Lu Ze Takes the Field

"Here comes the lucky one! Tang Yunqin!"

"Congratulations to Tang Yunqin for receiving a bye!"

Hearing the commentator, Lu Ze curiously looked Tang Yunqin up and down.

That monkey-like gaze finally embarrassed Tang Yunqin into anger. She puffed out her cheeks and glared at Lu Ze.

"It was definitely a coincidence, okay? How could I possibly get a bye every time? It had to be a coincidence."

Lu Ze smiled.

"Whether it was a coincidence or not, I don't know. But your miraculous luck was as reliably consistent as ever."

"Hmph, impossible. I, Tang Yunqin, made my living on skill."

Tang Yunqin raised her chin proudly.

Sui Yan and Su Tingxi both wore pained expressions beside them. Look at her—she had done nothing and made it into the top eight. Then look at us—we worked ourselves to death and still failed to make the top eight.

The two looked at each other, then spread their hands with bitter smiles.

"Then the competitors for our next match are clear: Lu Ze and Luo Xiaoxing. Please take the stage."

Upon hearing that, Lu Ze took out Munchlax's Poké Ball.

"It's time, Munchlax. Do your best."

The Poké Ball shook twice. Lu Ze smiled and strode onto the field.

"Both sides, release your Pokémon."

"Go, Munchlax."

"Go, Sizzlipede."

Pokémon: Sizzlipede

Gender: Male

Type: Fire type, Bug type

Ability: White Smoke (Its stat stages could not be lowered by the Abilities of opponents or allies, though moves and items that lowered its own stat stages still worked normally. It was also affected by Mold Breaker, Turboblaze, and Teravolt.)

Aptitude: Purple Aptitude

Basic Moves: Smokescreen, Ember, Wrap, Bite, Flame Wheel, Bug Bite, Coil, Heat Wave, Heat Crash

Egg Moves: Defense Curl, Knock Off, Struggle Bug, Rollout

After looking over his opponent's move list, Lu Ze relaxed. Fortunately, this would not be too hard to handle.

Both Su Tingxi and Sui Yan had fallen in the round of fifteen to eight. Lu Ze could not help feeling nervous. His original goal had been to aim for the Champion title; if he failed to even enter the top eight, that would be incredibly awkward.

Whoosh!

The flag fell, and the match began.

"Munchlax—Bulk Up!"

"Sizzlipede—Smokescreen!"

Munchlax struck a Bulk Up pose in place, while Sizzlipede spewed out a massive cloud of smoke that covered the field.

Luo Xiaoxing froze. He had thought his opponent would command Munchlax to charge in for a direct assault, so he had wanted to get ahead of it by releasing smoke to guard against Munchlax recklessly charging at him.

Looking at the calm Lu Ze, Luo Xiaoxing mentally gave him a thumbs-up.

Impressive. I never expected him to predict my prediction. As expected of my biggest obstacle to reaching the top eight—I really can't underestimate him.

If Lu Ze had known what Luo Xiaoxing was thinking, he probably would have laughed out loud.

Munchlax was slow. Lu Ze simply wanted to wait for the opponent to come to him before counterattacking, while using Bulk Up to strengthen Munchlax as the opponent approached. After all, Sizzlipede was not very fast either.

"Sizzlipede—Heat Wave!"

"Munchlax—Earthquake!"

Since you're being cautious, I'll be more aggressive. Lu Ze decided to attack first.

Munchlax stomped hard on the ground, sending seismic waves racing toward Sizzlipede. Because of Smokescreen, Luo Xiaoxing did not see Munchlax's movement.

Meanwhile, Sizzlipede unleashed Heat Wave, which swept the Smokescreen along with it toward Munchlax.

Munchlax slyly took two steps forward again, but before he had gone far, the oncoming Smokescreen choked him.

"Cough—cough, cough!"

Munchlax coughed twice and silently cursed, Despicable.

Other than being choked a little, Heat Wave did not cause much damage. Thick Fat, combined with Munchlax's excellent Special Defense stat, allowed him to withstand it with ease.

Sizzlipede, on the other hand, did not have it so easy. Although Bug type resisted Ground type, Earthquake still dealt normal damage because it was also Fire type.

Although the quake had sent Sizzlipede sprawling, it quickly adjusted its posture once the Smokescreen dispersed, pretending it had not been hit at all.

Lu Ze was somewhat puzzled. "That shouldn't be possible. It shouldn't have had time to dodge through the Smokescreen."

Forget it. It was not a big problem.

"Munchlax—get close and use Mega Punch!"

When Luo Xiaoxing saw Munchlax charging over completely unscathed, he realized that Munchlax most likely had Thick Fat. Otherwise, even with Munchlax's high Special Defense stat, it could not have come through without a scratch.

"Sizzlipede—Defense Curl, then Rollout!"

"Munchlax is striding toward Sizzlipede! How will Sizzlipede deal with Munchlax's assault?"

"There it is! Sizzlipede has used the Defense Curl plus Rollout combo! This doubles Rollout's damage! After two hits, even a tough and sturdy Pokémon like Munchlax won't be able to take it!"

Munchlax punched Sizzlipede as it rolled.

Yet even Mega Punch, strengthened by Bulk Up, could only remain locked in a stalemate with Sizzlipede under Defense Curl and Rollout. Neither could do anything to the other.

Rollout accelerated faster and faster as Munchlax gritted his teeth and held on.

"The two Pokémon have collided! Munchlax's Mega Punch has successfully stopped Sizzlipede, and the two Pokémon are locked in a deadlock!"

"Wait, Munchlax? Munchlax's left hand is glowing white too! He used Mega Punch with his left hand as well, sending Sizzlipede flying with a single blow!"

"Sizzlipede has fallen! Its Rollout state has been broken!!"

Not only could Munchlax use the same move with both hands at once, he could even use different moves simultaneously.

Lu Ze had discovered this ability back when Munchlax had first learned Farmer's Three Punches. During training, Munchlax had revealed it when Lu Ze was about to reward him with a new kind of Energy Cube. See Chapter 15 for details.

Later, Lu Ze had specifically trained this ability. Now, Munchlax could not only use the same move with both hands at once, but could even use Fire Punch in one hand and Thunder Punch in the other.

The audience below erupted in surprise, while the top-eight competitors each took note, thinking that they would have to watch out for this trick during their matches.

Back on the field, even after being sent flying by that punch, Sizzlipede endured the blow thanks to Defense Curl and shakily got back to its feet.

"Munchlax—Mega Punch!"

"Sizzlipede—Coil!"

Relying on the distance Munchlax had just knocked Sizzlipede away and Munchlax's slow speed,

Luo Xiaoxing confidently commanded Sizzlipede to use a status move to strengthen itself.

And Munchlax did not disappoint him, only arriving belatedly after Sizzlipede had finished using Coil.

"Sizzlipede—Knock Off!"

Seeing Munchlax rush over, Luo Xiaoxing hurriedly commanded Sizzlipede to use Knock Off.

Sizzlipede viciously swung its tail, colliding with Munchlax's fist.

Both were knocked one step back by the impact.

Then they moved forward at the same time, tail and fist colliding once more.

But this time, Munchlax used the same move again, with the same result.

As the two Pokémon collided, Munchlax's left hand landed another Mega Punch on Sizzlipede.

Sizzlipede was sent flying far away again, but unlike before, it did not get back up this time.

"Sizzlipede is unable to battle. Munchlax wins."

After checking Sizzlipede's condition, the referee raised the small flag representing victory.