One Hit KO

"Hall Lee... A familiar name."

As he walked towards the No. 5 venue, Aisha also silently recited the name of this opponent.

Aisha had previously logged onto the website related to the 'Rookie Tournament' in his spare time.

He saw the information of some of the favorites to win the championship on top of the website, and Hall was listed at the top of the list.

"Initial Pokémon is Chimchar, now expected to have evolved into Monferno... It hasn't been that long since he acquired his initial Pokémon, so it seems that as a trainer, this Hall's level of breeding Pokémon is indeed good."

Thinking back on this opponent's information, Aisha was quite surprised at his abilities as well.

Of course, Aisha wasn't the only one, many people thought the same.

Otherwise, it was unlikely that Hall would have made it onto the list of favorites to win the 'Rookie Tournament'.

"This is the first time I've participated in an official tournament."

Walking out of the competitors' passage, Aisha entered Arena 5.

The arena covered a very wide area, so much so that the 'Rookie Tournament' could support quite a few contestants at the same time, so it was said that the tournament progressed rather quickly.

A venue as exceptionally spacious.

The stands of the onlookers were filled with people who joined in the fun - Pokémon Battle was the most popular competitive event in the world, and it was an event that was popular all over the world and enjoyed by young and old alike, and even people who had not become trainers liked to join in the fun and watch Pokémon Trainers battle it out.

Not to mention that the 'Rookie Tournament' didn't charge an admission fee, and it was a completely hilarious event that was free to watch...

Under normal circumstances, new trainers who hadn't experienced any big waves, and whose mindsets and abilities were still young, under the gaze of such a large number of spectators, might more or less experience some stage fright.

This is not a problem.

Whoever it was must have experienced similar situations.

However, some excellent new trainers had already honed their strong will and would not get stage fright.

Such was the case with Aisha and his opponent.

"Hmm..."

Standing at one end of the field, Aisha peered out at the boy across from him who had an upright figure and a confident smile on his face.

"Hall?"

While Aisha was scrutinizing his opponent, Hall was observing him just as carefully.

"This guy... What's going on?"

Hall looked at Aisha and frowned.

He felt a flippant gesture in the body of this handsome-looking teenager.

Aisha hadn't been cowed by the spectators' stares and discussions, and was now looking around the arena with a curious face, not even caring much about Hall, who was his opponent.

"Proud?"

Instead of being annoyed at Aisha's attitude, Hall began to think.

As a rookie trainer who was recognized as the favorite to win the championship, Hall was not an arrogant person, and even more so, he was not some kind of angry fool who got hot-blooded and didn't know how to think because of his opponent's belittling, as a trainer who could cultivate his own initial Pokémon to evolve into its second form within a short period of time, this guy was particularly adept at thinking instead.

"Probably an awesome opponent, not bad..."

Looking at Aisha's appearance, Hall keenly perceived the teenager's unusualness from above his outstanding temperament.

With such a powerful character as his opponent in his first battle on the stage of the 'Rookie Tournament', Hall was very satisfied.

Therefore, he was prepared to use his initial and ace Pokémon... in this match.

Then, what was Aisha thinking about?

"Ah... What are we going to eat tonight?"

Looking up at the azure sky, Instructor Ai was searching for a dish for dinner.

At this time, the referee also walked to the front of the field with a flag and blew his whistle.

"The match begins, both players have each sent a Pokémon to fight against each other!"

Hearing the referee's words, Aisha threw the Pokémon ball together with Hall.

"Ow-!!!"

A shrewd Monferno then leapt onto the field, landing firmly in front of Hall, letting out a mid-air howl, so excited that even the flames burning above his tail flared up into the sky.

"Mimi!"

Aisha had Caterpie sprawled out in front of him.

"..."

There was a moment of silence above the battlefield.

"Is this even a fight?"

"Monferno versus Caterpie... There's absolutely no suspense."

"How does this handsome guy use Caterpie as an initial Pokémon, if he wants to, find a rich woman, I feel that it's not impossible to start with a Pseudo-Legendary Pokémon."

Conversations similar to this came out from above the audience, and even some undisguised laughter rang out.

It wasn't the audience.

The contrast was just a bit too great.

One side was the evolved form of the fire-type three royal family of the Sinnoh region, while the other side was the cannon fodder Pokémon that could be found everywhere in the woods.

Anyone with no brain problems knew who the winner of this match should be...

"Hall Lee, I heard that this kid has broken the rules and gotten an interview for the university varsity team."

"Well, his Monferno is cultivating quite well, and if this trend is maintained, there may be no shortage of possibilities to become a professional trainer in the future."

"Not bad."

Above the referee's table, several referees were paying as much attention to Hall and his Monferno, not mincing words of praise.

No one was paying attention to Aisha.

In fact, it wasn't as if there were no contestants who had chosen an Bug type Pokémon as their initial Pokémon.

But... A month had passed since everyone had acquired their initial Pokémon, and the bug-type Pokémon with a rapid growth rate could have evolved into their final form within that time, so when the 'Rookie Tournament' started, their Pokémon were already similar to Beedrill, Beautifly, and Kricketune evolved Pokémon.

