Pokémon Battle Tournament (3)

Pokémon Battle Tournament (3)

After the two of them and their five Pokémon finished eating, they rested for a while. The people Sui Yan had called over also brought the things Lu Ze needed.

"How are you two feeling? Confident about the finals?"

Lu Ze lay on Munchlax's belly on the lawn and asked. Unfortunately, it was still Munchlax, so its belly was not as soft as Snorlax's, though it was still quite comfortable.

"I'm doing alright. As long as I don't run into you, the others shouldn't be too difficult."

Sui Yan spoke confidently. He had not been idle; while they were eating, he had already gathered information on the champions from the other arenas and their Pokémon.

"So you think I'm no good either?"

Tang Yunqin bared her little tiger teeth and asked viciously.

"Tch. That Feebas of yours only needs one Fissure."

Sui Yan arrogantly tilted his head up.

"Fine. Just don't let me run into you. Hmph."

"Hmph. You're acting like such a girl."

"Ah, Sui Yan, I'm going to fight you!"

Seeing Tang Yunqin about to explode from Sui Yan's provocation, Lu Ze quickly held the two of them back so Sui Yan would not get beaten up.

"Alright, you two. Sui Yan, didn't you say there was a Vaporeon in Arena Seventeen? You can't deal with that one?"

Sui Yan stopped fooling around and answered seriously.

"Yeah, that Vaporeon. I have no idea what its Trainer was thinking, evolving it with a Water Stone so early. That Vaporeon basically has no future growth left. Forcing its body to evolve like that is ridiculous."

The champion of Arena Seventeen, according to what Sui Yan had heard, had used a Water Stone to evolve Eevee into Vaporeon around a week after it hatched. Forcing evolution just after the newborn stage not only placed immense strain on the body, but even with the Evolution Energy provided by the Water Stone, its own aptitude would be damaged. It was completely not worth the cost.

"The moves we know it has are Water Gun, Charm, Growl, Take Down, Bite, Swift, and Double Kick. I'm guessing it has at least one hidden Water Pulse. Vaporeon is fast, while my Torkoal is basically a target in its eyes. There's also the type disadvantage. If I run into it, I really have no answer."

Sui Yan spread his hands helplessly.

"Little Yan, call me big sister and I'll help you take care of it."

Tang Yunqin leaned over again and teased Sui Yan.

Sui Yan rolled his eyes and said speechlessly,

"My Torkoal is a target, but isn't your Feebas one too? At most, it's a target without a type disadvantage."

"Tch. I'm still better than you."

"Alright, let's keep going. What other troublesome opponents are there?"

Lu Ze cut the two of them off and continued asking.

"Putting Dratini aside, there's also a chubby electric mouse, Togedemaru. It'll probably be hard for either of you to fight. Electric and Steel typing means Flying-type attacks only deal quarter damage. It isn't afraid of Poison, and Ice- and Dragon-type attacks only deal half damage. Water-type damage is normal."

"Add Nuzzle's Paralysis, Charge, the power of Thunder Shock, and Wish to restore stamina, and it'll be really hard for you two to fight. I'll have an easier time."

Lu Ze's expression grew several degrees heavier. If that chubby electric mouse had also hidden Egg Moves like Fake Out and Disarming Voice, it would be even harder to deal with.

"Let's leave it to luck. We'll talk after the draw results come out. Come on, it's about to start."

Lu Ze stood up and let out a long breath.

Tang Yunqin and Sui Yan got up as well. The three recalled their Pokémon into Poké Balls and headed together toward the finals venue.

The finals were no longer arena matches, but formal battles. The venue was a stadium behind the school athletic field. It was an indoor arena with a commentator's booth, spectator seats, a large screen, and a much larger battlefield than the arenas.

The principal had specifically built this venue for the annual Pokémon Battle Tournament finals. It was usually unused, except for the occasional battle exhibition.

When the three entered the venue, the place was buzzing with excitement. At the main stage, the principal was beaming as he shook the lottery drum and drew the battle order.

