The Path of a Genius to Becoming a Pokémon Champion

When the boy shouted, everyone at the registration area immediately turned their attention to Arthur.

At another counter a few meters away, a few young people who didn't have merits and were just planning to visit the public areas of the mountain looked over, and one of them immediately cried out in surprise.

"Arthur? Are you Arthur?! The Best Rookie of this year's league, Arthur?!"

Arthur paused for a moment, then gave a silent nod.

At this moment, he once again felt the immense influence of competitive Pokémon battling in this new era.

Before, whether he was an internet celebrity or a guest on a TV show in the Star Brilliance Alliance, it had never brought him much attention in his daily life.

There were too many internet celebrities in this era. If he didn't deliberately point it out, very few people would recognize him.

But now, it was different!

The influence that came with being a competitive star was far greater than anything before!

This was the first time he had been instantly recognized in person.

If nothing else, the title of Best Rookie really carried some weight!

In the next moment, a crowd of people swarmed around Arthur.

"Oh my gosh! It really is Arthur! He's so handsome! Arthur, can I have your autograph?"

"Um… can I take a picture with you?"

Even the young lady who had just been registering Arthur, after snapping out of her daze, cursed herself for being so slow. She had looked at his ID and hadn't even made the connection. She quickly grabbed a pen and paper and joined the army of autograph seekers.

This left the family of three, who had just been suggested to travel with Arthur, feeling a bit awkward.

The little boy who had first recognized Arthur, however, remained calm. He didn't join the crowd asking for an autograph. Instead, he stood coolly to the side, feigning disdain with a "tch."

"Tch, what's the big deal? He's just the Best Rookie."

After the sudden autograph session, Arthur still accepted the staff's suggestion and went up the mountain with the family of three.

Along the way, although Arthur didn't know why the boy seemed so unwilling to talk to him, the middle-aged couple was very friendly, making small talk with him.

From their conversation, Arthur learned the purpose of their trip—to visit a Pokémon they had once released into the valley.

But Arthur still didn't quite understand.

"Why would you release a Pokémon?"

Fortunately, this couple didn't deliberately keep him in suspense like the taxi driver.

"He was our eldest son's Pokémon. Later, our son passed away from an illness. He was unwilling to accept anyone else as his master, so we had no choice but to release him here."

As they spoke, the middle-aged couple's expressions turned sorrowful.

At last, Arthur finally understood why the taxi driver had acted so world-weary and said he hadn't seen enough of the world.

So that was the reason…

This was something he had never experienced in his past life.

Two hundred years ago, the number of Pokémon in the human world was still too small. So even if a trainer died or was sacrificed before their Pokémon, the Pokémon was generally not allowed to return to the wild.

They would either be assigned a new master or be kept in the army, waiting for someone suitable to come along.

From this perspective, the new era was indeed more compassionate towards these Pokémon, giving them the choice to return to the mountains.

At this moment, the little boy, who had been quiet since they entered the mountain, finally spoke up.

"My brother used to be the captain of a professional team! So you, a mere Best Rookie, are nothing special, hmph!"

Arthur smiled.

He didn't remember ever saying he was anything special.

Perhaps seeing him being swarmed for autographs at the camp had annoyed the boy.

But his mention of it jogged Arthur's memory.

"Was your brother's name Julian?"

A former professional team captain, deceased due to illness, and not too long ago—all these conditions combined pointed to only one person in the entire professional circuit.

The former captain of the Leaping Carp Team, Julian.

He had passed away from a congenital heart defect about five years ago, at the young age of thirty-one. He was a truly惋惜的天才选手.

"You knew my brother?!"

Hearing Arthur mention his brother, the boy, Caleb, immediately became enthusiastic. He stopped giving Arthur the cold shoulder, his eyes sparkling.

Such an easy-to-read kid, Arthur thought.

He was clearly a bro-con.

"I didn't know him personally, but as a professional player, I naturally learn about the stories of my seniors. Captain Julian was very famous a few years ago."

Caleb pouted and muttered, "My brother is still very famous now!"

This was probably the reason he had been a bit hostile to Arthur—he couldn't stand seeing a mere Best Rookie being more famous than his most admired brother.

Arthur just smiled.

He wasn't going to bicker with a fourteen-year-old middle schooler over such a small thing.

But Caleb's pride was not unfounded.

The Julian of the past was indeed a player who had shone as brightly as a meteor!

At the age of thirty-one, many players were just transitioning from the doubles scene to become main singles players, still stumbling as they adapted to the more intense competition. But at that age, Julian had already firmly established himself as a team captain!

At that time, not only was he outstanding in the 6-on-3 professional singles format, but he had even participated in the 12-on-6 League Cup singles tournament and achieved a top-eight finish.

In those years, he was hailed as the most promising player in the Kubfu Alliance, his fame then surpassing even Arthur's today.

But alas, the heavens are jealous of talent. This meteorically shining genius eventually vanished like a meteor, leaving behind only a tragic legend.

The Leaping Carp Team had also declined rapidly since then. In five years, they had failed to make any effective reinforcements, and this year, they had completely sunk to the bottom of the league.

They had truly become as useless as their team mascot, Magikarp…

Only loyal old fans like Caleb were left to occasionally reminisce about their past glory.

Arthur then asked, "I remember one of Julian's aces was a Charizard. So the one you released here was that Charizard?"

Julian had more than one main Pokémon back then, but the one most suited to the Mount Axewood environment was undoubtedly Charizard.

And he remembered the staff at the registration mentioning that their destination was also the Charicific Valley.

"That's right!" Caleb said, his hands on his hips with pride.

"We're here to visit my brother's Charizard! Let me tell you, my brother's Charizard is super strong! It was the Pokémon of a professional team captain! It once set a record of sixteen consecutive wins in the professional circuit!"

Arthur actually didn't know about that record.

He had only heard Julian's story, but hadn't paid attention to such details.

But from this, it was easy to infer: Julian's Charizard was undoubtedly a captain-level Pokémon, and a very powerful one at that.

However, Caleb's next sentence was something Arthur had to disagree with.

Because he said, "Even now that it's left the competitive scene, my brother's Charizard is still the strongest! He's the boss of that whole valley now!"

Your brother's Charizard is the boss of the Charicific Valley?

That was something Arthur couldn't quite agree with.

Because according to the information he had gathered, his own Charizard was also living in that valley

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