Chapter 338: A-Rank Relic – The Wutong's Roost
At those words, most eyes turned toward the screens.
It wasn't rare for trainers from other countries to participate in Huaguo's Youth League.
But Yamamoto Nika's antics had everyone on edge.
The display showed a dozen or so foreign trainers.
There was one from the Beautiful Nation, one from India, one from the Bear Nation.
Four from the Sakura Country.
The rest were from smaller, lesser-known nations.
The main focus, of course, was Yamamoto Nika in the center of the big screen.
This guy might talk tough, but in his own livestream, he'd become cautious and reserved.
He had chosen a small island near a much larger one, not bothering to contest any resources, lying low like a rat.
All bark, extremely careful in action.
And he clearly understood that surviving the preliminaries meant playing it safe.
"Tch. That Sakura fool's finally learning to cower."
Some looked worried.
"This isn't good news. Let's hope we find him before Day Four."
Based on past preliminaries, the final list of candidates usually started shaping up by the fourth day.
So if they wanted to deal with Yamamoto before he reached the main bracket, sooner was better.
Others turned their attention to the remaining three Sakura contestants.
"What about the other three from Sakura?"
"Their Pokémon are only early Master-tier. They won't make much impact in the finals."
So they were quickly dismissed.
"Let's hope this kid delivers…"
The suited League official who had been skeptical earlier was now staring intently at Hikaru's screen.
Oran Islands.
[A-Rank Relic – Wutong's Roost]
Said to be a leaf shed from the sacred wutong tree where Moltres once rested. Increases the fire-type moves of fire Pokémon by 10–30% (depending on tier: Gym Leader to Champion).
Looking at the relic they'd just uncovered, Hikaru nodded with satisfaction.
An A-rank relic related to fire-types—
To get something like this on Day One was already a massive win.
This prelim, it seemed, was turning into a treasure hunt.
And with his current sensitivity to relics, no treasure could escape his wave-sensing.
"Wow, impressive!"
Hu Yan'er whistled as she watched Hikaru casually dig out the relic from beneath an unremarkable Oran tree.
As a fire-specialized trainer, she had a keen sense for these things.
But even she had to touch the tree, feel its grain, and analyze before she could sense its uniqueness.
Meanwhile, Hikaru had sensed it from miles away.
That kind of ability…
"Perfect for treasure hunting—or, uh, plundering…"
"Not bad, not bad," Hikaru said modestly, scratching his nose.
"Alright, let's harvest the fruit from this tree too. It's the oldest fruiting tree on this island."
This particular Oran tree was over 56 years old.
It was the only one on the island bearing B-rank quality fruit.
Once the safe zones started shrinking, food shortages were bound to happen.
Each Pokémon battle drained massive amounts of energy.
And in these islands, trainers weren't allowed to bring energy cubes.
The wild Oran berries were plentiful, but low-quality ones wouldn't replenish much energy.
In one battle, they might need to eat dozens of low-grade berries.
Better to stockpile high-quality ones early!
For Ghost-type trainers? Well, they could just sacrifice themselves…
"Okay! All picked!"
This one tree alone had yielded about 500 berries.
Technically, Hikaru could've asked Latias to pick them all instantly with Psychic.
But for the sake of team equity, he had everyone pick their share.
After Hu Yan'er fed one to her Blaziken and got a nod of approval, she grinned non-stop.
"There's a saying, right? Having an old man at home is like having a treasure.
Well, it's not the same, but having Hikaru as a teammate?
Feels. Just. Like. That."
Ye Meishuang gave a small nod of agreement.
It was the unspoken confirmation of Hikaru's worth as a team leader.
And in any team, someone had to lead.
Without doubt, from the moment they had teamed up, this leadership role had quietly landed on Hikaru.
"..."
Sakura pouted slightly from the side.
Her emotions were mixed.
On one hand, she was proud—her "brother" was that capable.
On the other, she couldn't help but feel uneasy about Hu Yan'er's admiring glances.
Maybe it was because of that over-the-top introduction, but something about Hu Yan'er's gaze felt too appreciative.
So, Sakura scooted closer and hooked her arm around Hikaru's, as if staking her claim.
Hikaru blinked, tugged slightly—
But she didn't let go.
He looked down and saw her determined expression…
So he simply let her cling on and continued to use his Wave Power to scout the island.
A moment later, he shook his head.
"Let's go. There's nothing else here."
The island wasn't small, but the strongest wild Pokémon on it was just a Gym-level Snorlax.
And it was currently snoozing away without a care.
"Okay. You're the boss," Ye Meishuang nodded.
Now that everyone trusted Hikaru's judgment, no one objected.
Hikaru mounted Latias,
Sakura and Ye Meishuang got on Dragonite,
And Hu Yan'er climbed onto Ye Meishuang's Dragonite too.
Both Latias and Dragonite were apex aerial Pokémon.
In this ocean terrain, they didn't need to worry—
Unless a Champion-tier sea monster with anti-air capabilities emerged from the depths.
As they left the island, Hikaru's Wave Power scanned the surrounding area—
Almost immediately, he sensed multiple battles breaking out.
It made his eye twitch.
The prelims had just started, and already people were clashing?
Well, it made sense.
With a limited number of islands, it was inevitable that multiple teams would land on the same or neighboring islands.
And given the rules, peaceful coexistence was practically impossible.
Once the chain of suspicion began, even teammates might turn on each other.
For now, Hikaru's top priority was finding Zhongqing University's main squad.
Thanks to his Wave Power and Latias's speed—
Not even thirty minutes later, he detected their presence on a small island nearby.
To be continued…
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