Chương 36: There's Something Off About My Pokémon. [36]
The popularity voting channel, which opened before the competition, saw Kevin, a blond contestant, in first place, while Gao Chi, the son of a Gym Leader, ranked second. As expected, being good-looking comes with an advantage. The tournament lasts for a month, with all 32 sub-venues holding their first-round elimination matches simultaneously. Since Lu Cheng had been directly seeded into the top 128 as part of his school's recommendation, he came to cheer for A-Le.
"Good luck, A-Le!" Lu Cheng called out from the stands. A-Le took a deep breath and nodded seriously, glancing at Lu Cheng.
Since all 32 venues were running matches at the same time, the audience at each venue mostly consisted of the contestants' family members and a few scattered onlookers. Even A-Le's busy parents managed to find time to come, bringing two Pelippers to hold up a banner that read, "A-Le, Victory!!"
Hearing his parents' loud cheers, A-Le blushed a little but still waved to them.
"Get ready! Contestants, summon your Pokémon!" The referee waved a flag, signaling the official start of the match.
"Go, Wingull!" Baozi soared out of its Poké Ball with great vigor, looking in peak condition. On the other side, A-Le's opponent was a skinny boy with glasses, his expression serious.
"On my side, it's Beautifly!" Clearly, the type disadvantage was weighing on his mind.
Compared to the raptor-like Wingull, Beautifly was a standard Bug-type Pokémon in Lu Cheng's eyes—brightly colored patterns, two antennae coated in sticky mucus, and a long proboscis. The sight made Lu Cheng's skin crawl. Bug-types are just too unsettling!
"Beautifly is pretty rare to see around here," A-Le's dad said worriedly to Lu Cheng. "Do you think A-Le will struggle?"
"Don't worry, Uncle," Lu Cheng replied with a smile. "Just wait and see the results of the special training."
Seeing that his opponent had sent out a Beautifly, A-Le was momentarily taken aback but quickly realized this was a perfect opportunity for him. Clenching his sweaty fists, A-Le shouted, "Baozi, use Wing Attack!"
Seizing the initiative, A-Le knew that the Flying-type move Wing Attack would deal double damage to Beautifly. He wasn't going to let this chance slip by!
The boy furrowed his brow. Due to A-Le's Wingull having exceptionally high speed, Beautifly couldn't dodge the Wing Attack. It wobbled in the air, clearly taking significant damage, though thankfully, Wingull's physical attack wasn't particularly strong, so it was still manageable. The boy adjusted his glasses and commanded, "Beautifly, use Stun Spore."
Since Beautifly was slower, the plan was to weaken Wingull and create an opportunity for Beautifly to strike. However, upon hearing the boy's command, A-Le breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.
"Now, Baozi, use Water Gun to disperse the Stun Spore!"
"What?!"
Before the paralyzing spores could reach Wingull, they were swept away by the water stream. Meanwhile, Wingull's confidence surged as it soared into the sky, swiftly diving straight toward Beautifly!
"Is that… Aerial Ace!?" Lu Cheng exclaimed in shock. Without realizing it, A-Le's Wingull had already mastered such a powerful Flying-type move?
"No, this must be a prototype of Aerial Ace," A-Le's mother said gently. "These past few days, whenever he had free time, A-Le would lock himself in his room. I secretly peeked and saw him watching videos of Flying-type trainers battling."
"This move… he must have had Baozi practice it in secret too."
Lu Cheng suddenly remembered the diving practice they had done at the clearing, and he couldn't help but laugh. This kid! He's been holding back!
Though it wasn't true Aerial Ace, A-Le had cleverly used Wingull's high speed and the move Quick Attack to simulate a "pseudo-Aerial Ace." While not as powerful as the real move, it was still something to be reckoned with!
"This is bad…" The boy realized his mistake and quickly gave a command, "Beautifly, use Mega Drain!"
Mega Drain, a powerful Grass-type move, would have been very effective against Wingull. However, because the boy had been too focused on Wingull's speed, he had missed the perfect chance for a counterattack.
However, A-Le had been prepared for this. He had seen this exact move firsthand during the battle between Lu Cheng's Treecko and Vulpix. Even when Lu Cheng held back during their match, A-Le didn't mention it. Likewise, he had trained Wingull early on to counter Mega Drain!
"Baozi, use Quick Attack to dodge the energy ball!"
"Then follow up with Wing Attack!"
As Baozi swiftly dodged the Mega Drain and turned back to deliver another Wing Attack, its wings glowing white, Beautifly let out a cry. A sharp slash tore through its body, and insect fluids splattered in the air.
"The battle is decided!" The referee quickly raised his flag and told the boy, "Take your Pokémon to the Pokémon Center immediately."
The boy nodded, hurriedly recalling Beautifly and exiting the arena.
A-Le stared at his hands in disbelief. He had… won? Suddenly, Wingull flew into A-Le's arms, crying out excitedly, "Oh-leh!"
Lu Cheng and A-Le's parents approached the edge of the arena.
"Congratulations, A-Le," Lu Cheng clapped him on the shoulder, laughing. "Looks like you've secured a spot in the top 128!"
"Don't tease me," A-Le said with a wry smile. "I was so nervous just now."
"Nervous about what? You won, didn't you?" Lu Cheng grinned. "And in such a spectacular fashion. Your opponent didn't even get a chance to fight back!"
A-Le let out a long sigh. It was true, the battle had been under his control the whole time. He had never experienced this feeling before—victory, it turned out, was an incredible feeling!
A-Le suddenly broke into a grin, wrapping his arm around Lu Cheng's neck and shouting, "You brat! Just wait for me in the top 128!"
A-Le's parents watched their son with smiles on their faces, feeling a sudden wave of emotion. Our child… has really grown up.
---
"One move!"
"Contestant Wang Yingjie actually defeated his opponent's Raticate with just one move!"
"This kind of strength is absolutely shocking!"
After recalling his Wartortle, Wang Yingjie's face still held that same simple and honest smile. He looked toward the edge of the arena and gave an OK hand gesture. After yesterday's interview, he had proactively reached out to the TV station, requesting a follow-up feature on him.
"Even if I lose, you can still report on me as a funny story," Wang Yingjie had said at the time. "But if I win, you'll have exclusive coverage of the champion."
"No matter what, you won't lose out, right?" Wang Yingjie flashed a bright smile, his gleaming white teeth standing out starkly against his dark, sun-kissed skin. The station director immediately approved the idea and assigned the same female host and cameraman who had interviewed Wang Yingjie to follow and hype him up. They even reached out to the arena to provide commentary for his matches—something the other arenas didn't have.
Though the female host was internally reluctant and not at all interested, she still went along with the event.
"Champion, huh? Keep dreaming," she thought to herself, rolling her eyes as she watched Wang Yingjie on the field. Little did she know, Wang Yingjie had noticed everything.
"Wartortle," he whispered to his Poké Ball as he walked through the empty backfield, "the only ones we can trust… are ourselves."
---
If there are any mistakes let me know!
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