Aogiri Arena.

A sharply dressed man in a suit and tie stood astride a Aegislash, microphone in hand.

"Hello to everyone here—and to those watching on TV—welcome to the first Aogiri City Baby Cup Competition, co-sponsored by HappyMart Department Store."

"I’m Kondō Satoshi your commentator for this year’s Baby Cup."

"For all the new Trainers about to embark on their journeys, Pokémon battles are absolutely unavoidable..."

Hayashi Kaede tuned out the rest—it was the standard preamble.

Tournament Rules

The Baby Cup uses an elimination-and-promotion system. The circular grass arena—large enough for Gym-level battles—is divided into nine lime-painted grids, numbered 1 through 9. Since this is a rookie competition, there’s no need for extravagance: first-round matches run simultaneously across all grids.

With 124 players in Round One, there are 62 matches in total—four per grid—to decide who advances to the group stage.

Kaede glanced at the placard in his hand: Group 9, Match 4. Contestants clustered by field. In Group 8, Takagi Megumi stood firm; through the railings he saw Nakamura Sora hovering around her again. This time, Megumi marched to a marshal and filed a complaint—Sora slunk away. Kaede nodded in relief.

"Okay, the competition begins—first-round contestants, please enter your arenas!" Shibata’s call finally ended the warm-up. Kaede’s expression turned formal.

Though titled a "Baby Cup," this tournament truly spans rookies: it’s just over a month before graduation, and by tradition many seniors from Aogiri City Secondary School embark on their first life journey—walking to college and challenging city Gyms along the way. A senior named Mori Haruto even brought a Stage-2 starter at the peak of the Normal rank. With such high-level entries, no outcome is certain.

Since Kaede aimed for first place, he took things seriously, focusing on Group 9’s matchups to gather intel.

Green Caterpie vs. Heracross

On the surface it seemed routine, but Kaede wondered if the Caterpie might hold an Everstone. To be safe, he used his Eye of Exploration:

[Pokémon: Caterpie]

[Gender: Male]

[Ability: Shield Dust]

[Aptitude: White]

[Level: 7]

[Moves: String Shot, Tackle]

"Um?" Kaede muttered. It was just an ordinary green Caterpie. He patted Snivy in his arms.

He checked Heracross—Level 6, no surprises. Snivy’s eyes flickered with disappointment: these Bug-type bouts were too tame.

"Don’t worry," Kaede comforted her. "There must be some expert among so many Trainers."

He scanned the other fields. Group 9 had lowest level by average: Those that are better are at Level 11–12 like Nidoran and Bulbasaur matches; Arena 3 featured Arai Haruki who is already one of the best. Across the arena, a torchic knocked down a Level 12 Spearow with ember—which is the only one match of that caliber on that arena.

By probability, only four or five contestants brought Pokémon at Level 16. The rest felt underpowered. Even Shibata stumbled, his commentary awkward until Spearow’s battle briefly sparked excitement.

"Okay, let’s look at Arena 1: flying-type Spearow versus fire-type Torchic. You can see the Torchic’s Spark attack is powerful—Spearow can’t dodge them all! That Trainer clearly means business. As a last resort spearow uses quick attack—alas, it failed and fell to Torchic ember..."

"Back to Group 9: Caterpie and Heracross have their Silk Threads entangled. Let’s see how their Trainers break the deadlock."

"Go, Caterpie!"

"Stand up, Heracross!"

—Narrator: ...

After a one-minute stalemate, Caterpie’s Trainer commanded Caterpie to use Poison Sting to snip a gap, then bit through the thread—Caterpie delivered the final blow. Spectators behind them were speechless.

Second Round

Group 9: Spearow (Level 9) vs. Rattata (Level 10) → Spearow wins.

Third Round

Group 9: Pichu (Level 13) vs. Gulpin (Level 11) → Pichu wins, thanks to mid-battle evolution.

Just as Kaede and Snivy grew bored, their attention snapped to Field 7.

There, a short, stout boy in casual clothes lounged, a bag of potato chips in hand, looking more like a spectator than a challenger. His opponent: a girl commanding a Level 15 Onix.

When their Pokémon appeared, Shibata swooped down on Aegislash and began his "passionate" commentary:

"Oh my god—Onix, with such a huge body and shiny scales, clearly well bred! In the Baby Cup, Onix’s presence is oppressive. But what will her Trainer send out next? Omg it’s Lapras! Lapras!"

Kaede leaned forward—finally, a match worthy of attention.