The next day, Liu Qing and the others spent the entire day watching other competitors battle and saw quite a few impressive Pokémon Trainers. Reggie, Xiao An, A Xuan, and Han Ye, whom they had only recently met, all won their matches and advanced to the next round of the Preliminary Qualifiers.
By that evening, the first qualifying round had finally drawn to a close, and all 128 competitors advancing to the second round of the Preliminary Qualifiers had been decided.
The second round of the Preliminary Qualifiers consisted of 64 matches, with 16 at each venue. The League therefore scheduled the field draw for the following morning, with eight matches at each venue that afternoon and another eight the morning after.
On the morning of the third day, Liu Qing returned to the venue's draw station. This time, he drew the third match on the Grass Field, scheduled for two that afternoon.
"Coming up next is the third match on the Grass Field! Entering from the right is Liu Qing from Saffron City, and on the right is Xiaomi from Viridian City! In their previous matches..." The Announcer could talk endlessly once he found a topic, and immediately launched into a lengthy account of their records.
Standing on the Trainer's platform, Liu Qing first waved to Mili and the others, then took out a Poké Ball. He watched the girl Pokémon Trainer opposite him, who looked about his age, and waited for the referee's command.
"...Begin!"
"Go, Vileplume!" Xiaomi kissed her Poké Ball before tossing it high into the air. The Vileplume that emerged looked well raised, with an exceptionally vibrant, enormous flower atop its head.
"Gengar, I choose you!" Liu Qing's expression shifted slightly when he saw his opponent send out Vileplume. Remembering his experience challenging the Gym in Celadon City, he swapped out the Poké Ball containing Scizor and sent out Gengar instead.
With a flash of white light, Gengar appeared in the air with a sinister grin. The surrounding temperature seemed to drop by more than ten degrees, lending an eerie chill to the field despite the bright sunshine.
The Announcer caught Liu Qing switching Poké Balls and launched into another round of extravagant speculation, setting the audience's imaginations running wild.
"Mom, why did my brother suddenly switch Poké Balls?" Liu Yuan asked.
"Hehe, probably a lingering effect of his challenge in Celadon City." Smiling, Mili recounted Liu Qing's embarrassing experience. "The Celadon City Gym Leader's last Pokémon was a Vileplume. When your brother challenged the Gym..." Liu Yuan burst out laughing after hearing the story.
"Vileplume, Petal Dance!" Xiaomi did not care why Liu Qing had switched Pokémon and seized the initiative.
With a soft puff, countless pink petals swept toward Gengar in the air, looking beautiful in the sunlight.
But just as Petal Dance was about to engulf Gengar, it became apparent that Gengar had vanished. An unseen Ghost-type was the most terrifying kind, and in that eerie atmosphere, Vileplume began to grow restless.
"Vileplume, stay calm! Solar Beam!" Although Xiaomi could not locate Gengar, she could prepare a powerful move and wait for an opening.
"Hehe, a good idea, but it's over." Liu Qing waved his hand. "Gengar, Hypnosis!"
"Where?" Alarmed, Xiaomi looked around frantically. "Oh no, underneath! Vileplume, don't look down!"
Unfortunately, Xiaomi's warning came a little too late. Feeling something strange beneath its body, Vileplume immediately looked down, only to see a red orb flooding its vision with red light. It grew dazed and fell asleep.
"Come back, Vileplume!" The moment Vileplume fell asleep, Xiaomi tried to recall it into its Poké Ball. But would Liu Qing let her?
"Dream Eater!"
At Liu Qing's command, the shadow beneath Vileplume suddenly spread over its body, blocking the red beam from the Poké Ball. When the shadow disappeared, both of Vileplume's eyes had turned into spirals.
"Vileplume is unable to battle!"
"Truly worthy of the Ghost type's reputation for bizarre tactics! Liu Qing's Gengar has demonstrated that perfectly for our audience..." The commentator launched into another speech.
"Come back, Vileplume." Xiaomi glared fiercely at Liu Qing for a long moment before recalling Vileplume. With Vileplume's shadow gone, Gengar reappeared and drifted back in front of Liu Qing with a sinister grin, making all sorts of scary, mischievous gestures at Xiaomi.
"Xiaomi, please send out your second Poké Ball!" Seeing that Xiaomi had hesitated for quite some time without sending out her second Pokémon, the referee reminded her.
Watching her, Liu Qing guessed that she was struggling to decide what to use against Gengar. With a faint smile, he recalled Gengar and tossed out Scizor's Poké Ball instead.
Liu Qing's decision to withdraw Gengar briefly dampened the atmosphere, but once the Announcer recounted Scizor's record, the crowd grew excited again.
