Chapter 355:
"Yes, it seems he recaptured a Weedle, which has now evolved into a Beedrill. While its strength isn't much yet, that Beedrill has quite good talent."
Rosaline briefly recounted the situation.
"Recaptured a new Beedrill?"
Kazephyr was stunned for a moment, instinctively asking, "Didn't his original Beedrill recover?"
But halfway through his sentence, he suddenly understood.
During their last battle, although that Beedrill's fighting spirit was vigorous and its condition seemed good, its physical functions and reaction speed had declined somewhat.
It was already showing signs of age.
"What a pity."
Kazephyr murmured to himself.
Regarding Ryō Fū, he felt both a sense of mutual respect and admiration, recognizing him as a remarkably talented individual, and precisely the kind who would be excellent for publicity.
Because nowadays, many rookie trainers aren't careful when capturing Pokémon, doing so casually and hastily.
Most of their first captured Pokémon are Bug-types.
But the ceiling for Bug-type Pokémon is evident.
Some rookie trainers, after capturing Bug-type Pokémon, quickly abandon them due to their poor strength and timid nature.
This leads to Pokémon that don't originally belong in certain ecosystems appearing there, which is bad for the Pokémon themselves and also increases harm to the ecological environment.
However, what's strange is, how did Ryō Fū regain his confidence?
Back when his Beedrill was failing, Ryō Fū took it everywhere seeking medical help, and naturally came to Kazephyr too.
But even he was powerless.
Yet now, not only did Ryō Fū cure his Beedrill, but after it passed, he recaptured a new Beedrill?
Kazephyr found it puzzling.
How could such injuries be cured?
But then he shook his head.
"Alright, alright, today's matches are about to start. You should go now."
At that moment, Kaito called out.
"Right."
Kazephyr collected his thoughts.
...
Compared to the first day of matches, even before the second day began, everyone's enthusiasm was already high.
As Kazephyr descended from the sky, the second match quickly commenced.
"Dear audience friends, hello everyone! After a full day of matches yesterday, we have officially entered the second round today."
"In yesterday's matches, everyone got to see a portion of most trainers' Pokémon. But actually, many trainers only revealed some of their Pokémon. No worries, over the next two days, they will all bring out their hidden Pokémon!"
"Let's cheer for the start of the first match!"
As usual, the announcer finished the opening remarks and quickly began drawing lots, displaying the results for the second round.
This time, it wasn't necessary for all contestants to come on stage. On the central large screen, the portraits of all remaining contestants spun rapidly.
Soon, the match order and pairings were listed one by one.
As this was a relatively tense moment, most contestants chose to watch from the contestants' seating area.
After the draw was announced, they looked at their respective opponents; some were happy, some were worried.
After a day of matches, while everyone wasn't fully familiar with each other's Pokémon, they had seen a portion, and moreover, a portion each trainer was quite confident in.
That is to say, if this portion of Pokémon surpassed their own in type advantage, energy level, or species, it could be tough going.
Hayashi Kaede was the same.
After getting up this morning, he also came to the contestants' seating area.
To his slight surprise, his match today seemed to be quite early?
He was in the third match.
He glanced at his opponent, a middle-aged man whose match he had watched yesterday.
The three Pokémon he owned were Venusaur, Nidoqueen, and Magneton.
His battling style leaned towards steadiness, maximizing the advantages of each Pokémon.
The strength of his three Pokémon was also relatively balanced.
Venusaur: Level 54-55.
Nidoqueen: Level 51-52.
Magneton: Level 52-54.
Facing such Pokémon, Kaede already had his team selection in mind.
He instinctively looked towards his opponent.
The other party also saw that his opponent was Kaede, and a wry smile appeared on his face at this moment.
When he noticed Kaede looking over, the middle-aged man's wry smile turned into one of acceptance.
He was already this old.
Being able to complete one round of the Pokémon League Conference with his Pokémon had already fulfilled the dream of his youth.
Even if he lost now, there was nothing to be discouraged about.
This era belongs to the young!
"Alright, the first match is between Contestant Kensuke and Contestant Hunni! The steady battling style of Contestant Kensuke's black Charizard from yesterday is still fresh in our memory. It even lacked the impulsiveness typical of Fire-type Pokémon!"
"When facing the Ground-type Sandslash, it just kept flying in the sky?"
"But this time, against Contestant Hunni, who specializes in Water-type Pokémon, can he continue to rely on Charizard to win?!"
The announcer was as passionate as ever.
After the draw concluded, the battles began!
The first match drawn featured a popular contestant from yesterday, instantly heating up the entire stadium.
"A black Charizard! Saw it yesterday, it's truly majestic! I really want to raise a shiny Pokémon too..."
"Well said! Reward yourself with a shiny Machamp, a shiny Dragonite, a shiny Muk, a shiny..."
