Soon, the next day arrived. Two matches had already finished on the ice field, and Liu Qing and A Xuan were standing on their respective trainer platforms.
"Next up is the third match on the ice field! On the right is Liu Qing from Saffron City. As for Liu Qing... On the left is A Xuan from the Hoenn Region. Judging from A Xuan's first three battles..." Once the Announcer finally finished his lengthy introduction, the referee lowered his flag and shouted, "Begin!"
"Go, Gengar!" Liu Qing sent out his Pokémon first.
"You too, Dusknoir!" Seeing Liu Qing send out his Pokémon, A Xuan took out a Poké Ball and tossed it.
With flashes of white light, the two Ghost-type Pokémon appeared on the field at the same time.
"Liu Qing, I prepared this Dusknoir specifically to deal with your Gengar. You'd better be careful." A Xuan sounded as though he were offering a warning, but he was actually trying to plant a suggestion in Liu Qing's mind: See? Mine is here specifically to counter yours. You're finished.
"Heh, then let me see what you came up with after all that research yesterday. Win, and you advance to the Main Stadium. Lose, and your run ends in the top thirty-two," Liu Qing said. "Whatever you've got, bring it on."
"Dusknoir, hide first." Watching his Dusknoir disappear, then looking at Gengar floating in the air opposite him, A Xuan's lips curled into a smile.
"Shadow Punch barrage!" A Xuan called out another order. Countless shadowy fists suddenly appeared from every direction in midair and struck Gengar, making Gengar cry out in pain again and again.
"Oh no! Why isn't my brother fighting back?" In the stands, Liu Yuan watched Gengar taking hit after hit and spoke anxiously.
"Liu Yuan, observe carefully. Don't let appearances deceive you." Mili sighed as she spoke. Her younger son still lacked the composure, wisdom, and other qualities a leader needed. Seeing that Liu Yuan remained puzzled, she added, "Look closely at Gengar. Would someone taking such a terrible beating still be able to cry out so strongly?"
"Huh? That Gengar is a fake?" Liu Yuan was stunned.
"That's right. Your brother's Gengar is very special. Even without using a move, Gengar can create lifelike illusions. Right now, that illusion has fooled everyone in the audience, and the person most thoroughly deceived is your brother's opponent," Mili said. "In fact, Gengar hid the moment Gengar emerged from the Poké Ball. What the audience saw was nothing more than an illusion. Right now, Gengar is waiting for a chance to use Horn Drill. That is deception, and it's something you'll need to learn when you set out on your journey. So ask your brother for advice more often. At the highest level, all disciplines share the same principles."
"Yes, Mother. I understand." Knowing his mother was teaching him, Liu Yuan answered at once.
"It's over! Dusknoir, Shadow Ball!" As A Xuan spoke, Dusknoir materialized in front of Gengar and fired a Shadow Ball straight into Gengar. With a boom, it exploded, filling the air with black smoke.
"Heh, that takes care of that." A Xuan immediately broke into a smile.
"Heh, does it?" Just then, Liu Qing's voice rang out. "Gengar, Shadow Ball!"
Boom! A black orb shot out of the dark smoke and struck Dusknoir in an instant, exploding on impact. A look of pain immediately crossed Dusknoir's face.
"What? How could your Gengar be completely unharmed?" Watching Gengar drift slowly out of the smoke without a single injury, A Xuan was so shocked that he even forgot about Dusknoir and shouted in disbelief.
"Heh, nothing is impossible. Gengar, Dark Pulse!" Liu Qing paid no attention to what A Xuan was thinking and gave another order.
"Hmph! Dusknoir, Destiny Bond!" A Xuan shouted. "I don't care how you recovered. Let's see how you deal with this!"
Boom! The black pulse blasted Dusknoir away, smashing through countless ice spikes before Dusknoir finally came to a stop, unable to battle. At that very moment, a streak of black light flew from Dusknoir and struck Gengar in midair. Gengar let out a chilling cry and then looked considerably weaker.
"Dusknoir is unable to battle!" The referee lowered his flag.
"How is that possible? Why is your Gengar still able to battle?" Seeing that even Destiny Bond had failed to knock Gengar out, A Xuan was once again deeply shaken.
"Gengar, what happened just now? Why have you weakened so much?" Ignoring A Xuan's question, Liu Qing spoke to the Gengar hiding beside him.
"I created that illusion. Destiny Bond is a move that takes both sides down together. It wouldn't bother with my illusion—it came straight for me. So I gave half my Inner Focus to the illusion and let it block the move. Basically, I lost half my strength to escape a fatal hit," Gengar explained in Liu Qing's ear.
"I see." Liu Qing nodded.
"Come back, Dusknoir!" Since Liu Qing refused to answer his question, A Xuan assumed it was a secret and stopped asking. He recalled Dusknoir, took out a second Poké Ball, and tossed it. "You're up, Jynx!"
"The unexpected loss of his first Pokémon hasn't made A Xuan give up. Now he has sent out his second Pokémon, Jynx..." The Announcer's voice echoed through the venue.
"Jynx, Hail!" A Xuan gave the first command.
On the field, Jynx's eyes flashed blue. Dark clouds gathered across the sky, and hail began to fall.
Is he using Hail's effect to damage Gengar every turn first? Liu Qing immediately grasped A Xuan's intention and gave his own command. "Gengar, Dark Pulse!"
