Chapter 187: End of Preliminary Round!

"How do you feel, Mr. Ace?" 

Leo asked with a smile, glancing at the giant Charizard (Ace's version).

"It feels... amazing!!!"

Woosh!

Two streams of black, smoky flames shot out from Ace's nostrils.

Feeling the overwhelming flame energy surging within him, Ace's eyes blazed like they held an entire world of fire, so intense that anyone who looked into them might feel scorched.

"This is incredible."

Ace clenched his fists and marveled.

He had assumed that Dynamaxing only affected the Pokémon and wouldn't impact the trainer. But when he bonded with his Gigantamax Charizard, he instantly felt a fiery power far greater than what he was used to!

Due to the Dynamax effect, this flame wasn't as versatile as regular Pokémon energy, but its sheer destructive force was several times stronger than before!

From the information now flooding his mind, Ace deduced that Charizard's form had shifted after Gigantamaxing, which altered the focus of its energy.

After some time, Ace and Charizard, having familiarized themselves with their new state, gradually reverted to their original forms, though their expressions still radiated power.

At that moment, Ace even entertained the thought of challenging Garp!

He knew that Garp, lacking a private stash of wealth, could never afford the 1,000-point bond evolution.

In other words, Garp's strength was capped at around level 55 at most.

Honestly...

At that level, combined with Ace's honed physical abilities and mastery of Haki, his real strength was already on par with Cracker, one of Big Mom Pirates' three Sweet Commanders, whom Ace had encountered not long ago.

However, even with such strength, it still felt inadequate against Garp, who could dominate battles at their level.

But with a Dynamax Charizard at an Admiral's level, plus Ace himself as a trainer with strength just shy of that level...

He might not lose to the old man after all!

With that thought, a spark of excitement flashed in Ace's eyes.

For both Ace and Luffy, Garp's Iron Fist had been a source of fear since childhood.

They had always harbored a deep-seated resolve to get stronger as quickly as possible and finally take down the old man!

As these thoughts swirled in his mind, Ace began to imagine pinning Garp to the ground and reveling in his victory.

"Hehe..."

Ace chuckled to himself before quickly regaining his composure.

He wasn't foolish enough to take his fantasies too seriously.

Turning to Leo, Ace asked, "Brother Leo, could you recommend some skills for Charizard that cost around 1,000 points?"

He still had 1,000 points left and didn't plan on saving them, so he figured he might as well spend them all at once.

Hearing Ace's request, Leo began to ponder.

"Skills suitable for Charizard, huh?"

This question stumped Leo.

The issue wasn't that Charizard lacked potential moves, but that skills priced at 1,000 points were generally common and might not significantly enhance Charizard's current power.

After a moment, a new information screen appeared in the virtual interface.

"Mr. Ace, what do you think of this skill?"

After some deliberation, Leo finally suggested a skill widely known in the Pokémon world:

[Move: Iron Tail]

[Type: Steel]

[Effect: Focus energy into the tail, hardening it to the strength of steel. This move deals considerable physical damage and has a chance to penetrate the enemy's defense.]

[Cost: 1,000 points]

[Purchase Requirement: VIP3 or higher]

"Iron Tail?"

Ace was momentarily surprised as he read the move's description.

Charizard had been training for over a year, and Ace had purchased all sorts of workout equipment for him from the store.

Now, Charizard had developed impressive biceps, triceps, pectorals, glutes, abs, and leg muscles.

But Ace had never seen Charizard's flaming tail being trained.

Neither he nor Charizard had paid much attention to it before, but now, seeing this move, Ace suddenly had an epiphany!

Learning Iron Tail would mean eliminating the last weak spot on Charizard's body!

This was a perfect skill for Charizard!

With a glint in his eye, Ace nodded immediately and said, "Brother Leo, this is the one! Please redeem it for me!"

"Oh?"

Seeing Ace's satisfaction, Leo couldn't help but reward his brain cells with a mental cup of cappuccino. He smiled and said, "No problem."

Snap!

With a quick snap of his fingers, a beam of light shot out from Leo's hand and into the center of Charizard's forehead.

At the same time, Ace's points balance, which had just increased, quickly returned to zero.

"So, Mr. Ace, do you have any other questions?" 

Leo asked politely, though his thoughts were already drifting back to his half-eaten steak.

"None at all!" Ace replied with a grin.

Having acquired the Gigantamax ability, all he wanted now was for time to speed up so he could face a powerful opponent as soon as possible!

"I wish you great success in the competition!"

Leo smiled warmly.

With another snap of his fingers, he vanished from Ace's sight.

——

Later that evening, after a satisfying meal, the clock struck 7:30 PM—a socially appropriate time for visits.

Robin and Cobra arrived at Leo's office one after the other.

Robin, needing to save points to resurrect the scholars of O'Hara, purchased a 500-point bond power and left in a hurry, fearing she might be tempted to buy something else if she lingered.

For Robin, the Pokémon League Tournament wasn't her main battlefield.

She didn't need to invest too heavily in this competition.

Her real challenge would be the Pokémon Contest Spectacular happening six months from now!

At this point, there was no need to spend too many points on power-ups.

A few minutes after Robin left, Cobra entered.

Like Robin, Cobra wasn't too concerned about his performance in the Pokémon League Tournament.

Lacking much strength himself, he was mostly participating for the fun of it.

For Cobra, the most important thing was ensuring the prosperity of the Kingdom of Alabasta.

His reason for joining the tournament was similar to Joffrey's—he hoped his citizens could witness their king's power and gain confidence from it.

Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned.

He had embarrassingly lost his first match of the tournament.

Although the outcome of the preliminary round wasn't critical, he still felt humiliated!