"Go, Flareon!" Xiaomi did not care what Liu Qing intended by bringing out Scizor, but she felt he was looking down on her. Irritated, she tossed out Flareon. "Flareon, Flamethrower!"
With a fiery roar, Flareon seemed to sense its Trainer's anger as it opened its mouth and unleashed a stream of scorching flames toward Scizor in the air.
"Swords Dance!"
At Liu Qing's command, Scizor spun rapidly, deflecting the incoming flames completely.
"Brick Break!" As soon as Flamethrower was deflected, Liu Qing ordered an attack.
"Flareon, Dig!" Seeing Scizor charge in with its pincers glowing white, Xiaomi cried out urgently.
Boom! With a tremendous crash, the spot where Flareon had just stood caved in completely. Flareon was nowhere to be seen.
"Whew, that was close!" Having avoided the blow, Xiaomi breathed a sigh of relief.
"Scizor, fly up and stay alert!" Liu Qing did not know where Flareon had gone, so he could only have Scizor take to the air.
"Flareon, keep using Flamethrower from underground!"
At Xiaomi's command, Flareon suddenly popped out of the ground and spat a stream of flames at Scizor overhead. Without checking whether it had hit, Flareon burrowed underground again, then emerged elsewhere to breathe another blast of fire at Scizor.
"That's so underhanded!" In the stands, Liu Yuan watched Scizor constantly dodge the flames in the air and spoke bitterly.
"Liu Yuan, you need to understand that in a match, there's only winning and losing. It isn't a matter of being underhanded. And there's another thing you should know: in the face of real strength, everything else is just empty talk." Mili took the opportunity to teach him a lesson. "You should learn from your brother here. Do you see even a hint of resentment on his face?"
"But if this keeps up, Scizor will lose." Although Scizor was fast, the flames came from unpredictable directions, and it had been grazed several times. None had landed squarely, but repeated hits would still add up.
"Watch closely. Your brother is about to win."
"How is that possible?" Despite his words, Liu Yuan focused his attention back on the field.
"Just as I thought. When Flareon digs underground, its heat dries out the grass roots. The stems aboveground may not wither, but the grass still looks less healthy than the rest." After Flareon's repeated attacks, Liu Qing had finally worked out its route. Watching one patch of grass slowly wilt, he smiled faintly and shouted, "Scizor, Brick Break!"
With a sharp cry, Scizor flew swiftly in the direction Liu Qing pointed, then brought both glowing white pincers down hard.
Boom! A tremendous crash rang out across the field, and Flareon was hurled out of the ground with a shriek.
"How is that possible?" Xiaomi's expression changed drastically as she cried out in disbelief.
"Aerial Ace!" Liu Qing did not care whether his opponent was shocked and immediately ordered another attack.
With another sharp cry, Scizor, already close to Flareon, landed Aerial Ace at point-blank range and carried Flareon skyward.
"Flareon, hurry! Fire Fang!" Flareon's cries finally snapped Xiaomi out of her shock, but Scizor had already carried Flareon high into the air at incredible speed. With the wind roaring in its ears, Flareon could not hear her command.
Boom! After soaring high into the air, Scizor spun and plunged toward the ground at tremendous speed with Flareon, slamming it straight into the earth with a thunderous crash. At the instant before impact, Scizor itself veered away and skimmed horizontally over the ground.
"Flareon is unable to battle!" Flareon had lost consciousness completely, and the referee lowered his flag.
"What a dramatic turn of events! Liu Qing was at a disadvantage, but he suddenly turned things around, defeating Xiaomi's Flareon with powerful attacks and dazzling speed..." The Announcer spoke at length as thunderous applause and cheers rose from the stands.
"Come back, Flareon!" After recalling Flareon, Xiaomi glared fiercely at Liu Qing. Gritting her teeth, she took out her final Poké Ball and threw it. "Electrode, I choose you!"
White light flashed, and a Pokémon resembling a Poké Ball appeared on the field.
"Scizor, finish this quickly! Brick Break!" Liu Qing pointed at Electrode and shouted.
"If I can't beat you, I won't let you win that easily!" Xiaomi said bitterly. "Electrode, Explosion!"
Electrode's entire body blazed with dazzling white light, then exploded before Liu Qing's dumbfounded eyes, taking Scizor down with it.
"Electrode and Scizor are both unable to battle. Since... the winner is Liu Qing!" The referee was clearly startled by Xiaomi's decision as well, and only announced the result after a long pause.
The crowd erupted. Hearing the referee's voice, the equally dumbfounded spectators recovered, and the Announcer resumed his commentary.
"That girl really is..." Mili did not know whether to laugh or cry either.
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