The Quarterfinals Begin

"Sizzlipede had been defeated by the same move for the second time. This time, it didn't get back up. The winner has been decided!! Munchlax wins!"

Luo Xiaoxing despondently recalled the fallen Sizzlipede. He forced out a faint smile, nodded at Lu Ze, then turned and left.

Lu Ze watched Luo Xiaoxing's retreating figure and returned the gesture. Unfortunately, Luo Xiaoxing was too busy rushing Sizzlipede off for treatment to see it.

Lu Ze did not hurry to recall Munchlax. Munchlax was already grinning happily as it swaggered toward Lu Ze.

Lu Ze crouched down and smiled as he patted Munchlax on the head. Then the two of them left the field together.

After Munchlax received treatment, Lu Ze returned to where he had been before, only to find Sui Yan's face full of envy, jealousy, and resentment right in front of him.

"Ugh, why didn't I make it into the quarterfinals?"

"Because you suck."

Lu Ze rolled his eyes, pushed Sui Yan's face aside, and listened carefully to the commentator.

"The quarterfinals will continue with the fifteen-into-eight format. The first-round draw will be revealed shortly, so please stay tuned."

After the contestant portraits on the big screen spun symbolically for a while, two portraits appeared.

"The results for the first match have been drawn. Oh? Tang Yunqin, who had a bye in the previous round, will be the first contestant to take the field this round."

"The other contestant is Zhang Mo! We look forward to an exciting battle from these two trainers."

"Go get 'em!"

Yin Hanling encouraged Tang Yunqin as she prepared to head onto the field.

No one understood why the two girls, who had only met for the first time today, could already get along so well. (scratches head.jpg)

"Both sides, send out your Pokémon."

"Go—Shellder!"

"Go—Mr. Mime!"

"Swish!"

The flag fell, and the battle began.

"Shellder—Withdraw!"

"Mr. Mime—Fake Out!"

Mr. Mime charged toward Shellder at top speed, but even that speed could not surpass Shellder's instinct to withdraw into its shell.

As a result, Mr. Mime merely slapped Shellder's shell. The damage was low, but it still triggered the Flinch effect.

"Mr. Mime—Psywave!"

Zhang Mo commanded Mr. Mime to use [Psywave] against Shellder's weaker Special Defense stat.

Shellder allowed Mr. Mime's [Psywave] to hit without emerging from its shell.

"Shellder—Rock Blast!"

Catching the instant just after Mr. Mime finished using its move, Tang Yunqin commanded Shellder to launch a swift attack.

Shellder emerged from its shell and stared at the nearby Mr. Mime. Five rocks rapidly struck Mr. Mime one after another, knocking him back slightly before Shellder withdrew into its shell again to await Tang Yunqin's next command.

"Hiss..."

Zhang Mo felt troubled. He did not know whether Shellder had used the move [Withdraw] or simply withdrawn into its shell on instinct.

If it had used [Withdraw], then he could have Mr. Mime use [Encore].

What was the point of raising Defense stat with three [Withdraw]s? Mr. Mime's [Psywave] was Special Attack. Even with poor luck, three or four hits would be enough to take down that shell with its insufficient Special Defense stat.

(Psywave—each use dealt a different amount of damage, ranging from ten to one hundred.)

But if it was instinctive withdrawal, then after three rounds of [Rock Blast], Mr. Mime would still be down half his stamina.

"Forget it, no point worrying about it. Mr. Mime—Psywave!"

Mr. Mime used [Psywave] again. Perhaps the random damage roll was rather high this time, because it even forced Shellder's shell to open slightly.

"Shellder—Rock Blast!"

Once again, [Rock Blast] was timed into the gap between attacks. Once again, all five strikes landed, though none of them scored a critical hit.

Now Zhang Mo understood. Shellder definitely had the [Skill Link] Ability, not [Shell Armor] or [Overcoat].

After all, five consecutive hits could have been luck once, but twice made that highly unlikely.

Unfortunately, he understood too late. On the field, Mr. Mime was already visibly running out of stamina and had begun panting heavily.

Zhang Mo had originally planned to use Hypnosis on the next attack, since Shellder was still hiding in its shell.

But that was no longer possible. He now had to consider whether to use [Protect] to block Shellder's next move. It would be awful if a single attack took Mr. Mime out.

To put it plainly, their battle came down to move choices. Zhang Mo was certain to use [Fake Out] in the first round.

Shellder had immediately withdrawn into its shell. At that point, he could have used Hypnosis, but he knew Shellder would use the priority +1 [Aqua Jet]. If he used Hypnosis directly, it would be interrupted.

So he had used [Psywave] first to test things out. If it got interrupted, he would use [Hypnosis] immediately afterward.

But Shellder had used a [Rock Blast] he had never seen before right after Mr. Mime finished its move.

It landed five hits at once, then withdrew into its shell again. If he used [Hypnosis] now, it would still be interrupted. And as mentioned earlier, [Encore] was unusable, so he could only use [Psywave] again.

Yet the result was the same, and he had even confirmed Shellder's [Skill Link] Ability. Unfortunately, by then it was already too late. Two [Rock Blast]s had taken away most of Mr. Mime's stamina.

If he did not use [Protect] now, the priority +1 [Aqua Jet] could take Mr. Mime out directly. But if he used [Protect] and the opponent did not use [Aqua Jet], then [Protect] would have an extremely low chance of succeeding next round.

Zhang Mo gritted his teeth.

"There's not enough time. I'll gamble."

"Mr. Mime—Psywave!"

Zhang Mo gambled that this [Psywave] would roll high damage and take Shellder out in one blow. What if it was not using [Aqua Jet]?

But Tang Yunqin was no fool. She could naturally tell that the opposing Mr. Mime was running out of stamina.

After all, it had taken two full, super-effective [Rock Blast]s. The fact that it had not collapsed already meant its stamina was impressive.

So Tang Yunqin did not hesitate in the slightest and directly commanded Shellder.

"Shellder—Aqua Jet!"

[Aqua Jet] struck Mr. Mime's body with incredible speed. Mr. Mime slowly fell over, Swirl Spirals in Eyes.

It sounded slow when described, but the battle had actually passed in a flash. Both Pokémon had fought head-on and traded damage, except Shellder had the advantage of type effectiveness.

"Mr. Mime is unable to battle. Shellder wins!"

After the referee announced the result, Tang Yunqin smiled happily and recalled Shellder.

That smile was captured by the director's close-up camera and displayed on the big screen.

Hearts practically popped out of the commentator's eyes.

"Wow, Tang Yunqin's smile just smiled its way right into my heart! Mom, I'm in love!"

The audience burst into laughter.

Elder Mo excitedly grabbed Lu Ba and said,

"Look, look! That's the girl who was with Xiao Ze that day. I'm telling you, you definitely wouldn't lose out if she became your daughter-in-law. She's so pretty!"

"If that brat Mo Qiancheng could find a girl like that, you could bury me, and I'd still laugh myself back to life!"

Lu Ba gave a wry smile and tried to calm him down.

"Elder Mo, Elder Mo, don't get worked up. Let the children decide their own matters. We shouldn't interfere, shouldn't interfere."

"I'm telling you, you can't just not interfere! Mo Qiancheng is a cautionary example. If I had back then..."

Tang Yunqin came down and happily high-fived Yin Hanling, making Lu Ze's raised hand look extremely awkward. He could only casually sling an arm around Sui Yan's shoulders instead.

Lu Ze was baffled. "Hm? Don't you usually high-five me? What's going on today?"