Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

However, the depth of their current roster is still a bit lacking.

Xia Chen glanced at Soroya, who was practicing his movements in the training facility, and pondered for a moment.

I wonder if this little guy will be able to complete its evolution before the competition officially begins?

If Zoroark, the overlord of phantoms, were to be on the field, there would be a lot more things that could be done.

…………

The following day, the main stadium of Kamikyo University welcomed its most exciting moment of the year.

Although it can't compare to the quadrennial Donghuang Tournament, the Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition has garnered the most attention recently during this period without major competitions.

Therefore, even though the competition has not officially started yet, the qualifying rounds, which serve as a warm-up for the competition, are already generating a lot of buzz.

Almost all the students who didn't have classes today arrived at the main venue early, waiting for the competition to begin.

Among the audience were many Pokémon battle enthusiasts from outside the school, who came to watch what can be considered a competition among some of the most outstanding young trainers in the capital.

At 9:00 a.m. sharp, the draw ceremony for the first round of the competition officially began.

Xia Chen followed the other school team members, who were also ranked between 11 and 20, onto the stage to draw their opponents.

Although there is actually no difference between being drawn and being drawn, at least the initiative is in the former's hands, which can be regarded as a reward from the school to those who rank higher.

According to the order, Xia Chen was the second to last person to draw an opponent, so naturally, he only had two opponents left to draw.

Faced with a choice between two options, Xia Chen missed out on the 27th place and drew an opponent ranked 22nd.

He wasn't very lucky, but he didn't care.

Upon closer inspection, Xia Chen even discovered that the opponent he had drawn was a trainer who primarily used Fighting-type Pokémon, which made things even better.

Xia Chen's match was the ninth one, and it was expected to start in the afternoon, so he sat in the players' rest area waiting for his turn and took the opportunity to look at his opponent's information.

In fact, people ranked at the top are quite familiar with each other, since according to the matching mechanism, only those with similar strength and ranking will be matched together.

Xia Chen had encountered this opponent once after returning from Carlos. Because his strength was inferior to Xia Chen's, and due to the elemental advantage, Xia Chen won relatively easily.

Because she looked like a delicate and weak girl, but pulled out a super strong and domineering panda, Xia Chen still had some impression of this opponent named Ye Yimei.

Since it was an opponent he had easily defeated not long ago, Xia Chen relaxed a lot.

After scanning his opponent's Pokémon and their signature moves, he began to watch the battle unfold.

…………

Before the lunch break, there were exactly eight matches played, five of which were won by higher-ranked players, but this was slightly over 50%, which was lower than most viewers expected.

There are many reasons for this discrepancy, including the player's and Pokémon's performance on the day, and random type advantages/disadvantages.

Of course, most importantly, the actual difference in strength between the two groups is not that great.

This situation is certainly good for the spectators who come to watch the game; what do they want to see?

Does the side with the higher ranking necessarily win?

That would be incredibly boring. To borrow a phrase from the internet, what they want to see is "rivers of blood."

When the role shifts to that of a bystander, the majority of people automatically switch to chaotic neutrality.

The more exciting the scene, the more back-and-forth it is, and the more unpredictable the ending, the more it will captivate people's hearts.

In the afternoon, the fighting resumed.

The first match was a showdown between Xia Chen and Ye Yimei.

The man's reappearance roused the audience, who had been feeling drowsy in the afternoon.

Most people don't want to see him win; they want to see how this guy loses.

Unfortunately, both the process and the result of the match disappointed them.

This is the most dominant match out of the nine games played so far today.

With just one fairy, Fairy Cloth effortlessly defeated three opponents.

The starting Pokémon for both sides are Sylveon and Bisharp.

Clearly, that Slash Commander was Ye Yimei's defensive and coverage Pokémon, who majored in Fighting-type Pokémon.

The Dark Steel dual-attribute Bisharp Commander is indeed not afraid of Sylveon, and even has some advantage against it.

However, attribute advantage is only a small part of the battle; strength and performance are the most important factors in determining the outcome.

As a defensive unit, the training time for Slash Commander is much shorter than that for Ye Yimei's other two main Pokémon.

Naturally, their strength is also weaker, and they don't even have an elite level.

Sylveon has fought countless tough battles. Even in type-reversal battles, many Pokémon stronger than her have fallen to her sharp ribbons, let alone a Slash Commander who is only a Senior-level Pokémon.

In just a few rounds, Xianbu swiftly and decisively killed him.

As for Senbu himself, he only suffered damage from Ironhead's final counterattack before his opponent fell.

