Who needs a girlfriend when you have Pokémon?

Man Chong sighed, a slight smile appearing on his face.

As I said before, the outcome itself wasn't really in doubt. Manchong never thought he could beat Luo Wei; it was just a matter of how long he could last that was worth trying.

The final result proved that the fully charged talent was indeed quite impressive. Luo Wei's Eevee did not hold back; he simply did not send out his main force, and Eevee was fighting two opponents at once.

The fact that they were forced into a head-on confrontation was already a great performance. If Kirlia's personal training attributes were stronger, the power of that illusion beam would be even greater. As long as Rowe couldn't dodge it, the final winner would be the one who was fully charged.

Of course, there are no "ifs". A loss is a loss. Manchong is not disappointed. After all, he has already used all his current skills to achieve such a performance.

"Thank you, Rowe, that's a wonderful gift!"

Manch looked up, his face covered in sweat but full of energy. Compared to when they first met, when he seemed quite socially awkward, Manch was much more cheerful now.

Such a change is naturally a good thing, and Luo Wei is also very happy that Manchong has made such a change.

"Well then, next up is the gym challenge. Good luck! With your fully charged talent, you'll definitely become a very powerful trainer. When that time comes, we'll give it our all and settle things once and for all!"

"Um……"

Manch nodded vigorously. Of course, he just thought that Luo Wei was being polite to him. After all, with his current strength, he was far inferior to Luo Wei. Luo Wei didn't even send out his main force. He sent out Eevee, who had only been AFK farming experience, and it was still able to defeat him.

Such a gap in strength is beyond anyone's comprehension; it would take an immense amount of effort to close the gap. Moreover, from their first meeting until now, it's clear that Luo Wei's strength has improved by more than one level. In other words, Luo Wei himself is progressing at an astonishing pace.

Even if Luo Wei were to stagnate, Manchong wouldn't be sure how long it would take to catch up with him. Moreover, if Luo Wei were to continue improving, the gap between them would only widen and become even more insurmountable.

Of course, even if it was just a polite remark, Man Chong was very touched. So even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance, he felt that he had to try his best. Maybe he really would have a chance to have a good fight with Luo Wei.

Whether he could win or not was not of much concern to Manchong. He hadn't even considered the possibility of winning. But as long as he could get Luo Wei to seriously show his strength and fight him, he would be satisfied.

That's all I need, that's all I need...

He may not become that dazzling protagonist, but just being able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other for even a moment is enough for him.

After all, he was originally a sickly person who was judged to be completely incapable of becoming a trainer, and it was already very fortunate that he was able to change that fate.

Where do you plan to go next?

"My first step is to challenge the gym in Rustboro City..."

Luo Wei estimated that with his current strength, he should be able to beat at least two or three gyms without much trouble. After all, not everyone can beat Luo Wei's upgraded version with four badges as a starting point.

Earning two or three badges already qualifies you as an elite trainer, and at that level, you can find a good job in the League.

Although most of these elite trainers are just background characters in the backstory, they are honestly better than 70% of ordinary trainers. To be at this level, they are considered to be somewhat famous in their local area.

Since he was going to Las Nova City, he was naturally not going with Rowe. After all, Rowe had already obtained three badges. Although there was no fixed order for challenging gyms, the gym leaders would decide how much skill to use based on the number of badges the challenger had obtained.

However, the strength of gym leaders does vary, such as the gym leader that Rowe will challenge next.

"So, where is Rowe going next?"

"...I originally planned to take the cable car directly to Furnace Town, but since I'm already in Greenshade Town, I might as well check out the Grand Contest venue there. I wonder if there are any Grand Contest qualifying matches here."

Upon hearing that Rowe was planning to challenge the Grand Contest, Manchong also became interested. He had originally considered the Grand Contest route, since his congenital condition prevented him from becoming a qualified trainer.

Now that his congenital disease has been cured, he naturally leans more towards becoming a trainer focused on Pokémon battles. Although he doesn't plan to participate in the Pokémon Contests, he is still quite interested in the competition itself.

"The qualifying rounds, which means... Rowe has already obtained the entry-level ribbon?"

"Hmm~"

Luo Wei generously showed off the ribbon pinned to his collar, and Man Chong was truly impressed.

"Not only is he good at Pokémon battles, but he's also good at Contests... Loewy is really amazing."

"No, no, no, I only tried the Grand Contest. It wasn't anything special. In fact, I didn't even know what script to use for this qualifying round."

Although there was no script, and it wouldn't have been a problem to come up with a theme and present it directly, considering that we did the same thing last time, we were ambushed by Masked Cat and almost got wiped out.

Fortunately, Luo Wei came up with a clever plan to turn the tables. Of course, this was mostly a joke, but in any case, Luo Wei felt that he should prepare a script.

After all, entry-level competitions are not difficult in themselves; as long as the performance corresponds to the theme, it's fine. But for higher levels, more creative elements should be added to enhance the stage effect.

In fact, Lowe already had a general framework in mind, but he still needed to fill in the details to complete the framework into a full script.

"I see. What kind of script is it?"

Lillie seemed curious about this as well, while Rowe smiled and waved his finger, "It's a secret, well, before that... I still need to prepare a performance outfit..."

As I said before, last time I went in without any preparation and the results were entirely due to my performance on the spot. But I can't rely on improvisation every time. I should definitely have proper tactics.

So……

"...Let's go check out the situation at the venue!"

Chapter 122 What are you up to?

"Let's go check out the venue!"

Green Shade Town is, after all, just a small town, so the scale of the venue can't compare with that of a port city like Kaina.

Regardless of the size of the venue, there is a complete set of advancement rules and corresponding examiners. The only difference is that the size of the venue determines how many audience members can be present.

