.
[Simple update on my situation: two battles, two wins. I'm only six shining stars away from qualifying now. Man, this is way too easy.]
Attached below the post was a screenshot of the trainer profile from the Pokédex app.
The four shining stars immediately attracted crowds of trainers into the comments.
[Damn, it's not even 9 a.m. yet and you've already fought two matches?]
[Yeah, I just finished my first one too. Won it, but my Buneary's not looking too good, so I'm planning to take it to the Pokémon Medical Center first. Might be able to queue for another match this afternoon.]
[Honestly, there's a reason I won twice. I just got lucky. My first match was against a Magikarp and I was dumbfounded. The referee watched it flop around twice before directly declaring me the winner. Then I immediately queued again and got matched against a Metapod. You all know how that went—my Aipom used it as target practice and beat it senseless.]
[Speaking of Metapod, I'm seriously speechless. At one battlefield over here, two weird trainers showed up. One sent out a Metapod, the other sent out a Kakuna. Absolutely insane. Both trainers just kept having their Pokémon use Harden on the field. We spectators outside were completely numb from watching. It dragged on for ten whole minutes before ending in a draw…]
[Uh…]
[Don't even start. We had the same thing happen at our battlefield too, except both sides were Metapod.]
[Mainly because the entry requirements for the Pikachu Cup were too low. It's normal for trainer quality to vary wildly.]
Sitting inside the Special Response Bureau, Zhou Yichuan stroked his chin thoughtfully as he read the comments under the thread.
At present, the Pikachu Cup could already be considered an enormous success.
However—
Just as the comments pointed out, the huge disparity in trainer skill levels had forced them to use a week-long qualifier phase just to filter out trainers with sufficient strength and potential.
Without question, this format had flaws.
If they wanted to hold another nationwide tournament like the Pikachu Cup in the future, the system would definitely need further planning and adjustments.
"Looks like I'll need to find time to talk with Xiao Mo again."
Zhou Yichuan had a feeling—
If he discussed it with Chen Mo, he would probably obtain the answer he was looking for.
After all—
The very concept of Pokémon battle tournaments had originally been proposed by Chen Mo.
Closing the thread, Zhou Yichuan was just about to head outside for a walk around the ecological park when a newly appearing post instantly caught his attention.
[Shocking! A Gible, fighting without a trainer's commands, is about to challenge a Fairy-type Pokémon despite the type disadvantage!]
As Chen Mo's Pokémon and a pseudo-legendary hatchling, Gible naturally attracted immense attention.
Combined with the phrase without trainer commands, it immediately sparked everyone's imagination.
And then there was the mention of a Fairy-type Pokémon, which made people even more curious.
After all—
Ever since Chen Mo began his educational journeys, among the eighteen Pokémon types, there were still only two types he had yet to encounter.
The first was Ice-types.
Those Pokémon usually lived in icy, snow-covered environments, making them impossible to encounter in Chen Mo's current region.
The second—
Was the Fairy-type mentioned in the title.
Dragon, Ghost, Psychic, and Fairy—
These four types were currently recognized as extremely rare.
Encountering one in the wild either meant you were incredibly lucky… or incredibly unlucky.
Among them—
Fairy-types were considered the rarest.
At least, that was what many viewers who followed Chen Mo's streams believed.
Thus—
The moment this title packed with every possible attention-grabbing element appeared on Pokémon Battle Net, the reply count exceeded one hundred posts in mere minutes.
"Looks like it worked…"
A smile appeared on Zhou Yichuan's face.
Following the link provided in the thread, he opened the official livestream broadcasting the match.
Watching Chen Mo's expression on screen, Zhou Yichuan chuckled mischievously.
Right then—
The office door opened.
Hu Chengliang walked in, glanced at the stream on the monitor, and bluntly stated his purpose.
"You did this, didn't you?"
"..."
Zhou Yichuan scratched his head before nodding.
Seeing Hu Chengliang about to launch into another lengthy lecture, Zhou Yichuan hurriedly defended himself.
"Chengliang, you know Xiao Mo's personality. He treats Pokémon like his own children."
"There's absolutely nothing wrong with that."
"But I think that even as a parent, you should still respect the child's own wishes, right?"
"Gible wanted so badly to participate in the Pikachu Cup. What's wrong with giving it a chance?"
"..."
Hu Chengliang's words got stuck in his throat.
After a long silence—
He adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and calmly said:
"Fine. But since this was your doing, when Xiao Mo comes looking for someone to blame, don't expect me to help you."
Meanwhile—
At the Anping City Pokémon Medical Center.
Ever since news about the Pikachu Cup spread, the Medical Center staff had grown increasingly busy.
By the first day of the qualifiers, despite preparing in advance, the center was still packed wall-to-wall with trainers bringing in Pokémon for treatment.
Outside some of the busier departments, the waiting lines even extended beyond the building itself.
"Garchomp!"
"Mm, recovery looks very good. However, considering Gible was only born recently, my recommendation is that it avoid any more battles this morning."
The doctor in a white coat looked at the energetic Gible before turning toward the bearded shop owner beside him.
"Understood."
The bearded man nodded before glancing toward the large purple ghost constantly popping out from different corners in an attempt to scare his daughter—only to be stopped every single time by Banette standing protectively nearby.
"gengar, did you hear what the doctor said?"
