“So I’m registered already?”
Lu Ye stood there stunned for quite a while.
I was just talking with the renovation crew, wasn’t I?
System, are you sure you’re bound to me? Why do you keep bugging out on me ?
Drawing from past experience, Lu Ye took a deep breath and looked around, analyzing the situation rationally.
And right on cue—he spotted Gengar holding the Pokédex.
Lu Ye rubbed his numbed cheek and asked blankly:
“You used the Pokédex to register me?”
Like a smartphone, the Pokédex could connect to the internet. But the League tournament wasn’t some beginner-friendly event—surely registration shouldn’t be that easy?
After all, you need eight Gym Badges at a minimum. The process couldn’t be that streamlined, right?
Gengar nodded cheerfully.
It had seen Lu Ye busy training Mega Evolution earlier, and didn’t want to interrupt. Besides, something as simple as signing up—why bother the boss?
Lu Ye could just focus on the tournament. Everything else, leave to Gengar, the reliable backline support!
Lu Ye clutched his chest, slightly breathless.
Joining the League wasn’t the worst idea… But the difficulty level was so low—and it clashed with Spring Festival.
Honestly, Lu Ye would’ve rather celebrated the traditional Eastern holidays.
On top of that… spending half a month just to compete—he might not even recoup the cost of Blastoise’s healing herbs…
“What’s wrong?” Natsume walked over, arms folded, voice cool.
Though her face was usually expressionless, amid the wreckage of Saffron Gym, she was starting to look a little green.
In that moment, the fate of two Rocket executives strangely overlapped…
“Oh, nothing. Just that… I got registered for the Indigo League.”
So he is going to another newbie tournament.
She had heard about him back when he was still in the Eastern League—participating in all kinds of collegiate competitions.
Now registering for the Indigo League… yeah, that tracked.
“Good luck,” Natsume said flatly, already mourning for the other contestants.
“Kame…ヾ(⌐■_■)” Blastoise picked up his fallen shades, disinfected them with Scald, and put them back on.
Mastering Mega Evolution wasn’t something that happened overnight—Corni had trained for years.
Lu Ye just wanted to experiment, raise his safety level for fieldwork.
Now that he had a baseline, he recalled Blastoise into his Dive Ball.
“We’ll train Mega slowly…”
Still confused, Lu Ye muttered to himself:
“But how did the registration even go through?”
Even he didn’t know how to contact the League Committee.
Wait… could it be the special Pokédex Professor Oak gave him? Some kind of VIP access?
“Gengar, lend me your Pokédex for a sec.”
“Jeni-jeni~” Gengar mimicked a certain turtle.
“??? Where are you learning all this nonsense?”
Lu Ye opened the Pokédex and checked his Trainer profile.
Under his ID, it displayed eight badges, with the badge slots glowing brilliantly.
“Hmm… looks like the Gym Leaders must’ve submitted the badge data.”
Scrolling through the call log, he paused— there it was: an incoming call from Professor Oak.
At that moment, Lu Ye felt like he was getting close to the truth.
“Lu Ye?” Professor Oak’s voice came through. “You’ve finished your Mega Evolution training, I take it?”
“Yes,” Lu Ye nodded and coughed lightly. “I just wanted to ask… about the League registration…”
“Hahaha! I knew you’d bring that up.” Professor Oak burst out laughing. “I already registered you in advance. No need to thank me!”
Lu Ye’s face froze. A strained smile tugged at his lips.
So the mole… was Professor Oak all along.
“Come to think of it,” Professor Oak folded his arms with a nostalgic air, “If Ash hadn’t mentioned it, I wouldn’t have known you were joining the Indigo League.”
“Red won it back in the day. Blue and Green placed too. I even had a match with Agatha once…”
“Those were the days…”
Lu Ye caught the key name: Ash.
And immediately started plotting: Should I give him a little lesson when I’m in Sinnoh?
Still… registration was done.
And with a direct recommendation from the esteemed Professor Oak, no less.
Withdrawing now might cause more trouble than it’s worth. He’d have to at least show up.
Worst case? He’d treat it like a spring outing to Indigo Plateau.
“By the way—if you have time, stop by my lab,” Professor Oak added, clearing his throat. “I’d like to upgrade your Pokédex.”
“Huh? It can be upgraded?” Lu Ye blinked.
So I’ve been using a regional ‘demo’ this whole time? Now I’m getting the National Pokédex?
“That’s right. I’ve added some data modules and new plug-ins,” Professor Oak smiled. “Once you visit, you’ll see for yourself.”
“Got it,” Lu Ye nodded.
“But focus on your training first—don’t get distracted.” Oak rubbed his chin, chuckling. “I’m really looking forward to your performance!”
“Alright then. I’ll come by in February.” Lu Ye coughed.
“Okay! Best of luck in the League!”
After the call ended—
Lu Ye reached over and patted Gengar on the head with a helpless smile.
“Let the kids get some playtime, yeah?”
If Gengar really got serious… some Trainers might walk away emotionally scarred.
The Indigo League varied wildly depending on who signed up.
The 9th “Golden Generation” featured Red and Green’s legendary clash at the summit.
But in Ash’s year… even a wimpy little Kingler could 3v1 entire teams. Embarrassing, really.
Lu Ye didn’t care much about placements.
What mattered was that the little ones enjoyed the battles.
If he really participated, he’d probably give more stage time to the second-string crew.
“Gaa! (´థ౪థ)σ” Inside the Poké Ball, Farfetch’d wept.
Forget that! Just let Gengar sweep the whole thing!
Duck was tired. Still had to swing his leek around at night, coach the others by day…
When would he finally get to lie down and just coast like a proper freeloader?
“Gengaa…” Gengar fidgeted, clearly disappointed.
But he soon bounced back, diving into Lu Ye’s shadow like a pro diver.
Backline support? Leave it to me, the great Gengar!
I’ll train everyone up—so we can win this for the boss!
Natsume’s eyes opened. She sensed the flood of emotions from the surrounding Pokémon.
For once, the corners of her lips curled into a faint smile.
At least… their Rocket Team “mentor” wasn’t some cold-blooded tyrant.
In fact, he made her feel safe. Strong.
“Lu Ye,” Natsume said softly, “Everyone in the group chat is rooting for you.”
Now it was Natsume’s turn to be surprised.
“Everyone already knows you’re joining the League.”
He opened the chat group—
And his expression turned… complicated.
So I’m the last one to know about me signing up, huh?