Pokémon: Starting as a Pokémon Researcher with Milotic

"Attention all participants! Attention all participants! Please assemble immediately at the center of the venue to participate in the opening ceremony!"

"Let's begin!"

Ye Chen called for everyone to follow.

The passageway leading from the lounge to the center of the venue was somewhat dark, but the exit ahead was brightly lit!

Countless young trainers stepped into the passageway, heading towards that place of light!

Near the exit, thunderous applause and cheers could be heard from the audience outside. Accompanied by the rousing music, everyone present was completely aroused!

Ye Chen could even faintly hear the sound of a girl sobbing softly next to him; the scene was just too exciting!

Turning around, I saw Jiang Shuyun quietly wiping away tears beside me.

"Hey, I'm telling you, this doesn't match your fighting ability!"

　(The money is good) Jiang Shuyun gently patted Ye Chen's arm, her voice broken: "You... what do you know? I'm just too excited!"

The alliance's official drones are seen looking down from the sky.

Countless tiny black dots emerged from the passageway and surged into the empty meeting hall, densely packed like ants!

Standing in the vast, open space, looking around, one sees countless spectators sitting high up and huge promotional posters, and hears the thunderous cheers from the audience!

At that moment, I truly felt that although I was insignificant, everyone present was cheering for me!

"Welcome everyone to the annual Southwest University Tournament! This is the highest-level university competition in the entire Southwest region, where countless students dedicate their youth and sweat! This is also a stage for selecting talent; only true geniuses can ascend to the top, and the league has prepared generous rewards for them!"

Chapter Ninety-Two: The Changed Competition Rules

As the host finished his opening remarks, the music in the venue shifted from a low melody to a high melody.

The audience erupted in thunderous applause, a deafening roar!

"Next, please welcome Zhang Zhixing, the president of our Chengdu Alliance branch, to give a speech!"

Then a chubby man walked up from below the stage; it was Zhang Zhixing, who had visited Rongcheng No. 1 Middle School before.

All of this can be seen up close on the giant screen above the stadium. He then took the microphone and said:

"It is a great honor to be able to hold such a competition in Chengdu. The Southwest University Tournament is not only a competition venue, but also a platform to showcase the quality and ability of our new generation of young trainers!"

Every year, the league places increasing importance on trainers, and the rewards for our Southwest University Tournament are becoming more and more generous. According to my sources, this year's rewards will exceed everyone's expectations. I'll keep you in suspense for now; the tournament officials will explain it to you later.

"Oh, by the way, we've also invited a very special guest to this year's Southwest University Tournament." He paused here, whetting everyone's appetite.

"Let us welcome one of the current Four Heavenly Kings of the Alliance, the Water-type Heavenly King, Mu Xue!"

As he finished speaking, another gasp erupted from the audience. 803

Ye Chen adjusted his baseball cap. Why did this woman come as a guest out of nowhere? Did she come because she heard I was participating in this competition?

Jiang Shuyun, standing to the side, was extremely surprised: "It's King Muxue! It really is King Muxue!"

Ye Chen said speechlessly, "There's no need for this. This woman's charm isn't your type either."

"Mu Xue is the only current female Heavenly King, isn't it normal for me to admire her?"

Indeed, Mu Xue is the object of worship for almost all female trainers in Xia Country, not only because she is the only female Elite Four member, but also because she is the youngest Elite Four member in history!

Therefore, she is extremely popular in the Xia Kingdom!

Then, on the screen, Mu Xue slowly walked onto the stage, waved to everyone, and smiled.

The audience never expected that this year's college tournament would be able to invite one of the Elite Four as a guest. It should be noted that although the college tournament is indeed large in scale, it is limited to the youth level and is still relatively inexperienced in the field of trainers.

The King of Kings battle was just around the corner, and it was truly baffling that Mu Xue was not preparing for the battle but instead appeared as a guest.

While everyone was still speculating why Mu Xue would attend, the official person in charge of the Southwest University Tournament was already standing on the stage.

He mainly talked about the final prizes and competition rules of this competition.

In general, all sixteen teams that make it to the group stage will receive a reward, and the higher the ranking, the better the reward!

The top 16 will receive a reward of one million Alliance Coins.

The top eight teams will receive a reward of three million Alliance Coins.

The top four teams will receive a reward of five million Alliance Coins, and each member of the team can choose one top-quality evolution stone!

The second place winner will receive a reward of 10 million Alliance Coins, and each member of the team will receive any ten top-tier energy cubes!

