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

Aren't you curious why I said that?

Cindy's lack of curiosity piqued Guleton's curiosity.

"Buyi... (It can't be me anyway...)"

Xianbu's tone was low, not exactly self-pity, but rather a sense of defeat after being hit by reality.

"Actually, elves are very particular about bloodlines. Some elves are born as Caterpie and will never become Rayquaza in their lifetime."

Therefore, Leighton's words made Cindy even more silent. Faced with the insurmountable chasm between herself and the legend, she was no different from Caterpie.

However, Gu Leton changed the subject, "But in you, I see infinite possibilities: Milotic with its natural affinity for water, Zoroark with its mysterious power, and you..."

Xianbu was taken aback. "Buyi? (Me? You're not kidding, are you?)"

Why didn't Leighton mention Cyril's exaggerated growth rate, yet he did?

Therefore, Leighton said in a deep voice, "I sense an aura about you that I need to respect."

Xianbu squinted at it, wondering if the dragon was just trying to make him happy.

Therefore, seeing that she didn't believe him, Leighton wasn't in a hurry to prove anything to her. He simply said, "Time will tell. Sooner or later, you will become the person you want to be."

"Let's go, we've digested enough, let's go back."

So Leighton turned around and walked towards the lakeside villa that Xia Chen rented, his big tail swaying behind him, looking like he was in a very good mood.

Xianbu pondered the words it had just left behind, gazing at its tall figure in a daze.

A certain aura that commanded respect from Guleton... What did that mean?

…………

Although Sylvanas never quite figured out the riddle left by the Riddle Dragon, perhaps because of her deep-seated trust in Gullton, her recently restless mind had inexplicably calmed down a lot.

She also stopped spending as much time on training as before.

In fact, Xianbu had already understood that once the training time exceeded a certain limit, the effect would become extremely poor, and it would be better to use that time to rest properly.

But apart from training, she couldn't think of any other way to make herself stronger.

For her, overtraining was a way to alleviate anxiety.

Now that her anxiety has dissipated, she naturally no longer needs this formality.

Once the former leader of a competitive group starts practicing health preservation, the competitive atmosphere dissipates.

Gradually, the lights in the training room no longer stayed on past midnight, and the battlefield no longer required daily repairs.

Most importantly, Xia Chen finally ended his nightmare of having to get up at five o'clock to make breakfast.

Everything has returned to normal.

However, Xia Chen's comfortable days didn't last long before he received a message from Papa.

"Chen, South Third District, come quickly!"

Chapter 279 World Youth Championship, All-Star Lineup!

"May 22nd, sunny."

"Upon arriving in the South Third District, my first thought upon seeing Pipa again was that I had encountered a talking, long-haired troll, but alas, it wasn't."

"This time, the main Pokémon is a very large, but not particularly strong, Crab. The battle was brutal, and the aftermath was incredibly tempting... I mean, the snow-white meat in that large crab claw that fell off during the battle looked absolutely delicious. Paired with the sweet secret seasoning it guards, it was simply amazing!"

"However, I heard that Crab's claws, like Slowpoke's tail, can grow back after being lost. My last shred of guilt vanished, and a bold idea even popped into my head..."

“The healing power of the sweet secret seasoning is not as strong as that of the spicy one,” Pipa said. “Its role is more to help people with stomach problems and elves stimulate their appetite. So, Leton’s strength has not recovered much, but he has become even more able to eat.”

"Just like the previous two times, after finding the secret sweet seasoning, Pipa left again to find the next seasoning. The elves and I didn't go back to Lake Cauldron, but instead returned to Tabletop City, which was right next door."

"Speaking of which, when I went to Orange Academy to find Principal Clavel, I learned an unexpected thing. It turns out that Peony... that is, the 20 million reward that the Cassiopeia gave me to motivate me to wipe out the Celestial Star Team, was secretly transferred from the Padia Alliance Bank by hacking into it. That's outrageous..."

"Even if the Padia Alliance's network security is too weak, Peony's hacking skills are definitely top-notch. I originally wanted to recruit her, as she might be useful in the future against Team Rocket. But I heard that she was pulled into the Alliance by Ye Ci to work illegally because of her bad deeds. Ye Ci won't pay to redeem her, which is a pity."

…………

June 1st, sunny.