Out of frustration, he not only purchased bond evolution but also added three new moves to Suicune for future battles, spending a total of 5,000 points—a whopping 2.5 billion beli!

After Robin and Cobra left, no one else came to Leo for trades.

After all, most of the contestants had already conducted their transactions during the special training period.

  ...

  ...

A Night of Silence

In the blink of an eye, the faint moonlight gave way to the bright morning sun. The air above the clouds was crisp and refreshing.

It wasn't just the clear skies that had everyone in high spirits—it was the anticipation of the second round of the preliminary competition!

Overnight, the concept of "bond evolution" had taken the pirate world by storm, becoming the hottest topic of conversation. If Leo were to create a social media platform akin to 'X' in this world, "bond evolution" would undoubtedly top the trending charts for days on end.

Especially among the physical combat masters of the pirate world, there was an overwhelming sense of excitement and curiosity about bond evolution. Most of these warriors had little regard for Devil Fruits, largely due to their aversion to the sea curse's debilitating effects. Instead, the idea of purchasing a Pokémon and evolving it through bonds to gain special abilities seemed like a safer, more reliable alternative. It offered not just power but also a loyal battle companion—a proposition too good to pass up.

While rumors of Devil Fruits' value at 100 million beli circulated, they were often spread by those who had never actually seen one. The reality was quite different. Even the weakest Zoan-type fruit, like the chicken form, started at 100 million beli in the auction houses. Superhuman-type fruits varied wildly in price depending on their abilities, and any Logia-type fruit, regardless of its power, would never sell for less than a billion beli.

It wasn't uncommon for a powerful Devil Fruit to fetch over a billion beli. So, when people weighed the cost of a Devil Fruit, which came with inherent drawbacks, against the opportunity to gain both an ability and a powerful, trustworthy companion through a Pokémon, the choice was clear—purchasing a Pokémon was a win.

In just one night, discussions and analyses of bond evolution had flooded the streets, and interest in the Pokémon League Conference skyrocketed.

——

Holy Land Marie Geoise

The Five Elders sat in their conference room, watching the day's preliminary battles on a large screen. The current match featured Robin from Group B against Navy Captain Smoker.

The Five Elders frowned in unison. Despite being a Ghost-type, Smoker's Gastly should have had the upper hand against Robin's Psychic-type Espeon. However, with ample resources at her disposal, Robin had trained her Espeon to level 58, nearly 20 levels higher than Smoker's Gastly. Not to mention, Espeon had mastered both Armament and Observation Haki and was more proficient in the Navy's Six Powers than Smoker himself.

Robin effortlessly won the battle without even resorting to bond evolution. Watching Smoker being carried off on a stretcher by two Chansey, the Five Elders' scowls deepened.

"What's going on? Wasn't Smoker supposed to be the top recruit in the Navy training camp? How could he not even scratch the Devil's Child?" one of the Five Elders, who was holding the Shodai Kitetsu, snapped in frustration.

Although Smoker was not particularly favored by the World Government, he represented the Navy—and by extension, the World Government—at the Pokémon League Conference. His defeat was a blow to their image.

The room fell silent; no one had an answer, and no one needed to offer one. The other Four Elders were just as displeased.

Finally, Saint Ju Peter sighed, "With so many intelligence agents out there, has there been no progress at all?"

"Even our agents at the Pokémon League Conference have reported no opportunities to contact the dimensional merchants," Saint Mars responded.

"If this continues, we risk losing control over the world."

"Well..." Saint Warcury paused before continuing, "It's not entirely hopeless. CP9's Spandam recently reported that one of his agents nearly struck a deal with a dimensional merchant on nuS Island in the Grand Line. However, she lacked sufficient resources to maintain long-term contact. Spandam is requesting funds to continue the negotiations."

"CP9?" Saint Nusjuro, in charge of finances nodded. "Spandam may be a sycophant, but the CP9 team's abilities are promising, and their loyalty to the World Government is unquestionable. If they need 10 billion beli to establish contact, so be it. Have him contact me directly."

The Five Elders knew more about dimensional transactions than most, yet fate seemed to play a cruel trick on them—no matter what, their agents couldn't seem to meet a dimensional merchant. Now, with a glimmer of hope, they were determined to seize it at any cost.

With this newfound determination, they silently resolved to provide unwavering support to any agent capable of making progress. As a result, Kalifa, who was calmly watching the tournament from a villa on nuS Island, suddenly found herself under the Five Elders' radar, soon to receive an unprecedented influx of resources.

——

Time Flies

Days passed in the blink of an eye, and the six-day preliminary competition came to an end. The top 16 contestants of the Pokémon League Tournament were announced:

From Group A: Cobra and Joffrey—Joffrey claimed first place with an undefeated record.

From Group B: Robin and Smoker—though Robin easily defeated Smoker, he secured his spot in the top 16 with his Devil Fruit powers in the other matches.

From Group C: Garp and Kuro—Garp's battles were the shortest, with every opponent knocked out by a single punch. The crowd even began chanting "One Punch Man" whenever he appeared. Kuro also won his other battles without much challenge.

From Group D: Usopp and Gur Dede.

From Group E: Sanji and Pap Pao.

From Group F: Nami and Bini Bini.

From Group G: Zoro and Fed X.

From Group H: Ace and AI Nor.

Amidst the cheers of thousands, the preliminary round concluded. Next up was the thrilling knockout stage—the top 8 showdown!

The 16 contestants would now face off, with Leo himself arranging the matchups. This time, Leo made no pretense of impartiality—he was openly manipulating the brackets. The reason was simple: he wanted the world to witness the full, terrifying potential of Pokémon!

(End of this chapter)