Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

Compared to the information gathered by intelligence brokers from various rumors, these large families and forces have more accurate estimates of their strength and provide corresponding analysis. However, it is naturally unrealistic for ordinary people to obtain this kind of intelligence.

Tetsuya still had that much influence, so he easily got everything sorted out.

Don't underestimate the intelligence from informants and gossip; it's crucial, and you might be able to deduce something from it. Even though powerful families have a long reach, a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake. The informants that Tetsuya found are all influential figures in their respective cities.

While theoretical analysis may not be the best approach, the abundance of information is far superior, though it can be somewhat disorganized.

Tetsuya, who has a photographic memory and is good at analysis, said that this was no big deal. It would just be a little tiring to organize things over the next month. He was still very confident that he would pass the preliminaries.

There was no information from the Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny families, because these two families do not participate in such matters; otherwise, it would be a case of overwhelming them, as all the trainers' information is clearly available in their databases.

Unless you've never had any dealings with either of their families in your life.

But that's unrealistic. As long as you're a human being, you can't escape Officer Jenny and Joey.

It was the composition and temperament of these two families that reassured everyone; otherwise, intelligence would have been an extremely valuable strategic weapon.

(The following information is for reference only. Betting involves risk, and investment requires caution.)

"Tetsuya Tamaki, a 17-year-old from Tokiwa City in Kanto, is estimated to be ranked 52nd in strength. He is undoubtedly a super genius-level young trainer."

The benchmarks are Lance and Steven, who have only been around for a little over a year, yet their strongest Pokémon are already at the near-Elite Four level. Due to their age and the choices they made when catching Pokémon, the difference in the strength of their teams is quite significant, putting them at a relative disadvantage.

In addition to demonstrating exceptional talent as a trainer, he is equally talented as a breeder and has made significant contributions to research. He discovered Eevee's two latest evolutions and fossil Pokémon.

With a calm and composed personality, they prefer to take the initiative in battle, using an extremely fast pace to disrupt their opponent's rhythm and catch them off guard. This is an extremely difficult command style to counter when the strength of the Pokémon is similar or even greater.

Similarly, the downside is that when facing a stronger Pokémon, this command style makes it easier for the opponent to exploit weaknesses and opportunities. It is more of a hot-blooded type of player, and sometimes the moves are not based on strategic intent.

With limited competition experience, the only known achievement being the champion of the St. Anne's race, his relative lack of competitive experience may be one of the main reasons for his defeat in this tournament.

However, it is worth mentioning that he is an exceptionally outstanding bounty hunter with a mission completion rate that surpasses his peers. His rich combat experience in the wild may also make up for the gap between him and other powerful players in this regard.

Gym Badges: Pewter, Cerulean... a total of eight badges, all of high quality.

Registered and potential main Pokémon: Pidgeot (quasi-Elite Four member), Blaziken (potentially quasi-Elite Four member), Gigalith (evolved from Rock Mantle, Elite Peak), Rhyperior (Elite Peak), Serperior (recently evolved, around level 38), Togepi (Elite, around level 30), Leafeon (Elite, level unknown, estimated around level 30), Goose (Normal).

I'll skip the explanation inside the parentheses at the top.

The league did indeed set up a "game" similar to a lottery for the tournament. People could win rewards by guessing the list of main tournament players, the list of the top 64 players, the top three, the winners of each match, and even the types and order of the Pokémon that appeared in each match. Of course, the premise was that they had to "guess correctly".

This is one of the reasons why the tournament has remained popular and attracted so much attention for so long. In addition to the high-level battles, the occasional prizes are an indispensable part of the trainers' lives, and the audience will feel more involved.

But he didn't have extra money to play with these things. Raising Pokémon wasn't enough for him. If he lost money, he'd have nowhere to turn. At most, he'd put some money on himself, hoping to earn a little bit. It was a sign of his confidence.

Tetsuya looked at the analysis of himself by one of the intelligence reports on the computer and couldn't help but admire the abilities of these people.

This is just the information provided by ordinary intelligence brokers; the analysis from powerful families is much more precise.

However, he scratched his head. "Hot-blooded trainer, isn't that what's used to describe Ash? Am I that hot-blooded?"

Tetsuya thought about it and realized that it was indeed quite direct. He always defeated his opponents by facing them head-on and would break through their skills if possible.

Weather tactics, burrowing tactics, skill combination tactics—these are basically all incompatible with his Pokémon and his commands.

But he was frustrated. He was clearly an intelligent type, and he always made thorough preparations before each battle, and he had backup plans for all kinds of responses on the field. He didn't know what gave these information brokers the illusion that he was a hot-blooded type.

He subconsciously refused to categorize himself with the newly debuted Xiao Zhi.

Although there have always been many trainers who use the hot-blooded style, Lance and Shiva were also this type of trainer at the beginning, but they later restrained and changed a bit.

This may be due to subconscious memories and habits from childhood in a previous life.

