Chapter 335 – I Don't Use Cheats, I Swear!
Asahi was speechless.
Why was Iono still convinced he'd haul her off to jail?
Does he really give off that kind of energy?
If you asked Gary, he'd swear yes with zero hesitation.
But unlike Gary, Iono wasn't biased against him. After a bit of reassurance, she finally relaxed and started curiously looking around.
The beachside villa Scott had arranged for Asahi was massive. Most of his Pokémon—except the huge ones like Salamence, Gyarados, and Snorlax—were lounging in the living room.
Seeing so many familiar and unfamiliar Pokémon, Iono's eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Are these the Pokémon Asahi plans to use in the World Championships...? she wondered.
Then her gaze landed on a small pink Pokémon hugging a cookie jar.
"Wait—!?"
Her eyes widened.
"Is that... Mew?!"
She had thought Asahi riding Rayquaza during the opening ceremony was already jaw-dropping enough, but who would've guessed—besides Rayquaza, Asahi even had a Mew.
Hearing someone call her, Mew looked up with a puzzled expression. When she saw that it wasn't Asahi but someone who looked as rigid as a Magneton calling her, she lost interest and lowered her head again, digging cookies out of the jar.
"Mew's a friend of mine," Asahi said as he picked her up by the scruff. "Stop eating already, you've gained almost five pounds!"
"You weren't infected by Salamence and Snorlax's glutton virus, were you?"
"Mew~"
Even as Asahi lifted her, Mew clung stubbornly to the cookie jar, looking at him with big, watery eyes full of innocent pleading.
That gaze made Iono, who was watching from the side, feel a strange pang of guilt.
A small voice in her heart whispered: Let her eat.
But Asahi remained unmoved. "Don't act pitiful. That doesn't work on me."
"Mew~!"
"Not even half the jar."
"Mew…"
"Fine, you win. Three cookies. That's it."
Getting the green light, Mew quickly snatched three cookies. Then, before Asahi could react, she shoved them all in her mouth, grabbed three more, and bolted.
Her cheeks bulged from the cookies, making her look even more adorable.
Asahi could only sigh helplessly.
Iono hadn't expected the same Asahi who had just defeated multiple Gym-level Trainers to show such a gentle, amusing side.
And that Mew... wasn't anything like the terrifying Legendary Pokémon from the stories. She was way too cute!
Watching the interaction between Mew and Asahi, Iono suddenly remembered her main purpose here.
"Asahi, would you be willing to let me shoot a documentary about you?"
Back at the dessert shop, she'd heard that this was Asahi's first time participating in the World Championship.
After witnessing his overwhelming performance during the exhibition match, a bold idea had taken root in her mind—
To film a full documentary, chronicling Asahi's journey through the World Championship, from his debut to the end.
She firmly believed he had the potential to become one of the Masters Eight!
And if such a documentary were made, it would absolutely blow up!
Asahi was still thinking it over when Zinnia's excited voice interrupted, "Documentary? What documentary? Will I be in it?"
Asahi: "..."
Maybe if there's ever a Rayquaza documentary, you can cameo in that.
As for himself…
"No problem," he finally said. "But I thought you were also doing livestream commentary, Iono? Would that clash with your schedule?"
Iono gave a playful smile. "Covering outstanding participants is part of my job too!"
Asahi chuckled. "There's nothing exciting in the Poké Ball Tier. Start filming from the Great Ball Tier and up."
...
Battle Frontier Zone
With the opening ceremony concluded, the World Championship's ranking matches officially began!
On a rather ordinary training field, Asahi watched another opponent flee in panic, the message "Opponent forfeited. Victory secured." popping up on his phone.
He sighed. "That's the fifth one…"
All he'd done was appear at the opening ceremony. Was he really that terrifying?
"Trainers these days really lack fighting spirit."
"You're misunderstanding something about 'normal trainers,'" Sabrina retorted. "They know you beat Cynthia. Unless someone's into losing, no one wants to face you."
Young trainers may be passionate—but they're not idiots.
The tournament had just started. Every match counted toward ranking. Going up against someone they had no hope of beating? Any sane Trainer would just forfeit.
After all, forfeiting only counted as one loss. But if your Pokémon got seriously hurt and you still lost? That's time lost on recovery too.
No logical person would risk that.
"You're right. But if I win just one more, I'll make it to the Great Ball Tier."
Asahi glanced at his current ranking—#1037—and tapped the matchmaking button again.
Only this time, the app didn't bring up the normal matchmaking screen.
A pop-up window appeared instead:
[Your account has been flagged for unusual activity. Matchmaking temporarily suspended. Please visit the League Assistance Center for more details.]
"Huh?" Asahi's face was full of question marks.
What's this supposed to mean? You think I'm cheating?
Sure, he had won five matches in a row in under an hour, and all his opponents forfeited without even giving his Rotom-Cam a chance to start recording…
But banning his account?
He, Asahi, was not cheating!
"What is it?" Sabrina peeked over curiously.
When she saw the pop-up, she doubled over, covering her mouth and stomach, trembling with laughter.
Asahi: "....."
You're totally laughing! I know you're laughing!
In that moment, he felt immensely grateful he hadn't agreed to Iono filming the documentary from the Poké Ball Tier.
This kind of thing? Absolutely blackmail material.
...
"We're deeply sorry, Mr. Asahi. Please accept our apologies."
A League staff member returned Asahi's phone with an apologetic look. "It was a mistake on our part. Recently, there've been reports of Trainers bribing their opponents to forfeit in order to climb ranks quickly. You were mistakenly flagged during an investigation. We sincerely regret the inconvenience."
She didn't know Asahi's real identity as an International Police officer, but with the strength he displayed at the opening ceremony, there was no way someone of his caliber needed to bribe opponents.
Asahi didn't hold a grudge. Honestly, five straight forfeit wins was weird even to him.
"I'm not gonna get banned again, right?" he asked while waving his phone.
The staff member was sweating buckets. "No! Of course not!"