"Summer has arrived in Padiya and the weather is getting hot. There hasn't been any news from Padiya in the short term, but Principal Claver did tell me that the World Junior Championship, which is known as the [youth version of the Eight Masters Tournament], will start in a little over a month."

"The opening ceremony is on July 7th in Raven City in the Unova region. I wonder if Piper can still find the secret seasoning in a little over a month. But it doesn't matter if it can't find it. Leton's current champion-level strength is enough to protect itself. Besides, given its personality, it probably won't want to go on stage."

"In addition to the time and location of the competition, we were also informed of the representative players from these regions. I must say, they were all familiar faces."

"First, there's the Unova region, the host country. Their representative is Alice. It's great that it's not that annoying guy, Shuu. But Alice's strength shouldn't be underestimated either. After all, she's the woman who's going to become the Unova Champion in the future."

"Then there's Blue Green, the representative from Kanto and Johto. Red is still traveling in the East. Blue Green is naturally unmatched in his age group. Last time I heard Professor Oak say something like, 'My good-for-nothing grandson wanted to be both an excellent breeder and a top trainer, but now he's just so-so in both.' How mediocre."

"I didn't expect the representative from the Hoenn region to be Daigo... I was wondering why I didn't see him at the last Masters Tournament. It turns out there was a change in the timeline, and he was born a few years later. He's 22 years old now, in his prime, right at the U23 limit for the Youth Tournament. He's so young but already obsessed with mining rocks. With his financial power and talent, he's definitely a formidable opponent."

"But then again, which of the trainers who can participate in this competition isn't a money-grubber?"

"Next up is an even bigger heavyweight. The Sinnoh region's representative isn't Shinji, but that damn Darkrai! The legendary Pokémon who won the Lily of the Valley Conference in the anime using only Darkrai and Latios!"

"The good news is, whether he's holding back or simply hasn't encountered those two legendary Pokémon, he didn't use any legendary Pokémon in the competition a few months ago, and his other Pokémon weren't the four Magikarp everyone was joking about; they were all normal ones, like Electivire. Who knows if this competition will bring everyone a surprise..."

"As expected, the contestant from the Kalos region is Alain. It's a gathering of Ash's rivals, but without Mega Evolution, Alain is nothing to fear!"

"The Alola region is still in the process of forming a league, and there are no slots available for either the Masters 8 or this tournament."

"The representative from the Galar region is Mari, and the representative from the Padia region is Nemo. There's not much to say about that."

"In short, this tournament, which is known as the [Little Eight Masters Tournament], has been officially announced and has generated quite a bit of buzz and discussion online."

“The rivalry between regions has always been a popular topic of conversation. Although the contestants in this competition are far less famous and skilled than the real eight masters, most of them are trainers with some global recognition, which is worthy of the expectations.”

"And since I've also participated, my goal is definitely the championship!"

…………

July 1st, cloudy.

“A month has passed, and Pipa still hasn’t found the next secret seasoning. I can’t wait any longer, because I’m leaving Padia tomorrow to go to Raven City in the Unova region to start preparing for the World Youth Championship. I’ll come back after the competition for the remaining two seasonings.”

"The Pokémon's strength has been steadily improving over the past month. Naturally, Gardevoir, Zoroark, Sylveon, and Cypher have all grown to the level of Gym Leader. Although Dragapult's own strength is still a little short of the Gym Leader level, with Dragapult and Dragoon, its combat power is no less than that of Sylveon and the others."

"So, even without bringing Guleton, I can barely assemble a full team of Gym Leader level Pokémon, which is quite commendable."

"As for Sticky Treasure, she successfully transformed into Sticky Beauty a few days ago, the kind with a shell. Therefore, it can be inferred that the difference between the ordinary Sticky Beauty Dragon and the Green Dragon should be distinguished by this Sticky Beauty form."

"In its Green Form, Goodie looks like a snail, able to completely retract its body into its shell. In actual combat experiments, in this state, it can withstand at least five Water Cannons from a Gym Leader Milotic. Goodie's current strength is only at the Elite level. Conservatively speaking, Goodie's defensive and defensive durability in its shell-retracted state is probably higher than Shuckle's."

"Add to that her incredibly powerful [Magic Mirror] ability, and you can foresee the immense psychological trauma she'll inflict on her opponents and enemies in the future..."

