Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

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December 23, 2023 (League Calendar), Funan City, Liuhuo Arena.

The Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition, which lasted for nearly half a month, finally ushered in the highly anticipated final day.

The four finalists are Hu Yang and Chi Hong from the upper division, and Xia Chen and Bai Mu from the lower division.

The two groups of contestants will compete in the semi-finals in the morning.

Naturally, the winners and losers of the two matches will compete in the final and third-place match in the afternoon.

Among the four finalists, there were seeded players like Hu Yang and Bai Mu who were widely expected to win before the competition, as well as Xia Chen and Chi Hong, two dark horses who were not favored.

Regardless of the opinions and views of the audience before the competition, making it into the top four means that they are the future of the younger generation in the Donghuang region.

Of course, this excludes a person from another region who is traveling to the Donghuang area.

With the year drawing to a close and the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year in full swing, today's competition attracted the attention of almost the entire Donghuang region, and tickets for the Liuhuo Arena were extremely difficult to obtain.

At 9:00 AM, amidst thunderous cheers and applause at the venue and lively discussions in the live stream chat, the first semi-final was about to begin.

The two teams facing off are Red, a traveling trainer from the Kanto region, and Hu Yang from Tokyo University.

Based on pre-match audience support, Hu Yang and Chi Hong were roughly 80/20.

Besides supporting local athletes, most viewers also believed that Hu Yang was the stronger athlete.

Of course, support rate does not represent win rate, and this nearly half-hour-long, drawn-out battle proved this point once again.

The two teams fielded Gengar, Charizard, and Slowking, respectively, while Red fielded Pikachu, Venusaur, and Snorlax.

It's worth mentioning that both players' Slowking and Snorlax were Pokémon that had never been shown before the competition.

This battle was also an all-out effort where both sides used all their trump cards.

…………

The match was exceptionally dramatic. To put it simply, the first half was dominated by Hu Yang's ace Pokémon, Gengar, delivering a phenomenal performance.

The second half of the game featured Pikachu, which was jokingly called "more numerous than stray dogs on the roadside," delivering an incredible performance.

No one could have imagined that Pikachu would pull off such an incredible comeback after Venusaur and Snorlax were defeated by Gengar.

He wasn't even a Pokémon in its final evolved form.

But this scene, which could be described as a ghost story, actually happened in front of tens of thousands of people at the scene and in front of hundreds of millions of viewers on screen.

Although Gengar was in terrible condition after defeating two Pokémon, and Charizard and Slowking were also injured to some extent in the first half of the battle, it was still a miracle.

Even Kikuko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings from the Kanto region and a guest at this competition, praised this 19-year-old as the most promising young man in the Kanto region and the most likely to reach the summit of Mt. Hakugin.

The stunningly gorgeous and insane performance of the crimson color is a testament to this.

After Pikachu narrowly defeated Slowking's Psychic with a final Thunderbolt, thunderous applause lasted for nearly three minutes in the circular arena shaped like a hotpot.

However, Crimson, the object of the applause, did not enjoy the spectacular scene for long, because after defeating his opponent, his last Pokémon, Pikachu, collapsed from exhaustion.

After briefly thanking the audience and his opponent Hu Yang, the boy in the red and white training uniform carried Pikachu and headed to the Pokémon Center.

Hu Yang was left staring blankly at the departing figure of the crimson figure, then recalled the Slowking King and silently stepped off the battle stage.

He paused for a moment as he passed by Xia Chen's rest area for preparation.

"Good luck in the afternoon's match, beat him for me."

Hu Yang said this.

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise and gestured towards the rest area opposite the arena with his chin. "So confident that I can beat him?"

Before the match between Xia Chen and Bai Mu, the audience didn't have high expectations for this "youngest contestant".

Besides the difference in strength, the more important reason is that Bai Mu has not yet revealed his trump card, while Xia Chen has given his all in his battle against Lu Weiyu.

Faced with Xia Chen's question, Hu Yang didn't say anything, but just smiled and shook his head. He patted Xia Chen's shoulder in a mature and sophisticated manner, and then walked towards the Pokémon Center in the arena.

Thus, following his promise to the principal a long time ago and Lu Weiyu's "entrustment" yesterday, Xia Chen's burden inexplicably became heavier.

However, none of these are the most important factors. What motivates Xia Chen to desire this championship is his and his team's relentless efforts over the past year.

…………

Because of the flexible scheduling, there is a full half-hour interval between the two matches. Before the second match at 10:00, the special guests invited to each match are naturally responsible for maintaining the audience retention rate.

And Xia Chen's guest for this competition is a top trainer with whom he has a close relationship.

"Welcome to our competition venue, Ms. Marie, the Gym Leader of the Aromatherapy Gym in the Carlos region, a world-renowned fashion designer, and the President of the World Coordination Trainers Association!"

In the studio, Miss Ma Xiu, dressed in a gorgeous, butterfly-like gown, raised her sleeves and covered her mouth with a soft laugh.

Sorry, not as many people came this time.

Even as a virtual holographic projection, Miss Ma Xiu exudes a unique charm that is as elegant and captivating as a fairy.

The host picked up on the joke at just the right moment, "Haha, Miss Ma Xiu is much more humorous than I imagined."

