"Dodrio is unable to battle! The winner is Kaixin!"
As Zongping announced the result, his expression was hard to describe.
It was rare to see someone get so tilted by an opponent's insults that they tripped over their own feet.
"That Dodrio had a pretty unfair loss."
"That's called tactics, bro."
"I feel like it was swearing up a storm, but I couldn't tell exactly what it said."
"Just look at Dodrio's expression. Those were definitely Zaun-level greetings."
Kurokawa turned to Yushu. "Well? Seen what it can do now?"
Yushu wholeheartedly agreed. "Strong! Mental attacks are attacks too!"
He finally understood. Kaixin's Chatot didn't follow the traditional damage-dealing route. It went for mental pollution instead.
It used verbal attacks to dismantle its opponent's psychological defenses, then finished them off with physical attacks.
As the saying went, tactics weren't good or bad. Trash talk was a tactic too.
A certain swordsman surnamed Huang loved using it.
Not long after Kaixin's match ended, all the first-round matches were over.
Battles between low-level Pokémon were very straightforward, usually involving direct exchanges.
With their limited moves, their trainers had fewer tactics and strategies available. Coupled with their low stamina and defense, this made the matches end especially quickly.
Some matches basically amounted to trading one hit after another until one side couldn't take any more and lost.
By the second round, only eight contestants remained.
The remaining contestants were randomly divided into four pairs for the second round and competed in order.
Yushu checked the matchups. His opponent was a little girl named Sayuri, who was only eleven this year.
Hmm... did this count as picking on a little kid?
Yushu felt a little guilty.
As the second round began, there seemed to be more spectators around.
After all, now that they had reached the elimination stage, the quality of the matches had noticeably improved, and the audience's enthusiasm rose along with it.
In the first match, Ritchie's opponent used a Beedrill, which Bibarel took out with a single Aqua Tail. Clean and decisive.
In the second match, Riley sent out Riolu again. His opponent was a Croagunk, but not the Frog God, and Riolu likewise took it out with a combo.
"This guy... is pretty strong."
Although Kurokawa wasn't a trainer, he still had an eye for things.
Riley's composure and control over the battle were definitely beyond an ordinary trainer.
Yushu thought that, back in the original story, Riley could hold his own against Team Galactic's commanders. He had to be at least Gym Leader level, or even pseudo-Elite Four level.
For the third match, it was finally his turn. His opponent, Sayuri, was already standing on the battlefield.
The little girl wore a pink dress and had her hair in two little braids. She even bowed to him, very politely.
"Hello, big brother!"
"Hello to you too."
Yushu returned the bow. So polite. She'd probably cry for ages if I hit her Pokémon in a bit...
"Go, Flaaffy!"
Sayuri threw her Poké Ball,
A white light flashed, and a pink-and-white sheep appeared, covered in fluffy wool. A red orb sat at the end of its tail, with occasional flickers of electricity.
[Pokémon: Flaaffy] [Type: Electric] [Ability: Static] [Level: Early intermediate] [Moves: Thunder Shock, Electro Ball, Cotton Spore, Thunder Wave...]
Yushu glanced at its stats. It was a little better than an average beginner's Pokémon, but that was about it.
If it were in its final evolved form, Ampharos, it could barely put up a fight.
"Go, Miltank!"
Bang!
Miltank appeared once again.
The spectators burst into cheers at the sight of Miltank.
After the previous match, Miltank had already made a bit of a name for itself. Everyone wanted to know just how fierce this pink god of war was.
"Flaaffy, let's do our best together! Use Electro Ball!" Sayuri shouted encouragingly.
The red orb on Flaaffy's tail lit up with electricity, forming a crackling ball of electricity that shot toward Miltank.
Yushu flashed a Dragon King smirk.
There was no need to dodge an attack like this!
"Miltank, Rollout."
"Mooo!"
Miltank curled into a ball.
Boom!
Electro Ball struck the spinning Miltank with an explosive bang and was smashed apart!
Electricity scattered in all directions, bursting like fireworks, but Miltank was completely unharmed.
"So strong!"
Sayuri's eyes widened.
"Keep rolling. Ram into it."
Miltank rolled faster and faster, bearing down on Flaaffy like a pink meteor.
"Flaaffy, dodge it!"
Sayuri used the divine technique.
Flaaffy tried to dodge, but Miltank was rolling too fast,
Flaaffy had barely taken two steps before Miltank changed direction and caught up.
"Flaaffy, use Cotton Spore!" Sayuri was getting desperate.
Flaaffy hurriedly shook its body, releasing a large cloud of fluffy wool in an attempt to slow Miltank down.
Miltank didn't care at all!
It completely ignored Cotton Spore's slowing effect and continued rolling forward at an astonishing speed.
What a joke. It carried cargo over hills and mountains on the ranch every day. What was a mere Cotton Spore to it?
Whoosh-boom!!
With a burst of acceleration, it smashed straight through the Cotton Spore, sending white fluff dancing through the air.
Flaaffy stared at the growing pink shadow, utterly dumbfounded.
Don't come any closer!!!
Boom!! Brute force worked miracles!!!
The battlefield shook, and Flaaffy was flattened into the ground, with only its two legs sticking out and twitching slightly.
"Flaa... Flaaffy..."
P-pink... so scary!
"Flaaffy is unable to battle! The winner is Yushu!"
As Zongping announced the result, he couldn't help exclaiming how awesome it was.
This Miltank's moves were far too brutal.
Roll first, then flatten. Simple and brutal, but effective.
Sayuri recalled Flaaffy, her eyes red, but stubbornly held back her tears.
"You're a mean big brother! Once I get stronger, I'll definitely come back for revenge!"
With that, she turned and ran off the stage.
Yushu stood there, looking utterly innocent.
So she'd actually marked me down for revenge?
The following matches continued.
The fourth match was Kaixin against a middle-aged man. The man sent out a Victreebel that looked well raised, but against Kaixin's Chatot, it still couldn't fight back at all.
Not just in strength, but mentally too.
Chatot's taunting prowess reached its peak during this match:
"Caw!" (Victreebel? Why's your mouth open so wide? Waiting for other Pokémon to stuff something nice in there for fun?)
Victreebel was so angry that its leaves trembled.
You'd better be talking about something decent!
"Caw!" (Vine Whip? Your vines are so limp, there's no strength in them at all! My trainer's hair has more strength than that!)
Victreebel's vines began flailing wildly.
"Caw!" (Sleep Powder? You just sneezed and called it Sleep Powder? Do you realize you're insulting the move Sleep Powder?)
Victreebel completely lost its cool.
Baka! This was too insulting to a flower!!
Victreebel began whipping its vines furiously, but Chatot easily dodged every strike.
Dodging wasn't enough. It kept taunting too.
"Chat..." (Why are you even competing like this? You'd have made a fortune ages ago doing special little games!)
Victreebel's composure crumbled, and it began attacking wildly, ignoring even its trainer's commands.
The middle-aged man had no choice but to concede.
"This... really packs a punch."
Yushu sighed in genuine admiration.
A Pokémon super-flamer, truly worthy of the name!