"Get lost! Hmm... a shiny Dragonite isn't so bad, it's still a Dragonite after all..."
"Speaking of which, there are so many shiny Pokémon this year..."
Kensuke, who took to the field, looked very young, probably in his early twenties.
He wore a black trench coat, had a stylish middle-parted fringe, and with his handsome, clean-cut face, his entrance elicited cheers from some female spectators.
His information wasn't hidden at all.
It was said he was a student from a well-known university within the Eastova League.
It couldn't be helped. Young, with powerful and majestic Pokémon, handsome, and with a bright future ahead.
It's perfectly normal for him to be popular with the opposite sex.
His opponent was a dignified and quiet-looking girl, also in her twenties, seemingly a university student.
Wearing a beret and a white sweater, she had a very pure and cute appearance.
Her Pokémon were a Water-type Starmie and a Grass-type Shiftry.
Her other Pokémon hadn't been revealed yet.
Kaede wasn't very interested in them.
But he was quite interested in that black Charizard.
As it was the first match, neither contestant had much time for deep thought.
So the Pokémon they chose were the ones they used in their first match.
The black Charizard and the Water-type Starmie.
[Pokémon: Charizard]
[Gender: Male]
[Type: Fire, Flying]
[Ability: Blaze]
[Potential: Gold]
[Individual Values: HP (29) Attack (28) Sp. Atk (31) Defense (31) Sp. Def (31) Speed (30)]
[Level: 62-63]
[Moves: Ember, Flamethrower, Flare Blitz, Dragon Claw, Heat Wave, Fire Fang, Slash, Scary Face...]
A Charizard with 3 perfect IVs and the others nearly maxed, Gold potential, and shiny!
This was an almost perfect Charizard.
With such an impressive stat sheet for Charizard, the girl's Starmie paled in comparison.
[Pokémon: Starmie]
[Gender: Genderless]
[Type: Water, Psychic]
[Ability: Illuminate]
[Potential: Purple]
[Individual Values: HP (31) Attack (18) Sp. Atk (29) Defense (24) Sp. Def (31) Speed (25)]
[Level: 52-53]
[Moves: Water Gun, Recover, Rapid Spin, Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Toxic, Double Team, Light Screen...]
In all fairness, this Starmie's trainer must have put a lot of effort into it.
This was evident from the moves it learned.
Clearly a Water/Psychic-type Pokémon, but its moves were quite varied; it had even learned the Electric-type move Thunderbolt and the Poison-type move Toxic.
Electric-type moves and Water-type are opposing elements; for Starmie to learn it must have required significant effort!
Plus, its gem shone brightly, clearly well-maintained.
Moreover, raising a Pokémon like Starmie to this level was quite impressive.
Because Starmie's movepool... is really something else...
Water-type moves, at best, include Waterfall, Surf, Scald, and Water Gun.
But this Starmie didn't seem to focus on Water-type moves.
That was actually good news.
Yet, even though Starmie was covered in moves super effective against Charizard, it looked warily at the Charizard in the sky.
Its trainer felt the same.
Why? The pressure from the black Charizard was too intense!
And, for a Water-type Pokémon...
Fighting an aerial battle in this land environment completely exposed it to Charizard's claws.
"Begin the match!"
With the announcer's call, the two sides quickly made their first move.
"Flamethrower!"
"Toxic!"
If Charizard is the representative of Fire-type Pokémon, then Flamethrower is the representative move of Charizard.
You can tell how well a Charizard is raised by how it uses Flamethrower!
Because the other major Fire-type moves Charizard learns,
Such as Fire Blast, Blast Burn, are actually explosive-type flames.
Only Flamethrower requires Charizard to emit high-heat, high-intensity flames continuously and for a long duration!
Generally, the longer it lasts and the higher the intensity, the stronger the Charizard!
But this command...
Kaede became interested.
Not using the super effective Water Gun or Thunderbolt, but using Toxic?
Wasn't this like an egg striking a rock against Charizard?
Toxic liquid shot out from Starmie's core, forming a glob that sped towards the Charizard in the sky, but it quickly met the fan-shaped Flamethrower.
Almost no sizzling sound was heard; the Toxic liquid was burned away cleanly, leaving only scattered droplets splattering on the ground, making sizzling sounds.
One drop even landed on Starmie itself.
A purple bubble rose above its head.
It had poisoned itself!
Facing Charizard's flames, Toxic was at a disadvantage in the blink of an eye.
Its effect didn't poison Charizard but instead poisoned Starmie?!
But Contestant Hu Ni, as if she had expected this, quickly issued an evasion order, "Starmie, use Double Team to dodge!"
Instantly, dozens of Starmie images began flickering across the battlefield.
Charizard's flames couldn't distinguish which was the real body for a moment.
Starmie's images scattered. Although the flames burned away most of them, the remaining images also dispersed, briefly escaping Charizard's flame range.
