Urged on by his alarm, Zhang Cheng got up, washed, and headed to the school cafeteria. After breakfast, he made his way to the competition grounds as usual.
After yesterday's top ten elimination round, only five contestants remained, and the format would change for the remaining matches.
Each of the five Trainers would battle the other four, with their rankings determined by their number of wins. The contestant with the most wins would become the champion.
At nine o'clock, Referee arrived at the competition grounds on time. After explaining the rules to the five Trainers, they began assigning opponents and arranging the schedule.
Referee worked efficiently, finishing the schedule in just a few minutes before posting it on the big screen.
Zhang Cheng's first opponent was a Trainer named Ke Jing, whose main Pokémon was Serperior, a Grass-type starter Pokémon.
Once the schedule was announced, Zhang Cheng headed to his assigned battlefield. His opponent, Ke Jing, arrived at the other end at the same time.
After both Trainers were ready and Referee confirmed that everything was in order, he blew his whistle and announced the start of the match.
"Poliwrath, I choose you!"
"Electrode, get ready for battle!"
At the whistle, Zhang Cheng and Ke Jing threw their Poké Balls simultaneously, sending out their opening Pokémon.
Zhang Cheng chose to stick with his usual approach, sending Poliwrath straight into battle.
Ke Jing, however, did not send out his strongest Pokémon, Serperior. Instead, he led with the Electric-type Electrode.
Ke Jing knew that Zhang Cheng had a powerful Pidgeot, which had a type advantage over his Serperior. After weighing his options, he chose Electrode.
Whether facing Poliwrath or Pidgeot, the Electric-type Electrode would have a type advantage.
Following his usual battle routine, Zhang Cheng activated the Detection System to check Electrode's