-031- Champion of the Rookie King Tournament

"Sorry, Jiang Tao, your dream of becoming the Rookie King may end here." Tong Si turned to Jiang Tao and apologized.

"What?" Jiang Tao was engrossed in commanding his Slowpoke in battle and had no idea what Tong Si was talking about.

"Electabuzz, finish the battle! Use your full power and unleash Thunderbolt, sweep the battlefield!" Tong Si’s voice echoed across the arena.

The trainers still on the sidelines looked at Tong Si in disbelief. What did he mean by that? Did he intend to defeat all of them? Wasn’t that a bit too arrogant?

"Beep beep!" Electabuzz raised its arms in acknowledgment.

In the next instant, Electabuzz’s body crackled with brilliant golden electricity. It released all the energy it had stored. After its recent growth, Electabuzz could store the equivalent of about 250,000 volts.

As all that energy burst forth, thunder boomed, shaking the heavens. Everyone’s gaze was drawn to the center of the battlefield, where Electabuzz stood as the focus of all attention. Accompanied by a buzzing electromagnetic sound, a powerful bolt of lightning crashed down. The two antennae atop Electabuzz’s head continued to generate electricity.

A mighty Thunderbolt collided with the falling lightning from above. The surge of electric energy exploded in an instant!

"Zzzzzzz…" The entire battlefield was filled with electromagnetic noise.

The next second, golden electric energy swept across the field. All the Pokémon present were struck by the intense electromagnetic force.

"Crack crack crack…" Electabuzz kept unleashing Thunderbolt, seemingly tireless.

"Slowpoke…"

"Mareep…"

"Psyduck…"

"Litleo…"

The remaining trainers, not yet eliminated, shouted their Pokémon’s names.

When the golden lightning finally ceased, all their Pokémon had lost the ability to battle.

"What?!" None of them could have imagined that after such a powerful Thunderbolt, only Electabuzz remained standing on the field.

"Beep beep!" Electabuzz stood in the center of the battlefield, hands on its hips, radiating confidence. Despite unleashing such a tremendous storm of electricity, it looked as though it hadn’t spent any energy at all.

"The match is over!"

At that moment, Zhang Shanjie took up the microphone and declared the end of the Rookie King Tournament.

"But this is only the first round of the preliminary battle royale!" one trainer protested loudly.

"But as you can see, only Electabuzz is left on the field. If you can’t even last thirty minutes in the preliminary battle royale, do you really think you qualify for the second round—the top sixteen elimination tournament?" Zhang Shanjie retorted.

Faced with Zhang Shanjie’s challenge, the trainer fell silent, and the others hung their heads without a word.

Indeed, if they couldn’t even survive thirty minutes, did they deserve to enter the second round?

Zhang Shanjie glanced at Tong Si, wanting to scold him. He had hoped Tong Si would win the Rookie King Tournament, but not in such a ruthless manner!

Not letting anyone else into the elimination round? That was a bit too domineering!

"Tong Si, you went too far!" Jiang Tao, standing right beside Tong Si, voiced his displeasure. With his skill, he should have been a shoo-in for the second round. Yet Tong Si had knocked him out as well?

"I already apologized, didn’t I?" Tong Si shrugged innocently.

Jiang Tao finally understood why Tong Si had apologized earlier.

"But… you could have at least spared my Pokémon!" Jiang Tao protested persistently.

"Fine, fine, I’ll treat you to dinner, okay?" Tong Si conceded helplessly.

"No way! Do I care about that meal? How about this… I want to go to Leafy Forest in a few days, and you’ll come with me!" Jiang Tao crossed his arms, refusing to forgive Tong Si unless he agreed.

"Leafy Forest?" Tong Si found the name familiar. To the north of Jiahua City, there was indeed a wild forest by that name, home to many wild Pokémon for trainers to capture.

"Alright, I’ll go with you," Tong Si agreed, remembering he still had a quest to catch his third Pokémon.

"Hmph! And you still owe me that meal~" Jiang Tao grinned, milking the situation for another meal.

Tong Si was speechless—this guy was shameless.

Chuxuanxuan, meanwhile, showed little reaction. When her Mareep’s Power Gem was perfectly countered by Electabuzz, she accepted the difference in their abilities.

"Tong Si, next time… I won’t lose again!" Chuxuanxuan pouted defiantly.

"I’ll wait for your challenge," Tong Si said, bumping fists with her.

After recalling her Mareep, Chuxuanxuan left the arena.

Though she didn’t win the Rookie King Tournament, her Mareep evolved into Flaaffy, which was a rewarding outcome for her.

…

With the tournament ending early, the awards ceremony originally scheduled for tomorrow was held right away. Zhang Shanjie was somewhat at a loss, but the process had to go on.

Staff hurriedly filled Tong Si’s name on the winner’s certificate.

The award ceremony followed.

Most of the contestants stayed, witnessing the birth of the Rookie King.

Zhang Shanjie personally presented the award to Tong Si.

Besides the certificate and the Rookie King trophy, the winner received an Evolution Stone—choosing between Thunder Stone, Fire Stone, or Water Stone.

After some deliberation, Tong Si chose the Thunder Stone.

"Congratulations to our contestant Tong Si, winner of the Rookie King Tournament and recipient of the Rookie King title," Zhang Shanjie announced loudly through the microphone.

Thunderous applause erupted.

"Tong Si, I knew you’d be the Rookie King!"

"Tong Si, can I be your apprentice?"

"Si~ I really like you, would you go out with me?"

"..."

The trainers below the stage shouted their admiration.

Most of them already knew Tong Si—his seventy-eight consecutive victories in recent days had stunned everyone. His victory felt truly deserved.

[Beep·Boop]

[Congratulations, host, for winning the Rookie King Tournament. Reward: 500,000 points.]

[Congratulations, host, for completing the mission: Win the Rookie King Tournament. Reward: Soothe Bell.]

[New mission: Expand JOJO Breeding House.]

The system’s voice sounded as expected.

As Tong Si received the Rookie King title, the rewards arrived promptly.

His points balance had previously been zero, but after winning the tournament, his data panel showed a sudden increase of 500,000 points.

"I never thought winning a tournament would earn me so many points!" Tong Si felt a surge of excitement. If he entered more tournaments, wouldn’t his points skyrocket even faster?

At the same time, Tong Si noticed a bell had appeared in his pocket.

The Soothe Bell!

… (To be continued)