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

Nemo said nonchalantly, "The Goodra will definitely go down. Swampert has already given one of its digging abilities, so what's there to be afraid of?"

Steven, who knows his best friend Michael very well, frowned and shook his head. "No, on the surface it seems like Swampert wasted a move, but this dig ensures that it can be in the first position. As long as Goodra dares to come down, Swampert will definitely come out to intercept it."

Opinions varied, and even Red, who hadn't gotten to know Daigo and the others very well, unusually expressed his opinion: "Goodra will definitely come down."

He said it with such certainty.

Regardless, everyone understands that this is a challenge with both risks and opportunities for both sides, and it remains to be seen how Xia Chen will choose.

"earthquake!"

A resounding clang rang out, and Xia Chen readily accepted the challenge.

The dragon in the air understood and immediately gathered energy within its body while accelerating its descent.

The extremely fast attack speed ensures that Goodra can unleash Earthquake just as it lands, and the gravitational potential energy further amplifies the power of Earthquake.

The combined effect of these two factors made this earthquake not only incredibly powerful but also virtually unavoidable.

At the same time, the soil beneath the rocky ground surged wildly, and the Swamp Monster, sensing something was wrong, was preparing to emerge from the ground.

His free-flowing movement granted him incredible speed. Even though Swampert only had less than two seconds to react, he still managed to emerge before the Goodra could crash down with the force of a mountain.

Boom—

The ground, soaked by the rain, suddenly cracked open, and a muddy, azure sprite darted out from it.

Enveloped in a thick and powerful ground-type energy, Swampert broke through from below and swung its arm to smash towards Goodra!

As expected, Swampert attacked faster than Goodra fell, seizing the initiative!

The distance between the two Pokémon closed rapidly in a very short time. It was foreseeable that Swampert would use its terrifying power to directly block Goodra's fall, preventing her from using Earthquake.

If Nume Ryu does nothing.

But this "if" is obviously not true.

…………

"Shrink into your shell!"

Xia Chen's command came out almost the instant the Swamp Monster broke through the ground.

This isn't the name of the move that enhances physical defense; it's simply a command that involves retracting into the shell, and it won't affect the release of the Earthquake move, which is still accumulating energy.

For the sticky dragon, the instinct to shrink its shell, etched deep into its genes, is as natural as breathing.

Despite still falling, she managed to get into the huge steel shell on her back.

then.

boom--

A crisp yet loud clanging sound rang out, like the sound of a heavy object hitting steel at high speed.

At low altitude, Swampert's massive arm collided violently with Goodra's steel shell, and the intense friction even produced a few sparks.

Both Swampert and Steelshell staggered back a few steps in the violent collision, appearing evenly matched, with the powerful Swampert even having a slight advantage.

But there's a classic joke that goes like this: if a guacamole or a wax apple falls on your head, which will hurt more?

The answer is that my head hurts more.

It seems that Swampert won the collision with the steel shell, but you used your flesh to collide with steel... What, are you made of steel too?

With a deafening roar, the Swamp Monster crashed to the ground, its grimacing expression indicating that it was not in good condition; regardless of the extent of the damage, the pain was definitely intense.

But this is not the end.

Not far from where the Swampert crashed, a huge, silvery-white steel shell slammed down with a heavy roar.

On the rocky ground centered around it, countless cracks were clearly visible, even the finest ones were as thick as a finger!

This is certainly not just because of a heavy object hitting the ground. Nume Ryu wasn't that heavy, and her previous levitation height wasn't that high either. This is a move she has been preparing for a long time - Earthquake!

Judging from the tremors alone, the sheer force of this earthquake was no less than that of the swamp monster's earlier quake.

The oppressive, heavy ground-type energy continued to spread towards Swampert, which, having just unleashed a move, was unable to even use its Guard ability.

The good news is that he's on the ground right now and won't take much more damage. Also, this isn't a Goodra's signature move. While this move does deal high damage, the damage is limited.

It is far less effective than a strong beating.

Swamp Monster comforted itself with these words, and then endured the excruciating pain as it got up from the ground.

He felt his body becoming somewhat heavy, unsure whether it was due to his poor condition or the rain decreasing.

Before him, the intense grass-type energy that he loathed was rapidly approaching. Swampert looked up and saw a not-too-large, dark green energy ball pass through the rain and draw ever closer.

This energy ball is released very quickly, but that also means its power won't be very great.

The current situation is very delicate. Taking a hard line will definitely not be pleasant, but trying to defend by holding on would be too much of a loss.

