"Ah! You are—!"
"Shh!"
"I don't want others to know my identity, so please keep it quiet, alright?"
Looking at the flight attendant in front of him, Gu Yuan had no choice but to use Telepathy to instruct her.
"I understand."
The flight attendant lowered her head shyly, her face flushing as she answered.
Good grief, what are you blushing for? This is just simple Telepathy, okay!?
Thoughts aside, Gu Yuan had at least achieved his goal. He quickly moved to his seat and put on an eye mask, preparing to get some rest and avoid being recognized by other passengers.
This plane was relatively small, so all passengers boarded quickly, allowing the flight to take off smoothly. Shortly after takeoff, the same flight attendant approached him, holding a signature board.
When Gu Yuan removed his mask and saw it, he knew exactly what was happening. He just hadn't expected to receive this kind of treatment one day.
"Thank you."
After whispering a small thanks, the flight attendant left with the signed board, looking satisfied.
Just when Gu Yuan thought it was over, the "feeding" began. First came the drinks, then snacks, and finally, a series of carefully prepared dishes.
At this point, some other passengers on the plane looked at their "beef rice" without beef, sashimi without raw fish, and "fried shrimp" without shrimp meat, feeling utterly bewildered. They knew about "Wife Cakes" not containing wives, but what on earth was this!?
Burp~
Leaning back in his seat and looking at his bloated stomach, Gu Yuan never imagined he would eat so much on a plane. When they finally reached their destination, while other passengers left hungry, Gu Yuan left while clutching the handrails for support.
Instead of having Alakazam use Teleport to leave as usual, Gu Yuan chose to walk to help his digestion. By the time he arrived at the tournament venue, staff members were already waiting for him.
"Hello, you must be Gu Yuan."
"My name is Ray. Elite Agatha arranged for me to receive you. During the upcoming selection tournament, I will handle chores for you and collect intelligence."
"Um... do you happen to have a brother named Gaia?" Gu Yuan couldn't help but ask, looking at Ray's blonde hair.
"Yes, we were trained by the same master. But how did you know?"
"No, it's nothing. I just heard Elite Agatha mention it."
Facing Ray's question, Gu Yuan didn't want to dwell on the subject too much; he could only marvel at how miraculous this world was. This Ray was indeed one of Agatha's subordinates and was trustworthy, so Gu Yuan followed him to the hotel where the contestants were staying.
Normally, this selection tournament would last a long time. As the host, the League naturally prepared accommodations for the participants. Of course, to keep the contestants' strength a secret, the selection tournament was not open to the public; only relevant internal personnel would know the specific details of the matches.
On the way, Ray introduced the details of the tournament to Gu Yuan.
Including Gu Yuan, there were sixty-four participants in total. From these, four official members and two substitutes would be selected—meaning only the top eight would be recruited. The champion of the selection tournament would become the temporary captain of this team.
Afterward, the captaincy would change at any time based on the shifting strength of the team members. After all, "the strong are respected" was the law of the Pokémon world. The battle format was 3-on-3, using a standard advancement system.
Since all participants possessed Ace Rank strength, each trainer would only have one battle per day to ensure the Pokémon had time to recover. Based on their strength, the contestants could be divided into three tiers.
The first tier consisted of trainers with only one Ace Rank Pokémon, totaling about seven or eight people. The second tier, comprising those with two Ace Rank Pokémon, made up the largest portion of the participants. The third tier consisted of trainers with three Ace Rank Pokémon; including Gu Yuan, there were only four such people.
Looking at it this way, it might seem like the Kanto region's strength was mediocre. In reality, many powerful trainers simply didn't participate. For example, the direct descendants carefully groomed by families or corporations received the best training from the start. They didn't need to travel like others or participate in these types of competitions. They only needed to showcase their prowess at the most suitable time, in the most suitable way, and with the most suitable strength before taking over their family or business.
Conversely, among those trained by Elite Agatha and her peers, many had their own duties or were required to hide their strength to deliver a fatal blow to opponents at an unexpected moment. Under these circumstances, the fact that so many powerful geniuses still participated in the selection tournament was proof enough of the Kanto region's deep foundation.
Regarding the contestants' strength, Ray simply handed all the collected information to Gu Yuan for him to judge, not wanting his own opinions to influence Gu Yuan's thinking.
"This is your room. I am right next door; you can contact me immediately if you need anything."
"Alright, I understand. Thank you for bringing me here."
"It's nothing, just doing my duty. Get some rest; I will remind you when the selection tournament is about to start."
"Okay."
Once Ray left, Gu Yuan stretched and released Charizard and the others. The room was quite nice and spacious; even with everyone out, it didn't feel crowded.
Lying on the bed, Gu Yuan began to study the information on the contestants. On the list, he saw Shimura and Akatsuka. Shimura's strength was the same as before, highlighting the flaw of focusing on training only one Pokémon: the others required a long time to catch up. In this type of competition, he would naturally be at a disadvantage. Gu Yuan estimated Shimura would be eliminated before long.
Akatsuka, on the other hand, had successfully helped his Houndoom break through to the Ace Rank. With his strength, he could potentially push for a substitute spot, though becoming an official member might be too difficult since there was still a massive gap between a quasi-Ace and a true Ace Rank.
Aside from them, there were the other three trainers with three Ace Rank Pokémon. Among them, Kurata and Aiko were the type who had just reached that standard. Only Taishi Utsunomiya, like Gu Yuan, possessed several Ace Rank Pokémon and was significantly stronger than the other two. He was Gu Yuan's greatest competitor!