Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Gym League and Ability Awakening Test
The children were all in their early teens, or around twelve or thirteen years old.
Except for one little kid wearing a black T-shirt, most of the others were dressed as insect catchers wearing white vests and shorts, holding net insect cages.
Two of the children had a red and white Poké Ball hanging around their waists, and next to them was a brown and yellow bug-type Pokémon with silver horns on its head.
It is the Hornet Beetle, which is also the original form of the popular Pokémon Beedrill.
As far as I can remember, Mark had almost no interaction with the children in the village.
The same is true now.
Several young insect catchers in the village ran over because they saw him from afar, probably thinking he was a fellow villager.
However, after discovering that it was him, the fool who was wandering around the village all day, he ignored him, muttered something, and continued walking towards the village. Not long after, he was far away.
Mark and the Caterpillar stood there for a while, then followed the direction the insect-catching boys left.
Mark heard some very unfamiliar words from the words of several insect-catching teenagers.
As Mark walked, he looked at the green caterpillar and asked, "What's going on with the gym league in the Fallen Leaf Province? Isn't this Kanto?"
"hiss?"
The caterpillar tilted its head and looked at Mark with the same puzzled expression.
Mark said to himself, "Whether it's Caterpillar, Rattata, Pidgeot, or Unicorn, they are all common Pokémon in the Kanto region.
Since it is called the Fallen Leaf Province, the area must be very large. If it is the same world, it is impossible that they don't know about Kanto.
If that's the case, is this an imaginary pokemon world?
In fact, it makes no difference whether it is an imaginary pokemon world or not. After all, I can't remember many of the Pokémon plots I watched when I was a child.
The key is, what is this gym league?
Is the gym league a league where gyms from all over the country form a league like those basketball and football clubs?"
Mark continued to look at the caterpillar.
"hiss."
In response to Mark's question, the Caterpillar spread out its four front legs, shook its head, and made a gesture that it itself did not understand.
The Caterpillar really didn't know. It had almost no contact with other humans except Mark, and Mark had been a fool over the years, so it didn't know much about the human world.
The man and the insect followed the insect-catching boys from a distance and walked towards the village.
Not long after, Mark and the Caterpillar heard even noisier noises. As they approached the village, they saw dense crowds of people.
"Hiss, hiss!"
The caterpillar seemed to remember something and started gesturing at Mark with its legs.
Mark asked in confusion, "A square thing with a picture inside, you mean a TV?"
"Hiss!"
The Caterpillar nodded repeatedly.
It had heard people talk about the word television, and had seen it from a distance several times while wandering around the village with Mark.
However, the TV was so popular that people gathered around it in droves, and it couldn't even see clearly what the TV was.
As the caterpillar described, Mark also found some vague memories in his mind.
If he were to describe it in words, it would be somewhat similar to the 1970s and 1980s of the last century before he traveled through time. At that time, televisions were a rare commodity, and if a family owned a television, neighbors would gather together to watch it.
The TV in the village is about 25 inches in size with a color screen. Next to the TV is a long pole with the TV antenna on it.
At this time, the TV is placed on a built platform so that more people can see it.
Mark squeezed forward with the green caterpillar.
Maybe it was because he used to be a fool, the villagers didn't say much when they found out it was him who was squeezing over, and some villagers even took the initiative to make way for him.
It didn't take long for him to squeeze into a good position. Although the angle was a bit tilted, he could clearly see the TV picture and hear the commentary on TV.
On the TV, the battle between Charizard and Rhydon was being broadcasted.
According to the commentator, the Rock Gym in Sanshan Town and the Fire Gym in Bare Town are currently engaged in a battle.
The Charizard on the TV screen was spewing flames non-stop and looked very powerful, but according to the commentator, it seemed that Rhydon had the upper hand.
The villagers gathered around the TV to cheer for Rumble Rock, sometimes shouting with joy, sometimes shaking their heads in regret for missing the opportunity.
Mark listened to the villagers' discussions and cheers and quickly understood some of the situation.
