Chapter 69

The eight finalists all basically had one or two Deep Green Quality Pokémon. Qing Wu was not surprised by Drowzee's quality. What truly surprised him was that Drowzee knew the Psychic skill, Meditate.

Using Meditate in battle could raise Special Attack by one level and Special Defense by one level, making it an extremely practical skill.

Qing Wu had once searched Team Rocket's exchange vault for the Meditate TM. The exchange quantity was written as a big, fat zero.

Captain Dazuo told Qing Wu that the Meditate TM was incredibly sought-after. Whenever one came into stock, it would be snatched up in less than a second, so he should not get his hopes up.

It would be faster to wait until he had a Psychic-type Pokémon, then spend a hefty number of points to have a Team Rocket member whose Pokémon knew Meditate teach it directly.

"Drowzee, use Stun Spore!" Lian Ji showed no courtesy and immediately prepared to use Stun Spore to immobilize Golbat.

The hand Drowzee used to hold the ring turned gray-white, and Drowzee shifted its gaze toward Golbat.

"Golbat, use Quick Attack, then Bite!" Since Drowzee wanted to use the Psychic move Stun Spore,

as long as Golbat was fast enough to use the Dark-type move Bite on Drowzee before Drowzee noticed, it could break Drowzee's attack.

Drowzee was surprised to discover that Golbat had vanished.

The next moment, pain shot through the hand holding the ring, and a wound of unfathomable depth appeared.

Blood trickled from the wound. The pain nearly made Drowzee drop the ring, interrupting its Stun Spore.

Golbat had bitten Drowzee's hand, and Dark-type energy clung to the wound.

"Drowzee, use Recover!" White motes of light suddenly appeared and sank into Drowzee's body.

The vile energy in Drowzee's wound was completely expelled. The wound scabbed over in the blink of an eye, then the scab fell away, revealing smooth, pristine skin.

"Drowzee, use Meditate, then assume the yoga position!" Lian Ji abandoned her plan to immobilize Golbat.

Golbat was simply too fast. Lian Ji planned to strengthen her buffs first, then attack.

"Golbat, use Snarl to interrupt Drowzee's Meditate!" Qing Wu wanted to stop Drowzee from successfully strengthening itself.

Drowzee already had the advantage over Golbat. If it successfully strengthened itself, Qing Wu might end up capsizing in a ditch.

Golbat's Snarl burst from its wide mouth, and the obvious vibrations in the air could be seen with the naked eye.

Golbat's Snarl directly interrupted Drowzee's Meditate. After the move failed, Drowzee also suffered considerable backlash.

"Damn it! Drowzee, use Shadow Ball!" Lian Ji was especially furious after her buff had been interrupted.

She knew there were only two ways to escape Lan Ling's reckoning. The first was to defeat Qing Wu honorably and win back Lan Ling's favor. The second was to defect to Qing Wu and leave Lan Ling's protection.

If Qing Wu is strong enough, that might not be a bad choice either.

Lian Ji was shocked by the thought that flashed through her mind.

"How could I? I'm a member of the Ice Rose Group!" Lian Ji shook her head, but if Qing Wu could utterly crush her, she felt she could accept that too.

After all, Team Rocket's rule was to obey the strong. As for the pursuit that might follow her defection from the Ice Rose Group, Lian Ji curled her lips. If she could not afford to provoke them, could she not simply hide? As a Psychic, she could come and go freely.

"Drowzee, use Double Shadow Ball!" Lian Ji gritted her teeth as she looked at Qing Wu's smiling face.

Drowzee brought its hands together, condensing several Shadow Balls one after another. It pointed in Golbat's direction, and the Shadow Balls shot toward Golbat at high speed.

Golbat looked disdainfully at the incoming Shadow Balls. With a flap of its wings, it released several thick Wind Blades, sending them straight against the Shadow Balls.

With a booming crash, the Shadow Balls exploded, producing a powerful gust and billowing smoke. Qing Wu and Lian Ji unconsciously retreated two or three steps.

As the smoke spread, Golbat saw a huge Shadow Ball break through it and fly straight toward itself. This was Drowzee's hidden follow-up attack.

"Golbat, watch out! Use Wing Attack!" Golbat took a deep breath and poured Flying-type energy into its wings.

Golbat's wings became as hard as iron. It exhausted all its strength and used Wing Attack against the Shadow Ball.

The Shadow Ball slammed into Golbat's iron-hard wings. Seeing Golbat struggle against it, Drowzee revealed a sly smile.

The first few Shadow Balls Drowzee had condensed were all decoys. The true killing move was the final Shadow Ball.

"Golbat, send the Shadow Ball back," Qing Wu said calmly, as if victory were already in his grasp.

Golbat nodded, exhausted all its strength, and successfully sent the Shadow Ball back the way it had come.

Drowzee's smile lasted less than three seconds before suddenly freezing. It stared at the Shadow Ball flying toward it in panic.

"Drowzee, use Protect!" Drowzee froze for a moment, but Lian Ji did not. She made the most correct judgment, and Drowzee raised a white protective barrier. The Shadow Ball was blocked outside the white barrier, and the two attacks canceled each other out.

Before Drowzee could breathe a sigh of relief, Golbat's next attack arrived.

Golbat vanished silently into the air, then appeared behind Drowzee the next second.

"Drowzee, use Light Screen!" A Light Screen appeared behind Drowzee, but it was useless.

