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

However, the pre-match period wasn't all good news.

At least, Zorua had not completed its evolution until the qualifiers began.

Xia Chen still didn't put any pressure on the little fox. He could tell from the sudden increase in the frequency and duration of Soroya's fatigue that she had been working hard towards this goal during this period.

It would be good if Zorua evolved before it was eliminated, but it wouldn't matter if it didn't.

The championship is a goal, but not the end.

His future, and that of the elves, lies in the distant stars and the vast ocean.

In short, with Xia Chen's self-comforting attitude, which could be considered a form of Ah Q mentality, the 2024 Donghuang Youth Trainer Conference began in full swing.

------

At 8:00 AM on December 10th, at the Blazing Arena.

The Blazing Arena is the largest comprehensive Pokémon arena in Funan City, and even in the southwestern part of the entire Donghuang region.

Because its shape closely resembles the famous hot pot specialty of Funan, people affectionately call this place the "Hot Pot Arena".

This hot pot is quite large; it can accommodate a total of 60,000 people, along with their elves, to watch the battle.

Of course, the accompanying Pokémon can't be Onix or Aggron, otherwise no matter how big the arena is, it won't be able to withstand so many giant Pokémon trampling together.

Today, the Fiery Arena was packed to capacity for the first time in a long time.

If you're wondering what competition is so popular, it's undoubtedly the Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition, also known as the "Little Donghuang Tournament."

Although this competition doesn't even feature Gym Leaders or Pokémon, it's far from being a top-tier event.

But what an exciting thing it is to see a group of young trainers, as vibrant as the rising sun and representing the future of the Eastern Pokémon world, gather together to celebrate this grand event!

Okay, it's not that exaggerated.

It's just that it's nearing the end of the year, and there haven't been any top-level competitions lately. Plus, the U21 version of the Donghuang Tournament is well-deserved, which is why this competition has garnered so much attention.

Today is not the main competition, but only the first day of the qualifiers, yet the venue is already packed, demonstrating the immense popularity.

The deep-pocketed Pixiv naturally wouldn't let go of this highly anticipated competition, so it spent a small amount of money to buy the exclusive broadcasting rights.

To recoup their costs, the uncles and aunts put on a massive advertising blitz.

Therefore, even before the competition officially started, the top spots on the popularity charts in the live streaming area were already completely occupied by the first, second, third, and so on of this competition.

As for why there are so many live broadcast channels, the preliminary round with 384 participants is of course conducted in multiple groups at the same time, so that the 64 people who will enter the finals can be determined within five days.

In short, the first round of the preliminary competition officially began at nine o'clock in the morning.

…………

There are 384 participants. Even if they are divided into sixteen groups to compete in parallel, each group will still have to play twelve matches in the first round.

Xia Chen's match was the tenth game, which was quite far back and would most likely not start until the afternoon. However, since he had nothing else to do, he and Xianbu arrived early at the G group match they had drawn to watch the game.

As the morning passed, Xia Chen didn't see any particularly impressive players or Pokémon on the battlefield; it was mostly experienced mid-to-high-level Pokémon battling it out.

However, this is also a highly probable event. After spending a long time in the elite environment of Beijing University, it's no problem for them to stand out from the crowd in competitions, if not completely dominate.

The ten spots allocated to Kyoto University do not represent the university's overall strength, which limits the number of students to ten. Rather, they serve as a form of protection for other regions and universities with slightly weaker academic strength.

Otherwise, what would it mean if a large portion of the Donghuang team consisted of students from Beijing University?

Before lunch break, good news kept pouring in Teacher Lin Quan's group chat with the ten-person team from the school. The seven players who competed in the morning had all won all seven matches and advanced to the winners' group.

Without encountering a successor like Long Yue, or other long-established dojos or martial arts schools, such achievements are not surprising.

We had lunch together, and at 2 p.m., after our lunch break, the battle resumed.

The ninth match of Group G has begun.

The next match will be Xia Chen's.

Since the opponent was only a top student from an ordinary high school in the database provided by the school, Xia Chen did not make any further preparations after briefly glancing at the opponent's Pokémon and signature moves.

The match ended shortly afterward.

The arena for the battle between veteran trainers was not damaged much. After Pidgeot took off and swept away the debris on the field, and cleaned up the battlefield, a whistle blew.

This means the next player should prepare to take the stage.

Gently stroking the five Poké Balls tightly fastened to his belt, Xia Chen smiled and waved to Lin Quan, the teacher who had come to watch the battle, before stepping onto the battlefield.

When the camera focused on the young man with a clear and handsome face, an extraordinary temperament, and an unbelievably youthful appearance, many viewers of the live broadcast were stunned.

The previously quiet and uninteresting barrage of comments suddenly surged forth inexplicably.

If you search for keywords in the comments at this moment, you'll find that the most frequently appearing word is...

鸽！

…………

"Alright, with the referee's whistle, the tenth match of Group G is about to begin. As you can see, both players have stepped onto the battlefield. Next, my partner Nono will introduce the general information of both sides."

Such a large-scale competition naturally has professional commentators on board.

The bespectacled man in a suit, who had just finished his commentary, handed the task over to the beautiful female commentator in black stockings who was holding a playful panda.

The latter read from the script: "The contestant standing in the clear soup pot position is named Gu Minghao, 20 years old, a third-year student majoring in Trainer at Jiangbei University. His main Pokémon are Blaziken, Ironhide, and Magmortar. Hmm, he is a contestant who is proficient in Fire and Fighting types."

