Semifinals: Four into Two

The third match had ended, and the contestants for the fourth match were now clear.

Youyu You blushed as he spoke softly to Yin Hanling in his arms.

"Lingling, I'm going on now."

Yin Hanling puffed out her cheeks and whispered coquettishly into Youyu You's ear.

"Then you have to hold me when you come back too."

Youyu You hurriedly agreed. After Yin Hanling got up, he lowered his head and quickly made his way onto the field.

After Youyu You entered the arena, Lu Ze and the others looked at Yin Hanling teasingly.

Yet Yin Hanling had none of her previous shyness. With her hands on her hips, she said proudly,

"What are you looking at? Watch the match."

She then pulled Tang Yunqin aside and began whispering to her. Lu Ze vaguely caught words like "women," "acting cute," and "love."

But he was soon drawn in by the Pokémon battle on the field and watched the match intently.

In the fourth battle, Youyu You faced Gu Yi, whose Pokémon was a Lilligant with an impressive move pool.

The two sides began by setting up their respective conditions.

Lilligant immediately used [Sunny Day].

Meanwhile, Haunter used [Toxic].

Then the back-and-forth barrage of moves began.

You fired an [Icy Wind].

I answered with a [Petal Blizzard].

We each hit the other once. Fair enough.

Haunter secretly slipped in a [Hex].

Lilligant immediately used [Aromatherapy] to cure the Toxic, refusing to let it deal double damage.

Haunter was unwilling to accept that, cycling through [Shadow Ball], [Will-O-Wisp], and [Icy Wind].

Lilligant did not back down either. If you used [Shadow Ball], it answered with [Energy Ball].

If you used [Will-O-Wisp], it used [Aromatherapy] to cure it again.

If you used [Icy Wind], fine—I couldn't dodge it, so I'd use [Growth].

Lilligant had finally managed to stack up its boosts with [Growth].

Then Haunter used [Clear Smog], resetting all its stat changes to zero.

The two sides traded blows in a lively battle. After fighting for a long time, they finally wore out the Sunny Day.

Haunter got fired up and gave Lilligant no chance at all, unleashing moves in rapid succession and refusing to let it set up [Sunny Day] again.

With no other choice, Lilligant was forced to use [Ingrain] to recover its stamina.

That was exactly what Haunter had been waiting for. It immediately used [Curse] and [Hex], then quietly watched Lilligant faint.

"Wow, Gu Yi and Youyu You have brought us an incredibly exciting match! The two sides were practically inseparable!"

"Unfortunately, Youyu You's Haunter was just a little stronger. It defeated Lilligant, which had originally had a chance at winning the championship, in the top eight. All we can say is that Gu Yi had bad luck."

"Please take a short break, everyone. The semifinals of this Chang'an City Baby Cup are about to begin! Which two contestants will make it to the finals? Let's wait and see!"

On the field, Gu Yi recalled Lilligant after his defeat. He stroked the Poké Ball to comfort it, then still smiled and waved to his opponent, Youyu You, before turning to leave.

Next came the break. The contestants and their Pokémon had half an hour to recover their condition.

The big screen began playing highlights from the previous matches.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our semifinals are about to officially begin! Let's see who will be competing in the first match!"

"Oh! They're coming out! Let's welcome Lu Ze~ and contestant Zhang Xue!"

Lu Ze walked toward the field amid his companions' uneven cheers.

"Both sides, release your Pokémon!"

Lu Ze and the expressionless Zhang Xue released their respective Pokémon together.

"As we can see, both Lu Ze's and Zhang Xue's Pokémon are close-combat specialists focused on Attack. This match will truly be a head-on clash!"

"However, whether in terms of typing or the differences between the individual Pokémon, this matchup is not very favorable for Munchlax. Not to mention Fighting type's double effectiveness."

"Munchlax is also a typical Pokémon with higher Special Defense than Defense. Facing an Attack-focused Fighting-type Pokémon with its Defense is going to be difficult. Of course, the contestants' individual performances will also be crucial. Let's wait and see!"

"Whoosh!"

The flag fell, and the battle began.

"Gurdurr—[Mach Punch]!"

"Munchlax—[Fire Punch]!"

The two Pokémon collided, their fists crashing together: [Mach Punch] versus [Fire Punch].

Gurdurr's strength was clearly inferior to Munchlax's. The instant they collided, Gurdurr realized something was wrong and used the force of Munchlax's punch to retreat backward.

Zhang Xue showed a puzzled expression. She had told Gurdurr to strike and retreat during close combat, not to clash head-on, in order to prevent Munchlax from throwing a second punch with its left hand. After all, her Gurdurr did not have that ability.

But she could see that Gurdurr had retreated because it had clearly lost in strength, and that left her baffled. Although [Mach Punch] did less damage than [Fire Punch]—

Gurdurr was a Fighting-type Pokémon. Even if it could not overpower Munchlax, it should at least have been evenly matched. Yet it had been sent flying.

She was beginning to wonder whether her family's secret Energy Cubes for boosting muscle strength were fake.

Gurdurr also looked at his own arm, then at the smiling Munchlax across from him. He could not understand it either.

Zhang Xue suppressed her surprise and continued giving orders.

"Gurdurr—[Low Kick]!"

Seeing brown light flare around Gurdurr's leg as he charged rapidly toward Munchlax, Lu Ze quickly told Munchlax to use [Earthquake] to stop him.

Good grief, [Low Kick]—that move calculated its power based on the target's weight.

With Munchlax's weight, the damage from that [Low Kick] was nearly comparable to [Double-Edge]. Add Fighting type's double damage against the Normal type, and rounding it off, it was basically like Munchlax taking an [Explosion].

If it landed, even with Munchlax's immense stamina, he definitely would not be able to withstand a second attack.

Munchlax also knew that taking this move would not end well for him, so he quickly released [Earthquake] beneath his feet.

At the same time, he held both hands behind his back, his fists slowly icing over just in case.

Because they were so close, Gurdurr did not react in time to dodge [Earthquake]. The tremor forcefully scattered the energy around his leg.

[Low Kick] was successfully interrupted.

Munchlax grinned. Although [Low Kick] had been interrupted, he still intended to hit Gurdurr.

He hurried forward to Gurdurr's side and launched a rapid assault with both hands using [Ice Punch].

Gurdurr truly deserved to be a Pokémon trained at a Martial Arts Dojo. Even though [Earthquake] had shaken him to one knee, he still used [Fire Punch] to block Munchlax's attacks.

But how could one fist possibly withstand two? After taking two punches to the face, Gurdurr crossed his arms to block Munchlax's assault and used the impact to roll backward.

The posture was not pretty, but he successfully escaped Munchlax's attack range.

Zhang Xue's expression darkened somewhat, but she continued ordering Gurdurr to attack. No one was allowed to boost—this would be a straight-up brawl.

This girl from the Martial Arts Dojo was rather stubborn too. She refused to concede. Her Martial Arts Dojo's Fighting-type Pokémon could not beat Munchlax in a fistfight? She did not believe it.

Gurdurr took a deep breath, lightning flaring around his right hand as he charged at Munchlax again.

Munchlax looked smugly at Gurdurr. Then both his hands lit up with lightning, and he waved them twice in a taunting manner.

Gurdurr could not help choking up at the sight. He then held his breath and forcibly calmed himself down.

But the look in someone's eyes when they wanted to stab another person could not be hidden.