First Match: Su Tingxi of Class Two versus Lin Yifan of Class Seven

"Su Tingxi is that rich second-generation kid, Dratini's owner. His father is Su Xingguo, the richest man in Chang'an City. They say Su Xingguo had him late in life and dotes on him terribly. His dream is to become the next Champion, so Su Xingguo spent a fortune buying that Dratini Pokémon Egg."

An introduction like offscreen narration suddenly sounded by Lu Ze's ear. When he turned around, he realized Sui Yan was the one talking.

"His opponent's Pokémon is a Geodude. It became the champion of Arena Twelve with its high Defense stat, Defense Curl plus Rollout, and the Egg Move Mega Punch. But against this Dratini, it's finished."

"So this match is basically Su Tingxi's win?"

"Yeah, most likely."

Sui Yan did not speak too absolutely. Upsets were common, after all, and even Dratini could not withstand consecutive Rollouts.

Lu Ze looked toward the stage, and Dratini's information appeared before his eyes.

Pokémon: Dratini

Gender: Male

Type: Dragon type

Ability: Shed Skin (By shedding its skin, it may sometimes heal abnormal conditions.)

Aptitude: Red Aptitude

Basic Moves: Wrap, Leer, Twister, Thunder Wave, Dragon Tail, Substitute, Dragon Dance

Egg Moves: Dragon Breath, Aqua Jet, Mist, Water Pulse, Haze

Lu Ze took a deep breath and muttered, "This is troublesome. Its move pool is way too rich."

Very quickly, the result onstage was decided. Geodude had barely rolled forward before it was taken out by a Water Pulse.

"See? I told you. That Dratini is really strong."

Sui Yan spread his hands helplessly.

"I want a Dratini too. It's so pretty."

Tang Yunqin stared at the Dratini onstage with sparkling eyes.

"Ah, but it's a shame it evolves into Dragonite in the end. Mm... calling it fat wasn't wrong."

Tang Yunqin thought about Dratini's final evolution and sighed.

"Dragonite is cute too."

"But Dragonite completely loses Dragonair's noble, cold aura. Dragonite doesn't fit my image at all. Dragonair does."

Tang Yunqin looked at Lu Ze with regret filling her eyes.

Lu Ze was helpless.

Second Match: Tang Yunqin of Class One versus Mo Huahua of Class Two

"Tang Yunqin, it's your turn. Good luck."

"Mm, okay."

Encouraged by Lu Ze, Tang Yunqin confidently walked onto the field.

After Tang Yunqin took the field, the cheers from the spectator seats were even louder than when Dratini had appeared. This time, the school beauty was more popular than a Pseudo-legendary.

Mo Huahua, true to his name, was a guy...

Mo Huahua's Pokémon was a rare Starter Pokémon, Rowlet.

Pokémon: Rowlet

Gender: Male

Types: Grass type, Flying type

Ability: Overgrow (When stamina decreases, the power of Grass-type moves increases.)

Aptitude: Blue Aptitude

Basic Moves: Growl, Tackle, Leafage, Astonish, Peck, Shadow Sneak

Egg Moves: Knock Off, Defog

Mo Huahua had probably also investigated the Pokémon of the finalists. He knew Feebas had Ice Beam among its moves—it had failed to hide it during the round of four to two against Pidgey.

After taking the field, Mo Huahua did not hesitate and immediately indicated to the referee that he conceded.

Thus, Tang Yunqin got an effortless win and skipped happily back down.

"That doesn't really fit your cold and aloof image."

Seeing how Tang Yunqin acted after winning, Lu Ze teased her.

"So what? I'm happy."

Tang Yunqin shook her head cutely.

Third Match: Zhang Jiaxin of Class One versus Zhou Bin of Class Nine

Zhang Jiaxin was from Lu Ze's class, and her Pokémon was a Pidove. Her opponent had a Roggenrola.

At the start, Pidove used Taunt to lock Roggenrola's status moves, then flew high and continuously wore Roggenrola down with Gust.

Lu Ze's homeroom teacher was so happy he nearly jumped up. Four of his students had made it into the finals, and two had already entered the top ten. He would not have to worry about his bonus this semester.

