[Pokémon: Snivy]

  [Gender: Female]

  [Ability: Contrary]

  [Aptitude: Red]

  [Individual Values: HP (24), Attack (21), Special Attack (26), Defense (25), Special Defense (24), Speed (31)]

  [Strength: Level 19]

  [Moves: Leaf Blade, Leaf Tornado (Triple), Glare, Vine Whip, Leech Seed, Grassy Terrain]

  [Friendship: 85 (It trusts you deeply.)]

  [Happiness: 75 (Today’s the day for battles! Will there be any strong opponents?)]

  July 15th.

  Ethan woke up early, ready for the big day. He fed Snivy one final Rare Candy to prepare it for the Baby Cup.

  With that, Snivy’s strength, previously fluctuating between Levels 18 and 19, solidified at Level 19—its peak for this stage.

  Moreover, according to Snivy, it was beginning to sense a faint urge to evolve. The exact timing, however, remained uncertain.

  After a quick inspection of the plantation to ensure everything was in order, Ethan felt reassured. With Snivy in his arms, he headed toward the Wutong Town bus stop.

  By the time they arrived, a small crowd had already gathered at the stop. The bus bound for Wutong City pulled up shortly after, its horn sounding a sharp "beep-beep."

  Ethan was just about to board when a hurried shout made him pause. He turned with a resigned expression, gesturing to the driver to wait.

  "Hold on! Someone’s coming!"

  Emma sprinted toward the bus, panting heavily as she reached the door. She was about to thank the driver for waiting when she looked up and saw Ethan’s “look at this fool” expression.

  Unfazed, she grinned brightly.

  "Ethan?" she exclaimed with excitement.

  "Get on. Aren’t you heading to the Baby Cup today?" Ethan said casually before finding a seat.

  Understanding that it was Ethan who had stopped the bus for her, Emma chuckled to herself and eagerly followed him. She plopped down next to him, a wide grin still plastered on her face.

  "Ethan, how did you know the Baby Cup is happening today?" Emma asked, her curiosity piqued.

  Ethan opened the window, letting the cool morning breeze wash over him and blow away any lingering drowsiness. "Because I’m competing too," he replied nonchalantly.

  Emma’s cheerful grin froze instantly.

  "What? Are you serious?"

  "Of course I’m serious. Do I look like the kind of guy who jokes about this?" Ethan responded with a calm smile.

  Hearing this, Emma’s face fell, and her expression turned tangled with frustration. "How could this happen? Now I’ve got no chance at first place!"

  If this had been earlier, she might have still had the courage to challenge Ethan’s Snivy.

  But after witnessing Snivy’s Leaf Tornado and Grassy Terrain in action, any shred of that courage had completely vanished.

  And so, for the rest of the bus ride, she was immersed in her own sorrowful thoughts.

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  Once they got off the bus, however, Emma’s expression brightened again. Her confidence returned as she declared, "Fine, I might not get first place, but second place isn’t bad either!"

  Ethan rubbed his forehead helplessly.

  This kid really is so simple and optimistic, he thought, watching Emma’s unshakable hopefulness about life.

  But perhaps that wasn’t such a bad thing.

  To become a capable Trainer, being a bit na?ve early on wasn’t necessarily a weakness. After all, Pokémon themselves were inherently straightforward creatures.

  It reminded Ethan of a certain “foolish one” from his memories.

  This kind of innocence would help Emma earn the favor of most Pokémon in her early days as a Trainer.

  By the time they reached the entrance of Woofmart, the place was already packed with people.

  A lively group of teenagers and young adults had gathered, chattering excitedly about the upcoming Baby Cup.

  Around them stood all sorts of Pokémon: Bellsprout, Rattata, Pidgey, Psyduck, Caterpie... and, well, another Pidgey.

  The difference in strength among the Pokémon was glaringly obvious.

  Ethan couldn’t help but muse with a smirk, If a Caterpie runs into a Pidgey, is it worried about becoming its lunch?

  "Ethan?!"

  A somewhat surprised voice called out from the crowd.

  Turning toward the source, Ethan saw a boy with a 3:7 side-swept hairstyle, wearing overalls, standing out quite prominently among the group.

  "Kun…?" Ethan blinked before breaking into a smile.

  It was Kun Xu, a classmate of his. The two weren’t particularly close but were on nodding terms. Kun was known for his love of basketball and singing.

  "You’re here for the Baby Cup too? I thought you were busy taking over your family’s plantation," Kun said, clearly surprised.

  Ethan chuckled. Kun wasn’t the only one taken aback—after all, Ethan’s reputation at school had always been stellar.

  For one, he was academically gifted and was always willing to help classmates with questions. That, combined with his clean-cut, handsome looks, had earned him the title of "Class Heartthrob" among the girls.

  However, his reluctance to choose a starter Pokémon and participate in Trainer-related exams had puzzled many. Despite that, he had achieved a top-ten ranking in the provincial liberal arts exams during the college entrance tests.

  As for the Trainer Assessment Exam, Ethan had scored a solid zero.

  But with his stellar academic performance in the liberal arts, he could easily gain admission to any university he wanted.

  "The prize money looks pretty tempting, so I thought I’d give it a shot," Ethan replied with a casual smile.

  "Is this your Pokémon?" Kun asked, his curiosity piqued as he looked at the Snivy cradled in Ethan’s arms.

  "Yep," Ethan nodded, then glanced at the orange-red chick at Kun’s feet. "Your Torchic looks like it’s close to evolving, huh?"

  [Pokémon: Torchic]

  [Gender: Male]

  [Ability: Blaze]

  [Aptitude: Blue]

  [Individual Values: HP (15), Attack (21), Special Attack (24), Defense (17), Special Defense (19), Speed (24)]

  [Strength: Level 17]

  [Moves: Ember, Peck, Quick Attack, Flame Charge, Sand Attack]

  [Friendship: 15 (It seems to vaguely recognize you.)]

  [Happiness: 50 (When is that Torchic Bakery at the entrance finally going to open?)]

  Hearing Ethan’s compliment, Kun’s face lit up with pride, though he feigned a regretful tone as he said, "Sigh, don’t even mention it. I was confident I could take first place in this Baby Cup, but then I found out the host—Woofmart’s owner—gave his high school freshman kid a Lapras! And not just any Lapras, but one at the peak of its normal stage! How am I supposed to compete with that?"

  "Looks like I’ll have to settle for second place…"

  "That’s a real shame," Ethan said with a sympathetic nod, his face mirroring Kun’s disappointment.

  A Lapras, especially in a Baby Cup, was a tough contender. Its base stats alone gave it a natural advantage that seemed unfairly overpowered for the competition.

  But Ethan wasn’t overly concerned.

  Over the past few days, Snivy had been eating Energy Blocks crafted from Special Scale Berries to boost its special attack aptitude, as well as Life Fruit Energy Blocks to enhance its overall aptitude.

  So, who would win or lose? That remained to be seen.

  To be honest, after discovering how valuable his crops were, Ethan wasn’t all that interested in the competition prize money anymore.

  But what he did care about was Snivy’s feelings.

  The little Pokémon had been working so hard for this competition.

  Its mastery of the Double Leaf Tornado was already rock solid!

  Snivy had even managed to pull off a Triple Leaf Tornado, though it was still a bit unpolished.

  There was no way Ethan was going to let all its hard work go to waste, right?