Outside Shalour City's central plaza, the area was packed with trainers who had come to participate in the Baby Cup tournament. Nearly everyone had one or more unevolved Pokémon by their side. The vast majority were rookie trainers, with only a small number of veterans mixed in.
As an officially organized League event, the prizes were actually secondary. What truly mattered was achieving a good placement, as it greatly helped with passing the [Beginner Trainer] certification.
Violet, who had only just received her starter Pokémon and officially become a rookie trainer, had also signed up for the Baby Cup.
At this moment, the venue's broadcast rang out across the arena.
"Next match: Rookie Trainer Violet versus Elite Trainer Silas. Both competitors, please step onto the designated battlefield."
"Ah—!"
Violet clutched her head, her face frozen in shock and disbelief.
Why was there an Elite Trainer in the Baby Cup?!
And worse—why was that person her opponent?!
A sizable crowd quickly gathered around the battlefield, all of them brimming with curiosity about this blatantly uneven match.
With a heart full of anxiety, Violet stepped onto the assigned battlefield. She had originally planned to ask her senior opponent to go easy on her, but instead, she witnessed a scene she would never forget for the rest of her life.
A massive flying shadow with a wingspan that seemed to blot out the sky crashed down onto the field, wrapped in a terrifying aura.
"NOOI—!"
Accompanied by a deep, resonant dragon's roar, the creature's entire body was covered by a layer of energy-like armor.
That horrifying presence locked onto her instantly, making Violet feel as though she had been stared down by an actual dragon. Her body trembled uncontrollably.
It was the gaze of a high-tier lifeform looking down upon a low-tier one—cold, indifferent, and bloodthirsty.
"Noi?!"
The little Noibat that had landed on the field looked left and right in confusion.
Why hadn't the match started yet?
Oh—right! It must be because they hadn't seen the number tag on its head.
Noibat leaned forward toward the staff member, lifted one wing, and pointed at it.
"Gulp…" The young woman responsible for identity verification swallowed nervously. Stuttering, she asked, "Y-You want to participate in the match? Where is your trainer?"
"Noi! Noi!"
Noibat gestured energetically, explaining that Silas was busy and had sent them to compete on their own.
Clearly, the referee couldn't fully understand Noibat's meaning.
"If there's no trainer present, it will be considered an automatic forfeit," she reminded softly.
"Noi…?"
The little Noibat was stunned. Its eyes widened as it blinked rapidly at the referee, attempting to get by with a cute, pitiful expression.
That move, which had never failed against Silas, completely backfired today.
The referee took a frightened step back, her whole body stiffening as she forced a placating smile.
"W-Well… it's not entirely impossible. I'll go ask the Gym Leader."
With that, she turned and bolted off without looking back, heading straight to find Gym Leader Gurkinn.
League-hosted events in cities were often directly overseen by Gym Leaders, and Gurkinn happened to be backstage today. The message reached her almost immediately.
"Silas's Pokémon came to participate in the competition on their own?"
"Then let it participate. Pokémon trained by an Elite Trainer entering a competition by themselves—that's a great talking point."
Rookie trainers and ordinary civilians didn't know much about League-certified Elite Trainers. This was the perfect opportunity to showcase one—free publicity.
With Gurkinn's approval, the match officially went ahead as scheduled.
"Welcome, friends! Welcome everyone to the Shalour City Baby Cup Tournament!"
"Now, please welcome both competitors to the field. The match is about to begin!"
Violet nervously stepped onto the stage and threw out her starter Pokémon.
A Bug- and Water-type Pokémon—Surskit.
Including the little pointed tip on its head, Surskit barely exceeded fifty centimeters in height. In contrast, the Noibat standing opposite it, due to system food enhancements and training—was already over a meter tall just standing there.
And when factoring in the layer of dragon-type energy armor manifested around its body, its full height reached nearly one and a half meters.
Three times the size of Surskit. The disparity was enormous.
Surskit: "You're a baby Pokémon too?"[Shocked.jpg]
Hearing this, Noibat lifted its head proudly, as if saying, "That's right, that's right~ We're the youngest at home. It's our first time going out, you know!"
Surskit: "..."
Noibat: "Hurry up, hurry up—come hit me already!"
The Noibat urged impatiently, eager for an intense and satisfying battle.
On the opposite trainer's platform, Violet quietly pumped herself up.
There was no trainer on the other side—she still had a chance to win!
"Surskit, Quick Attack!"
Four slender legs extended from Surskit's body, oil secreting from the tips of its claws.
Surskit slid rapidly across the ground, accelerating toward Noibat and crashing into it at a speed nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Thump—
"Noi?"
Noibat shook its head. It felt like it had just been bumped… but it didn't hurt at all.
"Suuur—!"
Instead, a tragic cry came from Surskit. A second bump had appeared on top of its head.
It hurt. It hurt so much!
Surskit rolled around on the ground, tears streaming down its face.
"Surskit, get up! Stand up!" Violet shouted anxiously from behind.
It appeared!
One of Ash Ketchum's legendary god-tier moves—Stand Up!
"Suur…"
Right before everyone's eyes, Surskit wobbled unsteadily and actually stood back up, glaring angrily at Noibat.
Noibat: ???
Bro—what the heck?
You stand up just because someone told you to?!
This completely violated the fundamental laws of Pokémon battles… but wow, that bond was something else.
Seeing the opponent reignite its fighting spirit and clearly about to activate some kind of protagonist buff, Noibat hesitated no longer.
It flapped its wings rapidly, shooting straight up into the sky. Dense dragon-type energy wrapped around its entire body as it launched Dragon Rush, diving straight down.
With a thunderous boom, smoke and dust rolled outward. Surskit was blasted away, sent flying out of the battlefield and crashing heavily to the ground, completely losing its ability to battle.
"Surskit is unable to continue fighting. The winner is Noibat."
Hearing the referee's announcement, Noibat discreetly wiped nonexistent cold sweat from its forehead and let out a long breath.
"Noi~"
(Phew! That was close. The opponent was about to activate a cheat and counter-kill me. Good thing I was just a bit stronger.)
Amid the curious and shocked gazes of the surrounding crowd, the Noibat shot up into the sky and disappeared.
After that, on the very same battlefield, two more Noibat, also without trainers—took turns battling, and both emerged victorious.
The spectators were completely numb from watching. One after another, a total of three overwhelmingly powerful Noibat.
So this… is an Elite Trainer?
After finishing their matches, the three Noibat collected the times for their next battles from the staff.
Despite their victories, they felt not the slightest bit proud.
Not to mention Big Sister Kangaskhan and Cyclizar—even the three Mudsdale back at the ranch were countless times stronger than them. They still had a long way to go.
With the goal of surpassing the Mudsdale brothers in mind, they decided on an extra two hours of training tonight.
Cyclizar, who had been watching from the shadows, returned to the ranch ahead of them.
By the time the Noibat came back, Silas had already received Cyclizar's message and was waiting outside the house.
Seeing that Silas had personally come out to greet them, the Noibat sped up and rushed toward him.
They circled around Silas, rubbing against him affectionately.
Silas reached out and stroked them one by one, smiling as he praised them. "I know all about how you performed today. You've all grown a lot"
Noibat: (?????)
Being praised by Silas made the Noibat trio unbelievably happy.
Another Pokémon, noticing it was being ignored, reached out with its claws and tugged at Silas to draw his attention.
"Cyc!"
(The little red flower! Silas, look at me—look at me too!)
(End of Chapter)