Chapter 340: Eliminating Yamamoto Nika
The region wasn't that large to begin with, and since Hikaru had planned to begin his search from the outer perimeter…
He was honestly surprised that the first direction he chose brought him straight to Yamamoto Nika. And when he saw that the other party hadn't even summoned any Pokémon?
That made it even better.
For a trainer like Yamamoto—who had no real bond with his Pokémon—there wasn't even a need for a proper fight.
In an instant, Latias, Dragonite, and the rest of Hikaru's team closed in from the skies.
One moment, Yamamoto Nika had been smiling smugly to himself—
The next, his expression froze in utter disbelief.
Hikaru hovered above, staring mockingly at the short Sakura Nation trainer—barely 150 cm tall.
This guy had been trending all week. Every day, there was something new about him.
And now, catching him was almost too easy. They didn't even need to battle.
"'Huaguo's idiot trainers,' huh?"
Hikaru repeated in awkwardly-accented Japanese.
He didn't wait for a reply.
With a simple wave of his hand, Latias's Psychic exploded outward like a tsunami, crashing down on Yamamoto.
At that moment, the Rotom drone by his side quickly deployed a protective energy barrier.
This emergency shield—part of the standard-issue wristbands given to all participants—was designed to withstand a full-power attack from a Master-level Pokémon.
But under Latias's force…
The shield didn't last a second.
Cracks formed with the sound of shattering glass.
Then, it burst completely.
Rotom's notification blared into the open air.
[Youth League Preliminaries: Contestant Yamamoto Nika has exhausted his energy shield. His qualifications are now revoked. Please vacate the island within 30 minutes. If flight assistance is needed, remain at your current location.]
As a former webnovel author, Hikaru knew how important it was to finish the job cleanly.
So he hadn't hesitated. He immediately revoked Yamamoto's qualifications.
"You—You people! How did you find me?!"
Yamamoto finally snapped out of his stupor, staring at the dozen trainers gathered before him.
He was stunned.
He hadn't even summoned his Pokémon.
He'd soaked in saltwater, coated himself in special scent-masking sap—
Even a tracker Pokémon like Growlithe or Rockruff would have needed to be right next to him to catch his scent!
Before the prelims, he'd done his research on every participant who might have such Pokémon.
Then he'd chosen this exact island to hide on.
Yet less than an hour after the match began, he'd been caught?
From beside Hikaru, Bai Yuecheng dismounted from Metagross, looking baffled.
"Wait… that's it?"
He had expected a proper clash with a supposedly Master-level trainer.
Something intense. Explosive.
But Hikaru had ended it the moment he landed.
"Ahem…" Hikaru cleared his throat, "The situation was urgent. It's best to cut off the root of the problem as quickly as possible."
"Yeah, but still… that was weirdly quick," Bai Yuecheng muttered.
After all, the coach's instructions had been to let them handle the disqualification after Hikaru located Yamamoto.
Instead, Hikaru had done the whole job solo.
Beside them, Chen Chen looked at Hikaru with admiration.
"Incredible…"
No wonder Coach Gu had insisted on bringing Hikaru in.
Under thirty minutes.
If it had been left to them, it might have taken days, or even failed entirely.
They had discussed backup plans—like using Metagross's massive Psychic field to stir up entire islands, then having Arcanine search for scared Pokémon reacting unusually.
But Yamamoto hadn't even summoned a single Pokémon—
So there was no scent to track.
Without a clue, he would have been impossible to find.
"Baka! I knew it! You cheaters must have gotten insider information!" Yamamoto screamed as Latias held him down.
His face twisted with rage.
"I'm sure someone leaked my location in the livestream! There's no way you found me without cheating!"
His expression grew manic.
"Baka yarou! You call Huaguo a land of honor?! Using underhanded tactics in an official competition?! Shameless!"
The Sakura Nation's strategy had indeed been meticulous.
Let Yamamoto steal the spotlight before the prelims.
Then hide and survive.
But what they hadn't accounted for… was Hikaru's Aura powers.
Bai Yuecheng, whose temper was already thin, walked over and kicked Yamamoto in the backside.
"Shut the hell up. One more word and I'll feed you to the sea."
While trainers couldn't inflict serious injury during prelims, minor scuffles were fair game.
"Agh!"
Yamamoto shrieked like a dying rat, crumpling to the ground.
His face scrunched into a pitiful expression as drool ran from the corner of his mouth.
Hikaru winced.
That angle had been… brutal.
But now that the mission was complete, he turned toward the upperclassmen.
"Senior brothers, senior sister—Yamamoto's been dealt with. If there's nothing else, we'll take our leave?"
He was itching to go treasure-hunting again.
This whole region was practically a goldmine.
Team leader Pan Shanyu spoke with a thoughtful tone.
"So soon? Want to team up? We're all from the same school. Wouldn't hurt to watch each other's backs. If we work together, I can guarantee we'll all reach the finals."
Hikaru glanced at his team.
All eyes were on him.
He scratched his cheek and said politely:
"Cough… no need. Better not break any rules. Wouldn't be fair to the other participants…"
"Alright then. We'll part ways here."
Pan Shanyu nodded, respecting the decision
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