Bottom-tier trainers in the Pokémon world

These steaks from Daigo's restaurant are quite expensive.

It is said to have been specially air-freighted from a well-known ranch in the Johto region, and is very fresh.

Hearing Xia Yan's mutterings, a slight blush rose on Cynthia's face.

"Senior Xia Yan, here, take this one too."

On the other side, Kona also moved her plate over.

"Are you on a diet too?" Xia Yan looked him up and down. "I'm not fat."

"Wait a minute." Xia Yan's hand suddenly stopped moving. "You don't think it's because I'm not full, do you? I don't have that big an appetite. I just don't want to waste food."

Kona nodded. "Yes, don't waste food."

Looking at the two extra pieces of beef in front of him, Xia Yan felt that he might be being used as a professional food "recycling bin".

Abbreviated as "glutton".

However, today's exertion was indeed very high, especially after waking up Cattleya.

"Don't worry, I specially had some extra brought back. I'll have someone make another batch right now," Daigo said with a smile.

"Hey Xia Yan, aren't you going to respond to what I'm saying?"

Across from him, Du looked at Xia Yan with a hint of resentment.

"Ahem." Xia Yan coughed lightly, put down his knife and fork, and looked at him seriously. "Du, you know the format of the semi-finals, right?"

"I know, it's just a singles competition where you choose three out of six, right? It's not that different from the knockout stage..."

Halfway through his sentence, Watari abruptly stopped, looking at Natsuhiko with a hint of disbelief.

You wouldn't...

Xia Yan shrugged. "Yeah, I only have five main Pokémon, and I just caught Chimchar."

Watari: "......"

The so-called "six-out-of-three singles" format was established by the organizers long before the start of the "Lily of the Valley Youth Tournament." It is one of the three singles formats, along with the singles in the preliminary rounds, group stage, and knockout stage.

Trainers are required to show all six of their Pokémon, and then, during the battle, they can choose three Pokémon to participate based on their opponent's Pokémon and their own Pokémon situation.

This is to prevent situations like the previous elimination rounds where both sides could guess what the opponent's next Pokémon would be, thus reducing the entertainment value of the match and making the outcome uncertain too early.

At the same time, it also increases the feasibility of tactical planning and the difficulty of combat.

This is undoubtedly to better assess the overall abilities of the contestants who have entered the semi-finals.

But right.

Xia Yan doesn't have six Pokémon to show up!

It's estimated that even the organizers didn't expect that a trainer who made it to the semifinals wouldn't have six Pokémon as their main force.

Look at Lance, Steven, and Cynthia; they already have more than six Pokémon, some of which are being fostered in their respective breeding houses.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

After all, compared to them, Xia Yan's foundation is too weak and his resources are too limited. It would be good enough if he could raise the few Pokémon he has now.

Having limited resources means he has to plan carefully for catching each Pokémon, and he has to be extremely cautious in choosing each Pokémon.

Xia Yan hadn't really paid much attention to the competition format.

On the one hand, I didn't expect to make it to the semifinals, and I didn't even notice that the semifinal format had been slightly different from the knockout stage.

On the other hand, Cynthia, who had explained the tournament format to him, didn't expect that Xia Yan wouldn't have six Pokémon, so she only mentioned 3v3 and didn't go into detail about the changes to the format after the semifinals.

That's what led to the present situation.

Du was dumbfounded.

Actually, Xia Yan isn't completely incapable of using them; among his "tool" spirits, there are a few that are quite obedient.

For example, Sakura, and for example, Snorlax.

But Sakura is an elite-level Pokémon, and a pure support Pokémon at that, with very little combat power. Should she go up there and get beaten up?

As for Snorlax, that's because it's too strong.

The appearance of Snorlax will inevitably cause Hoshino Ryuuichi to pay more attention to Xia Yan.

Xia Yan knew that Hoshino Ryuichi had come to the arena, and he knew even better what Hoshino Ryuichi's purpose was in coming here. Using Snorlax was tantamount to revealing his identity.

Kikuko can protect him for a while, but she can't stay by his side forever.

