The day before the race began, Rowan was added to a new group chat—it was made up of people who were going to participate in the competition the next day.
There were only a dozen or so people in the group chat, including a teacher responsible for leading the team.
Soon after, the group admin stated that all the participants from their university were present and announced the meeting time for the next day. The university would provide transportation to take them to the competition venue.
"Where are you?"
Seeing that Zhang Lin wasn't in the group, Rowan was a bit curious why he wasn't in it, so he sent him a private message.
"In the dorm, where else?"
"I mean, why aren't you in the race group chat?"
"I didn't sign up. Why would I be in the group?"
"?"
Rowan sent a question mark emoji. Sometimes, sending a question mark doesn't mean you have a question—it means you think the other person is the one with the problem.
All the competition info had come from Zhang Lin, and yet he wasn't even participating—that struck Rowan as odd.
"I never said I was joining. I figured your Meowscarada was so strong, you might be interested. I've only got a Weavile—entering would just be for the sake of filling up numbers."
At least Meowscarada's body type was similar to a human's. But Weavile's child-like size... yeah, that really wouldn't be suitable.
"Good luck. I'll come cheer you on."
Switching back to the group chat, Rowan recognized a few of the people. They were currently discussing the number of participants.
[Why are there so few of us?]
[It's an entertainment event. Pretty normal.]
[But the prize money isn't less than a Gym Battle, right? Does the Battle Department look down on it?]
[Think about the timing. The Battle Department folks are all preparing for the Pangoro Academy Cup. The ones not competing are busy as sparring partners. Who has time for this?]
A user with the ID "What Did Mother Machamp Do Wrong?" seemed to know more information and was answering everyone's questions.
[I also heard that the Varsity Team and the Battle Department people are kind of annoyed. Apparently, a 'gilded rookie' got parachuted into the team...] [TN: Gilded means making someone quite ordinary seem special.]
"Meow? (A gilded rookie... are they talking about us?)"
"If there is no problem with Old Liu's efficiency, then they're probably talking about us. But it doesn't matter what they say."
"Meow~ (If they try to stir up trouble, I'll beat them all up.)"
"Ahem, try not to start anything right away—we're still teammates, after all. Even though our main goal is the singles battles, if we end up in doubles, we can use them as meat shields."
Doubles battles are far more complex than singles. With four Pokémon in the arena, the number of variables increases dramatically compared to just two.
The Varsity Team, currently preparing, had no idea that this parachuted-in teammate was already planning to use them as meat shields.
But if they actually knew the full story, they might volunteer to be meat shields.
Winning the match benefits everyone, and in a situation where rewards are split evenly, even if the team members don't get along, they'd still fight their hardest to protect the one who could deal damage in a team battle—
That is, assuming they believe this person could deliver.
After confirming the gathering time and location, Rowan set a new alarm and stopped paying attention to the group chat.
Even though they were from the same university, this wasn't the Academy Cup, where everyone was in the same team; these people were also his opponents.
This competition didn't care about team rankings or anything like that. No one was sharing competition experience—just making small talk about nothing. After a few minutes, the group chat went quiet.
Unlike usual, Rowan skipped his nightly training session and went to bed early, ready to face the next day's competition.
The university's bus was already in place. Rowan and Nekomi arrived early, found a seat in a back corner, and began waiting.
People trickled in one after another, and the bus eventually set off toward the venue.
After boarding, Nekomi curled up next to Rowan on the bus seat.
Since they boarded early and were sitting in the back, they didn't attract much attention.
It wasn't until they got off the bus to pick up their number tags that someone noticed Rowan had brought a Meowscarada along.
It wasn't really a big deal—but in another group chat, someone with a familiar ID sent a message:
What Did Mother Machamp Do Wrong?: "Guys! I think I just found the gilded poser!"
"Brother Han, you're amazing; you got the information so fast?"
"Just lucky. He's also participating in the race, and we were on the same bus."
Similar to how Old Liu had identified Rowan, this young comrade had also heard the rumor that the gilded poser had a Meowscarada.
They raised their hand to snap a photo, planning to post it in the group as proof—but just as they were about to send it, their phone mysteriously vanished.
"Meow... meow... (What are you trying to do, secretly taking pictures of us?)"
Nekomi's voice was now lowered slightly. The one most familiar with this voice was probably the Haunter from the exam hall that day.
It had experienced firsthand what a "death threat" from a Pokémon felt like.
In theory, all Pokémon share a common language, and many Trainers can understand what their own Pokémon are saying. But when it comes to unfamiliar Pokémon, it's much harder for them to grasp the meaning behind those words.
So, the person who had just taken the photo could only watch as Nekomi deleted the picture they had just taken, then returned the phone to its original position.
That wasn't the end of it—after doing all this, Nekomi even traced a line across her neck.
"Nekomi! What are you doing? Come get your number tag!"
"Meow~ (Coming~)"
Nekomi hopped away cheerfully, leaving the Mother Machamp classmate standing there in a daze.
"Did I just… get threatened by a Pokémon? No, wait—how did that Meowscarada even get over here? How did it spot me? And how is it using a phone so smoothly?"
One question after another flooded their mind, until the repeated dinging of notifications from their phone snapped them back to reality.
[Brother Han? Brother Han? Why aren't you replying?]
[Yeah, let us see what that gilded poser looks like.]
[Quiet! I think we misjudged him. He might not be gilded—he could be a carry!] [TN: The term "carry" refers to a person who takes on a significant role in leading their team to victory and carrying the match or game.]
[???]
[If you've been kidnapped, blink twice. We'll observe a moment of silence for you.]
[Get lost! Just watch the race live stream; you'll understand soon enough!]
Rowan had no idea that people had already started talking about him. What he really wanted to know was what Nekomi had just gone off to do.
"Where did you go just now?"
"Meow~ (Mouse hunting.)"
"Mouse hunting? Raticate?"
"Meow~ (The one with the mask. She was secretly taking pictures of us just now.)"
Nekomi pointed to the person she had just had a friendly little "conversation" with, who seemed to notice them at that moment. She gave a slightly awkward wave before heading off to line up.
Yes, this classmate was a girl. Although her name wasn't exactly proper, in the face of abstraction, all living beings are equal—it doesn't really affect anything. [TN: I think Brother Han is just a nickname for her.]
At most… it made Rowan a little suspicious of Nekomi's motives.
"You're sure… it was because of the photo, and not because of the gender?"
"Meow~"