The corridor of Magic City No.1 Pokémon High School.
A rich second-gen who was usually pretty loud and showy was now carefully cradling a Poké Ball, showing off to the classmates around him.
"See this? My dad spent a fortune to get me this treasure—Deino! The base form of a pseudo-legendary. Its future potential is off the charts!"
His voice was full of barely contained pride.
Right then, at the far end of the corridor, Shiba's figure appeared.
He was just walking quietly, not even glancing in this direction.
However, the rich kid's bragging stopped dead, as if an invisible hand had clamped down on his throat. The pride on his face froze in an instant, then rapidly twisted into a hint of awe and fear. Almost on instinct, he hurriedly stuffed the precious Poké Ball back into his pocket, his body slightly hunched, head lowered, terrified that his very existence might disturb the figure walking toward him at an unhurried pace.
Ever since Shiba's "pseudo-legendary squad" had revealed just the tip of its iceberg that day, the entire school's food chain had been completely overturned.
A god is not to be looked at directly.
The opening ceremony. The auditorium was a boiling sea of noise.
Upperclassmen gathered in small groups, chattering about what they'd experienced over the vacation and how much their Pokémon had grown.
The homeroom teacher walked up onto the stage and cleared his throat. The noise in the auditorium gradually died down.
"Everyone, quiet down."
He adjusted his glasses, his face carrying an excitement he could barely hide.
"Right here, I have an announcement that is going to make every single one of you fired up."
He paused, letting his gaze sweep across each young, curious face below the stage.
"The annual Magic City Newcomer Tournament will officially kick off next week!"
Boom!
A single stone stirred up a thousand ripples.
"The Newcomer Tournament! It's finally here!"
"What's the champion's prize this year? I heard last year it was a quasi-Elite-level Pokémon Egg!"
"Not just that!" The homeroom teacher's voice rode over all the chatter. "This time, the champion will not only receive a massive cash prize enough to basically achieve financial freedom, but will also have a chance to obtain a rare secret treasure from the Magic City Pokémon League's vault!"
A rare secret treasure!
Those four words hit like a high-yield bomb, detonating towering waves in every student's heart.
"I hope all of you sign up enthusiastically and win glory for our school!"
Before the last word had even fully left the homeroom teacher's mouth, the entire class was already completely out of control. Chairs scraped harshly against the floor as countless students shot to their feet, eyes shining, breathing fast.
This wasn't just a tournament.
This was the highest-level stage for rookie Trainers in the entire Magic City region. It was the best chance for a "carp to leap the dragon gate" and become a dragon in one bound, the shortcut for every boy and girl with a dream to make a name for themselves in a single stroke!
"Shiba, are you going to enter?"
Yuko turned her head, starlight flashing in her dark eyes. Her voice was soft, carrying a trace of expectation.
"Of course."
Shiba's answer came without the slightest hesitation.
His fingertips lightly tapped the desktop as his gaze passed through the noisy crowd and drifted toward the sky outside the window.
The prize money and the secret treasure were just the cherry on top for him.
What he truly enjoyed was standing under the blinding spotlight, using absolute strength to crush every challenger, and finally standing alone at the summit—that feeling of conquest.
In just a few days after the registration channel opened, application forms poured into the tournament committee like a blizzard.
The day before the matches began, the grouping and bracket results were officially posted on the school's website.
At that moment, countless students were glued to their screens, frantically refreshing the page.
When the match list finally loaded, the entire campus network fell into a three-second-long dead silence.
Immediately after came an uproar like a volcanic eruption!
"Holy—! What kind of cursed bracket is this?! The drama value just hit the ceiling!"
"This is insane! Was this bracket really randomized by the system, or did some director arrange it? This is too intense!"
"Destiny! This is a fated showdown!"
At the very top of the bracket, marked as Round One, Match One on the main stage, two names were locked against each other, radiating a sharp, head-to-head glare.
Kudo Shiba VS Agano Roka!
Dragon-type Champion family—successor of the Kudo clan.
Dragon-type Champion family—successor of the Agano clan.
After that brief yet earth-shaking clash at the Battle Tower, these two future prodigies of the Xia Nation's Dragon-type line were actually meeting again—in the very first round of an even higher-profile, citywide grand tournament, under the eyes of the whole world!
It was as if some invisible hand, somewhere in the dark, had plucked the strings of fate.
And that still wasn't all.
When people managed to tear their eyes away from that dazzling matchup and scan the next pair, their breath hitched again.
Sunada Kaoru.
The rich kid who had always seen Shiba as a thorn in his side, yet had been crushed by him again and again.
His first-round opponent was—
Takai Yuko!
A bracket packed with grudges, destiny, revenge, and protection instantly pushed the hype for this tournament to an unprecedented peak!
The school forum exploded. In just a few minutes, post after post sprang up like mushrooms after rain.
"Breaking news! Heir of Dragons meet again—Shiba vs. Roka in Round One!"
"Drama of the year! Sunada Kaoru vs. Takai Yuko—behind this, is it the distortion of human nature or the collapse of morality?"
"Rational analysis: Roka trained like a madman all vacation—can he finally wash away his humiliation?"
No one could wait any longer.
They were desperate to see how this competition, woven from geniuses, nemeses, grudges, and tangled emotions, would unfold.
The afternoon of the elimination matches.
The largest battle center in Magic City—beneath its dome, a throng packed every inch of space.
Tens of thousands of seats were completely filled. The enormous circular screen was playing the contestants' promo reels, and the roaring voices of the crowd rolled together into waves of heat that seemed about to blow the roof off the venue.
Amid the tsunami-like cheers of the audience, two figures slowly walked out from opposite ends of the players' tunnel.
Kudo Shiba and Agano Roka.
The two heirs of the Dragon type stepped onto the main stage that all eyes were fixed upon.
The two of them faced each other across dozens of meters.
It felt like sparks of electricity were flashing in the air; an invisible pressure made even the surrounding noise falter for a moment.
"Shiba, I admit it—last time, I lost."
Roka's voice spread through the stadium via the microphone. It was steady, but couldn't fully suppress the fighting spirit blazing beneath. The contempt he'd had last time was gone from his eyes, replaced by a near-obsessive flame.
"But this whole vacation, I didn't slack off for a single day! I traveled to all of my family's trial grounds and challenged countless powerful Pokémon!"
His voice rose higher and higher, half declaration, half oath.
"This time, I will definitely show you the true power of the Agano clan's dragon-taming arts!"
"I'll be waiting."
Shiba's reply was as calm and casual as ever.
He didn't even show an extra trace of expression. He just smiled faintly, and the absolute confidence in that smile carried more pressure than any words could.
The referee walked to the center of the field and raised his flag high.
"I now announce—!"
His impassioned shout echoed to the rafters.
"In the Magic City Newcomer Tournament, Elimination Round One—contestant Kudo Shiba versus contestant Agano Roka—"
"The match officially begins!"
The instant the words fell—
The two of them, almost at the exact same moment, pulled from their waists the strongest Poké Balls on their belts!
A fated clash at the very peak was officially underway!
(End of Chapter)
If I see that this fanfic has support, I will upload 20+ chapters to Patreon!!
[[email protected]/Zukooo]
[Thanks for your support!]