"You're saying… when the match starts later, I should make Snivy pretend to be knocked out in one hit by Lapras?"
The quarterfinals had wrapped up.
Only five contestants remained in the entire tournant.
During the break…
Chi Heng, the boss of Wangwang Supermarket who'd been promoting the event out front earlier, sought Lin Feng out. Wearing a wide, ingratiating smile, he lured him to a secluded corner beneath the spectator stands.
Lin Feng frowned. "What the heck are you talking about?"
Chi Heng kept up his grin and pulled out a bank card. "See, my young friend… anyone can tell that Lapras is incredibly strong. In the end, your Snivy will probably lose anyway, so why not accept my offer? Here's… a modest five hundred thousand. All I ask is that you give this little favor."
Lin Feng waved him off. "Not a chance."
And with that, he turned on his heel and strode away.
So he wanted to buy a fake match… for a bit of cash?
Behind him, Chi Heng was left standing there, his grin frozen in place. After several seconds, his expression soured. "What an arrogant kid… doesn't even know what's good for him."
He began pacing back and forth for a few monts, then pulled out his phone and made a call, summoning his son.
"What is it, Dad?"
A plump young man strolled in, a bottle of soda in his hand.
Seeing his son, Chi Heng's face eased into a calr expression. "In the final match, if you go up against that Snivy, don't hold Lapras back anymore. Let it fight at full strength."
"That Snivy… it's on a very high level."
"Alright, I get it, I get it," the stocky young man said with a hint of impatience. He turned to leave, muttering under his breath, "Weren't we just supposed to keep it to Water Gun and nothing else?"
Yet a faint smile tugged at the corners of his lips.
...
╰（‵□′）╯: "Sni-vy!"
As soon as Lin Feng returned to the waiting area…
Snivy began complaining to him furiously.
That human just now had dared to underestimate it, saying there was no way it could beat Lapras!
Lin Feng chuckled and patted Snivy gently on the head. He consoled it:
"Hey now, look at it this way. The fact that they ca looking for us shows we're strong enough to scare them. They're terrified we might snatch the championship out from under them."
Snivy blinked, puzzled. "Sni-vy?" (Really?)
Lin Feng nodded solemnly. "Of course."
Though inside, he found the whole situation rather amusing.
This little guy…
It might be smart, but it still didn't know enough about the human world.
It was normal for it not to understand all these hidden sches.
"Sni-vy…"
Snivy thought about it and concluded that Lin Feng made sense. Its anger cooled a little, though it still felt fired up to prove itself.
Just then, the semifinals began.
This ti, Lin Feng drew a trainer whose partner was a Spearow.
Strangely enough, Qin Shu managed to draw another bye…
Which was downright absurd.
Lin Feng even cast a suspicious glance at Li Bing hovering up in the sky, recalling how he'd been pulled aside earlier. He couldn't help wondering if there was so shady rigging going on.
Facing a level-15 Spearow, Snivy dispatched it with ease.
At last, the final match was scheduled for around four o'clock that afternoon.
Whoever won would be crowned champion of this Baobao Cup.
Three minutes before the finals were set to begin…
A chubby young man carrying a bag of chips wandered over to Lin Feng, squinting through nearly invisible eyes as he stared at him. "Hey…"
"Hmm?" Lin Feng was a bit taken aback. "What's up?"
If he wasn't mistaken, this kid was the trainer partnered with Lapras.
What was he doing here at a ti like this?
"My dad says you're pretty strong," Chi Chang said curiously.
"Uh, strong or not… we'll only know for sure after a battle. Did you need sothing?"
After that recent attempt to bribe him, Lin Feng wasn't exactly in the mood to be friendly toward the kid.
Chi Chang didn't seem to notice Lin Feng's cold tone. "Well, you must be strong. Otherwise, my dad wouldn't be making Lapras suppress its energy. To be honest, I'm not really a fan of forcing Lapras to hold back like that."
Lin Feng blinked in surprise. "Oh? Why not?"
Chi Chang held out a chip. "Want so?"
Lin Feng eyed the bit of spit glistening on Chi Chang's fingers and shook his head.
"It's pretty simple. Forcing Lapras to suppress its energy like that makes it uncomfortable. But my dad is dead set on becoming a Pokémon trainer. I don't even know where he heard it a breeder supposedly told him that temporarily suppressing Lapras's energy surges can raise its potential. Personally, I think he's being scamd and doesn't even realize it. Plus…"
A touch of resignation crossed his face. "Look at . Do I look like soone cut out to be a Pokémon trainer?"
It was obvious he didn't agree with the path his father was trying to force on him.
Lin Feng spoke candidly. "Well… honestly, not really. But it's sothing you could work toward."
While technically anyone could beco a trainer…
Not everyone was well-suited for it.
Traveling, challenging Gyms, battling…
These were all high-risk pursuits.
To truly beco a capable trainer, you needed a solid physique and that ant putting yourself through intense physical training.
It was also certain that…
In this world, human bodies could be trained, much like Fighting-type Pokémon, to beco significantly stronger.
The young man before him was about one ter seventy tall, but easily weighed close to two hundred pounds, with soft, loose flesh hanging from his fra.
Rationally speaking, soone with that physique really wasn't well-suited for a trainer's life.
Chi Chang nodded in agreent and tossed the rest of his chips onto a nearby table. "Right? I feel the sa way. Anyway, the match is about to start. Just fight seriously. Winning or losing doesn't matter to ."
With that, he headed off naturally toward the battlefield.
Though his steps quickened slightly, as though he couldn't wait to get out there.
This was the first ti, out of all the matches Lin Feng had seen him in, that he'd shown this kind of eagerness.
Shaking his head, Lin Feng felt his initial dislike fade away. He followed Chi Chang onto the field.
...
The final match.
As Snivy and Lapras stepped into the arena, the stands erupted in louder cheers and excitent than ever.
"The finals! It's finally ti for the finals! I'm actually looking forward to this one. Lapras has been cruising through every round just using Water Gun, while Snivy's only used Vine Whip and Leaf Blade. Both Pokémon have been hiding their true skills!"
"If you ask , Lapras probably has the edge in the end. Even with type advantage, Snivy's still just a starter Pokémon at its base stage…"
"Ah, even though I love both of these Pokémon, I'm rooting more for Snivy. The way it battles it's just so graceful sohow…"
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