Chapter 328: The Trainer from Sakura Nation — Yamamoto Nika
By the end of November,
the candidate list for the preliminaries was nearly finalized.
On the official Pokémon Alliance app, viewers could now preview the chosen school team members from each university.
A total of 600 fixed slots had been distributed.
As for the remaining 200-plus spots, they were reserved for individual trainers who had passed the Gym Challenge exams.
At that moment—
A few students around thirteen or fourteen, just stepping out of the Treasure Bureau, caught Hikaru's attention with their conversation.
"Did you hear? There's this trainer from that small island in the east. Damn, he challenged more than a dozen provincial gyms and even a few national-level ones!"
"Hell yeah I heard! This whole week's feed has been exploding. That guy from Sakura Nation—those Pokémon of his? No way he raised them himself!"
"Yamamoto Nika or whatever—he's out there screaming that no trainer in Huaguo's younger generation can match him. What a clown!"
"When I become a strong trainer, I'll show him what Huaguo trainers are made of!"
...
The group of freshmen-level students walked down the street, still cursing as they left the Bureau.
Hikaru's footsteps paused.
He immediately pulled out his phone and began searching for news about this 'controversy.'
In the world of Tianlan Star,
at least in Huaguo, people believe in a symbiotic, mutual-respect relationship between trainers and Pokémon.
However, the advent of secret realms had only happened about two hundred years ago.
Two centuries wasn't enough time to create universal standards for Pokémon-human relations.
And the historical enmity between Huaguo and the former Sakura Nation…
It was clearly recorded in school history textbooks.
Over a century ago, when secret realms first scattered across the planet,
N-Country was the first to discover a new kind of technology in the secret realms—
A technology now known as the "Forced Training Device."
They found that it could effectively suppress magical beasts (Pokémon), forcing them into obedience.
Thus began a war of resource plundering—targeting Pokémon and treasures.
And because secret realms containing Forced Training Devices existed in the Sakura Nation's territory,
they too turned their sights toward Huaguo.
At the time, Huaguo's leadership was still figuring out how to interact with Pokémon.
The concept of a "trainer" had just begun to form.
In the early stages of conflict,
against Sakura Nation's combat-hardened, device-controlled Pokémon army,
Huaguo was continuously pushed back.
Only after years of bloodshed by a passionate generation did the war finally end.
And now—
Staring at the videos popping up from his search,
Hikaru's brows furrowed deeper.
His recent "closed training" had clearly caused him to miss quite a lot.
Short videos all over platforms like Douyin were now flooded with clips related to this incident.
The hype was off the charts!
He randomly tapped one video—
The battlefield: a provincial Grass-type Gym.
The challenger: a short, gloomy-looking young man speaking in the Sakura Nation language.
The Gym Leader's master-level Victreebel was instantly taken out by a single Flamethrower from a Houndoom.
At the end of the clip, the Gym Leader reluctantly handed over a badge.
The trainer's smug expression was captured clearly:
"Is this all the provincial gyms in Huaguo amount to?"
Hikaru's expression hardened.
No wonder those kids were so worked up earlier—saying that this Houndoom definitely wasn't raised by Yamamoto Nika himself.
This Houndoom was, without a doubt, a peak master-tier Pokémon.
Its level had to be at least 58 or higher.
Considering the type advantage, it wasn't surprising that it could one-shot a master-level Victreebel.
In the video, Houndoom was equipped with a Forced Training Device.
Its eyes were blank—emotionless.
It followed every command like a machine.
But that didn't necessarily mean it wasn't Yamamoto Nika's Pokémon.
In the Sakura Nation's Pokémon League,
such "taming" methods were still widely practiced.
Pokémon that were obedient from young could still form decent bonds.
But those that resisted?
They were forced through brutal training—akin to "breaking in a hawk"—until their will was completely crushed.
The advantage: such Pokémon would obey commands absolutely in daily life and battle.
The disadvantage: forming a real bond with the trainer was near impossible.
That was why most Sakura Nation trainers were like porcelain dolls—fragile and easily broken in actual war.
It was also why, in the later stages of that historical conflict,
nations that focused on bonds between Pokémon and trainers kept winning again and again.
Hikaru scrolled through a few more clips, his frown deepening.
This Yamamoto Nika looked to be just around twenty years old.
The Pokémon he used so far included:
Houndoom
Electivire
Aggron
All of them were master-tier and at peak condition.
Just one step away from elite-tier!
But—
Even without using Aura, Hikaru could sense the awkward lack of coordination between the trainer and his Pokémon during battles.
Objectively speaking, Yamamoto Nika was a master-level trainer.
Even if the Pokémon's obedience was forced,
there should have been some semblance of battle synergy.
This was precisely the issue being criticized.
Using Pokémon he didn't personally raise to challenge gyms and compete in Huaguo's Youth League?
Absolutely disgraceful!
He opened a random comment section under a battle clip—flames everywhere:
> "What is this? Are those even his Pokémon? There's no soul in their eyes!"
> "Damn Sakura Nation! This guy's clearly here to stir trouble! How can all three of his Pokémon be peak master-tier?!"
Some people were anxious.
> "He must be stopped in the preliminaries! If he gets into the finals with those monsters, who could beat him?"
They weren't wrong.
One or two peak master-tier Pokémon wouldn't intimidate a country as vast as Huaguo.
Every generation had a few prodigies—youths who bonded with rare and powerful Pokémon through fate and effort.
But Yamamoto Nika had three of them.
And all three were already known.
Plus, he was an officially registered trainer from the Sakura League.
He was like a massive mountain bearing down on Huaguo's young trainers.
Most of the current public discourse revolved around one thing—
Would the Youth League championship be taken away this year?
Strangely—
More and more suspicious comments began appearing under these battle clips…
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