I caught a Pokémon

That's why most of the trainers here have never seen a Steelix before and don't know its characteristics and abilities. This is why the middle-aged man was able to win battle after battle and make his way here.

While the strength of the Shrimp itself certainly played a part, many trainers also suffered from a lack of knowledge and experience.

Xia You, as always, sent out her Blastoise.

However, the audience members present were disappointed when they saw the Blastoise.

They did support Xia You, but Xia You only sent out this one Pokémon from beginning to end, which had already made them tired of seeing it. Even though it was very strong and could surpass most of the Pokémon here, they wanted to see some fresh faces!

They really couldn't understand why Xia You insisted on using only Blastoise when she clearly had other Pokémon!

As for his opponent, the middle-aged man couldn't help but slightly raise the corners of his mouth when he saw Blastoise.

In his opinion, Xia You's use of only one Pokémon was not only out of confidence, but also to show off his strength and demonstrate his uniqueness!

Although as a successful entrepreneur, he should have a long-term vision and not easily be jealous of anyone, he is clearly not that kind of person.

Although he appears to be a charming and gentlemanly man, he is actually very petty and narrow-minded!

This guy in front of me is just a kid who won the championship by luck. What's so great about him?

They deliberately arrived more than ten seconds late, just to experience being the center of attention!

He judged others by his own standards, so naturally he found Xia You increasingly unpleasant to look at, especially Xia You's young and handsome face, which gave him a sense of defeat.

Hearing the cheers for Xia You, the middle-aged man couldn't help but think to himself, "When I defeat Xia You, his expression will be very awkward."

Will he regret his arrogance?

Despite his inner turmoil, he showed no sign of it on his face, maintaining what he considered a very charming smile in front of the camera.

The match officially began at the referee's signal.

Although the people here are somewhat unfamiliar with this Pokémon, Xia You is quite knowledgeable about Shrimp, whether from games, anime, or the knowledge she has gained since arriving here.

Shrimp is a single-type Water-type Pokémon. Its appearance is somewhat similar to a crayfish on Earth, but most of its body is blue and curled up. Just like its name suggests, its right arm is like a super large pincer, more than three or four times larger than its body.

The giant pincers are the main weapons of the Steel Cannon Shrimp. Not only can it use its tentacles to sense the location of its prey, but it can also use various water-type moves like guns, as well as many wave and aura moves. It can even be used as an accelerator, spraying water from the tube at its rear to move quickly underwater.

Moreover, its ability is quite powerful, called Super Launcher. Pokémon with this ability will have their wave and aura attacks (excluding Heal Pulse) greatly enhanced in power.

What's even more interesting is that, apart from Shrimp and its unevolved form, Iron Shrimp, which possess this ability, among all other Pokémon, only Mega Blastoise possesses this ability!

This is arguably one of the highlights of the match.

Unfortunately, as a Pokémon from outside the region, the people here know very little about Shrimp. Apart from Xia You herself, none of the many people present knew this common point, and even the commentators for the match were unaware of this situation.

As soon as the battle began, the Steel Cannon Shrimp launched an attack with a Dragon Pulse.

The two Pokémon were engaged in a fierce battle. The Shrimp was like a long spear, constantly launching attacks on Blastoise, while Blastoise was like a thick shield, blocking its attacks every time!

Colorful attacks shot out from the giant pincers of the Steelix and flew towards Blastoise, who retaliated with equally powerful attacks, showing no signs of being at a disadvantage.

The audience was captivated by the dazzling array of moves; the massive explosions, the huge water flows, and the spectacular scenes have always been their favorite things to watch!

The two sides fought for a long time, and the situation seemed to be at a stalemate.

One side is attacking, and the other is defending. Now it depends on whether the spear can break the shield first, or the shield can break the spear first.

However, as time went on, those who were more knowledgeable saw through it at a glance. Despite the impressive momentum of the Steel Cannon Shrimp, it was all bark and no bite, and the results were almost nonexistent!

For Xia You, the battle against the Steel Cannon Shrimp was not difficult as long as he was careful to avoid its giant claws.

Just as Rika said in the lounge, apart from Ash, Misty, Gormi, and Azhe whom we haven't met yet, the other players in this tournament are really not very strong.

Blastoise is always able to find openings and launch successful counterattacks while defending itself, whereas Steelix can never break through Blastoise's defense!

Seeing the steel-armed shrimp slowly losing ground, the middle-aged man suddenly became anxious.

In the end, he took a desperate gamble and ordered the Steel Cannon Shrimp to approach Blastoise and attempt to use Crab Claw Hammer to defeat Blastoise in close combat.

