The poster at the entrance was for a small-scale competition to be held a month later for Pokemon Trainers.
It was titled: "Rookie Trainer Competition!"
In short, only Trainers that were registered for less than 6 months were eligible to participate in the competition.
To know, most Pokemons need to train for at least a year in order to fully reach their racial limit. This is not counting Bug type Pokemons, which can reach their full potential much earlier, nor Dragon types which require a much longer time.
Therefore, most Trainers that will participate in this competition are truly Rookie levels, with most of their Pokemons not even reaching the final evolution, much less their racial limit.
Of course, some that came from Trainer families or are rich are an exception.
In this world, there is no rule of limiting the first Pokemon of a Trainer to be under such and such age like those Pokemon fanfics Dante read. Therefore, phenomena such as obtaining Pokemon a year or two early and training them is relatively common.
Trainers with Dragon type starters can even have a Pokemon accompany them from childhood to when they register as a Trainer.
Of course, there are rules in place that prohibit non-Trainers from battling with said Pokemon. So except for families that have enough space to battle in their private property, new Trainers have little to no experience in Pokemon Trainer Battles.
However, Dante doesn't think people who have enough money to do those will participate in this competition.
The prize money for this competition was only 30,000 Alliance credits and a year's supply of Pokemon Food to the champion, 20,000 Alliance credits to the second place, and 10,000 Alliance credits to the third place.
However, even if they do join the competition out of interest, Dante is confident that he will have the strength to face them a month later.
A month later, he should have already unlocked Spinda's Cafe. By then Pikachu's stat would experience a massive increase.
Dante also remembered something else after seeing the prizes of the competition. He forgot to buy the Pokemon food for Pikachu.
Dante had to walk back into the store and buy 500 credits worth of Electric-type Pokemon food.
Looking at the bag of Pokemon food in his hand that hasn't even reached a quarter of a kilo, Dante smiled bitterly. He especially chose to buy the cheapest ones to try the difference first.
'Luna's medium-quality food only costs 100 credits for 1 kilo, being a Pokemon Trainer is really a money-burning business.'
Dante and Pikachu had a brief lunch at noon in the food court before walking out of the mall.
"Come on, Pikachu. We can't hold this off for so long. I promise I'll release you real quick."
"Pika!" (I-I wasn't avoiding anything! I just want to look around the mall some more…)
After some symbolic struggle, Pikachu finally pushed the middle of the Pokeball and was sent inside. After just flashing red once, the Pokeball became quiet.
Dante kept to his promise and quickly released Pikachu.
"Pika!" (See! I can do it if I wanted to!)
Dante rubbed Pikachu's head and laughed at his silly antics.
"Then next, we'll have to officially register at the Pokemon Center."
The Pokemon Center was just close by, and Dante only had to walk for 3 minutes in order to get there.
Only the Starter Pokemon needs to be registered in the Pokemon Center. After that, Trainers can link the Pokeball they bought from an official Alliance store to their Trainer card. Pokemons captured by that Pokeball will instantly be updated to Dante's profile in the database.
Looking at the familiar building with a red roof, white walls, and a Pokeball logo on top, it made Dante have a feeling of reminiscence of the time when he first started playing Pokemon.
The Pokemon Center was huge. After entering, Dante smelled the smell of disinfectant as well as the large number of people walking about.
The Pokemon Center primarily serves as a hospital for humans and Pokemons alike. Thanks to the power of Pokemon, injuries and diseases can usually be cured without the need for medicine.
Because of this, the price for medical care in the whole world is much lower compared to his previous world.
Dante found the section for Pokemon Alliance members, and then the Pokemon Trainer section. Seeing many young people like him with Pokemon, Dante realized that they should also be newly registered Trainers looking to register their starter.
After taking a number from the nearby machine, Dante found an empty seat and began to look around. His number was 690 while the current number on display is 673, so Dante knew it'd be a while before it was his turn.
Seeing that he had no acquaintances among the group of people, he and Pikachu just watched some Pokemon Masters Battle on his cellphone.
It was the first time for Pikachu to see a battle between Pokemon Trainers. Looking at the powerful Garchomp of Cynthia decimating its opponent and the stadium, Pikachu trembled.
"Pika, pikachu?" (A-am I going to have to fight that Pokemon? Uh, Dante, I don't think I can even hurt a single scale of her.)
"Hahaha, what are you talking about? This battle is between the Champions of each country. It'll take some time before we will stand on the same stage as them. And at that point, you will definitely be more powerful than that Garchomp."
*Pfft*
Because Dante's voice was a bit loud, he was heard by some of the surrounding trainers.
Most of them just smiled and shook their heads, especially when they saw the Pikachu on his shoulder, thinking Dante was just grandstanding. Some sneered at his behavior.
Feeling the surrounding gazes, Dante turned red from embarrassment. He coughed and pretended to act as nonchalantly as possible.
Seeing this, the surrounding people lost their interest and looked away. Except for one person.
Seated one seat away from Dante was a boy of the same age, dressed in a semi-formal suit with his blonde hair combed in a slick fashion. He was holding his mouth with his hands, clearly trying to hold back his laughter.
Seeing Dante looking at him, the boy pretended to look serious, but his raised mouth and trembling shoulders clearly revealed that he still hadn't finished laughing.
Looking at Dante, the boy coughed in his hand and apologized.
"Sorry about that, that was unbecoming of me. Your words were just so funny I couldn't stop laughing. I'm Luis by the way, Luis Sanchez. Pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"Dante, Dante Zulueta. And it's alright. Me and Pikachu's actions will prove in the future whether what I said was really just a joke or not."
Looking at the hand that the other party offered, Dante shook it while also introducing himself.
Dante really doesn't blame the other party for thinking his words were funny. After all, he was just a newbie Trainer with a Pikachu as a starter which is known to be a mid Pokemon.
Someone like that confidently saying that he will definitely reach the level of a Champion Trainer and defeating one of the strongest Champions in the world can't be taken seriously no matter what.