The next day, at the Tianfu Arena, two business vans arrived one after the other and parked at the main entrance.
Old Liu was no longer the one staying behind at the hotel. Instead, he came along with the others to the stadium to get familiar with the battle arena. In addition, they had to register participants and draw lots for the battlefield.
"An open-air arena, huh?"
The stadium as a whole was a circular structure. From the outside, it closely resembled an opened Poké Ball.
Rowan glanced to either side. The roof didn't appear to have any mechanism for closing.
"Most of the large arenas built by the League are like this. It's to ensure that Weather Setters and Flying-type Pokémon aren't restricted by the environment. So they're designed to be open-air. I already checked the weather forecast for tomorrow. It's sunny day, which works in our favor."
Once the date for a major tournament is set, it usually won't change unless there's an unavoidable natural disaster.
Because of this, the weather also becomes a factor that can influence the match. While Weather Setters can temporarily alter the weather conditions, the overall weather remains unchanged.
Just like in auto racing, where the decision to switch to rain tires depends on the forecast, a Pokémon team's Data Analyst also has to monitor the weather before a major tournament and adjust the lineup accordingly.
However, that's not what they came here to familiarize themselves with. What they needed to get used to was the battlefield beneath their feet.
"Let me repeat this again: the Tianfu Arena covers 130 mu (about 21 acres) and can hold 40,000 spectators. The battle area is divided into four sections. The battlefield environments include grassy, rocky, ocean, and a steel jungle.
Each area can freely switch environments. During the finals, the entire arena will be integrated into a single battlefield. Once the battle begins tomorrow, which environment we'll get will be completely random."
Li Han held a tablet in her hands, containing all the data about the arena.
They had already watched videos about the arena beforehand, but this was their first time seeing it in person.
"Sounds like it cost a fortune to build."
"Of course it did. This arena is way more complex than it looks. What we're seeing is just the surface. In order to enable battlefield switching, there's an extremely complex structure beneath the arena which took a lot of effort to construct."
"Are Academy Cup tickets selling well?"
"They sold out last month. Tickets for good seats even got scalped at a high price. Just a few days ago, they caught a bunch of ticket scalpers."
Unlike regular sports tickets, where a soccer match might be played to an empty stadium, a high-quality Pokémon battle will never face that problem.
In addition to the Trainers participating in battles, there's also a significant number of spectators who are just passionate about watching. Tickets for these events usually never have to worry about getting sold, after all, if you want to compete here, you've got to have some real skill.
Besides hosting all kinds of competition and entertainment events, this kind of stadium is also used for Gym Battles, depending on the challenger's level.
Only challengers who already possess seven Badges can have their Gym Battle in such a venue, and even then, they have to factor in the ticket situation.
Two rookies having a scuffle wouldn't qualify to step into this place. A Trainer with eight Badges is already considered a seasoned veteran.
Their strength is enough to go head-to-head with contestants from regional conferences as well as various regions. That's why the challenge for the final Badge tends to be more entertaining to watch.
These explanations were mostly directed at Rowan. Even first-time competitors generally have at least some understanding of the local system. Rowan was the only complete newbie.
Still, it didn't really matter; after all, his Meowscarada was strong enough.
The grassy and rocky field didn't have any particularly special features. Overall, they were flat terrain with a few short green plants or rock pillars added in.
The so-called "steel jungle" was clearly an exaggerated term. Rowan thought calling it street battlefield would be more accurate. It was built using special materials to resemble a live-action CS (Counter-Strike) map. He couldn't figure out what the designers were thinking.
What surprised him more was that the ocean field wasn't just some simple pool with two wooden planks thrown on it like he'd imagined.
This inland area arena actually had a wave-simulation device. That wasn't exactly friendly for Pokémon that weren't Water-type.
"For singles battles, do we draw for a new battlefield for every battle?"
Rowan was fine with most of them, but that ocean field really felt like a problem.
"No, according to the rules, even singles battles require each team to have six members. If we had to rotate the battlefield for every match, the competition would drag on indefinitely.
Whichever battlefield you draw at the start, that's where you'll continue to battle until the semifinals, when the battlefields will merge, only then the battlefield will be changed.
But you don't have to worry about that. Before the matches begin, teammates are allowed to switch assigned battlefields among themselves. We'll make sure you get the most favorable one. No way we're going to let all six of them….mmph mmph mmph..."
Before Li Han could finish her sentence, two of the female teammates suddenly rushed over and covered her mouth, forcibly stopping her from speaking any further.
"Ahem, you may not know, but Han's got a bit of a jinxed tongue. When she says something good, it doesn't happen, but when she says something bad, it always comes true. If we really end up drawing six ocean fields, that'd be hilarious."
Joy offered an explanation to Rowan about why the other teammates reacted so strongly. At this point, everyone on the Varsity Team firmly believed that unless some divine punishment struck them, there was no way Nekomi could lose.
Just then, Coach Jia walked over, looking slightly grim.
"Coach, what's wrong?"
"I saw that kid surnamed Ding. He's still competing this year."
He had just left Li Han and Joy here to get familiar with the area while he went over to the registration desk. Their university's team wasn't the only one scouting the arena, so at the registration area, Jia Qiong ran into a familiar face from last year.
Having coached several competition seasons, Jia Qiong knew exactly which opponents were the troublesome ones. The "Ding kid" he mentioned was last year's singles champion.
"Wasn't he supposed to graduate this year? I heard he already got an offer from Devon Corporation."
"What else could it be? He delayed the graduation. Who knows what kind of terms they offered him to make him give up an offer already in hand and delay graduation for two years in a row."
Devon Corporation is a company based in the Hoenn region. It used to be a small company focused on mining rocks and refining iron, but now it's a massive conglomerate.
From machines that use magma as fuel to generate energy, to fossil restoration projects, to various Poké Balls and Trainer-oriented items—Devon Corporation was behind it all. These days, it's considered a rival even to Silph Co., the leader in the manufacturing industry.
"His ace is an Aggron that can Mega Evolve..."
"Don't worry, Coach. You've got to have faith in Nekomi."
"That's not the only issue. If it were just a direct 1v1 with him, you'd have no problem. But in the 1v1 format, there are no breaks, you fight all the way through from start to finish. And his five teammates are no slouches either. The Pokémon they have... every single one knows 'Explosion.'
If their analyst figures out that you're a tough opponent, and you run into them midway through the competition, they'll do everything they can to wear your Pokémon's stamina down just to pave the way for that Aggron of his..."
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