The reason why the villagers cheered for Rhydon was not because they liked Rhydon or liked the trainers who used Rhydon, but because Qingxi Village, where he was now, was a subsidiary village of Sanshan Town.
The villagers are supporting their hometown gym.
As he continued to listen to the villagers' conversations, Mark gradually understood what the Gym League was.
Just as he had guessed before, the Gym League is similar to football and basketball leagues.
Typically each gym will send out seven players to compete in up to five matches.
The order of the competition is singles, doubles, singles, doubles, and singles.
Each game is best of five, with 6v6 in each match. Both teams send out six Pokémon to fight. Although there is no clear rule, the gym owner will usually appear in the final single-player showdown, which is also called the gym owner showdown.
The battle being broadcast on TV at this moment was the third match between the two gyms.
The current score is 2-0, with Sanshan Town Gym in the lead. If nothing unexpected happens, this game should end with a crushing victory for Sanshan Town Gym.
Not far from Mark, several insect catchers from before also crowded around the TV and started quarreling. They seemed to be blaming a teammate for wasting time. As a result, they just came back and the game was about to end, so they missed the exciting scenes of the first two games.
Mark suddenly discovered something and looked at the green caterpillar on his shoulder. At this time, the green caterpillar was looking at the picture on TV with bright eyes.
Seeing the Caterpillar's thoughts, Mark scratched its antennae with his fingers and said, "Do you want to participate in the competition on TV, too?"
"Hiss!"
The Caterpillar was stunned for a moment, then nodded vigorously.
Mark said: "There will be a chance."
Having come to the Pokémon world, even if he does not have the Spirit Master System, he will find a way to become a trainer, and becoming a trainer will inevitably involve fighting and competitions.
Max didn't have to wait too long as the battle scenes on TV kept changing.
Charizard found the right moment to launch a sneak attack, flew into the sky with Rhydon and slammed it heavily to the ground, making a wonderful [Earth Throw]. Smoke and dust filled the air, and a huge hole was smashed on the ground. The Qingxi villagers who were cheering under the TV were silent.
But just as everyone was sighing, Rhydon, who seemed to be dying and unable to move, suddenly jumped up. It incredibly rushed to the side of Charizard and launched a massive [Big Explosion], an extreme one-for-one exchange, pulling Charizard off its horse.
The villagers' unstoppable cheers completely drowned out the sound of the TV.
In the final battle between Sun Rock and Coal Turtle, the Sanshan Town Gym also won the victory amid the cheers of the people, and finally defeated the Bare Town Gym 3-0.
Although there is a reason why the Rock type restrains the Fire type, the fact that they were able to completely defeat the opponent also shows the strength of the Sanshan Town Gym in some ways.
After the game was over, the villagers who had been gathered around the TV slowly dispersed.
In the poor mountainous areas with a lack of entertainment facilities, this kind of competitive event is very inspiring. Both adults and children are talking about the recent game and looking forward to the next broadcast.
Not long after the show ended, an old man who looked very dignified picked up a loudspeaker and called people back.
Mark had some impression of this old man. He would often wave to him and the Caterpillar and give them some food, but he didn't meet him very often in the village.
The old man shouted that he had just received a notice that the alliance commissioner from Luoye Province had temporarily changed his schedule and would be here soon. He asked each household participating in the ability awakening test to make preparations, because if they missed it, there would be no second chance.
There was a commotion among the crowd.
Mark did not hear any information about the ability awakening test from the rioting crowd, and when he asked Caterpillar, he knew nothing about it. However, he learned the identity of the old man from the conversation of the villagers.
The old man was the chief of Qingxi Village. His surname was Aaron, but the villagers didn't tell him his specific name, and Mark didn't know either.
Village chief Aaron hurriedly directed several villagers to tidy up the platform where the TV was located. He said that a qualification test would be conducted here in a while, and asked the villagers who participated in the test to bring their children over as soon as possible. Then he left in a hurry.
About ten minutes later, the villagers started to make a commotion.
The village chief who was full of dignity before seemed to have changed into a different person. He came to the stage with a middle-aged alliance official in a white uniform, smiling, and ordered the villagers to bring up the children who were going to take the ability awakening test...