Two Torchic

Torchic was nimble. Quick Attack left behind an afterimage as it easily dodged Poliwag's Water Gun.

Immediately afterward, it charged at Poliwag like a bolt of lightning. In its haste, Poliwag twisted its body and used Pound, fiercely slapping at Torchic in an attempt to stop its offensive.

However, Poliwag was still sent flying by Torchic's charge. Thanks to the cushioning from its tail, it was not seriously hurt and quickly got back on its feet.

Trainer Kaneko saw Poliwag get knocked away and shouted with great Qi, "Torchic, Flamethrower!"

Torchic's expression turned solemn as it sprayed a massive burst of flames at Poliwag.

"Chamo!!"

Trainer Sakamoto swiftly gave his command. "Poliwag, quickly use Bubble Beam toward the rear right!"

The Poliwag that had just stood up turned its head and spewed a large amount of bubbles toward its rear right, fiercely colliding with Torchic's Flamethrower.

The two forces remained deadlocked in midair. Although Flamethrower should have been more powerful, Torchic had not yet fully mastered this Egg Move. Its flame temperature and energy concentration had both fallen short, greatly reducing its power. Combined with the Type disadvantage, neither side could overpower the other, resulting in a violent energy explosion.

The explosion filled the entire field with mist, and both Pokémon were thrown back by the shockwave.

As the mist and Qi gradually dispersed, the situation on the field became clear. Poliwag was covered in injuries and could only keep its footing with the help of its tail. Torchic had also been hurt, but it was clearly in much better condition.

Trainer Kaneko shouted, "Torchic, finish it with Quick Attack!"

Torchic took a deep breath of Qi, white light spreading around its body as it charged toward Poliwag like lightning.

Trainer Sakamoto shouted anxiously, "Poliwag, use Bubble Beam!"

Poliwag once again sprayed a large amount of bubbles at Torchic, but Torchic easily dodged them.

Trainer Kaneko smiled and shouted, "Use Ember!"

Torchic opened its mouth and spat out blossom-like clusters of red flames, striking Poliwag. It followed close behind and slammed into it with all its strength.

With a dull bang, Poliwag took the Ember attack and was then sent flying by Torchic's charge. It crashed heavily to the ground and lost its ability to battle.

The referee raised his flag and announced, "Poliwag has lost its ability to battle. Torchic wins! I declare Trainer Kaneko advances!"

Kaneko Ryuichi clenched his fists excitedly, ran to Torchic's side to encourage it, then checked its condition before returning it to its Poké Ball.

Sakamoto Jiro looked somewhat disappointed. After returning Poliwag to its Poké Ball, he silently left the arena.

Xinhai watched the entire battle intently, constantly using Analytic to assess Torchic's training direction, its strengths and weaknesses in battle, and the opponent's tactics.

Yingnan looked at Xinhai and gave his Analytic assessment. "Judging from this Torchic's Flamethrower, its training clearly focuses on strengthening Fire type energy, with speed as a secondary focus. Its Fighting type moves are probably meant to be cultivated after evolution. That's a fairly common training approach."

Xinhai pondered for a moment before continuing, "This training method can indeed handle quite a few situations, but it still seems somewhat strained when facing powerful long-range Water type moves."

After saying that, he looked at Trainer Sakamoto, who had left the field, and sighed. "That opponent's Poliwag should have undergone fairly rigorous training. Its moves were not weak, its reactions were timely enough, and its mastery of Bubble Beam was also quite good."

"The other side is most likely a trainer from an ordinary family as well. That Poliwag probably did not have any Egg Moves, or at most one. They already did very well to fight a specially trained Starter Pokémon to this point!"

Yingnan nodded in agreement. "That Trainer Sakamoto's commands were timely enough, and he did not make any wrong calls. But his opponent was clearly stronger."

Shali listened seriously to the two men's Analytic assessment from the side and nodded in agreement. Seeing its trainer nod, the Eevee in her arms also chimed in with a "Vee, vee."

As the referee announced that preparations for the next battle would begin, the three of them focused their attention on the arena again and continued observing every potentially powerful opponent.

Time passed quickly, and the next battle was Xinhai's.

