Victory slipped away

"Come on, Bai Shi!"

"A Le, don't you dare lose!"

"You two had better give it your all!"

Before the final began, quite a crowd had gathered around the field.

They cheered and shouted encouragement for both contestants.

The excitement steadily built.

It matched the earlier rounds, if not surpassed them.

The two contestants standing in the middle of the field could not help feeling their blood stir.

"Go, Beedrill!"

"I'm counting on you, Staravia!"

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Bai Shi and A Le each sent out their Pokémon.

"Staravia!" (So you're Beedrill?)

After appearing, Staravia gave its opponent a scornful glance and let out a mocking cry.

Clearly, it did not consider Beedrill worth its attention.

"Bzz!"

Beedrill seemed to sense Starly's disdain, and its anger kept mounting.

It rubbed its sharp twin stingers together, looking ready to teach its opponent a lesson.

"Let the battle begin!"

With the referee's command, the final officially got underway.

"Beedrill, use Pin Missile!"

As soon as the battle began, A Le seized the initiative.

At his command, Beedrill immediately fired a barrage of sharp, white, needle-shaped beams at Staravia.

"Staravia, use Double Team!"

Seeing this, Bai Shi gave Staravia his command.

Fortunately, despite its arrogance, Staravia still obeyed Bai Shi rather than acting on its own.

Bai Shi, who had been worried about precisely that, breathed a small sigh of relief.

Numerous illusory Staravia instantly appeared across the field.

Staravia hid among them, evading Beedrill's attack.

"Staravia, use Gust!"

At Bai Shi's command, Starly swiftly counterattacked.

It beat its wings hard, unleashing a powerful current of air.

"Beedrill, use Agility!"

A Le's expression changed as he called out to Beedrill.

Facing the oncoming air current, Beedrill burst into motion at incredible speed, easily avoiding Staravia's Gust.

"Not so fast! Staravia, use Quick Attack!"

Bai Shi refused to let up, ordering Staravia to keep attacking.

In terms of pure speed, his Staravia would not necessarily lose.

Staravia became a streak of white light and charged at Beedrill.

In the blink of an eye, it was right beside Beedrill.

With a fierce rush of air, it slammed into its opponent.

The hit dealt considerable damage to Beedrill.

"So fast!"

A Le could not help exclaiming at the sight.

"Staravia, finish it off! Use Aerial Ace!"

Bai Shi pressed the attack relentlessly, giving his opponent no chance to catch its breath.

Staravia had already put some distance between itself and its opponent, but suddenly doubled back.

It flew at Beedrill again, even faster than before.

Before Beedrill could react, Staravia landed a heavy blow.

The impact knocked the already unsteady Beedrill to the ground.

"Staravia!" (Who's next?)

After knocking its opponent down, Staravia let out an excited cry, holding its head high in a victorious pose.

It basked smugly in the audience's cheers, as though the outcome had already been decided.

Little did it know that Beedrill had already climbed back up.

And silently moved behind Staravia.

"Watch out, Staravia! The battle isn't over yet!"

Seeing Staravia still celebrating, completely oblivious, Bai Shi shouted a warning.

"Staravia!" (What?)

At Bai Shi's warning, Staravia jolted and hurriedly turned around.

Unfortunately, it was already too late.

"Beedrill, use Fury Attack!"

Beedrill raised its arms and swung them furiously, its sharp twin stingers glowing white as they stabbed Staravia again and again.

"Staravia!" (You're playing dirty!)

Under the repeated blows, Staravia let out an agonized cry.

It nearly lost the ability to keep fighting.

"One last hit! Beedrill, use Pin Missile!"

A Le's eyes lit up as he tried to press his advantage and take his opponent down outright.

Whoosh, whoosh!

A barrage of needle-shaped beams shot toward Staravia.

"Staravia, dodge with Double Team!"

At the very last second, Staravia used Double Team.

It avoided Beedrill's attack by the narrowest of margins.

"Staravia, use Quick Attack!"

Once Staravia escaped the attack, Bai Shi immediately ordered it to retaliate.

Humiliated and furious after taking such a beating, Staravia burst out from among its copies and charged straight at Beedrill.

Defeating its opponent was the only thought in its head.

"Beedrill, block it with your arms!"

A Le's eyes flickered as he shouted to Beedrill.

Beedrill braced its arms in front of itself, hoping to withstand Staravia's attack.

"Staravia, circle around it first!"

Bai Shi realized his opponent seemed to be laying a trap.

He hurriedly gave Staravia a new command.

He did not want to give his opponent any chance to turn things around.

What he had not anticipated was that Staravia had already lost itself in its fury.

It had put all its strength into this single strike.

It had left itself no room to adjust.

It could no longer change direction again as it had before.

Instead, it barreled straight into Beedrill's waiting arms.

The attack did little damage to Beedrill.

"Now, Beedrill! Use Fell Stinger!"

Beedrill raised its white-glowing tail stinger and drove it hard toward Staravia's abdomen.

At such close range, Staravia had nowhere to escape. The tail stinger struck home, dealing considerable damage.

"Finish it, Beedrill! Use Fury Attack!"

A Le could almost see victory beckoning to him.

Beedrill swung its lance-like arms furiously, striking Staravia over and over.

"Staravia!" (I let my guard down!)

Filled with regret and resentment, Staravia gave a mournful cry and fell to the ground.

"Ah, we lost after all..."

Bai Shi sighed with a helpless, bitter smile.

If Staravia had not gotten careless midway through, he could definitely have beaten his opponent.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs.

Both he and Staravia had paid the price.

"Congratulations on your win, A Le!"

Bai Shi recalled Staravia, composed himself, and congratulated A Le.

Losing the first tournament of his life was deeply disappointing.

But since the outcome was already decided, he could only accept it.

At worst, he would simply start over.

It was not as though he would never enter another tournament.

Bai Shi believed that sooner or later, he would be the one who had the last laugh.

"Haha, thank you! I just got lucky!"

At Bai Shi's congratulations, a hint of delight appeared on A Le's face.

To be honest, he still could hardly believe he had won the championship.

Before the tournament began, he had thought making the top three would already be a good result.

He had never imagined he would advance through every round and claim the final victory.

"Thank you, Beedrill! You were amazing!"

Brimming with excitement, A Le praised Beedrill, the one who deserved the most credit.

The two embraced excitedly, celebrating their hard-earned victory.

Afterward, Bai Shi and A Le attended the awards ceremony together.

They received their respective prizes from the organizers.

With that, the tournament came to a close.