The two elves that followed were even less impressive. Despite their strong physiques, these two muscular elves were only good for being toyed with by Fairyclops.

The same goes for the domineering panda; its dual Dark and Fighting attributes against the Fairy-type Sylveon are simply too much for it to handle.

After a loud bang, before Sylvanas could even land her high-speed star attack, the domineering panda, who looked like a small mountain compared to Sylvanas, crashed to the ground.

With this, Xia Chen advanced to the final round without firing a shot.

…………

The first round of the competition ended at 2 PM, and the second round was scheduled to begin at 4 PM.

Firstly, it gives the contestants time to prepare, and secondly, it gives the audience time to rest.

If you think about it carefully, the audience is more tired than the players. The latter only has to play one game, but the former has to watch ten.

Ten more matches will start non-stop in a short while. If there isn't a buffer period in between, some viewers' bladders will burst.

Of course, there is one important thing to do before halftime.

Draw lots.

However, in the last round, Xia Chen drew the names of others, but this time, it was the people in the top ten who drew his names.

To be honest, Xia Chen was a little nervous, not for any other reason than that he was afraid of being chosen by Hu Yang.

He estimated that his chances of winning were about 70% if Gardevoir was exposed.

Sorry, 70% of them belong to other people.

But since fate was in someone else's hands, Xia Chen had no other choice but to silently hug his mascot, Xianbu, and wait for the outcome.

The good news is that when Hu Yang, the first player to go on stage, pulled a white ball with a number on it from the box, the number was clearly displayed on the main venue screen as "8", just one place away from Xia Chen's "9".

Xia Chen immediately put down the fairy cloth and breathed a long sigh of relief.

As expected, a one-in-ten chance is just too small to be true.

However, a few seconds later, when Yin Yuan, who was ranked second, pulled out a ball with the number "9" from the box, Xia Chen was dumbfounded.

He looked down at the fairy cloth he had just put down and began to question his existence.

So, the reason Hu Yang didn't draw me was really because I was holding Fairy Cloth at the time?

Is its name Sylveon really that magical?

So, the ultimate end of science is metaphysics?

Xianbu yawned, showing no sympathy whatsoever for Xia Chen, who had drawn the second worst lot and was completely bewildered.

They just kicked me out after I got away with it, and now they're blaming me?

After silently contemplating life for a while, Xia Chen finally accepted this reality.

He even had the leisure to comfort himself with the spirit of Ah Q.

The draw was alright, at least I wasn't drawn by Hu Yang, right?

In short, he decided to use the two hours of preparation time to thoroughly study this opponent with the elves.

…………

In fact, Xia Chen had fought against Yin Yuan, who was ranked second on the ladder, just a few days ago.

Although he was only ranked nineteenth, perhaps due to his winning streak and high hidden points, Xia Chen had played against all three of the top-ranked players.

All three matches were lost.

Hu Yang was the guy who couldn't be defeated even with Gardevoir, while Yin Yuan was the one that Xia Chen judged he would most likely lose to even if he sent Gardevoir.

This person is also a famous genius girl from Peking University.

However, this seems like nonsense. Anyone who ranks in the top ten at the Imperial University, which gathers the best academic trainers in the entire Eastern Empire, can basically be given this title.

However, the higher the ranking, the more valuable the award.

This year, Xia Chen is a junior in the Department of Training, and Yin Yuan, Xia Chen's senior, is one of the best among them.

Yin Yuan, who is proficient in electrical engineering, was the champion of Xia Chen's recruitment competition in the previous two years, which is quite similar to Xia Chen.

Another similarity is that Yin Yuan's starting Pokémon is also Eevee.

The evolution form she chose is a nightmare for countless furry lovers: Jolteon covered in sharp spikes.

In Xia Chen's memories of his previous life, Jolteon's popularity was not outstanding among the Eevee family.

However, in terms of practicality, Jolteon's appearance rate in battles is still among the highest in the Eevee family, roughly on par with Umbreon and Sylveon.

The main reason lies in its excellent racial distribution.

As the embodiment of lightning, Jolteon has the highest speed of all Eevee.

Before the appearance of the sixth generation Mega Evolution, it was considered one of the top special attackers.

With its impressive Special Attack and powerful Electric-type moves that allow for strong penetration, Jolteon is an outstanding high-speed Special Attacker.

Xia Chen felt that Yin Yuan would most likely start with her ace Pokémon.

So, how should I deal with this?

…………

First, exclude Milner from the starting lineup.