I caught a Pokémon

However, as soon as the mayor finished speaking, he saw Fluura's face immediately fall, realizing he had said the wrong thing. He quickly changed his tone, drawing out his words: "However..."

"However?" Flura's eyes lit up, and she pressed, "However, what?"

The mayor chuckled and said, "However, Xia You is also very powerful. He was able to stop the Sea God Lugia and is the champion of the Indigo League. He certainly won't be defeated so easily!"

"Of course!" Flura's mood improved considerably, and she said with great enthusiasm, "As long as he sends out the Three Holy Birds, no one can stand against him!"

"I'm afraid he won't send out those three Pokémon..." Unexpectedly, Xiaoyou shook her head after hearing her sister's words. "Although we haven't known each other for long, based on my understanding of Xia You, he wouldn't send out the three legendary birds in a competition like this. After all, that would attract too much attention and cause trouble..."

Hearing her sister say this, Flura paused for a moment, then sighed softly after thinking for a while.

"That's true..."

At the same time they were talking, a similar scene was unfolding in Koroba City, far away in the Kanto region.

At the Sakuragi Research Institute, Dr. Sakuragi and his family, along with his assistants Kikuna and Renji, sat around a large screen watching the television broadcast.

Last night, after receiving Xia You's message, Xiao Chun immediately informed her parents. Coincidentally, Professor Sakuragi's work was not too heavy these days, so he simply gave his two assistants half a day off and brought his family to watch the game with them.

Besides them, Xia You's most loyal supporters—the biker gang—also gathered in a newly established club, paying close attention to the match!

Chapter 267 begins

The sky was clear and cloudless, and the warm sunshine shone down, illuminating the entire Citrus Sports Field.

As the clock struck ten, the passionate voice of the stadium announcer echoed throughout the stadium.

"Dear viewers! Sorry to keep you waiting! Welcome to the new Orange League Winners Cup! I am the host of this match. I believe many of you, like me, are very interested in this highly anticipated match and have arrived at the stadium early. After a long and anxious wait, we have finally arrived at this exciting moment!"

Just like the Quartz Conference, the Orange League also had a host to warm up the audience. With just a few simple words, he quickly got the audience all excited!

After a few more words from the host, seeing that the time was right, he said seriously, "Alright, let's get back to the main topic and focus our attention on the arena. First of all, let's welcome the chief trainer of the Orange League, and the undefeated pride of the Orange League, Yuuji, with the warmest applause and cheers!"

A man wearing a black vest, with his arms exposed, and whose expression looked somewhat resolute and courageous, slowly walked in from the contestant's passage.

As soon as he appeared, cheers erupted from the audience. The cheers rose higher and higher, forming a sound wave that made people's scalps tingle!

Once the crowd's enthusiasm had cooled down a bit, the host shouted again, "Now, let's welcome the Quartz League champion—Xia You!"

Inside the contestant tunnel, upon hearing the host call her name, Xia You took a deep breath, stood up from her seat, and said softly, "It's our turn to go on stage."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Gastly emerged from the shadow beneath his feet, floated to his side, and chuckled, "I've been waiting for this for ages! These people have been praising that guy so much, I want to see who will have the last laugh between us!"

One person, one Pokémon, and amidst the intense attention of the crowd, they walked out of the rock-built contestant tunnel and onto the arena.

When Xia You appeared, she was greeted with a huge cheer.

Although the voice was not even half as loud as Yuuji's, it was clear that the Orange League audience still gave considerable respect to the Indigo League champion!

Of course, among the excited crowd, there was an elderly man who was over fifty years old. When he saw Xia You on the big screen, he couldn't help but widen his eyes and open his mouth, looking as if he had seen a ghost!

Needless to say, this person is the stall owner who made the bet with Xia You yesterday!

"How could it be him?!"

The stall owner never dreamed that the young man who made the bet with him yesterday would be Yuji's opponent today!

He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, his mind a jumble of thoughts, utterly confused.

In the arena, following the competition procedure, Xia You and Yong Ci walked to the center of the battlefield and shook hands to show their friendship.

At the same time, both of them were sizing up their opponents.

Yuji is tall and strong. Although he is about the same height as Xia You, he is noticeably more robust. Moreover, due to the constant exposure to the sun in the Orange Islands, his skin has a healthy bronze color, which makes him look even more heroic!

Moving her gaze downwards, Xia You also noticed a necklace made of Poké Balls hanging around Yuji's neck. Presumably, that must be his ace Pokémon—Dragonite!

On the other side, Yuji also sized up Xia You and spoke first: "Welcome to our Orange Islands. Ever since I heard that you were going to challenge for the Winners' Cup, I have been looking forward to facing you!"