Aisha's Caterpie, however, remained a Caterpie.

Of course people belittled him.

"..."

Looking at Aisha's Caterpie, Hall was also silent for a while.

After a few moments, Hall revealed an expression of disappointment and helplessness - Sure enough, there were still a few excellent new trainers, that Aisha was probably just a vase with excellent looks and outstanding temperament, but not enough strength, so he should continue to look forward to his opponents in the top sixteen, top eight, semifinals, and finals.

He certainly didn't think that his Monferno would lose to a Caterpie.

"Monferno, Flame-"

"Ow-!!!"

Before Hall could finish the command "Flamethrower", the wail of Monferno reached his ears.

A green shadow flashed across the field of the match as if it was lightning, and slammed straight into the belly of Monferno, unleashing a terrifying force.

Monferno then flew out of the tournament's grounds so rashly, smashing headfirst into between the walls poured by cement.

"..."

The noisy audience fell into silence.

Both the spectators who were commenting on Aisha and Caterpie, as well as the judges who were praising Hall and Monferno, all looked to the side of the field in silence, with a confused look on their faces - Monferno, who had eaten Caterpie's Tackle head-on, was now completely incapacitated, and even had a part of its body embedded within the fence.

"...Monferno has lost its fighting ability, and this match has been won by contestant Aisha!"

The referee's professionalism was excellent, and even though he was surprised he still announced the result of the match quickly.

"Idiot, why are you in such a hurry..."

Aisha also shook his head helplessly and looked towards Caterpie with an indignant face above the field.

Just now, before Aisha had even given the order, the Caterpie had taken it upon itself to choose to attack - for the well-behaved Caterpie, acting without waiting for Aisha's order was an extraordinarily rare thing.

Aisha also saw its problem.

As Aisha's number one dog licker, Caterpie felt especially angry at the audience's mockery of Aisha and the judges' contempt for Aisha.

Aisha's other Pokémon did the same...

You are also worthy of mocking my world's first excellent master - Caterpie's thoughts were probably like this.

Therefore, Caterpie had killed Monferno in one move.

Ace Pokémon who was in the favorite to win the championship... So much so that such a new trainer who might have been able to shine on top of the 'Rookie Tournament' directly folded in the first match and couldn't even get past the elimination round.

"Worthy of being Instructor Ai's Pokémon, Caterpie is too powerful."

"Fuck, one move KO'd Monferno."

"Instructor Ai is mighty, Instructor Ai gave me a fish pond to explode, explode!"

There were a lot of Aisha's fans hidden within the audience who watched the live broadcast, and after seeing Caterpie kill Monferno in a single blow to give face back to Aisha, everyone quickly joined the group.

"Caterpie is awesome, Instructor Ai is awesome, kill!"

"Laughing to death, did you guys see that, at first that Hall showed a disappointed expression, but as a result, he couldn't even finish his instructions before the Caterpie killed Monferno in seconds."

"This story tells us that people can't look at each other."

"Instructor Ai purely frying fish, how could these newbie trainers beat him?"

The official tournaments would be broadcast live.

Today was the opening of the 'Roookie Tournament', and the live broadcast of the 'Rookie Tournament' was even more uptight.

After Hall and Aisha's battle began, the heat of the live broadcast rose rapidly - at first, the officials thought that the changed rules of the 'Rookie Tournament' had aroused the hostility of netizens. Now they saw the "Instructor Ai" who was flooding the screen and realized that these netizens are all fans of Aisha.

"Instructor Ai mighty!"

I don't know who shouted above the audience.

"Awesome, Instructor Ai is awesome!"

"Instructor Ai is too powerful!"

"Kill, slaughter them, Instructor Ai don't worry about flying, if something goes wrong, he'll take the blame himself!"

At once, as if it was a VC probe, warm cheers also poured out from all corners of the audience.

"..."

Aisha put on a pained mask, embarrassed to the point where his toes were constantly buckling against the ground.

"Come back, Caterpie."

Taking the Poké ball and retrieving Caterpie, Aisha covered his face and dove headfirst inside the competitors' passage.

...

"Weak..."

Sitting on top of a seat against the window of a cafe, Aisha shook his head as he recalled the scene where Monferno was killed by the Caterpie in seconds.

"They and I acquired our initial Pokémon at the same time clearly."

Instructor Ai was disappointed in the strength of these newbie trainers.

As expected, Caterpie was too strong.

"But... The official sparring feels pretty good."

Stirring his coffee, Aisha revealed a smile.

He had loved Pokémon since forever, and enjoyed Pokémon Matchmaking just as much...

Once upon a time, he also fantasized about standing on top of the trainer's stage and commanding his Pokémon in a good battle.

Now, he was indeed standing on the field of competition.

Although the level of the opponents was exceptionally poor, this 'Rookie Tournament' was indeed the beginning of Aisha's road to becoming stronger as a new trainer.

"After the 'Rookie Tournament' is over, it's almost time for school to start."

Aisha calculated the time.