"gengar!"
gengar floated beside Xiaoyou, laughing mischievously while casually waving toward the bearded man.
Watching gengar making faces at Xiaoyou, the little girl giggled nonstop.
Meanwhile, Banette angrily stood between them, waving its cloth-like arms furiously as if trying to force gengar farther away from its trainer.
"Forget it…"
The bearded man shook his head helplessly.
"We'll just leave it to Xiao Mo when he gets here."
"Absol…"
Standing beside Gible, Absol immediately tensed up.
The bearded man sighed helplessly at the sight.
"It's not me doing this on purpose. Your situation's already been exposed."
"Xiao Mo already saw your participation during the official livestream."
"If nothing unexpected happens, he's probably already on his way here."
"You all… better prepare yourselves."
The moment those words were spoken—
gengar, who had been trying to bypass Banette to prank Xiaoyou again, instantly froze.
At the same time—
Gible, who had been lively moments earlier during its final examination, suddenly became visibly panicked.
Its eyes repeatedly darted toward the doorway, as if some unimaginable horror might appear there at any second.
As for Absol—
Although it appeared calmer, anyone familiar with it could tell from the constantly swaying blue tail behind it just how nervous it really was.
"gengar…"
The large purple ghost lowered its head and skillfully pulled out a white cloth from inside its body, wiping away tears streaming from its eyes.
Seeing this, Xiaoyou quickly stepped around Banette and asked with concern:
"What's wrong, gengar? Are you feeling sick somewhere?"
Realizing its scheme had succeeded, gengar wasted no time and immediately hugged Xiaoyou while tears poured down like a flood.
"gengar gengar…"
(Xiaoyou, you have to help us. You have no idea how terrifying our trainer is. Now that he knows we secretly entered the tournament, we won't be getting food for at least a week! Wuwuwu… poor little shark was only just born and now it's going to starve. Please, please help these pitiful, weak, helpless Pokémon…)
"Shuppet!" (Let go of her!)
Banette became so angry that black mist continuously erupted from the top of its head.
It glared furiously at gengar while trying to pry it away from Xiaoyou with its doll-like arms, looking as though it might enter the same berserk dark state it had back in Lavender Town.
"gengar! gengar gengar?"
(After everything I did for you back in Lavender Town? I even took the blame for so many things for you! And now you can't even ask your trainer to help us once?)
"Shuppet!" (Let go of Xiaoyou!)
The two Ghost-type Pokémon who once lived together in Lavender Town glared fiercely at each other.
Just as Xiaoyou was at a complete loss over what to do—
A sudden commotion erupted outside.
"Teacher Mo! Teacher Mo's here!"
"As expected! I knew it! Since little shark is here, if I waited patiently, Teacher Mo would definitely come!"
"No chance I'm making it into the main tournament, but honestly my biggest wish coming to Anping City was meeting Teacher Mo in person! Brother in front, could you please stop stepping on my shoe!?"
After finishing commentary for Gible's match at the TV station, Chen Mo had completely lost the ability to sit still.
After briefly apologizing to viewers hoping for continued battle commentary, he rushed toward the Pokémon Medical Center following the message sent by the bearded shop owner.
Just as expected—
The moment he entered, he was instantly surrounded by trainers waiting there.
Normally, because Anping City residents frequently saw Chen Mo around, they rarely disturbed his private life much.
At most, they greeted him in passing.
But this time was different.
The trainers participating in the Pikachu Cup weren't just from Anping City.
They came from all over the country.
Some had even entered specifically because of Chen Mo himself.
And now—
With their idol right in front of them, the fans naturally had countless things they wanted to say.
"Teacher Mo, your Gible is insanely strong! What exactly do I need to do to make my Caterpie as strong as your Gible!?"
"Teacher Mo, can I get your autograph? Or maybe just a photo together?"
"Teacher Mo, what's your opinion on your Gible defeating a Fairy-type Pokémon without your commands despite the type disadvantage?"
"Teacher Mo, I watched the entire battle between Gible and Snubbull here at the Medical Center. I've got a question."
"If Pokémon can still defeat opponents even without trainer commands… then what's the meaning of us trainers giving commands in the first place?"
"Teacher Mo, whenever I battle, I panic so badly. My Bidoof reacts way too quickly—I feel like I'm only holding it back. Would it actually be better if I just let it fight on its own like Gible?"
One question after another bombarded Chen Mo.
Yet Chen Mo showed no trace of impatience.
Because trainers capable of asking these kinds of questions—
Were, in their own ways, thinking about their Pokémon and reflecting on themselves as trainers.
That alone deserved praise.
Just as Chen Mo was about to calm down these fledgling rookie trainers—
A familiar figure squeezed to the front of the crowd.
In his arms was a pink canine Pokémon.
Someone in the crowd immediately recognized him.
It was none other than Wan Yushu—the trainer who had battled Gible not long ago.
The strength displayed by both Wan Yushu and Snubbull had been obvious to everyone.
None of the rookie trainers looked down on him just because he lost to Gible.
Instead, seeing the conflicted expression on his face only made them more curious.
"Teacher Mo… I also have something I want to ask you."
Wan Yushu glanced at the Snubbull in his arms.
With a confused expression, he spoke softly:
"I want to know… how can someone become a qualified trainer?"
"Even though I'm its trainer, I never noticed anything strange about Snubbull."
"Doesn't that make me… completely unqualified?"
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