I caught a Pokémon

The audience cheered at this moment. In the previous two matches, they saw Xiaofeng defeat Xiaozhi's two Pokémon so easily, and thought he was nothing special and so vulnerable. Now that they saw this Glalie appear and successfully turn the tide in just one match, they were naturally intrigued.

Compared to one-sided matches like Xia You's, this kind of back-and-forth battle is equally popular.

"Finally, we won a game."

The Xiao Sheng and his friends in the stands breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the result. Although they knew they should trust Xiao Zhi and Xia You's prediction, the two consecutive losses had still shaken their confidence. Now that Xiao Zhi had won a game, they finally saw hope for victory.

In the arena, Xiao Feng recalled his Dugtrio and released a new Pokémon—Misdreavus.

This Pokémon has no type advantage over Glalie, but that's not surprising, since each player can only bring 6 Pokémon, so how can they possibly cover all types?

Since they hadn't been hurt in the previous battle, both Pokémon were in their best condition. As soon as the battle began, Ash immediately had Glalie use Ice Beam. However, facing such a powerful attack, Xiaofeng had Misdreavus face the damage and keep moving closer to Glalie!

This action puzzled everyone, but only Xia You immediately guessed Xiao Feng's plan.

So that's how it is. She really is a decisive and ruthless person...

Chapter 778 A Minor Victory: I Seem to Be a Pluto

The Dream Demon was hit by the freezing beam and shot straight out from front to back. Although its body was covered in wounds, it did not stop and continued to charge towards the Ice Demon Guard.

This further confirmed Xia You's suspicions about Xiao Feng's plan.

It's so obvious.

Ash still hasn't figured out Maple's strategy. Clearly, he had no idea what the most terrifying ability of Ghost-type Pokémon was before. Seeing such a good opportunity in front of him, Ash's mind was full of thoughts about taking advantage of this rare opportunity. Therefore, without any hesitation, he continued to command Glalie to launch a headbutt attack on Misdreavus.

Ice Ghost charged forward at full speed, crashing head-on into Dream Demon. Dream Demon, facing such an attack, neither dodged nor avoided it, and was hit squarely!

boom!

Even from a distance from the field, people could still clearly hear the impact.

The dream demon was hit on the head by a tremendous force and fell backward, but just as it was about to fall to the ground, a purple light suddenly appeared in its eyes!

The light flashed by so quickly that it was almost imperceptible unless one looked closely. After the purple light disappeared, the Dream Demon collapsed to the ground, its eyes rolling upwards as it lost its ability to fight.

Seeing this, Ash thought he had gotten a great deal and won a game for free. He excitedly raised his right fist and cheered, happy that he had managed to win back two games!

But the next second, the purple light flew out from the Dream Demon's eyes and shot into the Ice Demon's eyes. The Ice Demon, which was originally floating in the air, instantly showed a look of pain, and then fell from the air to the ground, also losing its ability to fight!

"What!?"

Seeing this, Xiao Zhi was completely dumbfounded, not understanding why things had turned out this way. Just as he was in a daze, the announcer's voice came from the arena.

"The Dream Demon has lost its powers, and the Glalie has lost its ability to fight. The match is now a draw!"

In the stands, Xiaoyao was completely bewildered by the unexpected outcome, clearly not understanding what had happened given her limited experience.

"Why did the Ice Guardian Ghost fall too? Wasn't the Dream Demon already defeated?"

Hearing her words, Xiaosheng pushed up his glasses and said somewhat uncertainly, "You must have used the Fate Link, right?"

Although he guessed the name of the move, Xiao Sheng was obviously not entirely sure. After all, he had a wealth of theoretical knowledge, but he still had a long way to go before he could apply that knowledge to reality. Moreover, some moves had similar special effects, and it was impossible to tell what they were just by looking at a single beam of light.

“That’s right, it’s Destiny Bond.” Fortunately, Xia You nodded at this moment, confirming his guess, and also explained, “It’s a Ghost-type move that takes the opponent down with it. If the user is in a near-death state due to the damage caused by the move, the attacker will also be in a near-death state. It can be said to be a forced one-for-one killing move.”

"That's amazing?" Haruka exclaimed in surprise. "Does that mean you can easily take down your opponent after using this move?"

"That's not entirely true," Xia You said with a smile. "This kind of move still has significant limitations. For example, it will fail if used continuously, and it will also fail if the opponent doesn't attack immediately after it's used. In fact, some skilled trainers can easily see through these tricks. Of course, this cannot overshadow its immense power, especially when facing seemingly invincible enemies, where it can often turn the tide of battle!"

