Heihachi looked at Alfie, who was standing in the command position across from him. Alfie was wearing the distinctive military uniform of the Environmental Protection Bureau (a sub-branch of the Adventurers' Guild), with a capable face and a solemn temperament.
Just by meeting his eyes, Heihachi's heart was trembling.
I'll hit your horse! Heihachi screamed internally. Shady! This is definitely shady! It's normal to see elites in the opening game to hype the crowd, but why am I the sacrificial lamb?! Why are labor and capital (me) matched against a pro?!
"Rufflet, use Quick Attack!" Alfie commanded, his voice calm and precise.
"W-what? Rattata, get out of the way!" Heihachi stuttered.
A young eagle flew across the ground, a blur of white and blue feathers. Although it was small, its talons were extremely sharp, cutting the floor and sending sparks flying.
Raticate (Heihachi's evolved Rattata) has a base stat total of 413, which should theoretically suppress a Rufflet (base stat 350) that has not yet evolved. In terms of level, both were at Level 20. But Heihachi was already defeated mentally.
Normally, Raticate could use Quick Attack to strike first. But Alfie had trained his Rufflet to such a degree that its Quick Attack landed before the rat could even tense its muscles.
Alfie, the captain of the Protection Bureau, looked slightly disappointed. As expected, the level of wild trainers is still lacking. Can't we have any expectations?
"Rufflet, use Aerial Ace!"
After being hit by the talons and sent flying, Raticate scrambled up, only to see the afterimage of the eagle returning. It screamed in fear! Without waiting for the Trainer's order, it relied on its own experience to dodge.
But the little eagle flew past with a hint of teasing in its eyes. It anticipated the dodge.
When Raticate had finished dodging, its body became stiff.
"Now!" Alfie shouted, catching the timing perfectly.
Man and Pokémon reached a high degree of unity in their combat sense. The Rufflet swooped down, catching the Raticate—which was bigger than itself—with its sharp claws.
Bang!
Two seconds later, Raticate hit the ground hard, swirling eyes indicating it had fainted. Crushed from beginning to end.
"Rufflet wins! Winner: Alfie!" the referee declared, beeping the whistle.
Tian Tiezui swallowed his saliva and quickly explained into the mic: "...Player Alfie is indeed an elite trainer of the Adventurers' Guild Protection Bureau and the Mondstadt Pokémon Guard! A fierce display of discipline!"
The arena erupted. The nearly 100,000 spectators cheered enthusiastically. Alfie's ferocity left a deep impression. As the victor, Alfie bowed deeply to the guest seat—specifically to Hiroshi—and then marched off stage like a javelin.
Cyrus, the branch president of the Mondstadt Adventurers' Guild, was filled with emotion and jealousy. "Manager Hiroshi... your Environmental Protection Bureau is truly a place to train people. Alfie has changed so much I barely recognize him!"
Lan, the Liyue branch president, nodded in surprise. "So this elite trainer was once an operator of the Mondstadt branch? He was assigned to the Conservation Bureau and patrolled the Ecological Zone day and night. It had only been a month, but he already had such momentum?"
Hiroshi smiled, a satisfied expression on his face. "Everyone probably knows, but it doesn't matter if you haven't heard me say it before. The reason I created the Environmental Protection Bureau is simply to use the Adventurers' Guild's organizational power across seven countries to quickly build a transnational law enforcement team."
"It can deal with vicious criminal cases in any region or in any Pokémon League! Probably, it can also be called the Transnational Crime Suppression Service... or, International Police?"
"You have also seen that the officers must be carefully selected. Those who go up to the top are cadres, such as Investigators, Search Officers, and Inspector Generals."
The guest room fell silent. This was the first time Hiroshi had explained the founding purpose of the Bureau. Zhongli looked at Hiroshi with surprise, while Venti giggled in the back row. "Hey, this guy's planning is so profound... he's surpassed you, old friend!"
For the Bureau members, this competition was also an internal screening. Merit points and promotions were on the line.
The Rounds Continue
In the super-large arena, the venue was divided into four sub-stages (A, B, C, D), allowing multiple matches to happen simultaneously.
In Venue B, another Bureau operator named Xiao Qian won effortlessly.
"Xiao Qian?" Lan was stunned.
Cyrus laughed. "What about our Mondstadt branch? This Xiao Qian turns out to be a cadre under you, right? Tsk tsk, his Arbok was cultivated so well. It is a bit bigger than its kind, estimated to be seven meters long..."
Hiroshi checked the stats with his system. "Level 35? This is incredible! That's competitive even by VIP standards. Moreover, the Attack and Speed attributes are very high. I guess there is some kind of chance encounter?"
"Xiao Qian..." Hiroshi marked him as a future Investigator.
Xiao Qian's Arbok didn't even use skills. It bullied the opponent's Rhyhorn with pure physical strength, strangling it into submission.
Thus, the first round ended. Hiroshi nodded secretly. The "black box operation" of the system was necessary. If the first day was completely random, the audience would be bored to tears watching endless "Bug Catcher vs. Bug Catcher" matches. By seeding the elites early, he ensured the tournament started with a bang.
According to the backend statistics:
Total Participants: 600,000+
Bug-Type Users: ~66% (Caterpie, Weedle, Wurmple).
Trainers with 2 Pokémon: 19%.
Trainers with 3+ Pokémon: < 1%.
Trainers with 4+ Pokémon: Only 5 or 6 people, even among VIPs.
As Hiroshi looked at the data, the second round began.
Venue A: "Butterfree, Stun Spore!" vs "Volbeat, Signal Beam!"
Venue B: "Beedrill, Twineedle! Disgusting!" vs "Skarmory, Steel Wing!" (Instant loss for the bee).
Venue C: "Linoone, Headbutt! One-hit kill!" vs "Wobbuffet, Mirror Coat!"
"Flash sale? Haha! Wobbuffet, show him what god-level anti-armor and double damage return looks like!"
Bang! The Linoone KO'd itself instantly.
Trainer after trainer appeared. The crowd roared with joy. For the people of Liyue, these Pokémon were rare sights. The higher-level trainers usually spent their time deep in the wild, so seeing them battle in the city was a treat.
The Shock of the Far East
For the people of Inazuma, watching via the screens set up by Yoimiya and Ayato, the experience was earth-shattering.
"What is that steel bird?!"
"A snake that big... is it a Youkai?"
"That blue blob just reflected an attack that could shatter a boulder!"
At the Grand Narukami Shrine, Yae Miko was dumbfounded. "This snake is seven or eight meters long... And that Skarmory... it looks like a life made of steel. No, it is completely different from the Ruin Machines. They are a form of life in themselves, rather than being artificially given life!"
When she saw the Wobbuffet use Mirror Coat to reflect the Linoone, Yae Miko looked serious. "The energy that just flashed on the screen... definitely not any elemental power!"
At the Kamisato Estate, the courtyard was dead silent.
On the big screen, the situation of each venue was cut dynamically. Trainers, Pokémon, rich Types, dazzling skills, and increasingly fierce confrontations filled the display.
Kamisato Ayato and Kamisato Ayaka were unable to maintain their noble calmness. Their expressions followed each battle.
With each fierce attack and defense round, they were sometimes surprised, sometimes confused, and sometimes shocked.
The world outside the storm was not just prosperous; it was powerful.