Afternoon, Field 4 in Zone D.
Caleb was about to face his first opponent.
He had to admit, the Little Ho-Oh Cup was massive in scale—there were eight zones in total.
Each zone had four to five hundred contestants, so all in all, there were around three to four thousand participants.
With that many people, it made sense to have multiple battles happening simultaneously. Otherwise, finishing all the matches within a week would be impossible.
"Your Pokémon is Chansey, right?"
His opponent, Lux, grinned. "Too bad—my Machop is a Fighting type. I've got the type advantage."
Before the match, he had bought intel on Caleb from a shady vendor.
Beginner Pokémon: Chansey.
Just one word came to mind as he read it over and over.
Freebie.
What could a Chansey even do? Heal his Machop?
Ah well, sometimes you just get lucky like this. Don't worry—once I win the championship, you can tell people you lost to the champ…
Lux was already composing his victory speech in his head.
After all, for a complete newbie, just remembering type matchups was already impressive.
Caleb didn't know what Lux was thinking, but his expression said enough—thick-skinned and smug.
Anyone who could smile that shamelessly in front of a crowd must have skin tougher than armor.
Good. That means he didn't need to hold back when crushing him.
Moments later, both trainers released their Pokémon, and at the referee's whistle, Lux took the first move.
"Machop, use Karate Chop!"
Again with the Karate Chop—what was it with Fighting-types and this move?
Machop responded instantly, forming a sharp hand blade and charging at Chansey.
Swish!
Caleb didn't even issue a command—he didn't see the need.
The Karate Chop slammed into Chansey… brushing off a bit of dust from her egg-shaped body.
"Lucky~" ～(￣▽￣～)~
"Chansey, Seismic Toss," Caleb said with a grin.
Machop looked up—straight into Chansey's oddly cheerful yet intimidating face.
Before it could react, Chansey gently picked it up and tossed it skyward.
In an instant, the world flipped upside down. Everything blurred as Machop felt itself flying high, the dizzying height sending its heart into a frenzy.
BOOM!
With a thunderous crash, Machop slammed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust and smoke from the impact.
As the dust settled, Machop's eyes turned into swirls—it had completely lost consciousness.
"Machop is unable to battle. Chansey wins!" the referee announced after checking.
Machop was wiped out in a single move—along with the smug smile on Lux's face.
"Impossible… how can this be? Machop's supposed to be the strongest… how could it…" he muttered, stunned.
He had trained for an entire month for this—waking up early and practicing karate with Machop every day. He thought he'd shine in the battle, but instead, he got knocked out in the first round.
On the other side…
Winning the first round so easily left Caleb satisfied, though if he had one complaint, it was that the opponent was just too weak—beaten in one move.
Didn't even get to enjoy the thrill of a real battle.
Hopefully, the next ones would be more exciting.
By the end of the day, Caleb had fought several matches in a row—and, unsurprisingly, won them all. The prelims didn't offer much of a challenge. Most of them were one-hit KOs by Chansey.
On the second day, after more eliminations, the overall level of the contestants had improved slightly. But still, none of them impressed him.
It wasn't until the third day that things finally changed. The competition clearly got tougher, and now he could finally start using Toxapex.
Three days in, Caleb had advanced all the way to the main tournament, becoming the dark horse of this year's competition.
Of course, that didn't mean he let his guard down. In fact, he researched every opponent before each match.
The chance of losing was slim, but no point in taking risks.
Especially if he ended up facing that contestant from Pallet Town.
...
Solaceon Town.
The old man sat peacefully in his yard, brewing himself a pot of tea. His hands moved with practiced ease, every gesture calm and deliberate.
Once the tea was ready, he leaned back in his old wooden chair, squinting contentedly in the warm afternoon sun.
He'd been in a good mood lately—it had been three whole days since he last saw that cursed thing, and the dark cloud hanging over his heart had finally started to lift.
Just then, his gaze fell on a newspaper lying on the table.
The Sinnoh Daily.
The most reputable and authoritative paper in the Sinnoh region, covering everything from strange happenings to major current events.
He flipped it open—there was even a report on the Little Ho-Oh Cup prelims.
[A contestant punches another during the Little Ho-Oh Cup Prelims.]
[One participant suffered an emotional breakdown mid-battle and attempted to assault their opponent. Disqualified from the competition…]
"Hm?"
A contestant tried to throw hands? What the heck?
He shook his head and sighed. "Tsk, kids these days—so impulsive. Just a little setback and they want to fight. Don't even understand the basic decency and conduct of a proper trainer."
Truly worrying for the future.
He kept reading.
[In the final match of the prelims, contestant Sato collapsed due to a sudden heart attack. Thanks to Nurse Joy's efforts, he is now in stable condition…]
!?
A heart attack? That serious?
Has the rookie cup become that dangerous?
As he mumbled to himself, countless thoughts raced through his mind.
Then a familiar feeling washed over him—like déjà vu.
Suddenly, he remembered that Caleb was participating in the Little Ho-Oh Cup too. His mind instantly flashed back to their battle—the moment his own blood pressure shot through the roof, when he'd nearly lost it and "thrown hands" himself…
No doubt about it—it was that brat again!
...
Pokémon Center.
After a long day, May Joy felt like the sky was falling.
The Little Ho-Oh Cup had already pushed her workload to the max, and now, on top of everything, a contestant had suffered a heart attack?
But she was a Pokémon nurse! Not a human doctor!
Thankfully, after some emergency care, the man pulled through.
Still, this was the first time someone had been hit with a heart attack in a rookie tournament.
Curious, May Joy walked over to the computer, logged into the tournament's official site, and checked the battle records to find out who the opponent was.
When the info popped up on screen, she froze.
Of course. It was him.