Light Screen worked against special attacks, but Golbat was using Quick Attack to accelerate into Drowzee. Light Screen had no effect on such a purely physical attack.

Not every Pokémon was like Musashi's Kusanagi, capable of reflecting every attack.

"Drowzee, use Psychic Power to dodge!" Lian Ji panicked and shouted at Drowzee, her expression frantic.

Even if Lian Ji wanted to defect to Qing Wu, she wanted to display enough combat power to earn his attention, not be defeated this easily.

Unfortunately, Lian Ji's command came too late. Drowzee had only just covered its body in Psychic Power when Golbat slammed into its back.

The impact was so fierce that it not only scattered the Psychic Power Drowzee had just gathered into blue motes of light, but also sent Drowzee flying out of the arena.

Drowzee was covered in abrasions. It crashed to the ground in a sorry state and lay unconscious.

Lian Ji's Pokémon no longer had the strength to fight. At that moment, Qing Wu had no intention of letting Lian Ji off. After all, her actions had thoroughly disgusted him, and the stench on his wrist had not yet completely faded.

"Go, Golbat. Attack Lian Ji!" Qing Wu gave the order.

Before Cang and Coach Frostwolf could react, Golbat attacked Lian Ji without mercy.

Golbat turned into a streak of blue light and flashed beside Lian Ji at breakneck speed.

"No!" Lian Ji's pupils contracted. Just then, a breeze brushed past. Golbat's sharp wings swept over Lian Ji's hair, slicing her pink hair into two sections.

Lian Ji felt her head grow lighter. Countless pink strands fell to the ground. Her hair, which had once reached her waist, now barely brushed her ears.

Lian Ji felt an electric thrill pass through her hair. She touched her short, ear-length hair with her slender hand.

A blush spread across Lian Ji's fair face. Even her jade-white ear tips turned bright red.

"So this is what being in love feels like," Lian Ji murmured. She had already made up her mind to defect to Qing Wu.

"That was your punishment." Golbat returned to Qing Wu's side.

The battle had not cost Golbat much strength. Its wings had only suffered some damage when it used Wing Attack against the Shadow Ball.

Lian Ji remained slumped on the ground, unable to move, her heart pounding.

"Thank goodness no one died." Cang and Coach Frostwolf breathed sighs of relief at the same time.

Lian Ji was the daughter of a Team Rocket higher-up and could even be considered a relative of Athena.

If Lian Ji had died here, Cang and Coach Frostwolf would have had a hard time explaining themselves.

Losing some hair was still better than leaving her life behind.

"Qing Wu versus Lian Ji. Qing Wu wins." Only after Coach Frostwolf announced the final result did Qing Wu turn and leave with Golbat.

The other battles were still raging across several arenas. Qing Wu walked to the corner of the plaza and watched the fights in the other three arenas.

Leiming versus Lan Ling. As expected, Leiming used Meowth, while Lan Ling used Smoochum.

Smoochum, proficient in Psychic and Ice-type moves, dealt Meowth considerable damage. It had not even used its full strength, instead toying with Meowth like a cat playing with a mouse. Overall, Meowth was at a disadvantage.

Ailian versus Blondie. Ailian's Pokémon was an evolved Houndoom, while Blondie's Pokémon was a Grimer. Unless something unexpected happened, Ailian had a very high chance of winning this battle.

Elvis versus Kuraki. This match surprised Qing Wu greatly. Elvis sent out Machamp, while Kuraki sent out Arbok. That Machamp had actually caught Arbok's sickle-like tail with its bare hands.

However, judging from the blue-gray expression on Machamp's face, Qing Wu knew that it had already been poisoned.

Having made a preliminary assessment, Qing Wu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to rest, no longer paying attention to the battle. Golbat likewise landed on the ground to recover its strength for the next fight.

Not long afterward, the results came out. Kuraki and Ailian had, without a doubt, earned the right to advance.

What Qing Wu found incredible, however, was that Lan Ling had actually lost. Leiming's Meowth had won.

Leiming's Meowth was extremely clever. It had secretly poisoned Smoochum, and it also knew Flamethrower, allowing it to turn the battle around and earn the right to advance.

Qing Wu glanced at Lan Ling, who looked utterly dispirited, like a walking corpse.

Lan Ling had originally been competing for first place, but unexpectedly stopped at the quarterfinals. The gap was too great for him to accept reality.

Lan Ling's thoughts were too complicated, and he had not devoted all his energy to training Pokémon. Besides, this Smoochum probably was not Lan Ling's Pokémon, so their coordination was poor, giving Meowth an opportunity.

Lan Ling had placed too much faith in Smoochum's strength, while his own skill as a Trainer had failed to match it.

Qing Wu had changed the outcome of his previous life like a butterfly. If he had not cured the poison afflicting Leiming's Meowth and given Leiming a Spinarak with Deep Green Quality, Leiming would probably have stopped in the quarterfinals with only Electrike.

The matchups for the semifinal challengers were announced shortly afterward.

Qing Wu versus Kuraki.

Leiming versus Ailian.

Regardless of the outcome, three members of Qing Wu's team had entered the semifinals. There was no denying the strength of Qing Wu's team.

Qing Wu and Kuraki exchanged glances. He saw ambition in Kuraki's eyes.

"I've been waiting for this day for a long time, Qing Wu," Kuraki murmured.