Pokémon: Starting with a Pokémon Ranch.

Chapter 364 The preliminary round begins, reaching 2001st place.

After hearing what Farfetch'd said, Farfetch'd was very moved.

It expressed its intention to diligently follow this senior and strive to improve its swordsmanship.

When Ash finished arranging the training tasks for the team and came to find Farfetch'd, he happened to see the two of them training hard.

"Hmm...it seems Farfetch'd is training hard too!" Ash nodded. If it keeps up this momentum, it doesn't seem impossible for Farfetch'd to replace Krookodile as a member of the team.

Of course, this is Ash's perspective from the standpoint of pure strength. Perhaps, starting from scratch every time he changes regions is his way of trying to avoid this situation from happening again.

……

three days later.

Compared to the intense training that was underway on Xiao Zhi's side, Su Yu was much more relaxed.

He even organized all the Pokémon on the ranch to do a big clean-up together.

"These original sheep pens should all be demolished. Many of the facilities on the ranch are old and dilapidated; they were left by Grandpa..."

"If we don't dismantle it, there's a risk of it collapsing and potentially injuring other Pokémon."

Su Yu, a renowned planner, wanted to renovate these old ruins. At his behest, Dragon Head Mole and the Moving Craftsman volunteered to help, beginning the clearing of the debris.

They skillfully dismantled the trash and moved it aside, ready for subsequent transport by vehicles.

As the postman continued cleaning, he arrived at the ranch on his Dodoli and delivered a letter.

Su Yu was wondering who would write him a letter. When he opened it, he found it was his World Championship participation certificate, along with a photocopy of a handwritten letter from President Dama Lanqi.

The letter stated that with this certificate, one could go to the nearest town to redeem the official Rotom mobile carrier for the event.

"A standardized Rotom carrier?" Su Yu nodded. More than a year had passed since he partnered with Devon to promote Rotom technology. This time was sufficient for Devon to expand its business in the relevant field.

Receiving this device means that Su Yu has officially entered the competition.

"You guys keep demolishing, I'm going to town," Su Yu said to Excadrill, then called over Arcanine.

The renovations could not be stopped, after all, he had been here for two years and some facilities were indeed damaged.

When Su Yu arrived in town, it was packed with people. It seemed there were a lot of people who had signed up for the competition.

Upon seeing Su Yu arrive, many people made way for him. However, Su Yu obediently joined the end of the line.

Fortunately, the delivery speed was extremely fast, and before long, Su Yu got a phone that was exactly the same as the one in the animation.

This phone can still function normally even without Rotom. However, it will lack many unique features.

After that, Su Yu returned to the ranch. Upon seeing him return, all the Pokémon immediately surrounded him.

Su Yu knew they were Curious Rotom phones, so he handed them the phones.

The fuzzy-horned sheep was even more curious about what it would feel like to play games on this phone.

"...This isn't for you guys to play games with. This is the official Trainer Certificate and Pokédex; it's very important!"

Having seen through the Pokémon's thoughts, Su Yu warned them.

If you really wanted to play games, I would have bought you the highest-spec phones already.

Upon hearing this, many Pokémon showed expressions of disappointment, including Rotom.

Su Yu: ...? What are you thinking?

Having been exposed to the game through Dream these past few days, Rotom discovered his extraordinary talent for esports and has become somewhat obsessed with it.

Su Yu shook his head helplessly and sighed:

"Speaking of which, it seems that the number of participants worldwide this time has reached several hundred million."

"So, who among you plans to play in the qualifiers?"

As he spoke, Su Yu looked at the group of Pokémon.

Since this is the Baby Cup, even if we put Dongdong Mouse in, it would be considered a stomp on a weak opponent. But... well, Su Yu only has one title: the champion of the Rainbow Dance Tournament.

Officially, even if they faced Team Plasma alongside Reign of the Crown, that wouldn't be considered a legitimate achievement. After all, such situations are usually difficult to statistically account for.

So strictly speaking, he has to start from the very bottom. Even Ash Ketchum, who has saved the world many times in the anime, is the same.

Upon hearing this, the Alcremie and the others showed great interest and eagerly signed up.

……

A week later.

With the vast majority of trainers having received their credentials, the tournament qualifiers began amidst much public attention.

This tournament used a random matchmaking system. After the phone had been running for a while, Su Yu was matched with a seventeen-year-old girl.

This greatly troubled Su Yu, after all, the girl looked like she had only recently received her Pokémon.

Based on the principle of not bullying others, he sent out... Crabgrass as the Pokémon to participate in the competition.

Although the hairy crabs have been hiding since arriving at the ranch, Su Yu has been providing them with good food and water every day. With their current strength, they can easily defeat novice trainers.

After winning this match, Su Yu's ranking reached 654.83 million.

"Good heavens, conservatively speaking, there are at least over a billion participants this time!" Su Yu was somewhat surprised upon seeing this.

It seems that such a global event has been well received by trainers.

After leading the hairy crab out of the battlefield, the streets and alleys were soon filled with people battling it out. Perhaps this was somewhat similar to the Olympic Games fever that occurred every four years in my previous life.

"That's a good idea. It can also promote the battle culture and help trainers improve their skills." Seeing this, Su Yu nodded. After completing the matchmaking process on his phone, he quickly headed to the next location.

This time, he sent out Gloom as a countermeasure.

That evening, Su Yu returned to the ranch. After a day of hard work, his ranking rose rapidly, eventually reaching 235 million.

At this level, you can already be matched with quite a few trainers who are quite skilled.

Upon seeing Su Yu return, Jiang Qiu, who was working on renovating the ranch, also gathered the Pokémon to prepare for the day's work to end.

……

Two weeks have passed in the blink of an eye.

After a long battle, Su Yu finally approached the ranking of Super Ball, ranking 2001st.

At this ranking, you'll be matched with mostly Gym Leaders. To prevent internal "trust-boosting" within the league from inflating rankings, the organizers stipulate that matchmaking at this level will be conducted across regions.

Staring intently at the match icon on my phone, finally, a dojo icon with a lightning bolt pattern appeared.

"This is... the Qishu family's dojo?" Su Yu recognized the icon at a glance. Does that mean he has to go to Padia?

Meanwhile, on the other side...

Qi Shu, who was live-streaming, was also looking at Su Yu's photo on his phone, lost in thought.

The comments section was flooded with messages:

"A rancher? To reach over two thousandth place, Donghuang truly has hidden talents!"

"I recognize this guy. He was a great hero of Unova during the Plasma Rebellion. His Pokémon could even fight Kyurem to a standstill!"

"Oh no, oh no, isn't that Kiju-chan going to get beaten into Kiju-chan sauce?"

As he watched the rapidly scrolling barrage of comments, Qi Shu calmly smiled and said:

"It's just one match, what are you afraid of? At worst, we'll drop a few hundred places in the rankings."

"But hearing you say that makes me even more curious about him. Why don't we go check out his ranch?"

As he spoke, Qi Shu revealed a curious expression.

(End of this chapter)