FVN Chapter 339 339: The First Round
Chapter 339 339: The First Round
Fang Youzhi stared blankly at Lin Feng.Only when Lin Feng turned around and gave him a gentle smile did he manage to force out an awkward one in return.
The other person watching Lin Feng closely was Li Bing, who was still hovering in the air atop his Aegislash.
He looked at Lin Feng, momentarily stunned, then the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily.
So far, he had commentated four tournaments.
In those events, there had been a girl in three of them, and a boy in the other three.
And almost every time, they had taken first place.
From the Kids Cup, to the Youth Cup, and now… the Zongheng Championship.
Wherever he went, they seemed to show up too.
They had already won twice. Surely… they would not take first place again this time, right?
Li Bing shook his head internally.
What a joke.
This was the Zongheng Championship, the highest-level trainer competition in the Eastern League.
Yes, that young man was strong, but judging from that Snivy, he had only been a trainer for about half a year.
That was still far too short.
Even so, Li Bing guessed that Lin Feng would still place quite high in the end.
After all, that Goodra and that Serperior were genuinely powerful.
...
On the massive virtual screen, portraits spun rapidly as participants were paired off.
Once matched, each competitor instinctively scanned the crowd, trying to locate their first opponent.
Lin Feng's image flashed across the screen.
His first opponent had been decided.
He turned his head and saw a thin young man wearing glasses.
He looked to be around twenty-five or twenty-six.
There was no Pokémon by his side.
The man quickly locked eyes with Lin Feng and gave him a friendly smile.
Lin Feng returned the gesture calmly.
At the same time, the brief flash of his portrait on the big screen caused a ripple among some of the audience.
"Who was that?"
"That looked familiar… was that Lin?"
"Wait, look closely. That really is him! That Alolan Ninetales, and that Serperior… isn't that Lin from Wutong Town?"
Although the audience came from all over the League, there were still quite a few people from the Wutong area.
"So he's actually competing! No wonder his shop closed on the 15th. Turns out he's been busy challenging gyms and preparing for the championship!"
Someone nodded, convinced their guess had been spot on.
Another person quickly zoomed in with their camera, snapped a photo of Lin Feng, and uploaded it to their social account.
They were eager to spread the news to his followers.
"Hey, what Pokémon do you think he'll use? Serperior, Alolan Ninetales… what else? Will Milotic appear?"
Two spectators from Wutong City sat together, chatting excitedly.
"I'd say that giant Pidgeot too, and that road-building Dragonite… oh, and that unusual Gardevoir!"
"Ah… now that you mention Gardevoir, I remember. It was so beautiful. That battle was incredibly elegant…"
"I want a rare Gardevoir like that too…"
…
Whatever the audience was thinking, Lin Feng himself simply waited quietly for the match arrangements.
Before coming here, he had actually considered whether he should hide his identity.
He had a feeling this tournament would not only make him well-known, but also cause a huge stir because of some of his more unique Pokémon.
After thinking it through, he gave up on the idea.
There was no hiding it.
His Pokémon were far too distinctive.
Even a mask would not conceal them.
Besides…
Next year, his berry orchard would begin producing in full.
His ranch would soon be able to mass-produce energy cubes.
This was actually a good opportunity to promote it during the Zongheng Championship.
Hopefully, the Champion would not mind.
"All right, as you can see, the first round matchups have been decided. Without further delay, let's wish all contestants the best in their battles!"
As Li Bing finished speaking, some participants left the field while others moved toward the nearby spectator stands to watch the upcoming matches.
As competitors, they only needed to report to the waiting area before their own match began.
Until then, they were free to stay in their rooms or sit in the stands.
Lin Feng, accompanied by Serperior and Alolan Ninetales, chose not to return to his room and instead headed to the stands.
He wanted to get a sense of the competition first.
The opening match was between a young woman and a burly man.
Before the top 32, all matches were 3v3 singles.
This format made predicting strategies quite difficult.
Trainers who made it this far usually had at least six Pokémon.
But which ones they chose to send out depended entirely on strategy.
If you sent out your strongest Pokémon and it got countered, things could turn very bad.
There was another key factor as well.
So far, aside from a few who had brought their Pokémon out openly, most competitors were still unknown quantities.
Confident trainers might choose to hide their strongest Pokémon in the early rounds.
Those less confident would have no choice but to send out their best immediately.
Lin Feng could not tell which type these two belonged to.
After a brief exchange, both sides released their Pokémon.
Judging from their serious expressions, these were likely their most trusted partners.
The burly man's Pokémon was an Aggron.
Its entire body was covered in black, rock-like armor, with sharp white horns protruding from its head. Its eyes glowed faintly blue.
Its trainer had a sallow complexion and wore a dirt-stained yellow shirt, suggesting he likely worked long-term in mining areas.
This Aggron was his most reliable companion.
Lin Feng quickly checked its stats.
[Pokémon: Aggron]
[Gender: Male]
[Ability: Heavy Metal]
[Potential: Purple]
[IVs: HP (25), Attack (29), Sp. Atk (24), Defense (31), Sp. Def (10), Speed (9)]
[Level: 52–53]
[Moves: Headbutt, Tackle, Harden, Metal Claw, Iron Defense, Autotomize, Iron Tail, Metal Sound, Flamethrower, Hyper Beam…]
When the massive steel giant, over two meters tall, landed on the battlefield, it immediately drew a wave of astonished gasps from the crowd.
But when the girl released her Pokémon…
Those gasps turned into sighs of regret.