"Oh? Why is this? Facing Charizard, Starmie actually abandoned its STAB moves (Same-Type Attack Bonus) and used a Poison-type move instead?"
"And the poison ended up affecting itself?"
This turn of events left even the experienced announcer confused during his commentary.
After Starmie's Double Team faded, they saw the bubbling Starmie had now reached the edge of the battlefield.
Charizard flew in the air.
kensuke on the opposite side also frowned.
Hunni was a student from his same university. He knew that her Starmie knew Thunderbolt, but because it wasn't a STAB move, and Electric was even super effective against its own Water typing, Starmie had a very obvious wind-up when using this move.
As long as Charizard stayed in the air, it was basically impossible to hit.
As for Water Gun or Waterfall, hitting an airborne Charizard was even more impossible.
He was a perfectionist; during battles, he didn't want his Pokémon to take any damage.
Before the opponent used moves that could threaten his Pokémon, even if he had the advantage, he would cautiously keep Charizard in the air.
He'd rather use a few Air Slashes.
But the next moment, Hunni's command stunned him.
"Thunderbolt!"
Starmie's core gem pulsated, wild yellow electricity surged forth, accompanied by its own somewhat pained cry.
The electric light swept towards Charizard.
Although puzzled, kensuke quickly gave the order, "Dodge!"
The electric flash passed by; Charizard flapped its wings and easily dodged the Thunderbolt.
Just as kensuke wanted to seize this opening to have Charizard use Air Slash, he noticed that after using Thunderbolt, the gem on Starmie's body began to flicker!
This was a sign of Starmie being hurt and its energy waning.
Almost without thinking, kensuke issued the "Shadow Claw" command.
This was the only Ghost-type move Charizard could learn.
Generally, it's very difficult for Pokémon to learn moves outside their own type.
Some moves that are super effective against them might even cause injury during training.
But to avoid being too constrained in battle, and to not be countered when facing super effective types without any moves, they had practiced Shadow Claw together, and Charizard had become quite proficient.
He instinctively thought Starmie was hurt by its own Thunderbolt and was now paralyzed.
This was the best time to attack in a Pokémon battle, so he had Charizard use this Ghost-type move, aiming to deal double damage to Starmie and take it out in one hit.
A dark, ink-like aura appeared on Charizard's claws as it dove towards Starmie, creating a huge gust of wind.
But at that moment, the light on Starmie's body miraculously stopped flickering.
The seemingly quiet girl's gaze also cooled, "Starmie, use Facade!"
[Facade: Power doubles if the user is poisoned, paralyzed, or burned.]
Bang!
The moves collided. Starmie, completely unafraid of Charizard's dive, spun its body and charged straight forward.
Li Xuan's expression changed, but the distance between the two Pokémon was less than five meters. At this range, it was impossible for Charizard to change direction.
He could only watch as Charizard took the Facade head-on.
But similarly, Charizard's Shadow Claw also landed on Starmie.
Having succeeded with one strike, Hunni followed up, "Scald!"
"Darn it, Charizard, Dragon Breath!"
The two Pokémon separated after the clash, and Charizard flew back into the air.
But after this collision, the light on Starmie's body truly did start flickering again.
Still, it stubbornly endured its injuries and spat a stream of scalding hot water at Charizard.
But this time, in a direct clash, Dragon Breath overpowered the Scald, knocking Starmie to the ground, unable to get up.
Hunni quickly ran to Starmie's side, checked its injuries, and first breathed a sigh of relief.
Then she sighed, "Sigh... Is the difference in strength still too great?"
Finally, she recalled Starmie, turned to kensuke, and on the contrary smiled, "Junior, looks like your little notebook will have to include me now~"
Hearing this, kensuke's face soured. After a two-second silence, he nodded.
Being recorded in the "little notebook" meant it was his personal "Record of Shame."
Whenever his Charizard got injured by a Pokémon of a lower level, he had to write down the trainer's name, the Pokémon used, and detail the battle process.
It was a way to motivate himself.
Later, his roommate found this notebook, it spread widely throughout the school, even topped the school forum's hot topics for a while.
Many seniors and juniors came to challenge him.
It even became a famous check-in point at their school.
Some people would check daily to see if anyone new had been added to the notebook.
"Hehe~"
Seeing kensuke's response, Hunni showed a relieved smile, then, not giving him a chance for revenge, directly forfeited.
...
Not all audience members understood the "little notebook" matter, confused about why, even when unable to win, she forced a injury on Charizard using "Facade"?
And even acted.
But from the first match, most could see a certain difference in strength between the two contestants.
So, regarding one contestant forfeiting, they were only briefly surprised before quickly shifting their attention to the upcoming matches.
The second match was average, nothing particularly outstanding, ending after about ten minutes.
Then the third match began, and most of the audience's eyes lit up with excitement.
"Contestant Hayashi Kaede is up!"