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

"Metamorphoses, ram them!"

…………

"Steven boldly chose to continue the attack. This move is quite daring. Given the previous example of Gardevoir brilliantly dodging and counterattacking with Shadow Ball, isn't Steven worried that Metagross will repeat the same mistake this time?"

The question had barely been posed by Da Ye when, from the stands, the audience gasped in surprise as the answer was revealed.

Just as Da Ye predicted, the moment Metagross decided to accelerate, Gardevoir used its second Instant Transmission of the match, teleporting to a few meters behind Metagross.

The distance wasn't long, and it looked as if Gardevoir and Metagross had swapped positions.

Gardevoir, or rather Xia Chen, had a clear plan: lure Metagross into a trap, then position it in a suitable spot to unleash its moves, and then unleash a barrage of attacks on Metagross as it battled the wall, achieving a second victory.

Even now, Gardevoir, having teleported to a safe location, has already gathered energy and is preparing to launch an attack from behind.

This is a very direct and effective, but also quite obvious, a scheme that even the audience can easily figure out.

Obviously, Daigo couldn't possibly have been unaware of such a strategy, so

"Metrogross, bullet punch!"

Bullet punch?

The audience was somewhat confused when they heard Daigo's command.

Is Daigo going to make Metagross, who's facing a wall, use Bullet Punch?

Who is the target? The wall in front of us?

The next scene on the battlefield proved that this was indeed the case.

The audience only guessed the beginning, but not the ending.

Metagross, whose speed instantly reached its limit, struck the wall the instant after unleashing its Bullet Punch. But contrary to everyone's expectations of a fierce struggle between Metagross and the wall, its front paws lightly touched the wall, and its massive, rapidly advancing body spun back smoothly!

The aircraft carrier turns around!

Aldak suddenly explained, "I see! What a brilliant idea! The purpose of this bullet punch isn't to break through the wall or anything like that, but to use the massive acceleration generated in that instant to gain a rapid backward propulsion, just like when we play billiards. This wall isn't Metagross's obstacle, it's its launcher!"

"And it's obvious who its target is. Now, Gardevoir is in trouble."

…………

Daigo's response was ingenious. Its cleverness lay not only in using the recoil of the bullet punch to launch himself, but more importantly, in maintaining the maximum speed of the bullet punch state after launching.

This meant that Gardevoir, whose teleportation distance was not far, had no time to react, let alone while she was still charging up her attack.

In less than half a minute since the start of the battle, Gardevoir has already used Teleport twice. If she were to use it a third time, her energy would be greatly depleted!

At that point, Metagross won't need to do anything else; just exchanging moves with Gardevoir will be enough to drag her into the abyss.

Therefore, if Xia Chen wants to win this "different color duel", he has no other choice but to continue to let Gardevoir charge up and release its moves, trading injury for injury.

This is Adek's analysis of Xia Chen's current situation, and the changes in the game have proven the accuracy of the former United Nations champion's foresight.

Gardevoir didn't stop charging up her move; instead, she accelerated the flow of energy. She needed to unleash this move before Metagross's Bullet Punch arrived with overwhelming force.

She succeeded.

Just as Metagross's silvery-white metallic forepaws were a fist's distance from Gardevoir, Gardevoir suddenly opened its eyes in a flash.

A strange red light flashed in her beautiful, agate-like eyes, and from her pupils, deep as the starry sky, a strange energy shot directly at the giant golden monster that was right in front of her.

The platinum-colored steel crab paused slightly, as if something had entered its computer-like, sophisticated brain. Immediately, its steel claws tore a shocking gash in Gardevoir's white skirt.

But that's all.

Because after performing this subconscious action, it fell into a deep sleep.

Gasps of surprise rose and fell from the audience.

Hypnosis!

Gardevoir's charged attack wasn't Shadow Ball or Magical Flame; it was Hypnosis!

…………

"What else can I say? Xia Chen's pre-reading is always a level above Daigo's, it's just too brilliant! In my opinion, even if Cynthia were here, she might not be able to replicate Xia Chen's calm judgment!"

At this moment, Adek had become the "Xia Chen Praise Group Leader," and in order to praise him in an exaggerated way, or even to praise him, he did not hesitate to bring up Cynthia as a foil.

"I'm certain that the instant after Daigo gave the order to charge, he definitely planned to follow up Instant Transmission with Hypnosis! At that distance, Hypnosis would be almost useless if Metagross didn't approach on its own."

"The difficulty in reading this is in two parts. First, it is to guess the purpose of Metagross using Bullet Punch, which is to attack Gardevoir that has circled around behind by bouncing off the wall. This can perhaps be deduced by studying Steven's past battle videos of Metagross."

"The more difficult part is how he managed to complete this perfectly coordinated operation with Gardevoir without communicating with it. Perhaps he planned this step before the battle and designed it this way on purpose? Or perhaps he has superpowers like the Champion of Gadgetzan? I have no idea."

As Adek spoke, he suddenly exclaimed with emotion, "But in any case, to be able to do such an exaggerated level of prediction, at least I am ashamed of myself."

As Adeke sighed over there, Da Ye had no choice but to take on the responsibility of providing commentary.

"Let's see what mischief Gardevoir will do to Metagross after it falls asleep. Will it take this opportunity to secretly boost its power? It seems unlikely. Well, Calm Mind isn't very cost-effective against Metagross; it would be better if it knew Nasty Plot."