Helpless, the Swamp Monster had no choice but to raise its thick arms to block its vital head.

boom--

The energy ball exploded, and the grass-type energy that had seeped into Swampert's body through its arm caused it to feel a physiological aversion.

Before I could even process this emotion, another energy ball came crashing down on me—another "defective product" of questionable quality, yet one I had to be wary of.

Xia Chen's tactical objective has become clear: having gained a significant advantage, he intends to use this small and flexible bombing tactic to suppress the enemy with firepower.

If the stalemate cannot be broken, the final result of this match will only be that Swampert is killed by the damage from the energy orbs.

…………

"Close combat!"

Mikkelsen knew this might not be the optimal solution, but it was the only solution he could think of in a short time.

If this drags on any longer, Swampert's condition will only worsen as the energy orbs deplete it.

"Lagu—"

With its arms free of all the energy orbs in front of it, the Mega Swampert roared to the sky, its body suddenly exuding a heavy and majestic aura like a mountain.

But Xia Chen's expression remained calm and composed. He understood that the Swamp Monster was now at its last gasp.

If it can withstand this onslaught, Swampert will lose all its fighting spirit.

So how can we perfectly defend against this wave of attacks?

There is only one answer—

"Shrink into your shell!"

Without hesitation, Nian Meilong retracted her soft body, this time truly shrinking into her shell.

The gleaming steel shell crackled under the raindrops, and the swamp monster, which had shot out like an arrow, had nowhere to turn back.

He had no choice but to grit his teeth and punch the flawless steel shell.

boom--

A crisp, loud crash echoed across the battlefield. The steel shell rolled like a ball on the rocky ground, and just before it was about to roll off the battlefield, the Goomy Dragon, which had been hiding inside, emerged.

Because it had spun around countless times, the sticky dragon was a little dizzy, but other than that, it did not show any other unusual behavior.

Clearly, Goodra completely blocked Swampert's close-range attack.

then.

"Energy Ball!"

The tactics haven't changed; it's still the same: bombardment with energy balls.

At the same time, the rain on the battlefield disappeared, and the sky cleared up again.

Swampert's momentum dissipated as the rain ended, and after stalling for a while with Protect, it was finally defeated.

The final score was 5-2.

Even more disheartening than the score was that Mikuri had exhausted all his cards, using up all three of his specialization systems, and his ace Milotic, main damage dealer Swampert, and Gyarados had all lost their ability to fight.

With Mikuri's last Pokémon, Kingdra, losing its ability to fight.

In the end, the highly anticipated match between Xia Chen and Mikeli concluded with a score of 6-3.

Chapter 464 The Three-Year Term Has Arrived

The match ended with Xia Chen defeating Mikoli 6-3.

The process was far from easy, but the score showed that there was already a gap between the two trainers.

Xia Chen and the elves were very excited to win the game.

Although this was only a quarter-final match of the Eastern Tournament in terms of importance, the opponent was Wallace, who was fully capable of competing for the Hoenn Elite Four and even the championship!

This was Xia Chen's first time engaging in a full-scale 6v6 battle against an opponent of this caliber in an official competition.

Does winning the battle mean that... you also have the strength to compete for the championship?

This was a match that made Xia Chen re-evaluate his own abilities.

To be honest, the definition of "champion-level" strength is somewhat vague. If you become the champion of a region, your main Pokémon will naturally be champion-level.

In many previous competitions, there have often been instances where the champion has unexpectedly lost to a top player.

Therefore, "Champion-level Pokémon" is more like a title than a specific level of strength, just like "Champion".

Furthermore, there is a significant gap between the champions. Not to mention the distant past, just looking at this year alone, Cynthia and Gadlia are clearly in a commanding lead.

Leon was slightly behind, and the gap between Karune and Yaji behind them was even greater.

Therefore, Xia Chen's current strength may be enough to challenge for the championship in the Eastern Region, but he is still some distance away from players like Cynthia or Gadria.

This was the conclusion Xia Chen reached after careful consideration after the competition, and it was also the speech he used to encourage the Pokémon to continue to work hard.

Of course, the elves themselves do not need such words of encouragement and will not become arrogant or complacent.

Milotic's growth progress bar isn't even halfway done, Gardevoir is still stuck in the Green World battling Giratina, Cygnus's money-making ability has slowed down, and Volcarona's path to saving the world is still a long way off...

Everyone is still far from achieving their goals, so how can we be arrogant and complacent?

Although Xia Chen was unaware of this information, he trusted his elves.