Although Xia You hadn't encountered anyone using Destiny Bond against him before, as he said, some trainers' intentions were too obvious. Just like Xiao Feng just now, he saw through her intentions at a glance. If it were a battle against him, Xiao Feng naturally wouldn't be able to succeed. Only against a trainer with a style like Ash could he achieve the effect of surprise.

Only those powerful trainers who are proficient in Ghost-type Pokémon can use Fate/Destiny Bond with such skill. How could one not be on guard when battling against such a person?

In short, although it sounds very powerful, it is still very difficult to use successfully.

At this moment, Xiao Gang touched his chin and asked curiously, "But why did Xiao Feng use this move? Although it might be to adjust his rhythm, it's still a one-for-one trade, which isn't very profitable..."

Indeed, from a visual perspective, Xiao Feng's exchange of Fate for Ice Ghost Guard surprised people and sparked a lot of discussion. But will doing so really make the situation more favorable?

"She must have her own reasons." Xia You couldn't figure out what Xiao Feng was thinking, so she could only say, "Maybe none of her other Pokémon can reliably beat this Ice-type Pokémon, so to be on the safe side, she replaced it with Misdreavus. Or Xiao Feng might also be using this Glalie as Ash's trump card, which is why she wants to defeat Glalie as soon as possible."

He could only guess at Xiao Feng's playing style, and only Xiao Feng himself probably knew his true thoughts.

Regardless, with Ash's third Pokémon defeated, the match came to a halftime break. The situation remained that Xiaofeng still held a numerical advantage with one more Pokémon in the lead.

Xia You reached out to grab some popcorn, only to find the bag empty. Turning her head, she saw Xiao Yao tossing the popcorn into her mouth one by one.

When she saw Xia You looking over, she tilted her head at Xia You in confusion, seemingly unaware that she had eaten Xia You's food.

Fine.

Eat if you want.

The short break passed in a flash.

While the two players were resting, the wheel had already determined the stage for Ash and Maple's second battle—the Water Field.

This is good news for Ash, since his Corphish is also very strong, and having the advantage of the terrain will allow him to better unleash his power!

Sure enough, when the second half of the battle began, Ash immediately released his Garchomp, and in return, Maple sent out Golduck, which had performed very well previously.

The two Pokémon immediately began to fight. Although they were evenly matched at the beginning, Ash's straightforward attack style was quickly seen through by Xiaofeng. This allowed Golduck to seize the opportunity and use psychic powers to bind Shrimp in mid-air!

However, after Golduck threw the Lobster into the water, the Lobster found an opportunity and suddenly burst out of the water from behind Golduck, giving Golduck a heavy blow!

The situation began to tilt in Ash's favor at this moment.

When the two Pokémon clashed at close range again, Corphish grabbed Golduck's claws and flung it away. He then immediately condensed a Bubble Beam and unleashed it, defeating Golduck!

This is also a rare occurrence between the two players in these matches, where the battle was not one-sided, but rather a back-and-forth exchange of attacks!

Of course, in the end, Ash's Corphish performed better and helped Ash win the battle.

"Finally, it's a tie." Xiao Sheng breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing this. "Now the situation is back to the same starting line."

“That’s not all,” Xia You said with a smile. “Xiao Zhi is also a player who relies on momentum. Once he wins, then he’ll be in control.”

Seeing the lobster soldier still swaggering around with his pincers, Xiao Feng's expression became slightly anxious, even though it was not very obvious.

She took out a Poké Ball and released Morub, which had appeared at the beginning, while Ash recalled Gryphon and released his Swellow, and they had an aerial battle.

As the saying goes, "The Bug Swallow always takes one away with it when it appears."

Although it was just a joke, it's not hard to see that Ash's Swellow is still very strong. Especially since Ash even knew about type advantages and used the Flying-type Swellow to fight against the Bug-type Morub. Such an active type-advantage battle is extremely rare for him!

In this match, Ash lived up to expectations and finally showed his true strength. Even though Morub once again used a stun spell to seal one of his abilities during the battle, Swellow still easily defeated Morub with her superior strength and fierce attacks.

3 to 4, Xiao Zhi wins another game!

On the big screen, you could see that Xiao Feng's brows were furrowed, and she was clearly more anxious than before. It was obvious that this 'cool beauty' from Shuijing City could not always remain as cold as people had said.

Ash gained the upper hand in the battle, but seeing that he had no intention of changing his Pokémon, Maple took out her fifth Poké Ball at that moment.

Once the Poké Ball was opened, a Scizor appeared in front of Swellow.