The first place winner, who will be the ultimate champion, will receive a reward of 20 million League Coins, along with a complete set of top-tier evolution stones and any Pokémon item for each member of the team.

Furthermore, a top individual will be selected from the champion team and awarded a separate prize of ten million League Coins.

In fact, these rewards are all explicit and visible. There are also many implicit benefits that are not visible, such as extra points when you are admitted by prestigious universities.

Therefore, everyone who participates wants to go all the way to the end.

The event organizer continued, "The format for this knockout stage has been changed. We will place sixteen wooden tablets in a secret realm. Only by retrieving the tablets from the realm within the specified time can participants advance to the next stage of the competition. Participants are not allowed to possess multiple tablets; violators will be disqualified!"

(bjdd) The new rules shocked the entire audience.

Although the rules of the knockout stage have changed frequently in previous years, they have never been held in the Secret Realm. The reason is simple: the Secret Realm is too dangerous, and these young trainers are the future of the league and are far from being fully developed.

No one knows why the competition rules were set up this way, but it is undeniable that many people have already considered withdrawing.

"The secret realm is extremely dangerous, as I believe you all know. So there is still a chance to withdraw now. We will cover your travel and accommodation expenses. Teams that still want to participate should go to the front to register later."

The scene almost spiraled out of control, with many people clamoring to go home, while others gritted their teeth and insisted on participating.

Some of them had compelling reasons to go, like Liu Lixuan, while others simply had enough confidence.

"Everyone, I... I have to participate, but entering the secret realm is too dangerous, so..." Liu Lixuan stammered, head down.

"Don't talk nonsense. I've been dreaming of becoming the champion of this competition." Qi Jun said, patting his shoulder.

"That's right, if Munchlax knew I was giving up for this reason, it would look down on me too!"

"Since the Alliance is letting us into the secret realm, it should be a relatively safe one. I have Charizard, so if I can't win, I can just run away!" Jiang Shuyun said fearlessly.

Finally, everyone looked at Ye Chen, who had remained silent the whole time.

"Hey, hey, why are you all staring at me? Even Jiang Shuyun has no problem, so of course I have no problem either."

Everyone laughed upon hearing this.

"As expected of the captain!"

"With our captain here, we can handle any secret realm!"

Liu Lixuan stretched out his arm to wipe the tears from the corner of his eyes: "Thank you everyone!"

On the other side, the students from Rongcheng No. 2 Middle School looked at Meng Ming with concern, as they were also somewhat worried about entering the secret realm.

"That guy will definitely not run away, and I'm going to beat him in the finals, so of course I won't either!"

"Alright, since the captain wants to go in, we'll play along!"

"Me too!"

"Brothers!"

Even though the league organizers promised that staff would arrive within a minute as long as a special button was pressed in the secret realm, the situation remained unchanged.

However, due to the dangers of entering the secret realm, half of the participants still withdrew directly.

Those who continued the competition were also told about the secret realm where the competition was taking place.

The Hidden Realm of Green Forest!

Meanwhile, the Azure Forest Secret Realm has also been sealed off starting today, prohibiting any trainers from entering until the end of the competition.

Chapter Ninety-Three: Celebi's Letter

Today is just the opening ceremony; the actual matches will be held tomorrow.

Therefore, Ye Chen and his group do not need to go to the competition secret realm now.

The Green Forest Secret Realm is the least dangerous secret realm near Rongcheng. The strongest spirit detected is the high-level low-tier Lizard King.

Many contestants breathed a sigh of relief after finding this information. All the contestants who were confident in participating had at least intermediate-level Pokémon, so as long as they didn't encounter the Lizard King, they would be completely fine.

At this time, there were four investigators monitoring the entrance to the Green Forest Secret Realm, not to mention the surrounding areas.

Because the Qinglin Secret Realm is temporarily closed to the public, the market next to it is also empty, with no one buying or selling any resources.

"We must keep a close watch here tonight. The students from those schools will be going in tomorrow. We must make sure nothing unexpected happens inside!"

"Do you need to remind me? Let me tell you, my brother is among those people coming to compete tomorrow. I'll keep a close watch on this place, not even a fly can get in!"

"That's great, your family has produced someone with talent."

"That's right, he said he wants to become an investigator for the Alliance like me after he gets out!"

"Excellent, promising!"

Just then, a gust of cold wind blew by, and one of the investigators shivered and said, "I'm going to the restroom. Keep an eye on things."

"Okay, you go."

After the investigator left, another person rubbed his hands and said, "It's still a bit cold today."