Chapter 316: The Shadow-Sniping Decidueye and the Youth League Preliminaries
Chapter 316: The Shadow-Sniping Decidueye and the Youth League Preliminaries
After listening to Coach Gu's explanation for a while, Hikaru finally understood the system.
The Youth League, the most prestigious Pokémon competition in Huaguo for Trainers under 24, was divided into two phases: preliminaries and main tournament.
The main tournament was traditional—Pokémon battles between Trainers.
But the preliminaries? Those were a completely different beast.
Their format resembled a battle royale.
All selected participants would be dropped into a massive archipelago spanning thousands of square kilometers, consisting of hundreds of islands.
As time progressed, the playable area would gradually shrink.
Anyone who failed to reach the safe zone in time would be hunted down by Elite-level Pokémon placed specifically for this purpose.
Only the top 128 survivors would qualify for the main tournament.
With hundreds of competitors trapped in a shrinking zone, conflict would become inevitable.
In simpler terms: it was a deadly shrinking circle.
Compared to the circle of roaming Elite Pokémon, staying within the shrinking safe zone—and battling others—was a far safer option.
On top of that, the League would periodically drop relics and other resources throughout the islands—power-ups for Pokémon.
Some of these relics were said to be SS-grade items that significantly enhanced power.
Every Trainer wanted a piece of them.
The preliminaries allowed only 888 participants.
Although technically, every student present at Chūsei University was eligible to apply...
Slots were limited.
The school only had 50 tickets for the preliminaries.
After accounting for guaranteed spots—like official team members and Trainers who already held Master Trainer licenses—
everyone else, even those with Master-level Pokémon, would have to undergo a selection process.
So how would they be selected?
Coach Gu handed each hopeful a Combat Energy Gauntlet.
Over the course of the next three days, they would face sudden ambushes from various Pokémon across campus.
Their goal?
Survive.
If the energy in their gauntlet was fully depleted, they would fail.
The goal was to simulate the actual Youth League preliminaries and help participants build mental fortitude.
If you couldn't handle this—
You didn't belong in the Youth League.
---
After leaving the training grounds, Hikaru had just submitted his Pokémon roster to Coach Gu.
Suddenly, Sakura tugged on his sleeve, pouting.
"Uu… Big bro…"
Hikaru blinked.
"What's wrong?"
Sakura looked miserable.
"When did you get your Master Trainer certificate…?"
Hikaru looked a little confused.
"A few days ago. I got it from the Fighting-type Gym."
Then it hit him.
"Wait… are you worried about the next few days? About the constant Pokémon attacks?"
Three days might not seem like much, but being in a constant state of high alert—even for a Trainer—was exhausting.
Coach Gu never said the attacks would only happen during the day.
Sakura nodded and gave him a mischievous, puppy-eyed look.
"What if I fail, big bro~?"
Hikaru raised an eyebrow.
"Is it really that hard? I mean, it's just—"
"What the—?!"
Before he could finish, a flash of red light appeared in his hand as he instinctively summoned a Poké Ball.
---
On the campus pathway, an arrow lodged itself directly into Gardevoir's Protect barrier.
Hikaru's gaze darted upward—
Standing atop a nearby building was a cold, calculating predator with piercing hawk-like eyes.
Its brown wings, streaked with green, partially concealed its face with a leafy mask.
A red X-mark blazed across its chest like a battle scar.
Decidueye.
---
[Pokémon: Decidueye]
Ability: Overgrow
Gender: Male
Potential: Elite-tier
Level: 49
Moves: Leafage, Spirit Shackle, Leaf Storm, U-turn, Shadow Sneak, Nasty Plot, Grassy Terrain, Imprison, Seed Bomb, Shadow Stitching
---
"Damn..."
That arrow had been aimed directly at Sakura.
Even her partner Pokémon, Inteleon, hadn't sensed it until the arrow was nearly upon them.
It reacted too late.
Hikaru, constrained by school rules, couldn't use full-range Aura scanning—
So he had only picked up on the threat when the Decidueye's killing intent reached critical.
He barely had time to summon Gardevoir, whose Protect blocked the Spirit Shackle just in time.
Seeing its attack fail, Decidueye flapped its wings and disappeared into the sky.
Inteleon quickly flashed over to Sakura's side, only relaxing when it confirmed she was unharmed.
(;°ロ°): "Sh-sorry, Trainer... are you okay?"
Sakura blinked in confusion, but quickly knelt and patted Inteleon's head.
"I'm fine."
Meanwhile, Hikaru waved Gardevoir over.
"Thanks, Gardevoir."
Gardevoir floated to his side, her previously stern expression melting into a soft, smug smile.
"See? I told you I'm useful outside the Poké Ball~"
She never missed a chance to remind Hikaru why she should be kept active.
"Alright, alright..." Hikaru chuckled, patting her head.
"You're the best. I'll start letting you out more often."
"Yay!"
With her mission accomplished, Gardevoir returned to her Poké Ball—or rather, into the system's training room, where she had other responsibilities:
Watching over the Dratini egg
Helping Bulbasaur with training
As he returned her, Hikaru stared up at the sky where Decidueye had disappeared.
"Yeah... this is going to be tougher than I thought."
That Decidueye was one step away from being a Master-level Pokémon.
And with such a stealthy ambush, any unprepared Trainer could've easily been eliminated.
Even with Aura, Hikaru had barely made it in time.
Sakura grinned, clearly pleased with herself.
"Told you. It's not going to be easy~"
Hikaru nodded in agreement.
"Alright. I'll use Aura to scan around you for the next few days."
For him, the selection phase wouldn't be that difficult—especially with Aura Sense.
It wasn't like Coach Gu would throw completely broken Pokémon into the mix… right?
---
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