Fourth Match: Class Five versus Class Eight. Class Five won.

Sixth Match: Class Six versus Class Ten. Class Ten won.

Seventh Match: Sui Yan of Class One versus Lin Dong of Class Two

Lin Dong's Pokémon was a Rock type and Water type Wimpod. Sui Yan's Torkoal faced a fourfold resistance; Fire-type damage only dealt a quarter as much.

At the start, Sui Yan used Smokescreen to lower his opponent's accuracy, then mixed Smog into the smoke. Of Wimpod's four Water Guns, only one hit. Unfortunately, it did not trigger Poisoning.

That made Lin Dong anxious. In his eyes, although his Wimpod had not learned any Rock-type moves yet, Sui Yan's Fire-type moves faced fourfold resistance and dealt only quarter damage. Why should I be afraid of him?

So he commanded Wimpod to get right in front of Torkoal and use Water Gun. He thought that while both sides were slow, Torkoal was even slower. If I use Water Gun right in its face, can it still dodge?

Following his command, Wimpod slowly charged right up to Torkoal's face. Before it could fire Water Gun, Sui Yan spotted an opening and took it out directly with Fissure.

Lin Dong: Black guy question mark.jpg

Referee: "Wimpod is unable to battle. Torkoal wins."

Sui Yan walked down with a proud look and bragged,

"Well? Didn't my commanding ability completely crush his?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure."

Lu Ze replied perfunctorily.

Eighth Match: Lu Ze of Class One versus Zhou Erhu of Class Three

It was finally Lu Ze's turn. He had been waiting impatiently and quickly stepped onto the field.

"Both sides, release your Pokémon."

Lu Ze released Zubat, while his opponent released Vaporeon. It was the very champion of Arena Seventeen Sui Yan had said he could not handle at noon.

Pokémon: Vaporeon

Gender: Female

Type: Water type

Ability: Water Absorb (When hit by a Water-type move, it takes no damage and instead restores stamina.)

Aptitude: Green Aptitude (Damaged)

Basic Moves: Water Gun, Charm, Growl, Take Down, Bite, Swift

Egg Moves: Double Kick

Lu Ze froze for a moment when he saw Vaporeon's information.

"Aptitude... damaged?"

This was the first time Lu Ze had seen a Pokémon with damaged aptitude. It was probably the consequence of evolving too early.

"Sui Yan's prediction was wrong. It didn't hide Water Pulse—it simply hadn't learned it."

"Whoosh!"

The flag dropped, and the battle began.

"Zubat—Supersonic!"

"Vaporeon—Swift!"

Both sides moved at the same time. Vaporeon became confused after taking Supersonic, while Zubat took a Swift.

"Despicable. Vaporeon, control yourself!"

Zhou Erhu gritted his teeth as he commanded it.

"Zubat—Air Slash!"

Seeing Zubat use Air Slash, Zhou Erhu hurriedly ordered Vaporeon to dodge.

Hearing the command, Vaporeon jumped up and narrowly avoided Zubat's Air Slash.

Then, like it was diving into water, Vaporeon plunged headfirst into the ground and fainted...

"Vaporeon is unable to battle. Zubat wins."

The referee stepped forward to check Vaporeon's condition, then declared Lu Ze the winner.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Explosive laughter rang out from the spectator seats. Before he even graduated, Zhou Erhu had become thoroughly famous among the younger students.

The principal and administrators on the main stage were holding their laughter in until their faces turned red. Only Class Three's homeroom teacher quietly buried his head in his collar.

And just like that, Lu Ze's first finals match ended in a dramatic fashion.

Ninth Match: Lin Musen of Class Three versus Cheng Xun of Class Two. Lin Musen won.

Tenth Match: Zhang Long of Class Seven versus Lin Zixin of Class Five. Lin Zixin won.

Lin Zixin was the person Sui Yan had mentioned who owned the chubby electric mouse Togedemaru. After inflicting a condition with Nuzzle, Togedemaru forcibly wore its opponent down with Charge, Thunder Shock, and Wish.

The finals' round of twenty to ten had ended. Next came the round of ten to five.