"Me too!"

At this moment, although the two players couldn't hear what they were saying, the commentator in the booth, watching this scene, exclaimed excitedly: "What a historic encounter!! The strongest player from the Orange League meets the strongest player from the Indigo League, who will be the ultimate winner of this match!? Let's wait and see!!"

Yuji's fans held up support signs and shouted enthusiastically. In their hearts, they were convinced that this would be an evenly matched battle, but the final winner would undoubtedly be Yuji!

Only the female viewers of Orange Alliance who were seeing Xia You for the first time, even though they also wanted to support Yuuji like their friends and family, thought, "This man named Xia You is really handsome..."

Or perhaps we could give him a little encouragement...?

After a brief exchange, Xia You and Yuji returned to their respective trainer command areas.

In this match, Yongci, as the challenger, was on the red side, while Xia You was on the green side.

As the ordinary battlefield beneath their feet split open to both sides, a rocky arena with a circular pool in the center and smooth stones all around slowly appeared.

When the referee raised the flag to signal the start of the match, Yuji took out a Poké Ball and threw it into the field.

"Go, Ditto!"

As the blue light flashed, a Pokémon with a pale purple body, small eyes, and a soft, elastic body that looked like a puddle of mud appeared before Xia You.

"It's here!!" the host shouted. "It's Yuuji's Ditto! In previous competitions, Yuuji has defeated many contestants with it. How will Xia You deal with such a powerful Ditto!?"

It really is a Ditto...

Looking at the Pokémon in front of her, Xia You knew that, just as expected, Yuji had not changed his established strategy and still sent out Ditto.

As for how to deal with this Pokémon, Xia You pondered for a whole night and has already come up with a plan.

Ditto can instantly copy the cellular composition of its opponent, and by recombining its own cells, it can give itself the exact same appearance and attributes as its opponent.

It can be said that as long as you encounter it, you can make every opponent experience the drama of "I am fighting myself".

Logically speaking, no one should have a good chance of dealing with such a Pokémon, but Xia You has two Pokémon in his hands that are completely unafraid of its imitation.

The first one, of course, has to be Gastly.

Even if Ditto were to become Haunter, and the two Pokémon had the same type and abilities, Haunter had lived for over two thousand years, and its combat skills and other abilities would be more than enough to easily defeat Ditto.

That strange wind move alone is not a Pokémon move at all; Ditto could never imitate it.

As for the other one...

Xia You threw out the Poké Ball and said calmly, "The first match is all up to you. Go for it, Gyarados!"

"Ow!!!"

When the blue light flashed and the gigantic Gyarados appeared, it gave the audience at the scene and in front of the TV a real sense of awe!

Its roar completely drowned out the more than 20,000 spectators present!

Chapter 268 No matter how well it imitates, it's still just a fake.

Seeing such a ferocious Pokémon for the first time, the audience in the Orange Islands fell silent. Amidst the enormous roar, they all covered their ears and stared at it in shock!

Oh my God!

This...this Gyarados is terrifying!?

"Wow!!" The host was also startled by the ferocious Gyarados, but his excellent professionalism allowed him to recover in time. He hurriedly looked down at the information in his hand while talking non-stop, "...Hmm...According to the information, Xia You's Gyarados has shown amazing strength at the Indigo League, defeating many powerful opponents, which is quite impressive. So what kind of performance will it have today!?"

In front of the TV, Martha, her sister Misa, and a large group of bikers stared wide-eyed with excitement as Gyarados made its appearance!

"Wow!!!" Martha exclaimed, "Sis, look! Boss's Gyarados is even fiercer and more intimidating than the last time I saw it!"

Misa's gaze lingered on the various scars on Gyarados's body for a few moments, then she nodded: "Indeed, judging from these scars, it has clearly been through some great battle, and its strength must have increased. And I don't know if it's just my imagination, but it seems to have grown even bigger!"

Inside the arena, even the spectators sitting outside couldn't help but feel a sense of pressure facing this exceptionally ferocious Pokémon.

Ditto, being the first to be affected, felt it the most deeply. Looking at the huge Pokémon in front of it, especially being stared at by its cold and ruthless gaze, it was terrified!

They're already scared before the battle even begins!?

Seeing this, Yuuji frowned, realizing things were getting out of hand, and quickly shouted, "Ditto! Don't back down! Use Transform!"

Ditto nodded, forcing itself to calm down. Then its body began to deform like slime, expanding more and more until it finally transformed into the shape of Gyarados.