At this moment, Xinhai's information was displayed on the big screen, while the referee announced over the broadcast, "The next battle will be Trainer Bai Mu versus Trainer Ishii. Please come to the stage."

"I'm up!" Xinhai greeted Yingnan and Shali before heading toward the arena.

Xinhai stepped onto the stage and saw his opponent, Trainer Ishii. The man was tall and powerfully built, with a crew cut. He wore an ash-gray trainer outfit and hiking boots, making him look quite difficult to deal with.

Seeing that both contestants had taken the stage, the referee said, "Please send out your Pokémon."

"Torchic, come out and battle!" "Go, Sandshrew!"

Once both Pokémon had been sent out, the referee did not waste any time and immediately waved his flag. "Battle start!"

The two immediately fought for the initiative, launching their attacks almost simultaneously.

"Torchic, Flame Charge!" "Sandshrew, Swift barrage!"

The flame-wreathed Torchic did not charge directly at its opponent. Instead, it ran nimbly around the field, dragging a long tail of fire behind it like a burning crimson serpent twisting through the air.

The Swift stars fired by Sandshrew tore through the air. Torchic quickly sidestepped, nimbly weaving through the dense shower of stars while continuously circling its opponent.

Trainer Ishii frowned tightly when he saw how fast Torchic was and decisively ordered, "Sandshrew, Dig!"

Sandshrew, which had been firing Swift, stopped attacking and used its claws to dig into the dirt beneath its feet. Before long, it vanished from everyone's sight.

Seeing this, Xinhai immediately seized the opportunity and called out to Torchic, "Torchic, Bulk Up!"

Torchic moved even faster than Xinhai's command. The moment it saw its opponent use Dig, it began taking up the Bulk Up stance, while dark-red Fighting type energy emerged over its body.

Seeing Torchic's crisp movements, Xinhai smiled faintly.

Torchic moved so quickly because Xinhai had told it, If a Pokémon uses Dig, immediately use Bulk Up.

After all, Pokémon at this stage were still quite weak, and Dig was not particularly fast. Torchic could completely use that time to quickly finish some boosting moves.

Trainer Ishii was somewhat dumbfounded when he saw Torchic use Bulk Up. Why does a Torchic know Bulk Up? Even if it evolves into Blaziken, shouldn't it focus mainly on Fire type moves?

It was rare to inherit this kind of stat-boosting move. After all, in fast-paced high-level battles, Pokémon rarely had the chance to complete such moves. For Pokémon, offensive moves were still used more often.

Trainer Ishii had a headache now, but even if he told Sandshrew to crawl back out, it would probably be too late. He could only see this through to the end.

Torchic successfully completed Bulk Up, and its Attack and Defense both rose significantly. "Torchic, Quick Attack, get moving!" However, just as Torchic was about to act, Sandshrew burst out of the ground and slammed hard into Torchic's abdomen, sending it flying.

Trainer Ishii was overjoyed and immediately gave another command. "Don't give it a chance! Use Swift!"

Xinhai shouted toward the flying Torchic, "Torchic, use Flame Charge to dodge it!"

Torchic's body traced an arc through the air after being knocked away, then crashed onto the field. The pain in its abdomen made it let out a muffled groan.

But upon hearing Xinhai's command, it swiftly got to its feet. Enduring the pain, the flames around its body suddenly surged, and it adjusted its posture at astonishing speed, becoming a burning meteor as it dodged the opponent's attacks.

All of Sandshrew's Swift attacks missed. After using Flame Charge once, Torchic's speed had increased dramatically, and Sandshrew could no longer keep up with it at all.

Seeing all of the opponent's attacks miss, Xinhai let out a breath of Qi and ordered, "Torchic, close in on it."

After two Flame Charges, combined with its Speed Boost Ability, Torchic's speed was now astonishing. While dodging Swift, it rapidly closed in on Sandshrew.

Trainer Ishii wiped the sweat from his forehead and stared intently at the distance between the two Pokémon, silently calculating. When Torchic entered range, he shouted, "Sandshrew, Stomping Tantrum!"

Almost at the same time, Xinhai also shouted at Torchic, "Jump, Torchic!"

Hearing this, Trainer Ishii looked toward the source of the voice in astonishment. He saw Xinhai standing on the left side of the arena, smiling at him.