"What's wrong, Luke? This isn't like you at all!"
David stepped forward to greet his friend, only to watch Luke lift his head, glance at him wearily, and say with exaggerated dejection, "Is this the victor's leisure? Alas! A tragic, insurmountable barrier has now formed between us."
He began with his trademark sarcasm, making David's eye twitch in annoyance. David stepped up and gave the scoundrel a solid punch on the shoulder, and after another round of playful banter and mock fighting, Luke's mood visibly improved. Only then did he slowly begin recounting what had happened.
"...So that's basically it. I originally wanted to meet up with Emma afterward, but who knew things would turn out this way... At least Emma was strong enough to defeat that guy and move forward..."
Luke still seemed unconvinced by his loss. If he hadn't been so careless, and if Beldum's wasn't so limited in combat capability, he wouldn't have been eliminated in the Top 32.
After listening to Luke's story, David fell into thought. From what Luke and the others had described, this competition definitely felt off. The overall strength of the participants seemed unusually high, beyond just the inexplicable Layla he'd encountered.
Furthermore, across the six venues where matches had already concluded, many exceptionally strong Trainers had appeared. According to Luke, excluding their own group, there were at least three or four other Trainers whose Pokémon had clearly reached the Veteran level. Calculating conservatively, the number of Veteran-level Pokémon in this Novice Cup was approaching double digits, which was clearly abnormal.
Under normal circumstances, it was common to see only one or two Veteran-level Pokémon participating in a Novice Cup—sometimes none at all.
He remembered his older sister mentioning during a casual conversation that in her Novice Cup tournament, she had only encountered a single Veteran-level Pokémon during the finals. How could this year's Novice Cup have such an abundance of Veteran-level Pokémon appearing?
The typically low number of Trainers with Veteran-level Pokémon participating in the Novice Cup didn't mean that this year's rookie Trainers were weak. Rather, under normal circumstances, most people who possessed Veteran-level Pokémon wouldn't even bother participating in the Novice Cup.
It should be noted that the Novice Cup took place approximately half a month to a month after Trainers received their first Pokémon. Even though Pokémon levels increased quite rapidly in the early stages, reaching the Veteran level during the competition period was nearly impossible without extensive resource support from wealthy families or organizations.
Even talented Trainers from ordinary families would only just be starting to demonstrate their potential during this period. They would typically receive support from the Pokémon League, priority training from their schools, and sponsorships from large corporations only after their talent had clearly manifested.
Therefore, their peak performance usually came later than Trainers from well-established families. For them, the most important goal wasn't their ranking, but rather whether they could quickly showcase their talent to potential sponsors and institutions.
Meanwhile, Trainers with wealthy backgrounds weren't particularly interested in the Novice Cup's rewards, so many simply chose not to participate in the competition at all.
David and his older sister could have done the same, but they had chosen to participate for their own personal reasons.
Aria had participated in the Novice Cup because she wanted to collect every trophy from official competitions during her student years, while David's reason for participating was naturally to trigger his system's quest requirements.
A situation like this year, with Veteran-level Pokémon appearing in clusters, was probably unprecedented in the Novice Cup's entire history.
"Oh, wait a minute... could it be that..."
As if struck by sudden realization, David slapped his forehead. The enrollment system reform his father had mentioned at the dinner table—could these competitors be the surprise forces brought in by other elite high schools in Imperial City?
David, having grasped what he believed was the key point, continued his speculation.
Their reason for participating in the Novice Cup was now crystal clear! It was to demonstrate their strength and put pressure on Imperial No. 1 High School's Trainers. If there wasn't even one Trainer from No. 1 High School among the Top 8 in this year's Novice Cup, it would certainly generate more public criticism toward No. 1 High School, which had been somewhat stagnant in recent years.
This perfectly explained why that inexplicable woman had acted as if she had a personal vendetta the moment she saw him. While David's theory was sound, he seemed to have conveniently overlooked "that woman" Layla had mentioned during his deductive reasoning.
He shared his hypothesis with the others, but instead of the shocked expressions he expected, Luke and the rest exchanged meaningful glances after hearing Layla's name, then looked at him with strange, hesitant expressions.
Miles, who was standing nearby, pulled David's sleeve with an equally peculiar expression, drawing him slightly aside and whispering in his ear.