The 'Rookie Tournament' was proceeding at a pace that wasn't slow, however, there wasn't much time left in the summer vacation.

This tournament was going on for almost a week.

After the tournament was over, the start of the university semester would already be close at hand.

"It's almost time to prepare for gym challenges to Kanto region..."

Aisha was still thinking about the haunting Kanto region.

He wanted to participate in the Indigo Plateau Conference.

The experience of being able to personally travel away from the various cities in the Kanto region and collecting the eight badges would definitely make every Pokémon lover's heart skip a beat.

"Ah, I still need to take a vacation, I don't know if I'll be able to do it successfully."

Scratching his hair, Aisha agonized about taking a vacation.

"If it doesn't work, I'll probably need to ask Elite Summer for some help."

If the head of Dayan's Elite Four acted as his guarantor... or guardian, it shouldn't be so bad that the school wouldn't release him.

Since that was the case there would be no agonizing problems.

"Take a look at the 'Rookie Tournament' thing, although these guys aren't much of a formidable character, but it's not easy to say if there's anyone keen on frying fish that participated in the tournament at this time of the year."

Aisha said nothing self-conscious about the fish fry and pulled out his cell phone.

"Huh?"

After searching for something about the 'Rookie Tournament', the first topic that caught his eye dryly confused Aisha.

[Shock, in the first round of the elimination round of the 'Rookie Tournament', Caterpie cartwheels Monferno, and the first dark horse emerges!]

"..."

The flavor of this headline was too strong.

Aisha didn't know what to say for a moment...

Entering the topic, sure enough, under the topic was full of water users who had started a discussion centered around Aisha and Caterpie.

Some unknown viewers were filled with shock after seeing Aisha's match against Hall.

"It wasn't real enough to see it live, I reviewed the footage before, that Caterpie's length is around a meter, it's too vicious."

"How did this trainer breed Caterpie, what did it eat?"

"This Caterpie is so powerful, how terrifying it would be if it evolved into Butterfree in the future... He also killed Hall Lee's Monferno in seconds, I feel like the 'Rookie Tournament' championship is already secure."

Aisha's water friends then blended within the audience and touted Caterpie.

"You guys don't know, Instructor Ai is purposely not giving Caterpie an evolution, he has a special cultivation method and is prepared to wait for Caterpie not to evolve and cultivate it to level one hundred and then evolve into Rayquaza."

"Awesome!"

"It's so funny. What 'Rookie Tournament'? Those new trainers who haven't enrolled in university yet picked some serious favorites to win the championship. They're just noobs pecking each other. I don't know Instructor Ai Live streaming the battle and torture of Gym Leader Iono all day long?"

"This next belongs to a downward strike, Instructor Ai and they are completely not in the same class..."

The statements of the water users and Aisha's performance attracted many onlookers.

The main reason was that Caterpie's performance of killing Monferno in seconds was too scary.

In this matchup, there was nothing that required the trainer's command ability to be brought into play, and Caterpie had killed Monferno in a single blow entirely by virtue of hard power... Then, just ask, two Pokémons with the same breeding time, one Pokémon can kill the other Pokémon with hard power, and the former's racial value is even far inferior to the latter's, what kind of situation is this?

This is a reflection of the difference in trainers' cultivation abilities.

Hall was also the favorite to win the 'Rookie Tournament' and had a good family.

Aisha, however, crushed him without mercy.

His strength is undoubtedly the existence of a supermodel within the 'Rookie Tournament'...

Because there was still a sparring match in the afternoon, Aisha didn't go home and directly solved his lunch outside.

However, a message was sent to his cell phone, killing his idea of continuing to the arena.

"Eh?"

Looking at the message, Aisha was quite surprised.

The content of the message was that the 'Rookie Tournament' official had applied for Aisha to jump the pre-tournament and could directly start competing for the championship in the top 16.

"I see."

Aisha didn't reject this qualification, on the contrary, he also guessed that the organizers were planning something.

The organizers were not blind.

Aisha's water fans were so active in the live broadcast room, and the 'Toxic-Protect-Substitute' instructional video and live broadcast footage were ridiculously hot, the organizers had already confirmed that he was the popular anchor that had been in the limelight for quite some time - noting that Aisha had tortured two gym leaders. With such an outrageous record, the organizers were puzzled as to how such a tough guy could come to such a low-level tournament as the 'Rookie Tournament' to fry fish, but after confirming that Aisha was indeed a newcomer trainer, there was nothing they could do to refuse his participation.

Since this was the case, the organizers changed their mindset.

They were going to grab Aisha to create some hype.

Anyway, with Aisha missing, the number of participants would be odd, with 128 to 64, 64 to 32, and 32 to 16 each having one round.

Aisha could enter in the top 16 to fill the gap.

His strength was obvious to all, and his popularity was such that he could enter as a special guest, so no one should object to this arrangement...

"Good."

Not needing to waste time pecking with rookies, Instructor Ai was very satisfied.

"I'm a kind hearted person, I can't see everyone be in so much pain, so I'm saying that I'll start torturing you all over again in the top 16."