In Progress

The next day.

The battle to advance from the Top Sixty-Four to the Top Thirty-Two officially began.

That same afternoon, the Top Sixteen would also be decided, pushing the Little Phoenix King Cup fully into its white-hot stage.

"First match, Xie Ming versus..."

Whenever a Seed Player took the field, the atmosphere quickly heated up, and the audience eagerly anticipated an exciting battle.

A moment later...

"Another match decided within two minutes. I wonder who's stronger, Xie Ming or Zhang Huan, the Seed Player from Group F."

"Scyther and Beedrill are both Bug-type Pokémon, and both Trainers have raised them well. Their speed in particular is among the best in this tournament."

"Zhang Huan... His Beedrill's battle style feels familiar to me. What is Magic City's Professional Trainer Zhang Zizheng to him?"

"Could he be Zhang Zizheng's son? I remember Zhang Zizheng's Beginner Pokémon was also a Weedle. He was a classic example of a grassroots Trainer making a comeback, and he was exceptionally skilled at raising Beedrill..."

The guests discussed the competition animatedly.

Of course, it was not just those two. The other Seed Players were also receiving considerable attention.

"That Misdreavus has excellent concealment methods. Its opponent has no way to deal with it at all."

"It would be interesting if it ran into the Group B Seed Player's Mr. Mime. Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokémon—natural rivals."

"Speaking of Psychic-types, Lu Student, your junior apprentice's Abra really gave us quite a scare." A representative from the Trainer Association looked toward someone.

"My junior apprentice's Psychic Power can greatly relieve Abra's mental fatigue. The reason Abra was able to learn other moves so early is inseparable from her tireless efforts day and night." Lu Student smiled.

"No wonder that Abra looks so energetic. In my opinion, the Group B Seed Player's Mr. Mime is inferior to this Abra in terms of Psychic Power."

Time passed slowly, and Fang Yuan began his battle for the day.

His opponent was a fairly capable Rookie Trainer.

The other side's Buizel was also an exceptionally agile Pokémon.

However, under Fang Yuan's Trash Talk offensive, combined with Eevee's even more nimble movements, neither Buizel nor its Trainer held the slightest advantage.

"Rookie Trainers these days really are impatient. A few words were enough to disrupt his rhythm." The guests at the commentator's table had clearly already seen through Fang Yuan's tactics.

"After all, he has only just become a Trainer. Still, this Fang Yuan is quite good at taking shortcuts. He really got lucky with that one," said the Dawn Group representative.

"Actually, Fang Yuan and Eevee themselves are also quite skilled. Don't let his behavior fool you," Lu Student said.

The Modu Trainer Association representative nodded at this. "The speed Eevee has displayed is already close to that of the Group A Seed Player's Scyther and the Group F Seed Player's Beedrill. Those two Pokémon possess natural advantages to begin with, and they must have received specialized speed training. For this Eevee to reach such a level, it has clearly been raised very well. I would guess its Trainer has devoted almost all of the past two months to speed training."

"With such speed, Double Team as interference, and Trash Talk to distract the opponent, it can be considered a carefully planned strategy."

Before long, Fang Yuan claimed victory. Eevee once again dirtied up its opponent with a chained assault of Quick Attack, Double Team, and Sand Attack.

"But it was ultimately just opportunism. When they face Lin Sen's Ivysaur and its Sweet Scent next match, they should be helpless."

"Sweet Scent and Sleep Powder will interfere with Eevee's movements, and Ivysaur's overall strength is not something that Buizel can compare to. More importantly, Lin Sen down there has probably already noticed Fang Yuan's tactics. Trash Talk will likely have a hard time working again."

"Thinking about it that way, that's indeed true." Everyone chimed in agreement. As Seed Players, how could they possibly be dirtied up so easily?

Fang Yuan had no idea that the guests had already judged him incapable of surviving his next match.

"He made it into the Top Thirty-Two just like that?!"

When Fang Yuan returned, Lin Jing still found it hard to believe.

Making it into the Main Competition was one thing, but Fang Yuan and Eevee had effortlessly entered the Top Thirty-Two right before her eyes. It made her begin to doubt what the experts had said.

"The opponents are clearly getting harder and harder to deal with. Eevee only had the advantage in speed, but that advantage should disappear soon."

"Is that really the problem..." Lin Jing said.

"I remember that, in most people's eyes, Eevee isn't very suited for battling..."

She felt that she and Growlithe were so embarrassing... Was this the punishment for slacking off?

"Well, we've suffered a lot too." Fang Yuan felt exhausted. In this battle, Eevee had already pushed its movement speed to the limit in order to interfere with its opponent. If the opponent had been any stronger, they would probably have needed to switch tactics.

But up to now, he and Eevee had concealed themselves well. The extraordinary reactive awareness granted by the Anticipation Ability, as well as the Counter Shield they had finally completed just the day before yesterday, had yet to be revealed.

Those were their trump cards.

The more trump cards they kept before a hard battle, the better their odds. As long as their opponent let down their guard, it would be the moment for Fang Yuan and Eevee to decide the match.

"Alright, Lin Sen's battle is about to begin." Fang Yuan's eyes lit up as he watched the field.

The matches here continued in full swing. As expected, Lin Sen defeated his opponent once again. After the eighth match, the ninth and tenth matches began one after another.

"So far, not a single Seed Player has lost."

"The tournament organizers really have Fiery Eyes and Golden Gaze. It seems there aren't many people like Eevee and me who have hidden their methods."

"I just wonder whether the strength they've shown in battle so far is truly the limit of these Seed Players."

Fang Yuan had already studied every Seed Player's battles and had a rough idea of their capabilities. But at this point, they still needed to fight for real to know the outcome. So all he and Eevee had to do was give their all and win each match one at a time.

Group F battles.

Lin Jing ran into this group's Seed Player, Zhang Huan.

Zhang Huan's Beedrill had excellent basic qualities, especially its speed, which surpassed Eevee's. It was likely one of the fastest Pokémon in this Little Phoenix King Cup.

"Agility... It actually learned it this early."

In reality, Fang Yuan was not the only one with his own opportunities. Others had them too, especially when resource disparities brought by family backgrounds were difficult to catch up to through hard work alone.

No wonder the people from the Psychology Club had not thought Eevee could reach the Top Sixteen. Under normal circumstances, if Fang Yuan and Eevee had not worked so desperately over the past two months, they probably would not even have made it into the Main Competition.

"Lin Jing is going to lose."

On the field, Growlithe had already taken several hits. Its repeated bursts of attack had failed to reach Beedrill, costing it considerable stamina.

"What a shame! If Growlithe's move set were a little more diverse, it would have more than enough ability to handle that Beedrill." Fang Yuan sighed regretfully. Growlithe had not even learned Flamethrower, so it was far too difficult to hit a flying Beedrill.

Alright.

Next, he could think about how to comfort the female student after she lost.

Fang Yuan took out his phone and helplessly searched:

How do you comfort someone?