"David, do you... um... really not know who Layla is? And why she would have it out for you?"
"How would I know who she is? I only met her today for the first time. Is she some kind of celebrity or something?"
Now it was David's turn to be puzzled. He had only encountered Layla for the first time today, so how could he possibly know anything about her? Surely she wasn't some internet celebrity or entertainment star, was she?
"Alright, stop being cryptic. Just tell me what you know. I genuinely don't know that person."
Seeing that David truly couldn't remember, Miles no longer held back, spilling everything he knew like beans from a bag.
David felt his head spinning as he listened, but he managed to extract several key pieces of information from Miles's rapid explanation: "Layla's older sister," "Ice City University," "rare Ice-type prodigy," "League College Cup," "complete domination," "shattered confidence..."
"You're saying that Layla's older sister, who was called a rare Ice-type prodigy Trainer, was then crushed by my older sister using Dragon-type Pokémon in last year's League College Cup, and was defeated so thoroughly that her confidence was completely shattered?"
"That's basically it. Apparently, during the semifinals, the team captain and coach of Ice City University felt extremely confident because three of Magic University's main team members—including Sister Aria—were Trainers who specialized in Dragon-types. They thought victory was guaranteed and made some rather arrogant remarks before the match. As a result, in the first round of individual battles, Sister Aria, who appeared first, used her Dragonite to sweep them with a three-to-zero shutout."
"Moreover, to retaliate against their pre-match trash talk, Sister Aria also... also said something like, 'Is this the power of Ice you're so proud of? Hmph, it seems rather underwhelming after all.'"
Looking at the now-speechless David, Miles continued to elaborate, even pitching his voice higher at the end to vividly imitate Aria's tone. It was a shame this guy wasn't pursuing performing arts.
After hearing Miles's complete explanation, David finally understood why everyone had looked so strange earlier. No wonder!
The reason other participants had joined the Novice Cup might indeed be as he'd analyzed—to make a statement and demonstrate strength—but there was no need to guess Layla's motivation; she was definitely targeting him specifically.
After piecing everything together, David felt somewhat exasperated. In a sense, had his older sister inadvertently set him up?
However, he didn't see any real problem with this situation. Ultimately, between Trainers, everything came down to their Pokémon's strength. If there was a grudge, settling it on the battlefield was perfectly acceptable; this was proper conduct for a Trainer.
No wonder she wanted him to experience the power of Ice-type Pokémon immediately. So that was her reasoning! He finally understood.
She'd wanted revenge through him, but it seemed that plan had also failed. Hopefully, she wouldn't have her confidence completely shattered as well! David thought to himself. If his opponent was still unsatisfied, she could always challenge him again, but if she came back next time, she'd better be prepared to go through the same ordeal.
After Miles's reminder, he finally remembered the surname "Noven" It was quite similar to their Moore family's situation—the Noven family was also a prominent Trainer family famous for specializing in Ice-type Pokémon cultivation. If he remembered correctly, the Ice-type Tier-One Gym established in Ice City—the Snowpeak Gym—should be their family's property.
No wonder! Given her background, both the Veteran-level Shiny Sneasel and the Never-Melt Ice it carried made perfect sense.
"By the way, how much longer are you two going to keep whispering? Willow's match has already started."
Seeing that the battle on the field had begun while David and Miles were still talking privately, Emma spoke up.
"Alright, alright, we're done. Let's watch the match!"
Looking up at the center of the venue, both competitors had already released their Pokémon.
Unnoticed by anyone else, a deep blue interface screen had quietly materialized before David's eyes. The data of both Pokémon appeared before him in perfect detail under his system's scan.
[Name: Grovyle]
[Type: Grass]
[Energy Level: 19 (Ordinary)]
[Gender: Female]
[Ability: Overgrow]
[Potential: Light Purple]
[Held Item: None]
[Moves: Pound, Leer, Fury Cutter, Double Kick, Absorb, Leafage, Agility, Bullet Seed, Leech Seed, X-Scissor, Energy Ball, Mega Drain, Slash, Dig, Dragon Breath...]