Ma Xiu smiled and nodded, "Well, ever since I met someone, I've inexplicably become like this. In your Donghuang language, it's called 'being influenced by one's surroundings.'"

The host continued the conversation, "First, to correct you, it's 'one is influenced by one's company,' and second, the person you mentioned, could it be one of the contestants in the upcoming competition?"

Ma Xiu never shied away from her close friendship with Xia Chen in any public setting, and perhaps this gossip-worthy topic is why the competition organizers invited her to be a guest.

As expected, Ma Xiu was very frank this time as well.

"Yes, although we haven't seen each other for a long time, I still often miss the time we spent together."

This was quite blunt, and the live stream chat was flooded with comments like "Xia Chen, you really deserve to die!" and "So you're the most affectionate person in Zhejiang, huh?"

However, the main topic today is the competition, so a little gossip and banter is fine, but going any further would be putting the cart before the horse.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, the host smiled slightly and subtly changed the subject, keeping his accomplishment hidden.

"So, what are your thoughts on the match later? What do you think are the chances of Xia Chen defeating his strong opponent and advancing to the finals?"

Ma Xiu also suppressed her smile and carefully chose her words, saying seriously, "I have watched every match Xia Chen has played. His progress during this period is beyond doubt, and can even be described as astonishing. However, Bai Mu has advanced smoothly without making a fuss. Objectively speaking, in terms of strength and information gap between the two sides, Xia Chen does not have the advantage."

The host then asked, "Are you saying that Xia Chen has no more trump cards?"

Ma Xiu thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Probably not. Who knows?"

In fact, she had already vaguely guessed that Zorua should have evolved by now, but she didn't say anything.

What if Bai Mu is watching the live stream in the rest area? A moment of carelessness might put Xia Chen in a bad position.

This little secret is something that only Xia Chen and I should know.

Ma Xiu thought to herself.

The host was not surprised by this conventional answer. After chatting casually for a while about the pre-match preview, the time had unknowingly reached ten o'clock.

Amidst thunderous applause and cheers from the arena, Xia Chen and Bai Mu walked to either side of the battlefield.

War is imminent.

------

Xia Chen made a point of observing the Poké Balls on his opponent's waist today, and as expected, there were four.

In other words, besides Chandelure, Aegislash, and Mismagius that Bai Mu used in previous matches, there was another Pokémon that he had never used before.

That is, Bai Mu's trump card.

What kind of spirit could it be?

On the other side, Bai Mu subconsciously glanced at Xia Chen's waist, where, just like before, there were still three Poké Balls.

Does he really have no other options left?

Bai Mu unconsciously had this thought, but Xia Chen's "underworld fighting style," which he was particularly good at, made him suspicious.

Among the information he knew about Xia Chen, there were two other known elves, Zorua and Doromecia.

Dragapult is definitely not going to suddenly evolve into Dragapult in the short term. So, among these three Poké Balls, is the one from Zoroark?

Bai Mu wasn't sure, but it didn't matter to him. Although Dark-types could resist his Ghost-type, which he was good at, Zoroark's small size made it difficult to easily defeat him.

Just play as usual.

With both sides harboring their own thoughts, the referee blew the whistle.

The second semi-final match has officially begun.

"Come forth, Aegislash!"

"Milotic, prepare for battle!"

The Poké Balls were thrown simultaneously, a flash of white light appeared, and the two teams' starting Pokémon, Aegislash and Milotic, instantly entered the battlefield, standing on opposite sides.

Both sides' starting Pokémon were as expected. Aegislash's Steel type is super effective against Gardevoir and Sylveon. Therefore, if Xia Chen wants to avoid being at a disadvantage at the start, sending out Milotic is the safest option.

However, a mediocre starting lineup doesn't guarantee that the performance of the other two Pokémon will be mediocre as well.

"Milotic, spray water!"

"Strong Shield Sword Monster, King's Shield!"

Two voices, one in front and one behind, resounded across the battlefield.

Clearly, Bai Mu waited until Xia Chen gave his instructions before deciding on the best battle form for the Aegislash.

The Aegislash is a very special Pokémon, as its body is composed of a sword and a shield.

Normally, the Shield Sword Monster's sharp blade is hidden behind its shield, making it a shield-type monster.

When it uses an offensive move, it switches to sword form. When it uses the move [King's Shield], it not only switches to shield form, but also provides the [Protect] effect to Aegislash.

The Shield Sword Monster in its sword form boasts exceptional attack power, with both attack stats comparable to top-tier damage dealers like the Double-Axe Dragon.

The shield-form Aegislash has been turned around and become like Shuttle, with extremely high defense and special defense, but extremely poor attack and special attack.

Therefore, knowing when to draw the sword and when to conceal it is the most difficult and troublesome thing for the trainer to control during battle, and it is also the most troublesome thing for the opponent.

Clearly, Bai Mu didn't want Aegislash to be hit by Milotic's Water Spray at full power right now, even though it had just appeared and was in its highly defensive shield state.

However, Milotic, which was being instructed to use water jets, did not launch an attack, but instead began to spin and dance on its own.

The move he unleashed wasn't water spray, but a butterfly dance!

Seeing this, Bai Mu raised an eyebrow, not too surprised, but just smiled slightly.