The competitors' matches would not begin until the afternoon. Under the rules, they generally had to win four one-on-one elimination matches before advancing to the Main Stadium. Earning a place there was no small challenge for any Pokémon Trainer.
The opponents for those first four elimination matches were decided at the draw hall, where dozens of service counters had been set up to accommodate the many competitors.
By the time Liu Qing arrived, quite a crowd had already gathered, with more people still streaming in. After a few rounds of preliminaries, though, their numbers would gradually dwindle.
Liu Qing joined the slow-moving line and waited quite a while before his turn finally came.
"Hello, welcome to the venue draw." The staff member greeted him with a professional smile. "Please show me your registration ID."
His registration ID could be either his identity card or his Pokédex. Liu Qing handed over his Pokédex, and the staff member placed it in the reader beside the computer to retrieve his information. "Are you Liu Qing from Saffron City?"
"That's right."
Once his identity was confirmed, the staff member returned his Pokédex. "Your registration is complete. Now, please select your battle field."
The first four matches would take place on different fields at the four secondary stadiums surrounding the Main Stadium, testing the Pokémon Trainers' ability to fight on varied terrain.
The first round of the Preliminary Qualifiers consisted of 128 matches, with thirty-two on each field. At half an hour per match, the entire round would not finish until the following evening.
Liu Qing placed his hand over the button. Once the cursor on the screen began spinning rapidly, he pressed it. The cursor slowed, finally stopping on rock.
"Your venue is the Rock Field, and your opponent is..." After the staff member entered the information, a picture of a heavily muscled man appeared on the screen.
"You'll be in the eighth match on the Rock Field, scheduled to start at 4:30. Please arrive on time," the staff member reminded him kindly.
"Thank you." With that, Liu Qing returned to the hotel.
Soon, the afternoon matches began. Sitting in the competitors' waiting room, Liu Qing watched the fierce battles broadcast on the screen. The atmosphere seemed to infect him, setting his blood racing.
Before long, the match ahead of his ended. The winner was a young female Pokémon Trainer. When the entrance gates opened, Liu Qing walked calmly onto the field.
"Coming up next is the eighth match on the Rock Field! Entering through the left passage is Liu Qing from Saffron City in the Kanto Region. Entering from the right is Zhuoli from Cerulean City in the Kanto Region..." The commentator began giving a detailed introduction to both competitors.
As Liu Qing took his place on the Trainer's platform, he found himself surrounded by densely packed spectators. Even so, he easily spotted Liu Yuan and Mili waving to him from the VIP seats. The stadium's large screen displayed both competitors' photographs, each accompanied by three boxes, red on one side and green on the other. Those boxes represented their three Pokémon.
"Haha! Kid, you're so scrawny, and you still came to compete?" Zhuoli flexed his muscles across the field. "See these? I could knock you down with one punch."
"All brawn usually means no brains. Let's see what you can actually do in a battle," Liu Qing retorted, looking at the muscle-bound man. He then took out his first Poké Ball and watched his opponent, waiting for the referee to begin the match.
"Liu Qing of Saffron City versus Zhuoli of Cerulean City. Begin!"
As the referee lowered his flag, Liu Qing and Zhuoli threw their Poké Balls together. Two flashes of white light crossed the field, and two Pokémon appeared on the Rock Field.
"There they are! Zhuoli's first Pokémon is Golem, while Liu Qing is starting with Scizor. What kind of fierce clash will these two Pokémon show us...?" The Announcer launched into his rapid commentary as pictures of Golem and Scizor appeared on the big screen.
"Haha! Kid, let me show you an attack packed with power!" Zhuoli laughed loudly before commanding, "Golem, Stone Edge!"
At the command, white light spun rapidly around Golem, then transformed into countless rocks that shot toward Scizor. Without even needing an order from Liu Qing, Scizor became a streak of red lightning, circling Golem and swiftly dodging the attacks.
"Damn it! Golem, use Stone Edge again! Fire in every direction!" Zhuoli shouted. Not only had the attack failed to hit its target, it had left Golem badly winded.
"Roar!" Clearly infuriated by Scizor as well, Golem roared and sent Stone Edge shooting outward in every direction.
"Swords Dance!" Golem's ability to unleash such a wide-ranging attack astonished the spectators, drawing thunderous applause. Liu Qing, however, remained completely unfazed as he issued his calm command.
Bang, bang, bang! Spinning like a red whirlwind, Scizor knocked away every Stone Edge projectile that came its way.
"Liu Yuan, watch closely. Your big brother is about to finish this," Mili said with a slight smile, pointing toward the field as she looked at his face, flushed with excitement.
At Mili's words, Liu Yuan focused on the field and saw that the situation had already changed.
"Oh no!" Golem suddenly stopped firing Stone Edge. Alarmed, Zhuoli hurriedly shouted, "Golem, Defense Curl!"
"Brick Break!" The moment had come, and Liu Qing would never let it slip away. Scizor abruptly stopped its Swords Dance and flashed toward Golem in a streak of red, appearing before it almost as though it had teleported. Its white-glowing pincer slammed down on Golem's head. A deafening boom sent dust billowing into the air, and Scizor's red figure shot through the cloud to return to Liu Qing.
Every spectator fell silent, staring intently at the slowly dispersing dust. They all wanted to see what had become of Golem, which had looked so formidable moments earlier.
"Golem is unable to battle!"
The dust soon cleared, and the referee raised his flag to signal Liu Qing's first victory. Golem's picture on the big screen turned black.