It seemed Willow had made remarkable progress recently! Not only had her Treecko reached Level 19, but it had also evolved into Grovyle. And judging from that Dragon Breath in its move list, Grovyle's Dragon-type bloodline had apparently awakened as well. But the most significant development was that Grovyle's potential had actually increased from its original Blue-Purple rating to Light Purple.
One shouldn't underestimate this seemingly small difference.
Blue-Purple potential was, ultimately, still at the blue tier and hadn't completely transformed. But once it reached Light Purple, even if it barely qualified, it was still Purple-tier potential.
In terms of growth ceiling, a Blue-Purple Grovyle could at most become a Gym-level Pokémon, while Light Purple gave it a genuine chance to Veteran to Elite level. The difference between these two outcomes was difficult to overstate.
It seemed he wasn't the only one who had been working hard during this period; Willow must have had her own fortuitous encounters. But that was fine—who didn't have a few secrets of their own?
David's eyes narrowed thoughtfully, though he still felt a twinge of envy. This was the advantage of Pokémon with two-stage evolution lines; their first evolution came very quickly, and with that evolution, their strength improved remarkably fast in the early stages.
He was certain that Willow's Grovyle had received far fewer resources than his Zorua, yet in just a few days, it was already approaching a breakthrough to the Veteran level.
The evolution had probably played a significant role! Well, each approach had its own advantages.
However, when he examined the opponent's Pokémon, David's eyes narrowed sharply, and the casual expression on his face grew more serious.
[Name: Jangmo-o]
[Type: Dragon]
[Energy Level: 20 (Veteran)]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Bulletproof]
[Potential: Deep Purple]
[Held Item: Dragon Fang]
[Moves: Tackle, Leer, Protect, Dragon Tail, Work Up, Scary Face, Screech, Counter, Dragon Breath, Headbutt, Focus Punch, Rest, Rock Slide...]
"This opponent..."
An Veteran-level pseudo-legendary Pokémon, and a Dragon-type pseudo-legendary at that. Willow was in serious trouble now. Looking at the small fighting dragon across the field, baring its fangs and claws with fierce determination, David let out a quiet sigh. This was already an opponent that could match his Zorua.
"Grovyle, keep moving! Use Agility, then follow with Bullet Seed!"
Although she couldn't directly see the opponent's information like David could, the moment her opponent's Pokémon appeared, Willow already knew this wouldn't be simple. Jangmo-o wasn't something an ordinary rookie Trainer could obtain.
Furthermore, with her ability to rank second in her grade at Imperial Capital No. 1 High School, she certainly understood the difficulty of catching Dragon-type Pokémon. A proud Dragon-type pseudo-legendary like Jangmo-o wouldn't obey a weak Trainer.
Unable to accurately gauge her opponent's exact strength, she could only play to her own advantages.
At that moment, Grovyle on the field transformed into a green blur of motion. Boosted by Agility, it continuously accelerated around Jangmo-o's position, searching for an opening while launching Bullet Seed attacks to probe the opponent's capabilities.
"Jangmo-o, use Work Up, then Scary Face!"
Facing Grovyle's Bullet Seed barrage, the opposing Trainer seemed completely unconcerned, simply having Jangmo-o execute status-boosting moves while standing in place.
"This isn't good!"
Seeing her opponent's unusual response, Willow suddenly felt an ominous premonition, as if she'd just realized something critical.
"A lack of information is costly," David muttered from the sidelines, shaking his head slightly. Willow didn't have his system advantage to view the opponent's complete information. Her initial decision to boost Grovyle's speed while searching for openings, simultaneously using Bullet Seed to probe and harass the opponent, wasn't necessarily wrong.
Unfortunately, she'd run into a Jangmo-o with the Bulletproof ability.
On the field, Grovyle's green energy bullets struck their target, but aside from kicking up a small cloud of dust, they produced no effect whatsoever.
Instead, after completing one Work Up to boost its Attack, Jangmo-o seized the opening created while Grovyle was executing its move and used Scary Face, causing Grovyle's newly enhanced Speed to drop significantly.
"Move in! Seize this opportunity and use Dragon Tail!"
Receiving the command, Jangmo-o charged forward rapidly, swinging its tail horizontally. The tail was imbued with concentrated Dragon-type energy as it slammed toward Grovyle with devastating force. The opponent clearly intended to end this battle in a single decisive blow.