Pokémon: Chronicles of Freedom

The next morning, Cain and his Pokémon finished their morning training and, following the broadcast instructions, headed to the largest open area of the ship.

Here, there were a total of sixteen battlefields and sixteen training areas, all for public use.

If you wish to use them, you only need to leave a deposit, and you can use them for free; you'll only be charged if you cause any damage to public property.

When Cain arrived, there were already a lot of people present.

Not only were there trainers, but there were also many regular people who weren't trainers.

After all, while the S.S. Anne is primarily a luxury cruise catering to trainers, they also have families, and when going on vacation, of course, it's better to bring the family along.

Also, money is money. Even if ordinary people want to buy tickets, they won't be turned away; selling to anyone is still selling.

Cain stood silently to the side as more people gradually arrived. He believed that after a while, the competition would start.

Many people, like Cain, were accompanied by their Pokémon.

Within the system's scanner range, all the data of the Pokémon were visible.

Most Pokémon were in their teens in terms of level; even if a few reached the twenties, they were only at level 21 or 22, just barely reaching level 20.

Moreover, the average quality of the Pokémon wasn't very high; on average, they ranged from light yellow to yellow, with only the occasional light green.

When enough people were present, a head judge climbed onto the already-prepared podium. Without much explanation, he briefly went over all the rules again and then directly announced the start of the tournament.

As for the distribution of people on each battlefield, it had already been randomly assigned by the staff on the computer after registration closed.

Now, you only needed to go to the battlefield displayed on the screen, where your name appeared, and wait for the preliminary round to begin.

Cain glanced quickly and saw that there were about two to three hundred participants, distributed across eight fields, meaning there were around thirty to forty trainers on each field.

Of those thirty or forty, only two could advance to the next round, making it quite difficult.

Of course, that was only for the others.

Cain was assigned to Field Seven. When he arrived with his Slowpoke, many people looked at him, showing a hint of hostility in their eyes.

Yesterday, many had witnessed Cain's battle with Takuya Imamura, and most of them had an idea of Cain's strength; they knew they couldn't defeat him in a one-on-one match.

So, upon learning that Cain was in their same field, many showed hostility.

Cain only smiled faintly, with no emotion about it; for him, it was nothing more than the useless complaints of the weak.

When Cain positioned himself in his designated spot, a young man, appearing around Cain's age, quickly approached him.

Instead of showing hostility or displeasure, the young man smiled cheerfully and said, "Hey, hey, you're the trainer who used Slowpoke to beat up that trashy Raichu yesterday, right?"

Cain glanced at him sideways, without saying a word.

But Cain's silence didn't mean the young man wouldn't continue. He moved even closer to Cain, almost touching him.

"You're definitely him! Too bad I had other things to do yesterday and couldn't watch your battle. I didn't expect to be in the same field as you today! Lucky me. So, the spots for advancing in this field are already decided: you and me."

Cain frowned and shifted his foot slightly, distancing himself from the overly friendly young man.

The young man, seeing Cain's movement, didn't notice the lack of manners and took another step closer. But this time, he couldn't get any nearer, as Slowpoke, uncomfortable with the situation, created a psychic energy barrier around Cain, which the young man walked right into.

"Ouch, that hurt!" the young man cried, rubbing his head.

Cain frowned, looked at the young man, and asked, "What do you want?"

"Oh, right, I was thinking that our skills are among the strongest in this field, so why don't we team up and eliminate the others together? What do you think? Here, apart from you, everyone else is trash," he said, showing a look of disdain when referring to the others.

Upon hearing his words, Cain automatically glanced at the young man's Pokémon.

His eyes narrowed immediately. Before, he hadn't noticed, but the Pokémon next to the young man was a Charmeleon, the evolved form of Kanto's fire-type starter Charmander.

Pokémon: Charmeleon (Dark Green)

Gender: Male

Level: 25

Type: Fire

Ability: Blaze

Held Item: None

Egg Moves: Bite, Dragon Pulse, Metal Claw

Basic Moves: Scratch, Growl, Ember, Smokescreen, Dragon Rage, Scary Face

Learned Moves: Thunder Punch, Fire Punch

TM Moves: Flamethrower, Protect, Rock Slide, Substitute

This was the first time in this life that Cain saw a Kanto region fire-type starter. In terms of potential, Charmander was definitely the Pokémon with the most potential among the three starters for Cain.

Of course, this was assuming they were of the same quality.

After all, Charizard has two Mega Evolution forms and, although Charizard is a Fire and Flying type, it actually has a trace of Dragon type blood within it, allowing it to learn some Dragon-type moves.

Among Dragon-type Pokémon, there are no weaklings!

"Alright," Cain said, nodding to show his acceptance.

Most people who own a starter Pokémon are direct members of the Alliance. Judging by this young man's age, he was undoubtedly a direct family member of the Alliance.

Moreover, his Pokémon was indeed one of the strongest on this battlefield, so teaming up to eliminate the others wasn't impossible.

After all, for Cain, fighting anyone was the same.

This time, it was the young man who was stunned. Hearing Cain's clear and affirmative response, he was first surprised, then delighted, and laughed, saying, "Ha ha ha, I knew you had a good eye! Very well! If we join forces, together we'll crush everyone!"

But no matter what the young man said or thought as he tried to get closer to Cain, Slowpoke's psychic energy barrier did not disappear.

Suddenly, the young man slapped his forehead and said, "I forgot to introduce myself! My name is Jin, I'm from Viridian City in Kanto, and this is my first journey."

He then extended his hand, looking at Cain sincerely.

To him, Cain's easy acceptance to fight alongside him meant that Cain trusted his strength and character.

So, for someone who trusted him so much, Jin also showed great trust, directly revealing his personal information.

Cain extended his hand, shaking his, and calmly said, "Cain."

(End of chapter)