This is its strongest attack. With the support of its giant pincers, if it hits, the middle-aged man believes that Blastoise will definitely not be able to withstand it!

The Crab Claw Hammer that gave the middle-aged man so much confidence was blocked by Blastoise with a simple Shell Retraction!

The enormous pincers gleamed with a dangerous light, pounding heavily on the tortoise shell like hammers, but only managing to make the shell spin!

When the crab claw hammer was used, the turtle shell suddenly rushed towards the steel cannon arm shrimp bullet, and then the water slug's big head suddenly stretched out and used a rocket headbutt to knock it down!

The referee immediately announced the result of the match.

Amid the cheers of the audience, the middle-aged man's face involuntarily darkened.

Before the competition, he had studied Xia You's Blastoise for a long time, but he only discovered at the end that Blastoise's abilities were very average and had almost no weaknesses.

Like many competitors, he likes to send out his ace Pokémon in the first match, so that if he wins, he can press his advantage and defeat his opponent in one fell swoop.

But now that they've lost the game, the situation has immediately become troublesome.

Blastoise defended for a long time but maintained its condition very well and suffered almost no damage. Judging from the strength it showed, it would undoubtedly be extremely difficult for my second Pokémon to defeat it.

He was already having second thoughts.

If he couldn't even defeat this Blastoise with his second Pokémon, it would be incredibly embarrassing and would undoubtedly have a huge impact on his consistently perfect image!

But now that things had come to this, there was no way he could back out. With no other option, urged on by the referee, he could only grit his teeth and take out the second Poké Ball!

After the blue light flashed, a tortoise-like foot appeared on the stone pillar.

Upon seeing this Pokémon, Xia You couldn't help but raise her eyebrows!

Another Pokémon common in the Kalos region!?

Does this person own any property in Carlos?

As a Water/Rock type Pokémon, Turtwig looks like a rock with two claws stuck in it, and each claw has a face on it, making it look both ugly and magical!

Actually, these two paws are their main body. The reason they are called "them" is because, like the dugong, they also have a team-based relationship!

To be honest, I don't know much about this Pokémon, Nyx, mainly because it's too ugly! It doesn't fit his aesthetic at all!

Even after it evolved into the giant tortoise-footed armor, Xia You always maintained an attitude of "ugly and refusing invitations" when encountering it!

There was no other way; now that he was facing it, and given his lack of understanding of it, Xia You could only take out his Pokédex and point it at it.

Pokémon Pokédex entry: "Turtlefoot, a two-handed Pokémon, Rock/Water type. Two Turtwigs will find a suitable rock on the beach and live together. They usually move by stretching their bodies to create reaction force and lifting the rock beneath them. They will rush up to eat seaweed when the waves crash on the beach. If they quarrel, one of them will move to another rock."

Xia You put away her Pokédex and pouted.

Based on the description, they actually seem kind of cute.

Upon realizing this, he was suddenly horrified and quickly shook his head, banishing this absurd thought from his mind!

I don't want my aesthetic sense to become weird!

Meanwhile, seeing Xia You take out the Pokémon Pokédex, the middle-aged man finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Judging from the first battle, Xia You was undoubtedly very familiar with the Steel Cannon Shrimp, and was always able to avoid its attacks, which is why she was able to win so easily.

I used to think he was very knowledgeable, but now I realize there are Pokémon he doesn't know about!

That's perfect! People are always afraid and confused about the unknown! As long as he has any hesitation in his heart, he has a great chance of winning!

His earlier dejection vanished, and his confidence returned slightly!

However, once he started, he found that things weren't quite as he expected.

Why did this man immediately adopt a different strategy and start attacking?

Shouldn't we be cautious when encountering Pokémon we've never seen before?

On the field, Blastoise reversed its defensive strategy from the previous game and took the initiative to attack.

Although Xia You didn't know much about this Pokémon, Turtle-Foot was not only not evolved, but its overall attributes were also lagging behind, and it also had the Rock type, so what was so scary about it?

If Blastoise displayed top-notch defense in the last match, then in this match, it showed fearless offense!

First, it used Water-type moves to attack the turtle several times from a distance, then closed the distance and cleanly defeated the Pokémon with close-range attacks.

Seeing his Pokémon defeated so easily, the middle-aged man's face turned pale and then red!

I thought this was my chance to turn things around, or at least win a game, but I never expected to lose even faster than the first game!

While the turtle's own weak legs were one reason, ultimately it was defeated by Blastoise's continuous attacks.

He gave Xia You a deep look.

The two did not exchange any words from beginning to end, but in his heart, he had long regarded Xia You as his biggest rival. Now, seeing that his two Pokémon had failed to defeat Blastoise, he felt both ashamed and deeply humiliated!