Even without live audiences, the event is broadcast live, so there's no need to worry about it being ignored. After all, the Grand Contest is a world-renowned event.

While the number of viewers for tournaments below the Super Series may not be as large, the number of viewers for the Masters tournament and the number of live audience members are definitely not inferior to those for the Championship.

Therefore, the grand tournament venue in Greenshade Town, though small, is fully equipped with everything one would expect.

"Welcome, may I ask...?"

As soon as Luo Wei and his two companions stepped into the venue, staff members greeted them with smiles. Luo Wei then revealed his beginner-level ribbon, which the staff immediately understood.

"I see. Are you here to participate in the points-based competition or the qualifying rounds?"

Luo Wei had done his homework beforehand. As he had mentioned before, the Grand Contest was a points-based competition. Once you had accumulated enough points, you could advance to the next level. There were also point-based tournaments specifically for accumulating points. Point-based tournaments did not allow you to directly advance to the next level, but the points accumulated through point-based tournaments could be counted as extra points in the advancement tournaments.

You can participate in up to three additional qualifying matches. If you perform well in all three matches and get full marks, you can theoretically reduce the qualifying score requirement by about one-third.

It might sound like a shortcut, but if you think about it, even in a points-based competition, you need to perform exceptionally well to get the highest score bonus.

Being able to achieve the highest score value in three consecutive points matches demonstrates a level of ability that wouldn't be too far behind in the qualifying rounds.

Therefore, the purpose of the qualifying rounds is essentially to provide a safety net, giving players who might underperform in the promotion rounds a backup plan. In other words, in most cases, the qualifying rounds are more of a bonus...

Hoping to turn the tide through the points-based system is not impossible, but it is very difficult. As I said before, if you can get a perfect score in the points-based system, you won't be much worse off going straight to the promotion matches.

If Rowe were a proper Contestant, he would definitely start with the Points Tournament, using it as practice and to accumulate a minimum number of points. But Rowe's main focus is challenging gyms, so for the Contests... he might as well go straight to the qualifying tournaments.

"Hmm, I see. So we go straight to the promotion matches? Let me see... Oh, I see..."

Because all scores are available online, the staff member understood immediately after checking Luo Wei's competition record.

In the beginner level competition, he achieved a terrifying score that nearly doubled the score of the second place winner. With such ability, choosing to directly enter the qualifying rounds would not be a problem at all, which clearly shows that he has enough confidence in his abilities.

Although Lowe wasn't confident in his performance, he simply chose the fastest way to score points.

"...Oh, right, I think we can buy performance costumes here, right?"

"Oh? That's possible, but do you want to buy it here?"

The young lady, who had initially considered Luo Wei a "dark horse," suddenly lost confidence because of his words.

If you were truly confident, shouldn't you have made preparations in advance?

Have you ever seen a professional gamer buy their equipment on the spot right before a competition?

Moreover, although performance costumes are available for purchase at the event, they are all standard sets. Normally, professional players would have their own custom-made performance costumes.

After all, the performance costumes must fit the theme of the competition, which is also an important part of presenting the stage effect.

To this, Luo Wei replied seriously, "Yes, it is indeed a problem. Anyway, let's see how it goes."

"Ah good……"

The young lady was a little speechless, but she still quickly registered Luo Wei's competition information.

"The fastest qualifying match is in three days. Do you want to participate in that one?"

"Oh, please register me for this session."

It wasn't as coincidental as last time, when there was a qualifying match waiting for Luo Wei to play. The next match here is three days away.

However, three days is not a problem, since Luo Wei still needs to come up with some ideas for the script, so it's a good opportunity to take a short rest.

Because he knew that a long side storyline was about to unfold, and that there would likely be several fierce battles ahead.

So, let's take this opportunity to recharge and recharge.

"Alright, let's discuss the script."

Luo Wei already had a general outline of the script in mind; all he had to do was fill in the remaining content, which wasn't too difficult.

There's just one problem...

...That is, there was a small problem when assigning roles.

First of all, Gardevoir, as always, does not participate in the script at all. Although she is no longer as shy as Ralts was back then, she is still not very willing to interact with too many strangers.

Because of her ability to read minds, she is too easily exposed to some bad thoughts. Moreover, now that her mental power is so strong that she can process multiple pieces of information at once, her mind-reading efficiency has been greatly improved.

She only wanted to bask in the warmth of Rowe and his friends' affection and didn't want to interact with strangers, so Rowe naturally respected her opinion.

So, Eevee and Masked Meow are going to be on the field, which is fine. However, the problem arises next.

The key question is, who will play the "main role" – Eevee or Masked Cat?

The script for Loewe has already been outlined, and the lead actor has also been decided. Last time, the lead actor was Masked Cat, so this time the lead actor is Eevee.

Last time it was you, this time it's her. It seems reasonable and there's nothing wrong with it, but Luo Wei's script also prepared a supporting role for Masked Cat...

...Playing a supporting role is fine, but playing a villainous supporting role, especially having to watch Loewon and Eevee sticking together while playing a villainous supporting role, is something Masked Cat strongly protests.

"...Haha, so I've already said it, this is just a scripted performance. Although it's called a villainous role, it's really just a symbolic gesture."

Finally, after much persuasion and coaxing, with promises that he would definitely give Masked Cat the lead role in the next performance, and a bunch of "benefits" that were not easy to say outright, Luo Wei finally got Masked Cat to nod and agree to take on the role of the "villainous supporting actress".

And so, that very night... Lillie and Manch witnessed this scene...

"Come on, open your mouth~"

Luo Wei gently handed the spoon to Masked Cat, who rested her legs on Luo Wei's knees, mouth agape, looking like a pampered young lady who had her food served to her...