Not Much of a Challenge

Victory Tournament, semifinals.

On the fourth day.

It officially began.

As a contestant in the first morning match, Heiduo arrived early.

Several people saw him off.

"Go get 'em!" The three Breeders waved at Heiduo, who stood in the contestant tunnel, their faces full of encouragement.

Heiduo smiled and responded to them.

Then Yuan Hao's teasing voice came from beside him. "I couldn't tell, Heiduo! I honestly thought you were clueless about this stuff!"

Heiduo turned and punched Yuan Hao. "What are you talking about? She's underage! That's illegal, get it?"

Yuan Hao punched him back. "Dating isn't illegal! Damn, you hit hard!"

"You're just too weak!" Heiduo said disdainfully, turning to Fred, whose expression had returned to its usual reserved state. "You should learn from Fred and work out more!"

Fred chimed in, "If he were willing to train with me, he wouldn't look like such a skinny monkey."

Hmm, looked like he had recovered.

Like Ash, he had a big heart.

Rosa reminded them from the side, "It's almost time. You still need to prepare before the match."

"Alright, I'll head in first."

Heiduo nodded.

"Good luck!"

The three of them cheered him on in unison.

Heiduo said nothing. He merely smiled and patted his chest, signaling that he had it under control and that they could rest easy.

Inside the contestant preparation room.

"Today, you're fighting that A-Xin, right?" Umbreon flicked her tail. "She'll probably use the Control Gloves right from the start. You need to be careful."

Heiduo was warming up. "Yeah, but if all she has are the Control Gloves, they won't be much use."

Control Gloves could make up for the disadvantage of no Resonance between a Trainer and Pokémon. If the opponent could not resonate, they could create a massive advantage or