Tetsuya flipped through the information and found that the estimated ranking of his strength in each piece of information was roughly between 50th and 70th. As a rookie trainer participating in the tournament for the first time, this was already considered a definite rank for him to enter the main arena.

Every intelligence report lavished praise on him, and he truly deserved it.

He twitched his nostrils. There was still a month left in the qualifiers. In a month, he would become even stronger.

Tetsuya was full of confidence.

For other trainers, an extra month wouldn't make much difference after years of training, but for him, it's different; a month is enough to bring about a dramatic change.

To put it bluntly, Blaziken has only been trained for less than a year, not to mention the few that have been caught since then.

We don't expect to win the championship, but securing a top-six finish and even aiming for a top-eight finish is still within our reach.

His gaze shifted to the trainers who consistently ranked in the top six of all the intelligence reports.

Chapter 250 Preliminary Rounds: Target - Ten Consecutive Wins! (11.4/22)

"Shizuka Shinagawa, male, 28 years old, from Miyoshi City, Kanto region."

参赛经历：134届关东大会正赛选手（第一轮淘汰），135届城都大会正赛选手（第三轮淘汰），136届神奥大会64强，137届丰缘大会16强。

Registered and main Pokémon: Blastoise (speculated to be an Elite Four member), Nidoking (near-Elite Four peak), Rapidash (near-Elite Four peak), Onix (near-Elite Four peak), Houndoom (near-Elite Four peak), Slaking (near-Elite Four peak), Tropius (near-Elite Four peak), Crow's Head (near-Elite Four peak), Swellow (elite peak), Cactus (elite peak), Scyther (elite peak) ... and a total of 23 elite-level or higher Pokémon.

Evaluation: A player who returned to his hometown after traveling abroad for several years and has grown quietly. Compared to true geniuses, he is not entirely a natural talent, but his perseverance and hard work have allowed his strength to steadily increase. This is his fifth individual tournament after a three-year hiatus.

His three-year hiatus had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that the strength of each Pokémon he trained had reached its peak at its current stage, and his personal experience in training and commanding Pokémon had undoubtedly improved, making him a strong contender for the Indigo League championship.

The downside is that if he chooses to continue participating in the tournament over the next three years and achieves a better ranking, the attention and investment he receives will likely bring him closer to the threshold of becoming a Champion-level trainer, rather than his current strength with only one starter Pokémon, Blastoise, potentially placing him at the Champion level. This will have a certain negative impact on his future development.

......

Betting Recommendation Index: Three stars (This can provide stable financial management, but don't expect to make a fortune)

This is the information of one of them.

Zhe unconsciously licked his dry lips. Goodness.

One Pokémon suspected to be a Champion, seven Pokémon at the peak of the near-Champion level, and fifteen Pokémon at the peak of the Elite level, encompassing various attributes and ranges of activity across land, sea, and air. This does not even include the unregistered Pokémon of ordinary elite and common levels.

However, this is quite normal. Considering the trainer's experience of nearly 12 years, the other party must have caught countless Pokémon, so this number is not surprising at all.

In other words, Tetsuya's choice of trainers is different from other trainers. Even if other trainers take the elite route, it is common for them to travel to a region and catch twenty or thirty trainers a year.

Unlike him, who has only managed to capture about a team of six Pokémon in the past year.

That's why being a trainer is said to be an expensive profession; the food expenses for so many Pokémon must be enormous every day.

Fortunately, once a trainer reaches a certain level of strength, they rarely raise Pokémon from a young age like Tetsuya did; they usually capture powerful Pokémon in the wild.

This saves a lot of initial cultivation costs, which is arguably the biggest expense.

Not everyone has a Zero Pokémon like Tetsuya. Instead of gambling on the potential of a Pokémon in an egg, it's more convenient to just catch a fully formed wild Pokémon.

The latter has more combat experience and its strength is in no way inferior to that of a Pokémon carefully nurtured from a young age. Even if its potential is relatively lower and the bond between it and its trainer improves more slowly at the beginning, it is cheaper.

This reason is enough to convince many people.

Even if you're rich, you can't just squander it; not everyone has the surname Zvoich.

Take Tetsuya himself as an example. If he hadn't caught and trained the three little ones, he could have easily caught a Pokémon like Tyranitar in the wild. Even a team of elite peak Pokémon underestimated him.

If the cost of raising the three smaller Pokémon were redirected to their daily food expenses, it would be possible to maintain the consumption of two teams of twelve elite-level Pokémon without considering further investment in enhancing all aspects to the limit.

Even after Pidgeot and Blaziken broke through to the level of near-Elite Four, it would only take him a little time and effort to build a team of near-Elite Four members.

With Zero, he can roughly judge the strength of a Pokémon and formulate a plan, unlike other trainers who are like blind men feeling an elephant and cannot determine whether a wild Pokémon is an elite peak or a novice near the Elite Four.

But it's pointless; it's like trading the future for the present. Tetsuya thinks he's smart enough not to do something like that.

