At the foot of the mountain.
The noisy crowd lined both sides of the road, joyously waving their colorful flags.
"Come on! Come on!"
"Baimu, I'm supporting you!"
"Yah—Lord Baimu—"
As a Holy Fire Runner, Baimu breathed steadily while running against the wind, the torch in his right hand as stable as if it were equipped with a level.
Behind him was a massive Aggron, its heavy silvery metal armor glinting in the sunlight, making it look like a moving heavy-armed tank, with each step causing the ground to tremble.
The beast's thick horns pierced the sky at an angle, and its deep blue eyes exuded a calm and unhurried demeanor.
Many onlookers glanced at this metal giant beast, feeling it was truly intimidating, and when it passed by, they instinctively held their breath.
Not until the Aggron had run far did they come back to their senses.
Was it scary?
Not quite; in fact, these people were just very perceptive, sensing the pressure emanating from Aggron's formidable power.
They fell in love with Pokémon battles because the aura released by powerful Pokémon stimulated their bodies, secreting various hormones that made them feel excited and thrilled.
In another sense, it was akin to participating in risky extreme sports.
Of course.
This was just a small episode during Baimu's torch relay.
The true focus was the torch in his hand, the drones in the sky, the convoy ahead opening the road, and those behind blocking it, as well as the spectators on both sides, all with their eyes fixed firmly on the torch.
The reporters responsible for the live broadcast patiently spoke to the camera about the origin of the Holy Fire, then recounted the history of past Ever Grande Conferences, and then handed the microphone over to the hosts in the studio.
This cycle repeated.
Until the Holy Fire smoothly reached the entrance of the Ever Grande Conference venue.
Various media swarmed in to take photos frantically, and the reporters praised Baimu's un-labored breathing and the Aggron guarding him behind in an elevated tone.
"After a long fifteen kilometers of slow jogging, Contestant Baimu continues to remain composed, showcasing his extraordinary physique and jogging skills. Let's look forward to his performance at the conference!"
At the same time.
Baimu, under the guidance of three Miss Jun Sha, safely placed the torch into the storage box.
He deliberately surveyed the nearby people and things.
Didn't notice anything suspicious.
It made sense; over the years, only the Rocket Team trio pulled off such flashy antics as stealing the Holy Fire, and even if a regular thief wanted to make a name, they wouldn't let themselves become a public target.
Moreover, targeting the conference's Holy Fire, aren't there enough hot-blooded Trainers?
"Thank you for your hard work, and good luck in the competition!"
With blessings from Miss Jun Sha, Baimu joined others in the rest area on the Pokémon Center's second floor.
Recently, Xiaogang had collected quite a bit of information on Trainers and older sisters through various channels, eager to share—just the former.
"There are quite a few strong Trainers this year, so you all need to take note."
He held a palm-sized notebook, filled with the names of many Trainers and their commonly used Pokémon.
Alice listened attentively, nodding repeatedly, "Oh, oh!"
Baimu, on the other hand, had Porygon II cross-reference to see how much of Xiaogang's collected competitor information matched or differed, aiming to create a more detailed intelligence book to share with Alice.
Know yourself and know your enemy; only then can you win a hundred battles.
This phrase played a vital role in Pokémon battles.
After all, surprise attacks and intelligence warfare were Baimu's most commonly used tactics in Gym Battles.
Before each challenge, he would use information gathered online to enhance his understanding of the Gym Leader's commonly used Pokémon and create strategies based on that.
While Gym Leaders could only learn about Baimu's evaluation by the previous Gym Leader and some Pokémon data, they had little decisive information.
This information gap often led Baimu to success in Gym Battles smoothly, often winning a badge without losing a single Pokémon.
"In any case, you must be on guard!"
Xiaogang's tone was serious, but after flipping to the next page, he became less serious, "Next, ahem, the next beautiful lady is from Kaina City, her favorite color is pink, and her favorite food is ramen..."
Baimu tugged at the corner of his mouth, not very interested in listening to this guy display his XP, silently took out his phone, and turned it on.
On the screen was a boy about fourteen years old.
Liuqia glanced with the corner of her eye, leaned over for a look, and said, "Is he your opponent in the preliminaries?"
With those words.
Mann Chong and the others also looked over curiously.
Baimu nodded, "He's quite strong, having participated in the Sinnoh's Lily Conference before."
After the Holy Fire arrived.
The Ever Grande Conference entered the initialization phase.
Similar to the tournament process in the simulator, contestants must first participate in the preliminaries to decide the 256 who will advance to the main tournament from over five hundred competitors.
The preliminary is a one-on-one, single-match victory format.
The opponent is determined by a computer and is completely random, giving the contestants only one day to prepare.
After Baimu registered the Pokémon he would use in the morning, his opponent was already decided, and Porygon II conveniently dug into that person's information—
These days, interactions between regions are frequent.
As a Pokémon Trainer, if you haven't participated in one or two conferences, you'd be embarrassed to speak.
And as for the ultimate results obtained, for now, let's not mention them, but the Pokémon often brought along have accumulated some strength over time.