"Oh? First, it charged up a huge Shadow Ball, which hit without a doubt. This Shadow Ball looks to have much higher damage than the first one. Metagross's expression is ferocious, as if it's having a nightmare. Has it woken up yet? It doesn't seem so."

"Then Gardevoir can continue to do whatever it wants. The second move is Will-O-Wisp! This move is very effective against Metagross. Metagross with the ability Cleanse is immune to moves or abilities that weaken its stats, such as Intimidate, but it cannot avoid the halving of physical damage caused by Burn."

"With half the damage output, Metagross is like a toothless tiger. However, it's important to note that if it's in a [Sleep] state, it won't be affected by other abnormal statuses such as [Burn] or [Paralysis]. Therefore, this Will-O-Wisp must be thrown at the exact moment Metagross wakes up."

"Xia Chen did a great job with this detail of pressing down on the monster. The eerie ghost fire flickered and hung on the slowly awakening Metagross, and the [Burned] state seamlessly transitioned into the [Sleep] state."

"Metamorphosis, this is going to be tough."

…………

Unexpected yet reasonable, the pace of this match was extremely fast.

Within a short minute, the two commentators' views on the situation changed constantly, much like a winding mountain road.

From initially having no faith in Gardevoir, to cautiously believing in it, then marveling at Steven and Metagross's genius move design, and finally seeing Gardevoir turn the tide with its successful [Hypnosis] prediction.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

Many people in the audience held their breath for almost the entire minute of this intense competition, and their eyes didn't blink even once.

The silent Raven Arena only returned to its noisy state when the [Burning] status was fully applied to Metagross.

Although the forms of discussion, applause, and cheers varied, their goals were surprisingly consistent.

That was the brilliant performance by Xia Chen and Gardevoir just now.

After the hypnotic spell hit, followed by the Giant Shadow Ball and Will-o'-the-Wisp, Metagross finally woke up.

The outcome of the match was actually not in much suspense.

If Xia Chen doesn't advance, Groudon can fly.

The only question that the onlookers are concerned about is...

So, is the last Pokémon in Xia Chen's lineup actually Guleton?!

Chapter 290 We still don't know that Xia Chen was the last one in the team that day.

"Thunder Dragon, devour my enemies! The final Thunderbolt pierced the sky, and the last Pokémon in Steven's hands, Skarmory, fell!"

"As the referee blew the whistle, this highly anticipated semi-final came to an end. Xia Chen defeated Daigo 3-1 and will face Dakdo in the final."

"It's worth mentioning that Xia Chen only used two Pokémon in this match. In fact, Steven and Metagross had a chance to defeat Gardevoir, but they still lost at that crucial turning point."

"However, although Xia Chen's two matches were of great quality, his opponent in the finals, Darkrai, has only revealed one Pokémon so far, and that Pokémon is the legendary Darkrai."

Therefore, the final outcome remains unknown.

"Thank you to both players and their Pokémon for the exciting match. Please continue to follow our final battle the day after tomorrow morning!"

Amidst the enthusiastic and prolonged applause and cheers from the audience at Raven Arena, Xia Chen and Daigo each recalled their Pokémon on the battlefield.

The two looked up at each other and nodded to each other without much emotional fluctuation.

Although it might sound a bit cheesy, for Xia Chen, this victory was already a foregone conclusion, and there was nothing to be happy about in taking what he deserved.

As for Daigo, his mind is probably already wandering off to some unknown cave.

Of course, this was just Xia Chen joking. Although Daigo loves digging for rocks, he is also very interested in Pokémon battles.

Even with exceptional talent and immense wealth, it would be difficult to achieve such success at his age without putting in considerable effort.

After sending the incapacitated Dragapult to receive treatment, Xia Chen went backstage for his routine interview, accompanied by Gardevoir, the star of the day.

…………

Although there were no sensational news stories like the emergence of a wealthy individual during today's match, the audience's enthusiasm for asking questions remained high, given that it was a highly anticipated semi-final.

The questions asked were nothing more than those few things.

How would you rate Daigo's performance in this match?

"Great, especially Metagross, it gave me an unprecedented sense of pressure, but my Gardevoir is even better!"

"How did you manage to convey the command to Gardevoir during that amazing Hypnosis spell in the battle between Gardevoir and Metagross?"

"Our feelings are more than... no, I mean, we are on the same wavelength."

"You only used two Pokémon to easily defeat your opponents in both of your matches. Many viewers who are watching the matches are very curious about which Pokémon was the last one in your lineup?"

This question left Xia Chen speechless, unsure how to respond for a moment.

Although it is highly likely that Leighton will play in the final the day after tomorrow, it will no longer be a secret.

But today, Xia Chen decided to maintain some mystery.

So he solemnly spouted nonsense, "Magikarp."

After a moment of silence, good-natured laughter and a few sighs came from the audience.

No one took Xia Chen's words seriously; everyone understood that he simply didn't want to expose the elf for the time being.

However, the more this happens, the more something is revealed.

In any case, when facing Darkrai of Darkrai the day after tomorrow, he can no longer hold back, right?

Filled with anticipation for the final the following day, the post-match press interview session concluded, and today's headline in the United Daily News was...

We still don't know the name of the last Pokémon in Xia Chen's team that day.

…………