Especially since Xia You remained calm throughout, it made him feel even more irritated!

But a loss is a loss, and there's nothing he can do about it. He was about to pretend to be magnanimous and say something when he saw Xia You put away the Blastoise and walk away without even looking back!

He! He! Just! Left! Like that!

The middle-aged man's chest heaved violently, but everyone was gone, and Pokémon had lost. What could he do now?

As the victor, Xia You basked in the cheers of the audience, while the middle-aged man, as the loser, could only leave in dejection, leaving behind only a few intellectual ladies who had been attracted by his charisma, feeling a pang of regret for him.

Normally, a mature man like this would definitely attract many young girls, but here, everything depends on ability!

If you fail, you are destined to be eliminated.

As for Xia You, this middle-aged man was reasonably strong, but that was all.

The two were complete strangers meeting for the first time, and Xia You had no reason to offer any words of comfort.

Aside from his somewhat impressive attire and the fact that both of his Pokémon were from the Kalos region, nothing else really stood out to him.

Hmm...maybe after today, he'll soon forget about it completely...

Chapter 442 Musashi's Beautiful Ambition

Xia You walked out of the arena and met up with Li Jia and the others outside the venue.

Although he successfully advanced to the semifinals, both Ash and Misty were eliminated and could no longer participate in the competition.

Now that he is the only one left, all the hopes of the others are pinned on him alone.

To be honest, this was something that neither Xiaozhi nor Xiaoxia, who were full of confidence before the competition, expected. They originally thought that by participating in this kind of local competition, they could show their skills and achieve better results!

Looking back now, I realize that I was not capable enough to achieve my expected goals.

The two were inevitably discouraged by this result, especially for Ash, it was indeed a blow.

After all, he had always regarded Xia You as the person he admired most, and also his biggest rival!

Back when he was traveling in the Orange Islands, he and Xia You both defeated Yuji and became honorary trainers of the Orange League. This made him think that he was once again on the same starting line as Xia You and could compete with him!

Especially after arriving in Johto, he not only caught many Pokémon during his travels, but also won the Grass-type Pokémon Tournament and won many other small competitions, which greatly boosted his confidence!

I've become stronger than before! The gap between me and Xia You will definitely keep narrowing!

This is something Xiaozhi has firmly believed in all this time, and it is also the source of his confidence to challenge Xia You in this tournament!

He just didn't expect that after only a few matches, the cruel reality would pull him back to reality!

He has once again been eliminated in the round of 16, just like he did at the Quartz Conference!

While it's true that he was defeated by Misty, who is skilled with Water-type Pokémon, the fact remains that he lost. It simply shows his lack of skill, which is undeniable.

Fortunately, he was always easygoing and had already adjusted. What puzzled him, however, was why Xia, who had just lost the match, seemed so happy? She even looked radiant!

No matter how much he pressed her for an explanation, Xiaoxia only looked at him with a smug smile, showing no intention of explaining herself! Only when she looked at Xia You did a strange emotion seem to flash in her eyes!

This change was so obvious that even he could sense it, but unfortunately, the naive Ash didn't know what emotion it was.

Not knowing the reason, he could only keep the question to himself.

Although they were eliminated, the three of them did not intend to leave immediately. Instead, they planned to wait until after watching Xia You's match the next day before continuing their journey.

After all, as friends, partners, younger brothers, and rivals, they naturally cared a lot about Xia You's situation. Moreover, Xia You was still in the competition, so how could they possibly abandon him?

Scratching his head, Xiao Zhi turned to Xiao Gang and asked, "Have all of Xia You's matches finished today? What's the schedule for tomorrow?"

Xiao Gang took out the handbook issued by the previous tournament and flipped through a few pages: "Let me see... According to the process, the semi-finals will be held tomorrow morning to determine the top two players, and the final will be held at 1 p.m. to determine the ultimate winner, the Sea Warrior. After that, there will be the Sea Warrior's blessing ceremony. If all goes well, we can leave here with the trophy and honor the day after tomorrow morning."

Just like Xiaoxia, Xiaogang, who knew Xia You to some extent, was also convinced that Xia You would win the final victory.

After all, he was well aware that Xia Youke was completely different from Xiaozhi and Xiaoxia. He was the kind of person who was very strong and would not give his opponents any chance!

Most importantly, they also knew that Xia You possessed that red Gyarados. With it around, how could they possibly lose!

Listening to the laughter and chatter of the people around her, Xia You felt exceptionally relaxed and at ease.

After coming into this world, he was like a rootless duckweed for a while, with no attachments or reliance. But now, he has friends, partners, and lovers. Their trust and love have made him like this world more and more, and will undoubtedly make him stronger!