Chapter 354: Free-for-All
"Wuuu~"
A long dragon's cry echoed across the sky.
A Dragonite soared through the clouds, carrying a small wooden box on its back like a diligent courier.
Unmistakably, it was Eighteen again.
As it passed by Hikaru and Sakura, Eighteen chirped in greeting.
Watching it fly off, Hikaru sighed in admiration.
"Eighteen really is one hardworking Pokémon…"
Every delivery, every drop, it was always Eighteen.
Sakura, sitting behind him, leaned in and whispered softly into his ear,
"It's because Eighteen likes this job. It enjoys delivering things… or people."
The warm breath tickling his ear made Hikaru squirm slightly.
"Just say it normally. Don't breathe into my ear."
"Hehe…"
Sakura didn't reply, only giggled and hugged him gently from behind.
Having no way to deal with her, Hikaru could only shift his attention to their surroundings.
Now that the safe zone had shrunk again,
all the remaining participants on the Orange Archipelago had already secured their entry to the finals.
Without the worry of elimination—
It meant the number of people converging on this island shot up drastically.
In just three minutes, over sixty or seventy trainers had shown up around the island.
And more were still coming.
With no nearby islands left in the safe zone, all the trainers were completely exposed.
Even the island Hikaru had just left now had a Gyarados and a Lapras landed on its shores,
each carrying trainers on their backs.
Unmistakably, this was the elite team from North China University.
"So many people…"
Hayashi Mei, seated behind, voiced her concern.
"With so many powerful Pokémon… do you think Latias will be okay?"
Over these past few days, she had developed a soft spot for the obedient Latias—
especially its adorably clueless expressions that easily won over girls.
Hikaru waved her concern away.
"No worries. Even if it can't get the treasure, no one can stop it from leaving."
So what if there were a lot of people?
With [Divine Concealment], not even Champion-level Pokémon could detect Latias.
And these were, at most, high-level Trainers with Master-tier Pokémon.
How could they stand a chance?
Still, the number of familiar faces below kept growing—
Ash's team, Pan Shanyu's team, the Mu siblings, the Ye brothers…
Practically everyone Hikaru knew had made it to the finals.
---
Below the Island
Having just stepped off her Blastoise, Chen Chen looked around warily.
Her field of study made her extra sensitive to environmental clues.
"Someone was here just minutes ago."
"Well… isn't that obvious?"
A slightly mocking voice replied from the side.
It belonged to Zhu Yuyu, the female ace from North China University's seed team.
The moment the two girls' Pokémon had locked eyes on the coast—
the tension had skyrocketed.
You could feel the sparks flying in their glares alone.
Their teammates watched with a bit of helplessness.
This wasn't new.
The grudge between these two women dated back to the last Youth League.
Zhu Yuyu, known for her hot temper, had lost to Chen Chen in that tournament.
After the match, Chen Chen had said—
> "Your Gyarados is brave, but too reckless.
If it stays like that, it'll never beat my Blastoise."
It was meant as feedback.
But Zhu Yuyu took it personally—and she never forgot.
Now, seeing Chen Chen again, her temper flared instantly.
"Don't get cocky, Chen Chen! I'm definitely beating you this time!"
But Chen Chen remained calm, her tone polite and professional.
"Oh? I'll be watching."
Their teammates finally found a chance to speak.
North China University's team leader, trainer of a Gengar, was Liu Xuan.
Central China University's team leader, who trained a Metagross, was Pan Shanyu.
Liu Xuan raised an eyebrow.
"You guys here for the treasure too?
Strange—I didn't see you fighting for the first sky drop. Hiding?"
Pan Shanyu smiled politely.
"We just let you have the first one.
Now that you got it, surely you don't mind skipping the second?"
Liu Xuan scoffed,
"We didn't get it either.
Honestly, I thought your Metagross learned Teleport or something and nabbed it."
"Huh?"
Pan Shanyu's eyes twitched.
Liu Xuan shrugged,
"The last treasure just… vanished.
Right in front of everyone's eyes."
Silence.
Pan Shanyu stared up at the wooden treasure box descending slowly from the sky.
He knew Liu Xuan well enough to know he wasn't joking.
If Liu Xuan had gotten the treasure,
he'd definitely be bragging about it—loudly.
He turned to Chen Chen.
She nodded, and returned her Blastoise, summoning a new Pokémon—Arcanine.
As a law-enforcement major, Arcanine was a standard issue Pokémon for her.
"See that treasure box in the sky? Lock onto its scent."
"Arf!"
The Arcanine nodded and closed its eyes,
sniffing carefully—even at this distance, it could catch a trace.
Seeing this, Liu Xuan's interest was piqued.
"Alright, then let's see who gets this next treasure."
This was the general sentiment among the surrounding crowd as well.
Some of them had also been present for the first drop,
and they still couldn't figure out who had stolen the treasure out from under their noses.
They were curious.
Could it happen again?
Others didn't care about the mystery—
they just wanted that S-grade treasure.
And now that everyone had already secured finals qualification—
There was no reason to back down.
A Pidgeot swooped down from the sky,
carrying a trainer on its back.
"Hahaha! You guys all watching?
I'm grabbing this one!"
After surviving the preliminaries, people's confidence was off the charts.
Before, trainers only sent out their Pokémon.
Now, they went themselves.
But of course, the first one to rush in is usually the one that gets dogpiled.
"Bro, what are you thinking?
You think you can walk away with that treasure?"
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