Besides, Xia Yan chose to stay in Sinnoh, so wouldn't Hoshino Ryuichi, as the Sinnoh Elite Four member, be able to mess with him at any time?

As for the rest, they were all left at the Elf Ranch in Random Town.

The Spirit Transmitter hasn't been developed yet, so even if Xia Yan wanted to use it, it wouldn't be available in a short time.

Besides, even if there were a transmitter, no one would send Xia Yan a spirit.

Most importantly, you can tell whether a Pokémon is one you've trained yourself just by watching it go into battle.

"So... you're not going to fight anymore?" Du looked at him nervously.

Xia Yan took a bite of the steak that Shirona handed him.

This stuff tastes bad when it gets cold.

“I didn’t say I wouldn’t fight,” Xia Yan replied.

Upon hearing this, Du breathed a long sigh of relief.

Just fight.

He had been waiting for a long, long time to face Xia Yan.

Xia Yan smiled mysteriously and didn't delve any deeper into the topic.

Gathering six Pokémon is actually relatively easy, but the combat strength of those six Pokémon...

This is open to discussion.

Chapter 150 Daigo VS Sirona

Semi-finals.

The highly anticipated Lily of the Valley Youth Competition has finally entered the semi-final stage.

This is definitely something to be excited about for every viewer who is watching this game.

This Lily of the Valley Youth Competition is definitely the highest quality youth competition in recent years.

Whether it's the players' skill level or their control over tactics and rhythm, it all demonstrates the high "quality" of the participants.

Without a doubt, those who manage to reach the semifinals in such a high-quality competition are absolutely the best of the younger generation and the hope for the future of the league.

The attention this competition has attracted is definitely the highest in recent years.

The popularity of players like Wataru, Daigo, and Cynthia has only increased since then, needless to say.

The most unexpected outcome was Xia Yan, the dark horse who "broke through the encirclement".

This caused his popularity to soar. One of the main reasons many people watched the competition was to see how far he could go and whether he could repeatedly dispel people's doubts about him.

Of course, no matter how far he goes in the future, his current position has already far exceeded people's expectations.

The happiest people were naturally those who had supported Xia Yan from the very beginning, during the group stage.

They have become Xia Yan's loyal supporters.

There are also some people who were initially attracted by Pokémon like Togekiss, Beedrill, Alakazam, and Saber Sheath before gradually starting to support Xia Yan.

But regardless, the match hasn't even started yet, and the cheers for him are already no less than for Watanabe.

Don't doubt it.

This is Sinnoh, after all.

Even casual observers would choose Natsuhiko, who represents the Sinnoh region, over Wataru.

However, the first team to take the stage in this semi-final was not Natsuhiko and Wataru, but Daigo and Cynthia.

This was arranged by the organizers; Wataru and Natsuhiko's match was scheduled for later.

Needless to say, their popularity is undeniable; they are undoubtedly the top stars of this competition, and their names speak for themselves.

Sitting in the players' waiting room, Xia Yan looked at Du, who was constantly rubbing his hands, and patted him on the shoulder with a strange expression.

"What's there to be nervous about?"

Du glared at him, annoyed. "It's all because of you."

"I told you, I'll play," Xia Yan reassured him.

"Are you sure? You don't even have six Pokémon, how are you going to fight?" Lance asked hesitantly.

Xia Yan glanced at him, "Can't you fight without six Pokémon?"

Seeing how afraid he was of not being able to fight, Xia Yan was amused.

It should be the person who is more worried about losing when it's their turn to play, but now it's Watari who is more nervous.

We can't blame him.

Even when facing the evil forces like Team Rocket, Lance wasn't nervous. However, he was a little anxious because the long-awaited battle with his best friend was finally about to begin.

"Stop thinking about it, the battle between Cynthia and Daigo is about to begin."

Xia Yan looked at the screen.

Even through the screen, you could hear the cheers from the audience.

"Xia Yan, who do you think will win?" Kona asked, propping her head up and tilting her head slightly.

"It's definitely Daigo-senpai!" Du Juan, the usually inconspicuous one, was the first to express her opinion.

I don't think so.

Suddenly, several figures walked in from outside.

The leader was a man with his hands in his pockets, an afro, and a swaying gait.