At Liu Qing's command, Gengar brought both hands together, and a black pulse swept across half the field toward Jynx.
"Jynx, Double Team!" A Xuan was terribly nervous. Although Destiny Bond hadn't knocked Gengar out, it clearly hadn't left Gengar unscathed either. As long as Jynx could defeat Gengar now, he would have a chance to turn the match around.
It was clear that this Jynx was at a high level. In an instant, dozens of duplicates appeared and surrounded Gengar.
"Catch Gengar with Confusion!" The moment Jynx surrounded Gengar, A Xuan issued another order.
Blue light shone in Jynx's eyes at the command, and Jynx prepared to use Confusion. Unfortunately, Gengar gave Jynx no chance. After Dark Pulse struck one of Jynx's duplicates, Gengar didn't stop using the move. Instead, Gengar quickly spread both hands apart, turning Dark Pulse into a black ring that expanded outward. The response was so fast that Jynx, who had only just begun using Confusion, couldn't react before all the duplicates were destroyed and the real Jynx was blasted away, pain showing on Jynx's face.
"Oh!" The fast, thrilling exchange instantly drew enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Some spectators didn't quite understand what had happened, but an exciting battle was all they needed.
"Gengar, Shadow Ball!" The cheers from the stands didn't distract Liu Qing at all. The ice was slippery, and Jynx, having been hit by Dark Pulse, still couldn't regain balance and kept sliding across it. Liu Qing naturally wouldn't let that opportunity pass and immediately gave the order.
"Oh no! Jynx, use Double Team again!" Seeing the Shadow Ball hurtling forward, A Xuan shouted anxiously.
On the field, Jynx was still sliding when A Xuan's command came. White light flashed across Jynx's body, and duplicate after duplicate split off, successfully evading the attack.
"Jynx, Blizzard!" With Gengar surrounded once again, A Xuan hurried to give the command, afraid Gengar would blast Jynx out of hiding.
Hail was still falling, so Blizzard's accuracy was effectively one hundred percent. At A Xuan's command, none of the duplicates disappeared. Instead, they all used Blizzard together, further proving that his Jynx was far from ordinary.
Seeing Blizzard sweep in from every direction, Liu Qing immediately countered. "Gengar, Hypnosis!"
"Gah, gah!" Ignoring the roaring Blizzard, Gengar brought both hands overhead and gathered a red orb of light, which burst into a brilliant red glow. Jynx's duplicates vanished one after another, revealing the real Jynx. Then Gengar darted across the ice and appeared in front of the already-drowsy Jynx, pressing the orb into Jynx's body. Jynx instantly collapsed onto the ground, fast asleep.
The sudden reversal drew another burst of enthusiastic cheers from the stands.
At that moment, in a workroom at the Pokémon League's Main Stadium, four screens were showing live coverage from the four battle venues. The people watching were none other than Kanto's Elite Four.
"Hehe, Agatha, how does my cousin's handling of Gengar compare to yours?" Seeing Liu Qing's impressive performance, Lorelei smiled at Agatha and raised an eyebrow.
"The younger generation is formidable. The Golden Feather family has a worthy successor," Agatha said evenly.
Lorelei had hoped to see Agatha look embarrassed. Instead, the reply caught her off guard, and she gave an awkward smile.
"Quite a few talented young trainers have appeared in this tournament. Who do you think is most likely to win the championship?" Agatha asked.
"Hehe!" Lorelei glanced at Lance with a smile. "There are plenty of skilled trainers, but only two have been winning with much ease. I think the champion will be one of those two. Wouldn't you agree, Lance?"
"Heh, I really can't hide anything from you. That's right, a member of the Dragon Clan's direct line is competing in this tournament too. He's my younger brother, Lance, known as the Number Two Dragon Tamer," Lance said with a smile.
"Quite a few powerful families and groups have sent their youngsters to this tournament. That boy named Han Ye should be the nephew of Karen, Johto's Dark-type Elite Four member, right? But honestly, there are only two I have my eye on. One has revealed only three Pokémon so far, and the other hasn't been using his main team at all. I'd really like to see what those two youngsters can do when they go all out." Bruno laughed heartily, his eyes full of anticipation.
Damn it, Liu Qing reacts so fast, and that Gengar is incredibly strong. Even the same move can take countless different forms, and its power is several times greater than an ordinary Gengar's. On the battlefield, A Xuan couldn't help clenching his fists as he looked at the sleeping Jynx and the eerily grinning Gengar in the air.
"Gengar, Dream Eater!" With Jynx asleep, Liu Qing gave another order.
Gengar gave a sinister grin, and a shadow flew from Gengar's body, passing through Jynx in an instant. A pained expression appeared on the sleeping Jynx's face, but Jynx was still able to battle. Gengar looked briefly surprised, then followed up with a Shadow Ball. This finally knocked Jynx unconscious. At the same time, the hail finally stopped. Although it had inflicted considerable damage on Gengar, Dream Eater had restored a good portion of that health.
"Jynx is unable to battle." The referee lowered his flag.
"A Xuan has now lost two Pokémon, Dusknoir and Jynx, while Liu Qing still has all three remaining. From the start of this match, Liu Qing has used Gengar..." The Announcer really did seize every opening.
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