Chapter 38: The Favorites to Win
"Sigh… young people really need to read more books! How can you describe registration with 'get it while it's hot'? It's not like I'm rushing to eat shit!"
Basalt couldn't even be bothered to comment on Frank's lack of cultural refinement anymore. He shook his head and finally clicked on the registration link. It was better to register early, that much was true.
Upon entering the link, the first thing that caught Basalt's eye was a huge poster. On it were a handsome man and a beautiful woman dressed as trainers, surrounded by cute Pokémon like Pichu, Growlithe, and Squirtle.
"Tch~ The male model isn't even as handsome as me," Basalt pouted, unable to resist a comment. The female model is alright, though. Those long legs…
He swiped past the poster, and the next thing that appeared on the screen was exactly what he had been looking forward to: the prizes.
"These prizes are quite generous! As expected of an officially organized elite selection tournament."
Basalt's eyes widened, and he nearly drooled.
Top 32: 5,000 Pokédollars.
Top 16: 10,000 Pokédollars.
Top 8: 20,000 Pokédollars.
Top 4: 30,000 Pokédollars and one rare Berry.
Runner-up: 50,000 Pokédollars and one Type Gem.
Champion: 100,000 Pokédollars, one rare Berry, and one Type Gem.
At the same time, the top four contestants in the selection tournament would automatically get the opportunity to go to Metro City to participate in the training and selection camp. As long as they passed the selection, they could stay on the city team and represent Metro City in the provincial competition. If they could get a good ranking in the provincial competition, life would be even better.
After lingering on the prize page for a long time, Basalt continued to scroll down. The next section was the tournament format.
The Seaside County selection tournament was divided into three stages.
Stage 1: The Preliminaries.
The preliminaries would eliminate the vast majority of participants, weeding out the competition until only 32 contestants remained, the so-called Top 32.
Stage 2: The Main Tournament.
Starting from the main tournament, some professional trainers would be invited to commentate, and the battles would be broadcast live. Even online, people could see your heroic performance. The main tournament would have 3 rounds: Top 32 to Top 16, Top 16 to Top 8, and Top 8 to Top 4, which would produce the top four of the selection tournament.
Stage 3: Semifinals and Finals.
The top four contestants would be paired up and battle until the tournament champion was born.
"They only decide the champion and runner-up, no third or fourth place match?" Basalt stroked his chin thoughtfully. According to the format and the prizes, the third and fourth place contestants would not battle each other; they would just be collectively known as the "Top 4." Therefore, their prizes were also the same.
After reading the format, he scrolled down again to the registration page. After filling in his basic information and his participating Pokémon, a prompt popped up: Congratulations, your registration is successful!
"That was convenient. At least I don't have to stand under the hot sun at some registration point and fill out some damn forms."
After closing the registration page, Basalt clicked on the second link Frank had sent.
"Seaside County High School Elite Selection Tournament Forum?"
Upon entering, Basalt found that it was a very active forum with a large number of active users. They were likely all third-year high school students, with some first and second-years watching the excitement.
"Registration just started, and the favorites to win are already out?"
Suddenly, Basalt's gaze sharpened. The first post he saw had the title "The Favorites to Win." The post was highlighted and pinned to the top. It was clearly a hot topic.
With a post like this, it didn't matter if it was clickbait; even a god would have to click on it to see. Basalt was no exception. He clicked on it and saw that the original poster seemed to be a student from First High: I say the top students from our three honors classes at First High are the favorites to win this competition. Who agrees? Who objects?
In the following 2nd to 4th posts, the original poster introduced his so-called favorites, even attaching photos of their Pokémon to give readers a more direct impression.
Class 1, First Place: Wade.
Starter Pokémon: Tyrogue.
Known Moves: Force Palm, Vacuum Wave, Fake Out, Odor Sleuth.
Class 2, First Place: Luna.
Starter Pokémon: Smoochum.
Known Moves: Icy Wind, Confusion, Sweet Kiss.
Class 3, First Place: Felix.
Starter Pokémon: Gligar.
