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

After a fierce battle lasting nearly five minutes, Sylveon "barely" defeated Emolga, helping Xia Chen capture the new Pokémon.

Saying it was captured isn't entirely accurate, because Xia Chen didn't intend to train Emolga as a main Pokémon; its role was more like that of a family of rats and a bear cub.

In short, on the return trip, [Yuanling No. 1] had an extra electric flying squirrel that was getting along well with all the elves.

…………

The electric flying squirrel was assigned to the orchard next to Xia Chen's house. Xia Chen gave it the official title of "Orchard Manager," and the little guy confidently accepted the job.

Although the electric flying squirrel was so surprised to learn that the entire lake island belonged to Xia Chen that it was speechless for a long time, its naturally optimistic nature allowed it to quickly adjust its mindset.

It's okay, I almost defeated Xia Chen's main Pokémon!

This is something most professional trainers can't do, and it's certainly something to brag about, provided it doesn't know the truth about Sylveon's release into the sea...

In the following days, Xia Chen and the elves rarely left Yuanling Island.

It wasn't intentional, but rather to prepare for the competition a few days later. Wandering on the lake was quite enjoyable at first, but after a while, I felt inexplicably empty.

Xia Chen and the elves were all busy people, and they spent the days before setting off for Galar on Yuanling Island.

Besides daily meditation, training, and battles, he also works with the elves to maintain trees and fruit trees, farm, collect honey, and milk cows... Owning a huge island, there are quite a few interesting things to do.

It wasn't until March 13th that he realized, thanks to Chrissy's reminder, that the competition was in two days.

So, on the 14th, he and his "neighbor"—Master Lu, who also runs a dojo in Yunze Lake and is also going to participate in the World Dojo Master Tournament—went together to Hammerlocke City in the Galar region.

Galerakhpadias was nearby, but naturally it was quite far from the Eastern Huang.

After a flight of nearly ten hours, the two finally arrived in this region, which is hailed as the birthplace of modern industry.

Because of the time difference, it was daytime when we departed, and after flying for most of the day, the sun was still high in the sky when we landed.

Xia Chen, being a psychic with strong mental power, was fine, but Lu Jingyan was struggling. He took a Corviknight taxi to the hotel to rest, while Xia Chen took Gardevoir and Dragapult to familiarize themselves with the surroundings.

Motogakure is located in the geographical center of the Galar region. In fact, before industrialization, Motogakure, as the ancient kingdom of Galar, was indeed the economic and political center of Galar.

Therefore, the city has a rich cultural atmosphere, with ancient medieval buildings that are hundreds of years old everywhere, making it quite qualified as a tourist city.

Motostoke is more famous for two other things—an underground energy plant that is said to provide electricity for the entire region, and the Motostoke Gym, which is known as the "nightmare of Galar trainers."

…………

The Quan Guen Dojo is a dragon-attribute dojo, and its current leader is the highly popular online figure, Chibana.

Besides their formidable strength, all popular dojo leaders share another common trait—good looks.

For example, Lulina, Xiaojuer, Qishu, Xiachen, etc., and Qibana is of course included in this category.

Aside from being a bit dark-skinned, this guy is tall, handsome, and a fashionista with impeccable taste.

Although he is not a celebrity or model, his own streetwear brand is very well-known. It is said that the endorsement fees offered by brands that want to collaborate with him start at least in the tens of millions, which shows his popularity.

As for strength, a few generally accepted assessments will suffice—[Gym Leader of Galar], [Leon's formidable rival], [He could become Champion if he left Galar]...

Of course, the last assessment was generally not accepted by everyone except the Galar people because it was suspected of putting down other regions. Some Sinnoh people even mocked Raihana, saying, "Let's talk about whether you can beat Cynthia or not after you beat Leon!"

While there's some truth to it, this implicit comparison of Cibana to Dante Shirona is quite telling.

As the host of both Galar and Hammerlocke, Chibana naturally participated in this World Dojo Master Tournament, and ranked first in the qualifying rounds.

Incidentally, the other three participants are Lulina from the Water Boat Arena, Kawu from the Machine Engine Arena, and Nie Zi from the Spike Arena.

The arena is the same as the gym in other regions, just with a different name.

Just like the cities here, except for the largest ones, are all called xx towns, but in fact, the size of these towns is the same as that of ordinary cities in other regions.

Xia Chen learned all this information in this world, since before his transmigration, Game Freak had only released Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, and he was really unfamiliar with the Galar region.

The venue for this World Dojo Master Tournament is the Kensei Stadium.

Chapter 377 A Gathering of Stars: The World Gym Leader Tournament Begins!

Perhaps due to their excessive love for football, the Galatians like to build elven battlefields as large as football fields.

This is an important point that trainers from other regions need to adapt to in advance.

With the larger area, the Pokémon's range of movement naturally increases, and the coverage and dodging of many moves change, requiring Pokémon to readjust their movement patterns.

This was especially true for Xia Chen, who had never been to the Galar region before.

It's a major competition for all the world's elite gymnasts, so using it as a training ground is a bit arrogant. Therefore, Xia Chen decided to take advantage of today to get used to it first.

The target, naturally, is the boxing arena, the venue for the competition.

As one of the iconic landmarks of Motogaku City, the magnificent and medieval-style Motogaku Arena is located in the most prominent position in the city center.

Perhaps because the match is scheduled for the next day, the gates of the Quan Guan Arena are closed today, and challengers are not allowed to visit.

However, when Xia Chen revealed his identity as a contestant in the competition, he was easily led inside by the security guard at the entrance.

It must be said that the Galar region is the best at combining Pokémon battles with commerce, as can be seen from the details of the preparation room, the battle arena, and the audience seating.

