Caught in Poliwrath's powerful submission hold, Houndoom was slammed straight into the ground, then rolled over and over as his opponent tightened the hold!
Only after a series of agonized howls did Poliwrath release the already unconscious Houndoom and stand aside.
Poliwrath dispersed his energy, and the rain began to fade.
Sunlight shone down on the ground once more.
After checking Houndoom's condition, the referee raised the red flag and announced loudly,
"Houndoom is unable to battle! Bruno advances from the Johto bracket!"
Yong nodded slightly, then began to clap.
Soon, the other contestants around him joined in despite themselves.
"What a great match! Bruno is really strong!"
"But he seems to specialize in Fighting-type Pokémon..."
"Yeah! People are bound to exploit that!"
Everyone chimed in, already considering what they would do if they faced Bruno later.
Yong watched Xiaojing and Bruno leave the field and disappear through the side door.
That passage led to the lobby, where the Pokémon League's medical hall was located.
Yong looked toward the other three fields.
The Kanto and Sinnoh matches had ended too. Only the Hoenn Region's match remained.
The two Pokémon battling there were a Sandslash and a Beautifly!
In the end, Sandslash took out the opponent with a Rock Slide and advanced!
All four matches of the first round were over!
The contestants who advanced were:
Kanto, Yuki! Johto, Bruno! Hoenn, A Zhu! Sinnoh, Kawashita!
Soon, everyone turned their attention back to the screen suspended above the center of the arena.
Names scrolled across it one after another.
Before long, the four pairings for the second round were announced!
Kanto: A Mei VS Xiaojian!
Johto: Juro VS Torishima!
Hoenn: Yong VS A Kun!
Sinnoh: Fupang VS Ito!
The corners of Yong's mouth lifted slightly, and the excitement stirring inside him instead