Afternoon.
Second round of the qualifying tournament.
Baimu didn't expect to run into a "familiar face."
"Yo yo yo yo—it's you!?"
As soon as his opponent saw his face clearly, the rap stopped mid-flow, and he broke character, turning green in embarrassment.
"What a coincidence."
He chuckled, not anticipating he'd run into Brother Rap in the qualifying rounds.
That time was his first battle at the arena, and Brother Rap's clumsy battle skills left a very vivid impression on him.
"Ah ya ya ya ya! I'm going to avenge my previous defeat!"
Rap Brother, seeming to sense the teasing in Baimu's eyes, was burning with anger and shouted dramatically like he was in a play. He didn't resort to his previous underhanded tricks, pulling out his ultimate trump card right away—
Loudred.
The booming Pokémon, with blue-violet skin and speaker-like ears, had a massive mouth occupying two-thirds of its torso, with its oral cavity's interior clearly visible.
Rap paired with "sound system"? What a combo!
Baimu knew his opponent came from a second-tier group called the Demon Sound Team, whose members were mostly into rock and rap music, and that Loudred was their standard Pokémon.
Just like Quicksand Team's Geodude and Roggenrola, and Evil Dog Team's Houndour and Poochyena.
What a pity.
"Digging."
Baimu intentionally placed Lairon behind him, turning to give it a knowing look.
Lairon understood, charging toward Loudred with fierce momentum. As it reached midway, its front claws lit up with a yellow glow, turning the hard ground into a cake-like softness.
An array of gravel flew wildly as its massive figure quickly burrowed underground.
"Ha ha ha! Foolish move!"
Rap Brother wasn't startled but instead rejoiced, shouting, "Use Ultrasonic on the hole! Let it know that even if it hides underground, the sound will follow the air and spread in front of it!"
"Thud!"
Loudred, shaking its speaker-like ears, emitted extremely loud noise while bouncing around, quickly arriving at the hole Lairon had dug.
However, not only it, but even Rap Brother didn't expect.
Lairon hadn't dug elsewhere at all; it was clearly and unmistakably squatting at the entrance of the hole, waiting for it!
Normally, Trainers should sense enemy Pokémon's movements through ground vibrations, but such a technique was too challenging for the novice-like Brother Rap.
"Iron Head!"
Baimu saw Loudred in position and effortlessly shouted over its vibrating noise. Fortunately, Loudred hadn't fully activated its skill, and Lairon could hear his call.
Of course, even if it hadn't heard, Lairon would have attacked when the enemy was in place.
Under the silver halo, it shot out from underground like a high-speed train, crashing straight into Loudred's enormous mouth!
Bam!
"Oof!"
Loudred's eyes widened, its body involuntarily rolling backward, tangled with Lairon.
Even Rap Brother wore an expression of disbelief.
"Whoa!? Quick—quick, use Uproar to shake it out!"
He yelled in a panic.
Unfortunately, without his command, Lairon had already withdrawn its head and pinned down Loudred with its reinforced weight from the past month.
Dull yellow radiant light emerged from beneath Loudred and produced intense energy waves.
Baimu declared, as if announcing Loudred's death sentence, giving Rap Brother the answer.
"Power of the Earth."
Boom—!!
The ground beneath Loudred shattered, and the surging Ground Attribute energy erupted like a volcano, blasting it and Lairon skyward.
However, compared to the heavily battered former, Lairon effortlessly flipped and landed on the ground.
"Guh-doh!"
"Thud..."
Loudred fell to the ground, revealing a dizzy-eyed expression.
"Lost again..."
Rap Brother slumped in defeat, not expecting that even his ultimate trump card couldn't rival Lairon.
The problem lies with you, not your Pokémon.
Baimu patted Lairon's head without any intention to guide Rap Brother, not wanting to waste such effort.
—
The qualifying tournament was incredibly tense.
Baimu sat in the hall, often hearing complaints and self-praise from his surroundings.
Losers always had a myriad of reasons, from picking the wrong Pokémon leading to their loss, to the opponent being just a tad luckier, even citing not sleeping well last night or not being able to relieve themselves properly as reasons.
In conclusion, they deflect all blame.
Winners' laughter, too, was loud, almost convincing themselves they were champions from other regions with their boasting.
Watching the various scenes in the hall, he found it quite amusing.
Pyrite Town indeed had many novice Trainers like Ash Ketchum from the Unmarked Kanto Era, but there's always a chance of encountering one or two Elite Trainers. Judging Pyrite Town's Trainers from just a couple of matches is unjust.
Flipping through his phone, Baimu wanted to check if Dr. Yamanashi had replied, when suddenly a voice reached his ear.
"Hey bro! This little guy here!"
He turned to see a rather sleazy-looking man standing before him, wrapped in an overcoat.
"Interested in buying some bets? Different Trainers, different odds, and if an underdog advances, your money could multiply by ten or a hundred times! Big win, huh!"
The sleazy man opened his coat, revealing it to be filled with various betting slips.
Baimu showed an intrigued expression, "Do you know which Trainers are competing? Which ones are advancing?"
"Of course! I've got underground connections!"
The sleazy man chuckled, "Wanna buy one? Can't lose, can't be cheated, ask around about my reputation from Lanya Village, who doesn't know? Win, and I'll surely give you the money!"
Lanya Village?
Instinctively, he glanced at the sleazy man's teeth, yep, a mouth full of rotten teeth indeed.
"Got a list?"
"Sure!"
The sleazy man pulled out a crumpled piece of paper filled with tiny writing, "Need me to read it out for you?"
Baimu shook his head, taking a quick look himself and indeed found his name, with quite a favorable odds, and a star drawn next to it.
"What's this star mean?"
"Galarian Rapidash!"
"Huh?"
"It means an unexpected, suddenly emerging powerful contestant! Get what I mean?"
An underdog.
Baimu nodded in understanding, browsed a bit further, then took out two thousand to buy two slips of his own win.
This thing's base amount was a thousand, similar to betting on horses in his past life, much pricier than lottery tickets.
"Thanks for your patronage~"
The sleazy man happily pocketed the money, "Rest assured, my reputation at the Pyrite Arena hasn't been built in a year or two, I won't tarnish my own reputation!"
"Hmm."
Baimu casually responded.
Buying two slips was just for good luck.
The selection for the qualifying tournament was entirely random, who knew if he'd run into some elite Trainer from outside.
Fortunately.
He was overthinking.
The third-round opponent was equally dreadful, not any better than the first one or Rap Brother, and Lairon took down the opponent easily.
After winning.
He even managed to collect twenty thousand in winnings from Lanya Village.
"Want to place another bet?" Lanya Village discreetly coaxed him.
Hearing this, Baimu said, "Then I'll still buy two slips, one thousand each."
"...Two slips?"
"Two slips."
He smiled at Lanya Village, showing no intention of falling into the trap.
Lanya Village thought.
This little ghost is tough to deal with, an ordinary guy would have been hooked by now, is he really that cautious?
Then let's stay put.
Two slips were successfully exchanged for two thousand.
Both sides smiled contently.