Rainbow City, Rainbow Dojo.
Dressed in an elegant kimono, Dojo Leader Erika stood in the indoor garden, trimming the snow-white flowers in front of her.
A faint fragrance filled the air, making "The Nature-Loving Lady" unable to help but show an intoxicated expression.
"Teacher Erika, everyone has arrived," said one of the girls.
Not far from Erika, six youthful and attractive girls walked over slowly, looking dignified and lovely.
The girl in front addressed Erika respectfully, waiting for her to speak.
"I know," Erika responded.
"It's going to be another hard day for everyone."
Seeing this group of energetic newcomers, Erika revealed a slight smile.
"No... it's going to be a hard day for Teacher Erika as well," the six said in unison.
These were the Rainbow Dojo's Trainer Apprentices, all quite experienced Trainers who sometimes took Erika's place in Dojo battles when she was otherwise occupied, doubling as her students.
Periodically, Erika would close the Dojo for a day to personally teach these Dojo Apprentices the art of battle, and today happened to be such a day.
"Teacher Erika, what will be the content of today's lesson?" a girl with long golden hair asked curiously.
The others also looked at Erika with eyes filled with anticipation.
Although Erika was low-key, she was very famous in Rainbow City as one of the top plant-system connoisseurs. These Dojo Apprentices were all well aware of Erika's prowess.
Born from a distinguished family, skilled in flower arrangement, dance, perfume blending, battling, and blessed with stunning beauty, Erika was the dream girl for many young Trainers in Rainbow City.
Unfortunately, no one had yet been able to win the heart of this lady.
They had come to the Rainbow Dojo out of admiration for Erika, who, in turn, did her best to impart all of her knowledge to these young women.
Each teaching session was a moment they eagerly looked forward to.
"This time, I plan to demonstrate how 'dance' can be used in battle," Erika said softly.
After Erika finished speaking, the group exchanged looks, then their faces lit up with surprise and joy.
Erika had several Pokemon that were trained with a focus on dance; not only were their battle movements beautiful, but their strength was also formidable. Watching their battles was a treat.
If they could learn even a fraction of those skills, they were sure to see great improvements in themselves.
"I plan to start with three demonstration battles," Erika stated, looking leisurely out the window. "Before this, I've already opened up the World Championship challenge permissions. Next, I will conduct three battles to showcase the use of dance techniques. Let's just wait for our distinguished guests to arrive."
"Yay!!" the six apprentices cheered, jumping with excitement. They had watched Teacher Erika's World Championship battles many times; her challengers were much stronger than the ones in Dojo battles, offering a perfect viewing experience. The level of the fights wasn't even comparable to Dojo battles; most importantly, even against such opponents, Teacher Erika could still come out victoriously with elegance, which was a real treat for their eyes.
It seemed today would be another day full of gains.
"Teacher Erika's ranking now should be just over 1000, nearly entering the Ultra Ball level," they discussed among themselves, sure that this was not the limit for Erika. In fact, since Erika only awaited challengers and fought rarely, the apprentices believed that if she actively sought out strong opponents, moving up a few hundred ranks would be no trouble at all.
Meanwhile, the people of the Rainbow Dojo began to wait.
It didn't take long for three challengers to send battle requests;
Their World Championship rankings were 1999, 6913, 10954.
"10954... let's start with this gentleman's challenge," Erika said, unperturbed.
Starting from the weakest to the strongest in battle intensity allowed for better demonstration of strategy utility and didn't impact subsequent battles too much.
She was already looking forward to the arrival of the challenger named Fang Yuan, hoping he would cooperate with her to give the girls a perfect classroom demonstration.
...…
At the same time.
Fang Yuan and his companions had just arrived at Rainbow City's largest Game City.
Even though they reached their destination, Fang Yuan and his party did not go in!
"Check again," Fang Yuan ordered.
Though Eevee didn't know why Fang Yuan asked it to check for secret bases around, it obediently did so.
Once, twice, three times... nothing was found.
Eevee only saw a few Rattata eating leftovers in a sewer.
"Nothing at all?"
"Bwoo! (Nothing!)" Eevee confirmed.
"Well, it seems I was overthinking it," Fang Yuan said, scratching his head. After all, Rainbow City had more than a dozen Game Cities; they couldn't all be owned by the Rocket Team.
It was just a game storyline, and he was taking it too seriously.
"Bwoo, Bwoo, yeah~~" Eevee scratched its paw, ready to go inside now.
"Sure, but let me make something clear first, we don't have much borrowed money from Dr. Omu, so you can't lose it all at once."