He's covered every possible advertising opportunity, which explains why Leon's cloak is densely covered with sponsor logos...

Xia Chen wasn't the only one who came to experience tomorrow's battle arena; there were several other gym leaders from other regions as well. For Xia Chen, a seasoned Pokémon fan, these were naturally "familiar faces" whose names he could recognize at a glance.

Tsubaki, Denji, Kosho, Kuroren... and Senri and Mikori, whom I met during my travels in Hoenn!

Upon seeing the two old acquaintances, Xia Chen quickly walked over to greet them.

"It's been a long time, seniors."

Although these two were indeed Xia Chen's seniors in terms of being museum owners, given the three's "life-and-death friendship," saying this made things a bit distant, and Xia Chen's tone was somewhat sarcastic.

"Hey, the big star is here."

Mikoli replied with a smile.

During this period, Xia Chen, who created the crystallization, once again became a hot topic in the elf world, and his popularity and fame certainly earned him the title of a big star.

However, like Xia Chen, this way of greeting also had a somewhat strange feel to it.

After exchanging odd greetings, the three of them smiled at each other and sat down to chat on the nearby lawn.

…………

"You really know how to stir up trouble. Mega Evolution has only been around for half a year, and you've already come up with Ultra Crystallization. Trainers all over the world have been going crazy during this time."

Mikoli sighed, "Qianli and I queued for a long time in Jinhui Town a few days ago before we finally got two spots for the Crystallization of Pokémon."

Xia Chen said, "Then come find me. I also have quite a few Taijing fragments and Taijing beads, with different attributes."

Michael chuckled softly, without replying.

Although they were friends, he and Qianli were both proud and didn't want to owe Xia Chen too much.

Qianli replied, "It doesn't matter. Anyway, you can only crystallize once per match, so it's enough."

This is a patch that the World Pokémon Battle Association released a few days ago to address the issue of crystallization. Similar to Mega Evolution, crystallization is only allowed to occur once in a 3v3 or 6v6 battle.

However, the rule that Mega Evolution and Crystallization can be used simultaneously is implicitly accepted, which undoubtedly adds a bit of fun to Pokémon battles.

After chatting for a while about crystallization, the three naturally started talking about the competition schedule and group assignments for this tournament.

There are ten regions, including Alola, which has just formed a league and is still developing and has no gyms, and Johto, which is tied to Kanto as usual. There are eight major regions, with four people in each region, for a total of thirty-two participants.

This is perfect for conducting a standard cup competition.

The competition is divided into two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage.

The first stage of the group stage consists of eight groups of four players each. The top two teams from each group advance to the next round, which will be played in a round-robin format. The competition format is a shorter six-to-three format.

In the second stage, the sixteen participants who entered the knockout stage will be eliminated one by one in a way that alternates between the first and second place finishers in their groups until a champion is determined. The competition format is a 6v6 all-out battle that can showcase the full level of the trainers.

In theory, once a player has determined their group, they can simulate the path to the championship.

The group stage draw was completed a few days ago, and now many people online are already simulating and predicting the entire schedule of the World Gym Leaders Tournament.

…………

"Speaking of which, you and Qianli are both competing in the more intense upper division."

Mikoli had clearly studied Xia Chen's group assignments, and his expression towards him was not without schadenfreude.

"Especially you, Ah Chen, what are your thoughts on being in the [group of death] with Lulina, Naz, and Naki?"

Xia Chen, expressionless, retorted with his unique dry humor, "I feel like I'm being ostracized because my name doesn't have 'Na' in it."

This was obviously a joke. When Xia Chen learned about his opponents in the group stage a few days ago, he was so shocked that he was speechless for a while.

Generally speaking, the group referred to as the "group of death" is not necessarily the strongest overall, but it is definitely the most evenly matched group.

No one could have predicted that the two who broke through the encirclement would die, hence the name Death.

Clearly, Xia Chen's Group C perfectly fits this definition.

Before proceeding, it is necessary to explain the grouping principle of this competition.

To reflect the role of the regional selection competitions and to avoid the tragic scenario of the top four teams meeting in the group stage, each group consists of four different venue owners from four different regions.

For example, in Xia Chen's group, Sabrina was second in the Kanto and Johto regions, Lurina was third in the Galar region, and Nakia was fourth in the Hoenn region.

Xia Chen... because the Donghuang region only had the top two, not the first and second place, he unfortunately fell into this group of death as the first place winner.

Let's take a look at the top players in other regions: Giovanni, Mikoto, Denji, Kibana, Aoki...

Every single one of them is at least at the level of one of the Four Heavenly Kings, not to mention hidden bosses like Sakaki the Earth.

Therefore, Sabrina, who emerged as the second-place winner from the highly competitive Kanto and Johto regions, is more like the first in her group, while the other three seem to have a more evenly matched strength.

If it's assumed that Nazja, who is in a league of her own, occupies the sole qualifying spot, then Xia Chen must defeat his opponents in the remaining two matches to qualify as the second-place finisher in the group.

In short, his chances of qualifying are quite slim, and it could very well be a humiliating run of "opening match - qualifying match - honor match - train station".

In tomorrow's first day of the group stage, he will face Lulina, one of the hosts of this tournament, in what can be considered a crucial match that will determine whether they can advance.

…………

After discussing the group stage draw, the three of them practiced for a while on a huge playing field that resembled a football pitch, before heading to the hotel together.

For ease of management, all hotels for the competition participants are arranged by the event organizers.

The organizers booked out the largest and most luxurious hotel in Hammerlocke City for half a month, which shows they were quite sincere.

While having dinner with Qianli, Mikoli, and Longye, Xia Chen saw more familiar characters from his previous life's games and anime.