He had also fantasized about how great it would be if he had the ability to create clones, so he could use a large but not highly skilled team of elves to do quests and earn money to support the development of his main team.

He even asked A-Ju, but unfortunately she said that there was no such thing in ninjutsu, and the clone technique was more like an illusion.

Tetsuya had no choice but to give up asking if the other party had a chakra refining method as a family secret.

Looking at the information broker's evaluation of Shinagawa Seiji, he could quite understand why the other party chose to remain silent for three years.

For trainers, winning a tournament is more than just a title; it's an honor.

Although many people are aiming for the top four rankings to achieve the certification of a near-Elite Four Trainer, most people have only one goal: the championship.

Many people may have given up while striving for it, but Shinagawa Seiji is clearly one of those who did not give up.

However, as the analysis suggests, these three years will have a certain impact on his future prospects, since three years is a very precious period of time.

For an investing family, this often means that future returns may be significantly reduced, so they become particularly cautious in all aspects of consideration.

Tetsuya has great respect for trainers who have ideals and persevere in pursuing them, probably because he doesn't know if he could do the same in the same situation.

His gaze gradually shifted to the only piece of information where he had an advantage over his opponent: the betting recommendation index.

His rating is around four stars.

It's worth betting on, and there's a possibility of making a fortune.

To put it simply, everyone is not stupid; they all know that he could very well become stronger in the next month, it's just a matter of degree.

Making it to the top 32 is manageable, but if you manage to get into the top 16 or even the top 8, making a fortune is not just a dream.

As for probability? Gamblers don't care about probability, they only care about the odds.

Several times the odds are enough to drive people crazy, but I don't know if anyone is crazy enough to bet on Zheye to win the championship; even he himself wouldn't dare.

It's perfectly normal that someone like Shinagawa Seiji, who won the championship but was eliminated in the round of 64, is not considered an upset. In this respect, he is not as well-regarded as Tetsuya.

After all, once the main tournament is over, the league will still intervene a little to prevent powerful trainers from meeting each other beforehand.

Otherwise, it wouldn't be fun if the champion was already known by the time we reached the quarterfinals.

This is also for the sake of making the competition more exciting; the final match can't be less interesting than a knockout match.

While fairness is important, entertainment value is also an essential element of any event.

The other five contestants, whose strength was comparable to his, received basically the same evaluation.

Tetsuya took a look and felt that Shinagawa Seiji had a higher probability of winning the championship, both in terms of the Pokémon and his resume, he was more outstanding than the other five.

Steady progress—these four words seem simple, but in reality, they are incredibly difficult to achieve.

The statement that "they are not entirely gifted compared to true geniuses" is also due to the presence of talented young players like Tetsuya and Yozo in this year's competition.

Entering the main competition around the age of 20 and aiming for the championship at 28, this ability and talent can be said to have surpassed 80% to 90% of trainers.

Most people around the age of 30 cannot guarantee a spot in the main competition.

Tetsuya's feet trembled under the table; the feeling of being surrounded by strong people was incredibly exciting.

It's not that the people he's met, such as Nobuhiko, Asahi, Oki, Sabrina, Wataru, Shiba, and Kona, aren't strong, but rather that they're excessively strong, so he just doesn't get the same feeling from them.

"So, how about it? Don't you really want to fight them?"

Feeling the temperature rising around him, Tetsuya grinned and asked.

Oh my!

Blaziken stood to the side, suppressing the flames that were shooting out of its wrists in excitement.

Pidgeot, with one wing supporting its body and the other resting on the ground, sighed silently as it looked at the naive human and spirit.

However, the occasional trembling of its tail feathers suggests that its mood is not as carefree as it appears.

For many Pokémon, exhilarating battles are also what they seek.

Tetsuya carefully analyzed the trainers whose strength rankings were firmly in the top six. He decided that this was his goal for today. He would take on the other trainers one by one, five or six each day.

By the time the preliminaries end and the main tournament begins, we can roughly analyze the top 200 trainers by strength.

Only by knowing yourself and your enemy can you win every battle.

Moreover, during the main competition, there is a chance that he will encounter powerful trainers. Even if he encounters the top trainers, he will have to perform at his best.

Tetsuya was fully prepared for this; anything was possible.

"Okay, time to sleep. We'll draw lots tomorrow!"

After finishing his work, Tetsuya closed his laptop, pulled the floating Pokémon into his arms, and leaped onto the bed in a fish-like motion.

Of all the Pokémon, only Togekiss can still do this now. He sighed silently. After evolving, it seems he'll have to go back to sleeping alone, and he's still not used to it.

The Tokigumo, forcibly held in someone's arms, looked utterly dejected. It had originally wanted to go to the sofa and rest with its friends.

Soon, as the room lights were turned off, only the sound of even breathing remained inside.

Tetsuya and Togekiku lay on the bed, surrounded by Pokémon in various poses.

......

"Do you have confidence?!" "Just right, just right!"

"Do you have confidence?!" "Just right, just right!"

"Do you have confidence?!" "Just right, just right!"