Camp Defense

After successfully capturing The Purrloin family, Yuga released them and shared the Costeliacones he had purchased from his system backpack with them.

Having enjoyed Yuga's ice cream, these Pokémon appeared much friendlier. However, Chatot seemed quite reluctant. Ultimately, Yuga promised to buy more for Chatot in the future, which finally eased Chatot's displeasure.

Yuga then took these four Pokémon directly to the Pokémon Center. He transfer them back to the YoYo Day Care and entrusted them to Audino, who was responsible for looking after them.

During his stay in Castelia City, Yuga was occupied with tournament preparations and had little time to care for these four Pokémon, which is why he sent them back to the YoYo Day Care.

One evening, the contents of the first round of the official tournament were finally announced.

While the preliminary rounds were about climbing the tower, the first round of the official tournament was centered around camp defense.

On the rooftop of the Battle Company Building, there would be a simulation space with different simulated ecological environments. All participating trainers would be sent into this simulation space.

Upon entering the space, the trainers would be assigned to different camps. Their task was to defend their camps, and during this defense phase, they would encounter various types of opponents. Trainers who lost control of their camps would be eliminated.

However, unlike the preliminaries, trainers were allowed to form teams in this round. The maximum team size was two trainers, but teammates had to be from the same region; cross-region teams were not permitted.

Of course, trainers who considered themselves strong could choose to defend their camps alone. Those who couldn't find teammates would also have to defend their camps solo. Whether they could successfully advance was their own responsibility.

Some might find this setup unfair because a weaker trainer could partner with a strong one to progress more easily. However, the creators of this challenge had already considered this issue.

A Gym Leader couldn't be too weak in terms of strength, but they also needed skills beyond just battling. Good teamwork and interpersonal skills were equally vital for a Gym Leader's role. This round aimed to assess not only the trainers' strength but also their ability to cooperate effectively.

Gym Leaders held significant authority within a city, equivalent to that of a mayor or town leader. If they faced issues and only relied on themselves, it could lead to major problems. Thus, teamwork was a crucial aspect of this evaluation.

In a room, right after Yuga had finished discussing tomorrow's match with Mayor Ishida and Liliana, there was a knock on the door.

Yuga opened the door and was surprised to find Brawly standing there.

"Good evening. Is it okay if I come in?" Brawly asked.

Yuga stepped aside, making way, and smiled, "Please, come in."

Leading Brawly into the room, Yuga gestured for him to sit down and asked, "Is there something you need?"

Actually, Yuga could already guess Brawly's purpose for coming.

Brawly inquired, "Regarding tomorrow's match, have you found a teammate?"

Yuga shook his head, took a chair, and sat across from Brawly, saying, "Not yet."

Brawly then asked, "How about teaming up with me?"

Yuga chuckled in response, "It would be my pleasure to team up with you."

Among the participating teams from the Hoenn region, aside from Yuga, Brawly had achieved the best results. Yuga had observed Brawly during these days, and he had also seen Brawly's Pokémon. His strength was indeed quite impressive, giving Yuga no reason to decline.

Upon hearing Yuga's reply, Brawly smiled and extended his right hand, saying, "Let's work together."

"Indeed, let's work together," Yuga replied, shaking Brawly's hand.

Afterwards, Brawly didn't leave Yuga's room. Both of them exchanged information and their thoughts about tomorrow's competition. They also gave each other a rough overview of their strengths to facilitate their cooperation on the following day.

The next day, the official tournament arrived as scheduled.

Under a backdrop of celebratory fireworks, numerous spectators, guided by the staff of the Battle Company Building, entered the top-tier seats of the tower.

After all the participating trainers gradually arrived on the top floor of the Battle Company Building, the six regional judges arrived fashionably late.

Yuga observed all the participating trainers present and didn't see any stragglers. They were all paired up, like Viola and Grant, who were good friends and decided to team up.

It seemed they noticed Yuga looking at them, and Viola and Grant both nodded to Yuga as a form of greeting.

There were a total of one hundred participants, forming fifty pairs. Guided by the host's introduction, Yuga and the others learned that the environmental conditions inside the simulation space were genuine. Advanced technology was used to shrink an entire ecosystem, then recreate it artificially.

All participants were not isolated but placed together in a single simulation space. The space was quite vast, as the trainers had to stay in one place to defend their camps, making it difficult to encounter each other.

After a series of speeches and announcements, the competition officially began.

Yuga and Brawly were led to a Baheeyem. A staff member said, "Baheeyem will use Teleport to take you into the simulation space. Once you're there, you'll know what to do."

Yuga and Brawly nodded simultaneously, and then, in the blink of an eye, their surroundings changed.

They found themselves in a dense forest with a small stream gently flowing not far away. Behind them was a stone pillar with a red flag planted on it, bearing the words: "Without moving the flag, protect it from being taken."

Only then did Yuga and Brawly realize that this was their camp defense task.

Meanwhile, Viola and Grant were transported to a desolate desert. Their mission was to protect a water source in a small oasis.

Marlon and a young girl were sent to a miniature volcanic crater with a magma pool. Their task was to guard a fiery red Pokémon egg drifting on the magma's surface.

Sora and another participant found themselves in an open valley filled with various blooming flowers. Their duty was to protect a Apricorns tree laden with fruits.

Other participants received similar camp defense tasks.

During the camp defense phase, each participating trainer could use up to six Pokémon, and there were no restrictions on how many Pokémon they could deploy at once. The total number of Pokémon available for each pair of teammates amounted to twelve.

The entire simulation space was dotted with cameras, allowing the audience to clearly observe the trainers' performances in the ecological park.