After transforming, Ditto will still feel terrified when he sees those blood-red pupils, but at least he won't stand there dumbfounded with his body ice-cold and his mind blank like before!

From the outside, the two Gyarados look almost identical, both in terms of physique and scars.

Despite having copied its appearance and characteristics, Ditto still lacked Gyarados's unique ferocity!

At this moment, the scoreboard on one side of the stadium already displayed the photos of the two players' first Pokémon, along with their respective win/loss records.

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee took a step forward.

"Both players, please get ready!"

Seeing Xia You and Yongci both nod slightly, the referee suddenly waved the colored flag, which meant that the competition had officially begun!

The next second, without the trainer's command, the two Pokémon rushed forward at the same time. When they reached the central pool, they bent their bodies and dived into the pool.

Compared to Pokémon of other types, Water-type Pokémon can only unleash their full power in water!

Ditto, which had transformed into Gyarados, naturally understood this principle, knowing that it could only utilize the attribute advantages of its body in water!

As the two Pokémon surfaced from the water almost simultaneously, Xia You preemptively shouted, "Gyarados, use Hydro Pump!"

His move was not a test; he directly used a powerful water cannon attack.

On the other side, seeing this, Yuuji calmly commanded, "Ditto, use the same move!"

The two Pokémon opened their mouths one after the other, and huge water cannons formed in their mouths. When the energy reached its peak, the water cannons burst out and shot rapidly towards each other!

boom!

Two high-pressure water balls, shaped like cannonballs, collided in front of Ditto, causing a violent explosion. They then turned into water droplets, splashing out and spraying onto the ground.

Xia You didn't expect this attack to work at all; he only wanted it to confuse the enemy. So, before the mist had even dissipated, he shouted again, "Gyarados, charge forward and use Aqua Tail!"

Gyarados swam rapidly toward Ditto, and it seemed that the previous attack had given Yuji the illusion that 'I can handle this'. This time, Yuji had Ditto use the same move to approach Gyarados as well.

However, he had a slight doubt in his heart.

Strange, he should know that Ditto now also has the Water attribute, so why is he still using Water attribute moves to attack?

Even if it hits, won't the damage be halved?

No matter how you look at it, this man has won the Quartz Conference, so he shouldn't make such a basic mistake, right?

The thought flashed through Yuji's mind, but before he could think about it any longer, the two Pokémon had already collided.

They twisted their bodies, and their huge tails, wrapped in water, lashed out at the same time, intersecting in mid-air to form a large X shape!

This attack made a loud noise again, and the water flowing from its tail poured down like rain, landing on the water's surface!

"What a powerful attack!" The commentator was still diligently explaining the match. "The two tails clashed, and the water flowing over them looked like rain—it was beautiful! However, judging from the current situation, the two Pokémon are evenly matched, and it seems neither can gain the upper hand!!"

As the words left his mouth, the host couldn't help but think to himself: Xia You's Gyarados looks fierce, but now that I see it, it's nothing special in front of Yuji's Ditto!

The host's words naturally reached Xia You's ears as well.

Evenly matched?

A slight smile played on his lips. He knew that the Ditto had fallen into a trap, and now there was no need to show any mercy!

"Gyarados, show the world your power! Now... let's wreak havoc!!"

Upon hearing Xia You's command, Gyarados's eyes widened in fury, and it roared to the sky, completely abandoning its reason. At this moment, it had only one thought in its mind—to tear the enemy in front of it to pieces!

In the trainer command area on the other side, upon hearing Xia You's command, Yuji's brows, which had been furrowed from the beginning, furrowed even more deeply.

They actually made a huge scene?

He truly didn't understand what use this tactic, which caused him to lose his mind, was, other than giving the enemy an opportunity to exploit!

Even though it is incredibly powerful, its accuracy is too low, so in actual combat it rarely manages to defeat an opponent directly!

Most importantly, after using Havoc, Gyarados itself will also fall into confusion. If it defeats Ditto, that's fine, but if Ditto survives, wouldn't it just become a target for Gyarados?

Chapter 269 Taking the First City

While it was thinking, Gyarados opened its blood-red maw, revealing sharp teeth still covered with saliva, and bit down hard on Ditto's neck!

Seeing this, Yuuji dared not be distracted any longer and waved his hand, shouting, "Ditto, get out of the way!"

Upon hearing the command, Ditto, which was already trying to dodge, hurriedly twisted its body. Fortunately, it dodged in time and narrowly escaped Gyarados's gaping maw, avoiding the attack.

However, despite missing its target, the two Pokémon did not separate and continued to struggle in the pool.

The water they stirred up crashed against the nearby rocks, splashing up countless waves!