After about twenty minutes, Jenny finally concluded her speech.
"Alright, thank you to our three guests for their speeches. Now, the tournament is officially about to begin.
Everyone, please look at the big screen. Each Trainer has a number plate, and the screen will sequentially display the matchups for the eight battlefields.
When your number appears, please proceed to the corresponding battlefield as quickly as possible. The qualifier battle format is 1v1.
Please note that anyone who is over fifteen minutes late will be automatically disqualified. Trainers who haven't been called yet don't need to rush. You may wait in the rest area. Based on previous tournaments, the maximum waiting time should only be around three hours."
As soon as Jenny finished speaking, the host immediately announced the official start of the tournament and quickly explained the basic rules for the venues and battles.
After all, this was only a competition held in a Town, so there weren't many complicated ceremonies. Moreover, all eight battlefields were standard indoor arenas without any special terrain divisions like water or fire fields.
"Swish~"
Soon, the giant screen stopped scrolling.
Unfortunately, Icarus was not among the first Trainers selected.
"Alright, contestants for the first round, please follow the staff members to your assigned battlefields. Everyone else may either wait in the rest area or watch the matches from the spectator stands."
Seeing the first sixteen contestants displayed on the screen, the host immediately announced the numbers and headed toward the nearby corridor.
Several people stepped out from both the family faction on the left and the commoner faction on the right. Some looked nervous and anxious, while others were filled with fighting spirit as they followed the staff members toward the battlefields.
"Icarus*, should we go to the rest area or the spectator stands?"
Stone looked at the gradually dispersing crowd and asked Icarus.
"Let's go to the spectator stands. The rest area doesn't seem to broadcast the qualifier matches anyway. A 1v1 battle usually ends in less than ten minutes.
For the first match, let's take a look at those family Trainers and see exactly where they're stronger than commoners.
After watching one or two matches, we can head back directly."
After thinking for a moment, Icarus chose the spectator stands. There wasn't much interaction between family Trainers and commoners, so he was naturally curious about the true strength of those family scions.
"Alright, I'm curious too."
Airi and Stone nodded as well. They also wanted to see just how strong the family faction Trainers of the Town really were.
Soon, the three arrived at Battlefield Number Four, where the first match had just begun.
The young man on the left side of the battlefield wore a Trainer uniform embroidered with the word "Tanaka," clearly indicating that he belonged to the Tanaka family.
Icarus recognized the name. The Tanaka family was considered a third-tier family within the Town, possessing three or four Ordinary-level high-stage Trainers, second only to the four major second-tier families.
The Tanaka Trainer sent out a Sandslash at the Ordinary mid-stage. Judging from its sharp claws and battle-hardened eyes, it was obviously very well-trained.
Still, Icarus felt it wasn't much different from Stone's Sandslash, since Stone's Pokémon was also trained according to proper cultivation manuals.
As for the opponent—
Judging from the worn-out Trainer uniform, he was most likely a commoner Trainer, and his face was currently filled with bitterness.
The Pokémon he sent out was a Raticate, but its strength only appeared to be at the Ordinary low-stage.
Although Raticate was common, its combat ability was undeniably strong.
Moreover, the training methods for Raticate were widely circulated among commoner Trainers. While those methods couldn't compare to official cultivation manuals, after years of refinement by unofficial Trainers, the gap wasn't too large anymore.
Of course, any commoner Trainer who managed to gather enough merit points would still exchange for an official cultivation manual.
After all, there was still a clear difference between unofficial methods and officially verified cultivation manuals. Maybe the short-term combat power was similar, but the long-term development potential was definitely much better with an official manual that had undergone years of testing.
Back in the early days of the Alliance, aside from a handful of Trainers who inherited ancient legacies, everyone relied on unofficial methods. It was only after years of refinement and elimination that the Alliance gradually created formal cultivation manuals for most common Pokémon.
As for why Icarus concluded that this Trainer's strongest Pokémon was only at the Ordinary low-stage—it was simple.
In a 1v1 battle, nobody would deliberately hide their strength. What if holding back caused them to lose?
The Qingmu Conference had no revival rounds. Lose once, and you were out immediately.
Not only would your Pokémon get beaten up for nothing, but your 2,000 Alliance currency registration fee would also go to waste.
Back on the battlefield, although the commoner Trainer looked miserable, he had no intention of surrendering. He immediately ordered Raticate to use Quick Attack and seize the initiative.
"Bang!"
Unfortunately, Sandslash instantly used Magnitude, disrupting Raticate's momentum.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh~"
At the same time, it unleashed a barrage of Swift.
"Bang bang bang! Pffft—Daah!"
Already thrown off by Magnitude, Raticate was immediately struck by Swift and blasted backward.
"Now, Rollout! Slash!"
The family Trainer gave Raticate no chance to recover and immediately followed up with another attack.
From the stands, Icarus and the others saw Sandslash curl into a ball after using Swift, rapidly rolling toward Raticate. Just as it got close, it suddenly uncurled, using the momentum to leap into the air and slash downward with its claws.
"Raticate, Hyper Fang!"
The commoner Trainer had no other option. Seeing Sandslash approaching at close range, he could only gamble everything on one attack.
The next moment, the figures of Sandslash and Raticate crossed paths.
"Bang!"
Raticate collapsed to the ground, completely unable to continue battling.
"Since one side was prepared while the other was forced into a desperate counterattack, Sandslash directly dodged Hyper Fang midair and landed a clean Slash on Raticate's side."
As the three headed toward the next battlefield, Stone, the proud owner of two Sandslash, calmly explained the battle to Icarus and Airi.
"Hm, Stone, you really do pay close attention."
Icarus nodded in approval after hearing the explanation. He wasn't all-knowing, so naturally he couldn't analyze the battle as thoroughly as Stone.
Still, the gap in strength during that match had simply been too large. Icarus guessed the commoner Trainer had entered mainly to try his luck. If he won even one round, it would already be a huge profit.
For an Ordinary low-stage Trainer like him, earning 8,000 Alliance currency in just a few minutes was already pretty good.
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