Fang Yuan felt concerned, for although the Game City here offered a variety of games, from the simple slot machines to the more advanced AR battle experience facilities, they all inevitably involved money, and more to the point, gambling. Fang Yuan really feared that Eevee would get carried away and lose everything.
"Bwoo!" Eevee used Glare.
How could that be, Eevee is the God of Gaming. Surely, it will make our money multiply by hundreds of times.
That way, we wouldn't need to bully Bug-catching Boys or Short-pants Youths anymore.
"Alright, whether we can strike it rich will be up to you," Fang Yuan resolved. Even if Eevee didn't use Future Sight to cheat, its extraordinary gaming experience should be enough to dominate the competition.
However.
Just as Fang Yuan and company were about to enter, Fang Yuan's phone suddenly rang.
The battle request he had sent out earlier had received an immediate response.
[Trainer 'Erika' has agreed to the challenge request.]
[Note: Hoping to duel as soon as possible.]
[Countdown...]
"Uh..."
Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks.
After looking at his phone screen for a moment, he turned his head to look at Eevee on his shoulder.
Eevee: o(╥﹏╥)o ♥
Eevee felt like Fang Yuan was going to bail on it.
"It's a rare opportunity, this top rank 1000 expert actually accepted a challenge from little old me, ranked at 10000... If we beat her, we might be able to jump straight to the 1000s, saving a lot of effort. So, how about this: You go to Game City by yourself, and after I quickly defeat her, I'll come find you. I promise it'll all be over within an hour... no, half an hour!"
"Bwoo!!!"
......
In the end.
Fang Yuan still left Eevee alone at the entrance of Game City and hurried towards Rainbow Dojo.
After getting off the taxi, Fang Yuan wiped his sweat and looked up at the building in front of him, resembling a giant botanical garden.
Although he hadn't entered yet, Fang Yuan, still outside, already felt the freshness of nature; it was as though the vibrant Plant system Waves were dancing joyfully.
"Knock, knock, knock—" Fang Yuan knocked on the closed doors.
A moment later, a young woman in a kimono opened the door, bowed slightly, and politely said, "You must be Mr. Fang Yuan, Miss Lijia is already waiting for you at the battle venue. Please follow me."
"Okay..." Fang Yuan nodded.
Thinking about it, he remembered that Rainbow Dojo also ran a perfume shop... perhaps he could pick out a few bottles to bring back for his mom, Milotic, and Sister Xie after the battle was over. After all, this perfume from a different time and space was bound to be rare, right?
Lost in thought, Fang Yuan followed the kimono-clad girl into the dojo, completely unaware that his wallet was empty.
"Sir, looking at your ranking, this must be your first time in the World Championships," the kimono girl leading the way said.
"That's right," Fang Yuan responded, snapping out of his daydreams to nod.
"Then you should really enjoy this battle. Miss Lijia is quite strong. Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Liz, the Referee of Rainbow Dojo, and I'm also accredited for the Championships. I will be presiding over your upcoming duel," Liz said with a smile, walking ahead.
"Please do," Fang Yuan scratched his face, though there was a referee... this kind of match was likely to be recorded on video, wasn't it?
Now, which Pokemon should he use.
Before long.
The two reached the outdoor battle venue that resembled a garden, and it was at this moment Fang Yuan saw Leader Lijia in front, appearing to be lecturing a group of young girls.
As the challenger arrived, Erika stopped her theoretical teaching and greeted Fang Yuan with a smile as he entered the room.
"Welcome, challenger from afar, I am Erika."
Amidst a group of girls, Erika slowly walked towards Fang Yuan.
"Hello, Leader Lijia, I am Fang Yuan," Fang Yuan observed the woman in front of him.
She appeared to be quite young, of his generation, with an extraordinary demeanor, clearly someone from an illustrious family.
However...
Fang Yuan was bewildered. He knew that all the Trainers at Rainbow Dojo were women, but why were all these girls looking at him with pitying eyes?
Damn, did they assume he was going to lose?
At that moment, Fang Yuan didn't realize he'd been pegged as the designated punching bag for a teaching battle.
"So, shall we start the battle now? The entire duel will be recorded. Miss Lijia, Mr. Fang Yuan, do you have any questions?" Referee Liz spoke up.
"None."
Erika and Fang Yuan responded in unison.
Erika had to resume her lecture afterward, and Fang Yuan was eager to reunite with Eevee, neither wishing to waste time with small talk. Jumping straight into battle was the best option.