The arena of the Blazing Fire is quite unique, shaped like a yin-yang hot pot from the Funan Hot Pot restaurant. The commentators use the clear broth pot and the spicy broth pot to distinguish the players' positions.

The female commentator stopped the mischievous panda's restless paws from groping her black-stockinged legs and continued, "So, the player in the red soup pot position is named Xia Chen... 17 years old... a freshman from... the Trainer Department of Beijing University... whose main Pokémon are Sylveon, Milotic, and Gardevoir. He's a relatively trendy trainer, majoring in Fairy-type Pokémon."

The female commentator stammered over a simple sentence, not for any other reason than Xia Chen's information was simply too frightening.

17 years old... Although it's an U21 competition, most of the participants are 20 or 21 years old. It's already quite remarkable that a 19-year-old could make it in. Suddenly, a 17-year-old appears, which is a bit scary.

The students from Shanghai University are even more remarkable. Everyone knows that Shanghai University has a total of ten competition slots, but those in the know understand that breaking through from there is incredibly difficult.

And considering the age of 17...

The only way to describe this kid is that he's terrifying.

The male commentator next to him asked in return with an "Oh?" and then continued, "It's actually Xia Chen?"

The female commentator, quite adept at handling the situation, took on the role of the straight man, asking curiously, "How so?"

Actually, she had already realized who this extraordinary guy was, but as a commentator, she had to pretend to be clueless from time to time.

The male commentator explained: "Last year, the discoverer of Milotic's evolution path; earlier this year, the discoverer of Sylveon's evolutionary form; the first Grand Contest champion; the hero who solved the Yveltal awakening incident; the owner of the wildly popular Beauty Cube company..."

With what could be described as the "fastest tongue in Donghuang," he rattled off all of Xia Chen's major titles to date.

After catching his breath, the male commentator continued, "Having disappeared from the public eye for more than half a year, I never expected that the occasion in front of the audience would be the top youth trainer competition in Donghuang."

The female commentator chuckled, picking up on the joke: "That's quite an achievement, but on the battlefield, skill still matters. Let's see if this genius researcher, this young billionaire, can also deliver an amazing performance on this battlefield that far exceeds his age."

The simple setup set the stage for this somewhat special match, creating suspense. The live stream switched from the studio to the battlefield, where Xia Chen's handsome face once again occupied half the screen.

Meanwhile, more and more of Xia Chen and Xianbu's fans rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, continuously crowding into the live stream room.

Immediately, the barrage of comments exploded.

…………

"Pigeon Army, assemble!"

"What 'Pigeon Army'? That sounds awful! It's clearly 'Bean Pigeon'!"

"Piglet, return to your cage!"

"Seventy days! Your Pixiv account hasn't posted a single video in seventy days! You damn pigeon, do you know how much I miss you... Sylveon, Milotic, Kirlia, and Zoroah!"

"Correction: According to the explanation just given, Kirlia has evolved into Gardevoir. Hehe, Gardevoir... my beautiful Gardevoir..."

"The little Ralts that I watched hatch back then has already evolved into Gardevoir... I suddenly feel like time has flown by. I've been following Master Pigeon for two and a half years now."

"My daughter has grown up, and I haven't even seen her evolve yet. If you dare not let Gardevoir appear today, I'm unfollowing you!"

"Why is everyone talking about Gardevoir? Where are my Brutus fans?"

"Bubmen!"

"Brock's fans are all very laid-back, because Brock is anxious~"

"Hey, my Eevee evolved into Sylveon a few days ago~ From now on, I'm someone who can pet Sylveon!"

"Mildane fans are crying in the bathroom. I've loved Milotic since I was little, but Beautiful Scales were too expensive. I'm so grateful to Master Pigeon for developing the Beautiful Energy Cube. Now I have my own Milotic!"

"Stop fighting among yourselves. Just have the three of them take turns. Even if they don't go today, they can go tomorrow. With Master Pigeon's skill, getting into the main race is a piece of cake."

"I still have to add one more thing... Xia Chen, who dares to try and get his hands on my goddess, shall die!"

…………

During the break before the match started, the live chat was buzzing with discussion about Xia Chen and his Pokémon.

Although the internet is forgetful, Xia Chen truly brought them too many unforgettable experiences.

It's unforgettable that even though Xia Chen hasn't appeared in public for nearly half a year, his appearance still evoked everyone's memories.

My fondness for a certain Pokémon, my gratitude for Xia Chen's significant research discoveries, my thoughts on some of Xia Chen's gossip...

Regardless of whether they were good or bad, all the comments in the bullet screen eventually merged into a string of words.

"Long time no see, Master Pigeon, Master Eevee, Milotic, Gardevoir, Zoroark, Dragapult..."

Chapter 223 Farewell to Crimson (1 words, please vote!)

Xia Chen was unaware that his appearance had been spotted by fans; at that moment, he was focused on the battle on the field.

Although, according to information provided by the school's extensive database, this contestant named Gu Minghao's strongest Pokémon, Blaziken, is only at the senior-advanced level.

But the second trainer spirit that Cynthia taught Xia Chen was humility, which also made him never underestimate any opponent.

So he immediately deployed his most capable lieutenant, Milotic.

Xia Chen did indeed show his opponent the utmost respect, but he didn't consider that his opponent didn't actually want that respect at all...

In the studio.

As the two sides threw out their Poké Balls, the male commentator started rapping.

"The match has officially begun. We can see that both teams' starting Pokémon are Blaziken and Milotic. Blaziken is Gu Minghao's ace Pokémon, and Xia Chen may have anticipated this, choosing the more effective Milotic. Let's see what they can do for us..."