"Meow? (Isn't that all it takes?)"
"You don't get it. This is one of those little pleasures for men. Take a look at this—interested in signing up?"
Rowan opened the page Zhang Lin had sent him about the Pokémon University Race.
While Nekomi was showering just now, Rowan had already skimmed the competition's promotional poster.
It was indeed an entertainment event organized by nearby universities working together, but the participants weren't limited to university students.
The competition was open to all sectors of society, but rankings would be competed for by the various universities.
In simpler terms, university-affiliated participants would start in the front row, setting off first, while participants from the general public would be placed much further back. Overall, they'd have to cover more distance than the university participants.
To summarize, each participant must team up with a Pokémon. At the start, they would draw a random transport method from a box, then work together with their Pokémon to get through all obstacle courses and reach the finish line.
"It's sponsored by Red Bull. Might be a bit dangerous, but the prize money's not bad. If you're not interested, forget it."
The prize money was even a bit more than what Lanxiang Gym offered. Of course, if you counted that excavator, the Gym's prize was much more.
But purely in cash terms, it was almost enough for Rowan to travel from here to the farthest Gym in Illumina, stay there a few days, and complete his next challenge.
"Meow? (Why would it be dangerous? I don't see how.)"
"Because... it's sponsored by Red Bull. That company has some... odd tastes."
Red Bull had unique criteria for sponsorships. Just asking them to sponsor something might not work. But if you said the event could showcase a bizarre new way to die, Red Bull might agree on the spot.
Of course, they also sponsored normal events. And a university tournament like this couldn't possibly involve wingsuit flying or cave diving or other extreme events, so overall, it had to be safe.
At most, it would just be a bit more thrilling than a regular competition.
"Meow~ Meow~ (I'm fine with it. Sounds fun—at least more interesting than staying inside and playing with that excavator.)"
Nekomi looked at the competition's online poster again. While she couldn't speak human language, she could understand the writing on the poster.
That was something she had in common with Team Rocket's Meowth.
The biggest difference between Nekomi and Meowth was that Nekomi hadn't refined her transverse bone.
Nekomi kept her talents focused on combat, unlike Meowth, who exhausted his potential trying to learn to speak and ended up not even being able to learn Pay Day.
"That model is actually pretty fun—you should give it a try?"
"Meow! (No! Let's do something meaningful instead!)"
"Makes sense. I'll get a workout in first, then go find the counselor this afternoon to hand in the registration form. You rest in the meantime."
Civilians didn't need to register like this, but since Rowan hadn't graduated yet, he naturally had to go through the university's process.
After that, Rowan once again embarked on his specialized fitness journey. Though in the games it was just a tool for training Pokémon, after just two days of using it himself, Rowan clearly felt an improvement in his physical fitness.
If he kept this up for a while longer, he might eventually turn himself into a humanoid Pokémon. Who knows—maybe one day he could spar physically with Fighting-type Pokémon just like Kanto's Fighting-type Elite Four, Bruno.
As Rowan trained on the treadmill, Nekomi lay on the bed in utter boredom, legs swinging up and down over the edge, lost in thought about who knows what.
Later, Rowan checked the time and decided to wait until after the lunch break was over before heading to campus to register.
On the way out, Nekomi behaved a bit unusually. Normally, she would avoid puddles, but that afternoon, she didn't dodge them at all—she even seemed to deliberately step into them.
From the look of it, she was trying to find an excuse to experience princess carry again.
Meanwhile, in the classroom building, the teacher Rowan was looking for was on the phone with someone.
"Old Rong, I'm counting on you to handle that kid's internship."
"Don't worry. You're asking me yourself—how could I not give him an intern apprentice spot? We're old classmates, after all. But that said, I can't promise he'll stick around here."
Social connections form a web that's often hard to avoid, and the social status of university teachers is far higher than it appears.
On the surface, they're just teachers, but outside the campus, they may hold many other roles.
Although Rowan isn't from the Battle Department, his counselor is acquainted with the Battle Department's counselor and the latter was currently helping to introduce job opportunities to people in the Battle Department.
Being a professional Trainer wasn't an easy path. Even for graduates of the Battle Department, starting out was tough without sufficient family backing.
Landing a position at a Gym was already a great opportunity for them.
"He came to me about it—what could I do? If it doesn't work out, you can just fire him after a while."
"I'm actually quite looking forward to it—your university produced a genius this year."
"A genius? We're still troubled by the Pangoro College Cup this year. What genius?"
"Hang on... okay, I've sent over the Gym Battle footage. See for yourself."
Rong Lei didn't say anything more and simply sent the video over without hesitation.
"Are you sure... this one's from our university?"
"Yeah, it's written right here in the registration info—name's Rowan. That surname's pretty rare. Ever heard of him? Hello? Old Liu? You there?" [TN: Rowan's chinese name is Xin Mu. His surname is Xin]
Rong Lei tapped his phone a few times, then checked the Wi-Fi signal, thinking it had frozen on him.
"Oh, I'm still here. Go on..."
"That Meowscarda is no ordinary one. Forget the Pangoro College Cup—this one could even rank in the Illumina Conference."
The Pangoro College Cup was also a major competition in the Illumina Region. If the Illumina Conference was the grand gathering of all Trainers, then the Pangoro College Cup was where various universities' Battle Departments went head-to-head.
If the Illumina Conference could be seen as the Olympics, then the Pangoro College Cup was the Youth Olympics.
Unfortunately, Old Liu didn't really take in what Rong Lei was saying—he was staring at two documents on his desk with a puzzled look.
The only two graduates this year who still hadn't found a job—dragging down the university's employment rate.
"Is there a picture of the Trainer? I want to take a look."
"What, you actually know him? I can't give you that—League regulations. Meowscarda isn't that common in Illumina, so if you run into it, you'll recognize it right away.
Another challenger just arrived, I gotta go."
"No way... This kid doesn't even have a Pokémon. Must just be someone with the same name..."
Old Liu muttered to himself, sounding a little regretful. And just at that moment, someone knocked on the office door.
"Come in."
"Mr. Liu, it's me. I'd like to register for next week's race—here's my form."
Old Liu didn't respond, just stared fervently at the Meowscarda beside Rowan. If words could be seen in his gaze…
Right now, there were only two words in Old Liu's eyes:
"Promotion secured."