"Finally, there's Milerton. Without the help of the secret seasoning, its injuries are healing slowly, and it's still only at the Champion level. It's far from the state it was in when we first met. So I haven't thought about going to Milerton during this time. Before my transformed Deoxys can fight continuously, going there would only be humiliating."

"With the competition approaching, online discussions are rampant, and the debate is nothing more than about the final rankings. To be honest, even I can't predict this accurately. However, I've been listed as one of the top favorites to win by the mainstream voices, so they're quite right."

"Since it's one, there must be a second and a third. The mainstream view is that if I don't send out Guleton, the two who can be on par with me, or even subtly suppress me, are Blue and Steven. One is the descendant of the world's most famous Pokémon scholar, and the other is a wealthy young master from a very rich family. Their Pokémon talent and accumulated resources are no less than mine. In addition, they are a few years older than me. At the age of twenty-one or twenty-two, they have already reached a height that most trainers can never reach in their entire lives."

"And the only ones who can defeat these players who use Pokémon coins are probably me and my overpowered Pokémon."

------

Raven City, the largest city in the central part of the Unova region.

In contrast to the highly stressful work atmosphere of Flying Cloud City, the commercial center of Unova, Raven City, known as an entertainment metropolis, is filled with a relaxed atmosphere.

It boasts the world's oldest theater, the tallest Ferris wheel, and the most technologically advanced Pokémon battle arena.

And this is the very place where the annual World Youth Pokémon Battle Championship will be held in a week.

The large screens in the square, the billboards in the subway station, and various places in the streets and alleys are all playing the promotional video for the [Xiao Ba Masters Tournament].

The video, which plays on a loop, is less than three minutes long, yet it is full of wonderful moments.

The content is simple: it's a compilation of highlight moments from top young trainers from eight different regions on the battlefield.

The green Blastoise, Iris's Haxorus, Steven's shiny Metagross, Alain's Charizard... and of course, Xia Chen's Sylveon.

Each contestant's ace Pokémon takes turns appearing in this video, offering viewers a spectacular audio-visual feast.

The superb editing, coupled with the exciting background music, attracted a large number of citizens to stop and watch without any extra special effects.

Among them, Raven Arena, located in the city center, has the highest foot traffic.

In the crowd, a handsome young man, holding a Sylveon aloft with both hands, said weakly, "Sylveon, are you done yet? You've watched it three times already..."

Even with Xia Chen's extraordinary physique, he was exhausted after lifting a 30-kilogram weight for more than eight minutes at noon.

However, a sweet, coquettish voice came from above.

"Bu-ee~ (Just a little while longer, it'll be my turn to appear soon~)"

Xia Chen had to hold it up for another half minute.

Finally, as the rousing music gradually subsided and the video played the words, "July 7, 2025, Raven Arena, reach the pinnacle, who can rival us!", Xianbu finally asked Xia Chen to put him down, still feeling a bit unsatisfied.

…………

"I don't know what's so interesting about it. If you want to watch it, just ask Rotom to show it to you when you get back, right?"

On the way to the hotel where the athletes were staying, Xia Chen stretched his arms, which were a little sore and numb due to insufficient blood supply, and complained to Xianbu.

Xianbu walked briskly around Xia Chen's feet, looking quite pleased with herself.

As she draped a silk ribbon over Xia Chen's arm, channeling her life energy to soothe it, she chuckled, "Bu Yi~ (Don't you think it's cool to see yourself on such a big screen?)"

"That's true..."

Xia Chen nodded in agreement.

However, what he didn't know was that Sinbu's excitement wasn't entirely due to that; it was also the joy of finally stepping onto the world stage.

At this time in her previous life, she had only recently evolved into Sylveon, and Xia Chen had only just begun to make a name for himself in the world of Pokémon breeding.

As for the trainers, there's not much to say. Xia Chen is just an average student at a top university, and I'm just a senior-level Pokémon with nothing to offer except cuteness.

They have no right to represent the young trainers of Donghuang and stand on this stage that countless people dream of.

But now, with the flapping of a butterfly's wings, everything has changed.

Lost in thought, Sylvanas and the other two slowly strolled to their accommodation for the competition: the best Pokémon hotel in Raven City.

For a competition of this caliber, the United Alliance, as the organizer, would naturally not be stingy, and the players' treatment would be provided to the highest standard.