Known Moves: Poison Sting, Sand Attack, Harden, Quick Attack, Aerial Ace, Bulldoze.
"A Tyrogue is a favorite to win?" Basalt frowned, finding it a bit hard to believe.
Tyrogue, a Fighting-type Pokémon, had three possible evolutions: Hitmonchan, Hitmonlee, and Hitmontop. In Basalt's fixed impression, Tyrogue's base stat total was only 210, only slightly higher than Magikarp or Caterpie, and its six stats were very evenly distributed, all at 35 points. This kind of Pokémon gave off a very mediocre impression. At least, that's how it should be before evolution. But now, it was a favorite to win?
Out of curiosity, Basalt continued to scroll down, wanting to see what others thought of this Tyrogue. Soon, he found it in the 9th post.
I agree! Go Wade! Go Tyrogue! Although Tyrogue is small, it's really strong. Its first move is always Fake Out, followed by the same-type move Vacuum Wave. It takes away at least half the opponent's health before they can even react. Tell me you're not scared?
—A Sassy Female Rat
Besides the 9th post, many others also commented that this Tyrogue didn't look fast, but its body was very agile, like a boxer with skilled footwork. It was hard to hit, but its own attacks were almost impossible to defend against. After Fake Out and Vacuum Wave, a close-range "Force Palm" could easily send a Pokémon flying. Its power was not to be underestimated.
"So this is what Pokémon battles are like in the real world? Interesting. It seems I can't just rely on the theory of base stats anymore." Basalt blinked, finally realizing how terrifying this Tyrogue was.
In the real world, outstanding Pokémon could often break the shackles of their base stats and reach terrifying heights. If he blindly judged them based on their base stats, he would definitely suffer a loss in the future.
Continuing to scroll down, Basalt also learned about the terrifying aspects of the other two favorites.
Luna's Smoochum, a Psychic/Ice dual-type Pokémon, had exceptionally strong Ice-type talent. It would usually use one "Icy Wind" to freeze the opponent, achieving a one-hit KO.
As for Felix's Gligar, there was even less to say. The two prominent words in its move pool, Bulldoze, already indicated its level.
"It even learned Bulldoze?" Basalt licked his lips. This Gligar was the first Pokémon he had seen that had learned Bulldoze, other than Lucas's Swinub. It was obvious that its Ground-type talent was also very strong. Not to mention, it also had the Flying type, allowing it to glide freely in the sky, giving it an advantage on both the ground and in the air.
It could be said that this post was a festival for the students of First High. They had posted their school's three most talented and powerful students, and it was indeed enough to make one feel suffocated. Even Basalt, after reading the comments, didn't dare to say that he could defeat these three so-called favorites.
After this post, countless students from First High followed up in agreement. Of course, there were also those who disagreed and posted information about other people, but basically, no one paid them any attention.
"What the heck! Why did someone post my information? I don't think I hired any bots."
As he was scrolling, Basalt suddenly saw his own information and was completely baffled.
"Young Master Frank? It couldn't be Frank, could it?" The corner of Basalt's mouth twitched slightly. He took a closer look and found that the poster's nickname was indeed "Young Master Frank."
The key was that under this post, there were quite a few people hyping up Basalt and Drilbur. The moves it had used were also posted: Mud-Slap, Rapid Spin, Sand Tomb, Rock Tomb.
It was obvious that this post was the last stand of the Second High students.
"Good thing I've never used 'Metal Claw' in public, or these guys would have exposed all my trump cards." Basalt was secretly glad. He always trained in a private, enclosed stadium and never shared a training room with others. And the battle with Lucas was also in a private stadium, so it wasn't posted.
As for Sandstorm, Basalt only dared to practice it secretly at home when he was alone. This was his true trump card! Once his little mole activated the Sand Rush ability, its speed would suddenly increase by forty percent. At the current stage, this was truly an unparalleled speed.
"Forget it, I won't think about it anymore. Continuing to train hard is the only way…"
Shaking his head, Basalt and Drilbur once again threw themselves into their training.
Fighting!