"To be honest, Hua Yan is a little stronger than either of us, though it's hard to say who would win in an actual battle. But she's still a notch below Liu Qing, so beating him would be incredibly difficult. Four of the six Pokémon Liu Qing brought to this tournament have already shown most of what they can do, and he trained those four in the Johto Region, so they haven't reached a higher level yet. That's why Hua Yan could tailor her approach to each of his Pokémon and get this far in the first half. If she manages to force out Gyarados in the second half, its strength at that level will crush her confidence," Dushe said, still shaken by the memory. He had experienced it twice himself.
"Heh, have you forgotten that Hua Yan has a Dragonite? As a pseudo-legendary, who knows how much power it could unleash!"
"Even if it does, it might not beat Gyarados. I think Gyarados has already reached the pinnacle of that level, and Liu Qing's sixth Pokémon hasn't even appeared yet. No matter how you look at it, Hua Yan isn't going to win. You could say the championship is already decided. Now it's mainly a matter of how Hua Yan performs and how Liu Qing responds!"
"Hey, hey, what are you two talking about? What level? You've got me completely confused!" Ash asked, puzzled.
"Heh." Dushe and Tyson exchanged smiles at his question, and Tyson said, "Ash, you might not know yet, but once you reach that level, you'll understand what we're talking about today. Telling you now might hurt your future development."
The five-minute break soon ended, and Liu Qing and Hua Yan returned to their positions. After the commentator delivered a lengthy speech, Liu Qing took out