After the preliminaries ended, the remaining ninety countries and their ninety teams would enter a system-generated random bracket for individual 6-vs-6 battles until the final Champion was decided.
As long as you won, you would have your second match scheduled for the next day and so on.
And all of them were 6-vs-6.
The schedule was extremely tight, and it was a huge test for both trainers and their Pokémon.
Sometimes even if you defeated your opponent, if your main team Pokémon suffered injuries too severe to recover within a day, you would not be able to fight in the next, even more intense matches.
You could very easily lose a match simply because your main team Pokémon had not fully recovered.
Therefore, how to arrange the order in which your Pokémon appeared and how many main team Pokémon you had became extremely important.
Tomorrow would be the start of the matches. Julian gathered all ten people into his room and asked, "You've all received your match schedule, right?"
The ten nodded.
"Pierce, your opponent is a trainer from Malasiar. His Pokémon—if they can be killed, kill them."
Malasiar had always been hostile to Drakoria, and during the preliminaries, they had even killed several of Pannar's Pokémon.
As the big brother, Drakoria naturally had to avenge its little brother and recover some dignity for them.
"He won't even get a chance to surrender."
Pierce nodded, his expression carrying a hint of killing intent. As a soldier, he had crossed paths with Malasiar's military in covert operations several times.
One of his comrades had even died at the hands of Malasiar's soldiers.
This time he intended to collect a bit of interest.
"Also, all of you can fight without holding back. As long as your Pokémon don't die on the spot, I can heal them, ensuring they can reappear on the battlefield the next day."
Upon hearing this, their eyes immediately lit up.
They were extremely confident in their abilities. Aside from their own teammates, they were confident even when facing trainers from Celestria or Volkaria.
What they feared was their Pokémon being injured during battle and unable to recover in time.
If they lost because their main team Pokémon couldn't fight due to injuries, it would always feel regretful.
Moreover, the strength of their opponents greatly influenced how far they could advance in the competition.
Fortunately, their luck was quite good. In the first match, none of them encountered trainers from major countries or their own teammates.
As for Julian's words, they had no doubts whatsoever.
Julian spent only one month elevating the four who were at the peak of Elite-level to the early-stage Pseudo-Champion tier, while the six who were already at the Pseudo-Champion tier had their ace Pokémon upgraded by one level.
Julian's miraculous methods left them all in awe.
Therefore, when he said that as long as their Pokémon weren't dead, he could heal them, they didn't doubt him in the slightest.
That statement completely eliminated their last remaining concern.
As trainers, battles were a part of their daily life. But battles always came with injuries—or even death—which was their greatest worry.
"Any more questions?" Julian asked.
At this moment, Ember raised her hand.
"What is it?"
Ember asked with a serious expression, "Did you really ask for an invoice at the red-light district?"
"Pfft—" x3
Asher, Evan, and Rowan couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.
The others also looked uncomfortable, clearly struggling to contain their laughter.
"Can something like that even be reimbursed with an invoice?"
Ember continued on her own, the amusement in her eyes unmistakable, especially when she saw Julian's face darken—which only made her smile wider.
"Believe it or not, I'll throw you into the red-light district right now."
Julian glared at the woman, gritting his teeth.
Only she dared say things like that, relying on the fact that she was his cousin. If anyone else—whether it was Pierce, Asher, or Rowan—had said that, Julian would have punched them on the spot.
But with Ember, he couldn't hit her, and he couldn't win in a war of words either.
It was downright frustrating.
"I was just asking. If you don't want to answer, fine. So petty."
Ember pouted and stopped talking. After all, Julian did look genuinely irritated, and if she kept pushing, there was no telling what he might do.
She also noticed that Celebi was glaring at her angrily.
'Overprotective of its trainer, huh?'
Celebi: 'This woman is too much. If Julian gets mad again, he'll spank me and take away my allowance. I really want Arcanine to bite her to death.'
Taking a deep breath, Julian looked at the others who were still stifling their laughter and said coldly, "Is it that funny?"
'I may not be able to deal with Ember, but I can damn well deal with the rest of you.'
The group immediately shook their heads. They weren't like Ember; they didn't have a "cousin immunity shield."
"Hmph, hurry up and get the hell out of here! And do well in tomorrow's matches. If I have time, I'll come watch."
The ten were spread across different sub-arenas, five having morning matches, five in the afternoon.
Hearing Julian "might" come watch, Asher wondered if he was planning to visit the red-light district again tomorrow. As a fellow man, he truly wanted to say, 'Brother, take me with you!'
And it wasn't just him—in fact, aside from Ember, the other nine, including Pierce, were also curious about what the red-light district actually looked like.
After all, men remained boys until death; their curiosity was always strong.
---
That night, Tina, Love, and Jake's plane also arrived.
The three of them headed straight to the hotel where Julian was staying.
When they reached Julian's hotel room, Love noticed that the door was unlocked and felt a bit annoyed at his carelessness. What if some bad people showed up during the night?
Just as Love was about to push the door open and give Julian a good scolding, voices drifted out from inside the room.
"Celebi, what do you think of this sweater I bought for Love? Isn't it nice?"
"I also saw a hat today that would really suit Love, but the color wasn't right. I'll go check out some others tomorrow."
"Sigh... we've been away from home for so many days. I kind of miss Love's cooking."
Celebi asked curiously, "But doesn't Love always discipline you?"
"You don't understand. Love disciplines me for my own good. She raised me since I was little. In this world, I might not listen to my parents, but I'll always listen to Love."
"Dee!"
Love, who had originally been furious because Julian went to the red-light district, now felt her heart warm instantly as she listened to the conversation between Julian and Celebi.
Forget being angry—she was almost moved to tears.
Love: 'My cub… I really didn't raise you for nothing.'
Jake: 'This brat really has Love wrapped around his finger.'
Tina: 'Love, that brat is manipulating you.'
Both Jake and Tina knew Julian was almost certainly putting on an act, but if they said it out loud, Love would be the first to disagree.
In Love's eyes, Julian was the little one she had raised herself. Whatever he said was right, and he would never lie to her.
"Dee!"
Touched, Love pushed the door open, and happened to see Julian showing Celebi and Jirachi various childhood photos of him together with Love.
Hearing the door, Julian's expression shifted from shock, to surprise, and finally to delight.
"Love, why are you here?!"
*****
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