"What an unexpected result..." The Announcer launched into another nonstop stream of words. From his excited tone, Liu Qing could practically picture the spit flying from his mouth.
"Mom, what happened just now? Why didn't Golem follow its orders?" Liu Yuan asked in confusion. "And it lost in just one hit. Isn't that unbelievable?"
"The main reason is that your brother's opponent overestimated his Pokémon and gave the wrong command. He saw that an attack in every direction could reach Scizor, so he hoped Stone Edge would seriously injure it. But he failed to notice how much strain maintaining such a powerful Stone Edge placed on his Pokémon. That can easily cause a move to cut out abruptly," Mili explained. "Your brother, meanwhile, had Scizor use Swords Dance as soon as he saw the attack. In his hands, Swords Dance doesn't just raise attack power—it can even defend against an opponent's moves. His opponent clearly never expected that. And the longer the move is used, the greater the attack boost, so your brother was happy to let the attack continue a little longer. Scizor's attack power was already high. Add that prolonged Swords Dance and a Fighting-type move like Brick Break, and defeating its opponent in one hit was only natural."
"I never thought a little match could involve so much. Big Brother is amazing." Liu Yuan was stunned.
"You damned brat! This round, I'll send you back home to drink your milk!" Zhuoli looked at Liu Qing with a conflicted expression. After recalling Golem, he angrily threw his second Poké Ball. "Go, Hitmonlee!"
A flash of white light revealed Hitmonlee standing on a rock with its arms folded, looking down at Scizor. Scizor clearly disliked that gaze and flew into the air with a beat of its wings.
"Hitmonlee, Vacuum Wave!" Zhuoli shouted.
"Ha!" Hitmonlee clenched one fist and punched toward Scizor from a distance.
Boom! A transparent wave from the punch reached Scizor in an instant, knocking it backward through the air.
"High Jump Kick!" With the first attack landing, Zhuoli immediately called for another.
On the field, Hitmonlee leaped from its rock, driving its right knee toward Scizor.
"Vacuum Wave is a priority move, and it caught Scizor off guard, so it's understandable that it couldn't dodge. But now, do you really think you'll get another chance?" Although Scizor had been hit by the Fighting-type Vacuum Wave, Hitmonlee's special attack was low, and the move itself was not particularly powerful. Liu Qing was therefore not too worried about Scizor. Watching Hitmonlee draw closer, he gave a cold smile.
"Scizor, grab Hitmonlee's leg!"
At Liu Qing's command, Scizor suddenly accelerated, darting in front of Hitmonlee and clamping its pincer around its right leg.
"What?" Zhuoli had thought victory was finally within reach, but the smile froze on his face when he saw Hitmonlee's trapped leg. He hurriedly shouted, "Hitmonlee, Blaze Kick!"
"In your dreams!" Liu Qing sneered. "Swords Dance!"
In midair, the violently struggling Hitmonlee heard Zhuoli's command, and flames sprang from its left foot as it prepared to kick Scizor. Just then, however, Scizor began spinning rapidly. With one leg trapped, Hitmonlee was forced to spin along with it. The dizzying speed nearly made Hitmonlee throw up last night's dinner. It could no longer even think about using Blaze Kick and could only let out miserable cries.
"Scizor, finish it with Aerial Ace!"
Scizor abruptly stopped spinning and let Hitmonlee fall. Several white bands of light wrapped around its body before it shot forward, striking Hitmonlee and driving it all the way into the ground. A tremendous explosion threw up a vast cloud of dust. Scizor then soared into the sky and returned to Liu Qing once more.
When the dust cleared, the entire crowd erupted into deafening cheers. Hitmonlee lay in a large crater, unable to battle.
"Hitmonlee is unable to battle," the referee promptly announced.
"Well done, Scizor!" With two straight victories, Scizor's fighting spirit burned even brighter. Liu Qing was delighted as well and praised it warmly.
"Zhuoli has just one Pokémon remaining, while Liu Qing still has all three! So far, Liu Qing has held a commanding advantage in this match. Starting with that first battle against Golem..." By now, the outcome seemed almost certain. Yet the silver-tongued Announcer still managed to make the match sound full of suspense, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats.
After losing twice in a row, Zhuoli's forehead was covered in sweat. Gritting his teeth, he took out his third Poké Ball. "Go, my final ace—Machamp!"
"Raaah!" White light flashed, and the muscular, four-armed Machamp appeared on the field.
"Let's finish this quickly. Aerial Ace!" Watching Machamp still showing off its muscles, Liu Qing was speechless, but he wasted no time issuing his command.
"Machamp, Bulk Up! Block it!" Zhuoli shouted at the same time.
"Raaah!" Machamp roared, and a red glow flared around its body. It extended its arms toward the rapidly approaching Scizor without a trace of fear.
"Raaagh!" As Aerial Ace struck, Machamp cried out in pain. Despite its desperate efforts to hold firm, Scizor's tremendous power drove it backward, smashing through countless rocks along the way.
"Machamp, show some fighting spirit! Let your opponent see your strength!" Zhuoli shouted.
Encouraged by Zhuoli, Machamp roared. The muscles in all four arms swelled noticeably, and it stamped its feet hard into the ground, actually managing to halt its backward slide.
"Grab it! Seismic Toss!" Zhuoli suddenly shouted.
"Oh no! Scizor, get away!" Liu Qing instantly realized the danger and cried out urgently.
Having barely blocked Aerial Ace, Machamp followed the command and immediately seized Scizor's limbs with its four arms just as Scizor tried to escape. Then it began rolling rapidly across the field with Scizor in its grasp.
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