"Scizor?" May asked doubtfully. "Isn't it a Bug-type Pokémon, just like the Mormoth from before? Isn't it a good choice against Swellow, its natural enemy in the Flying type?"

“Flying is indeed effective against Bug-type.” Xia You nodded slightly at first, but then shook her head. “However, that only applies to ordinary Bug-type Pokémon. Scizor’s type is Bug and Steel, and Flying-type Pokémon can’t deal much effective damage to Steel-type Pokémon.”

Hearing him say that, Xiaoyao's gaze returned to Scizor. Indeed, with Scizor's body that seemed like steel, it would probably hurt a lot if a bird Pokémon pecked at it...

When the battle began, the two Pokémon used Quick Attack at the same time and rushed towards each other. In a short period of time, they had already exchanged blows five or six times due to their extremely fast speed. However, perhaps because their strengths were evenly matched, neither of them gained an advantage.

In this stalemate, their moves kept changing, their offense and defense intertwined, and they even had a big battle between their shadow clones. But after fighting for a long time, they were still evenly matched!

However, in the end, it was Swellow that used Aerial Ace to seize a moment of weakness in Scizor and defeated it in one fell swoop!

As expected of Bug Swellow, it has already brought Ash two victories with its outstanding strength.

Seeing this, Xia You smiled.

If things continue to develop along this trajectory, with Ash's talent in Flying-type Pokémon, he might actually become an outstanding Flying-type master in the future!

Hmm... what about myself?

However, it must be said that, as a fellow Scizor trainer, Xia You believes that although Xiao Feng's Scizor is not as strong as his own, it is still quite good. It is not that it is unable to defeat Swellow, but it was the first to cancel the Shadow Clone battle, which ultimately led to a miscalculation and loss of the match.

With the score at 3 to 5, the current situation is extremely unfavorable for Xiaofeng. She is already on the verge of elimination, and if she loses another match, she will be eliminated.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Xiaofeng solemnly sent out her last Pokémon.

A flash of blue light appeared, and an imperial sea lion appeared in the pool.

As it appeared, the Digos sea lion let out a roar to the sky.

"Oh? Not bad, quite imposing." Xia You raised an eyebrow and turned to the group with a smile. "It seems that this Deinogrekron is Xiao Feng's ace Pokémon."

"Huh? An ace Pokémon?"

“That’s right.” Xiaoxia nodded in agreement, corroborating Xia You’s statement as a Water-type Pokémon Trainer: “From its condition, muscles, and other aspects, I also sensed a very strong aura. This is indeed a powerful Pokémon!”

Since both of them said so, Xiao Sheng and his group naturally had no doubts.

"Who cares if it's some kind of ace Pokémon?" Max laughed. "Besides Swellow, Ash has two other Pokémon left. Even in a battle of attrition, we can defeat it. There's nothing to worry about."

……

"The Lobster Soldier is incapacitated; the victor is the Dianthus Sea Lion!!"

As the host loudly announced the result, Xiao Sheng in the stands stared wide-eyed, his mouth seemingly big enough to fit two eggs at once!

He really didn't expect that just now he said that Ash couldn't possibly lose, but in the blink of an eye, Xiao Feng's Delicious defeated Swellow and Gryphon in succession!

Seeing this, Xiao Sheng suddenly really thought he was some kind of jinx!

Otherwise, how could a situation that was clearly going so well suddenly take such a sharp turn for the worse?

Meanwhile, Ash's expression was also not good.

After all, it would be difficult for anyone to remain calm if the same opponent defeated two of their Pokémon in a row.

He never expected that this Dianthus sea lion would be so powerful, easily defeating his Swellow and Lobster Soldier!

Although the giant swallow and the lobster soldier had fought before and had expended some energy, the fact that this imperial sea lion was able to defeat both of them in succession is enough to demonstrate its strength.

And the most difficult thing now is that this Digosaurus has already fully displayed its power, and is almost completely unharmed!

Fortunately, I still have one last Pokémon, so I can go all out!

With that thought in mind, he gritted his teeth and threw out his last Poké Ball.

Chapter 779 The Arrangement of Fate

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Ash's last Pokémon appeared at this moment—his Grovyle!

At this point, both players only had one Pokémon left, and the battle had reached its final stage. Whoever won would advance to the next round and become one of the top 16.

It's impossible not to be nervous. Even Xiaosheng and the others clenched their fists and stood up to cheer for Xiaozhi.

"Ash! Go for it!"

"Don't lose!!"

Just as these friends were cheering for Ash, Xiaoyao whispered to Xia You, "Brother Xia You, is it really possible for Ash to advance smoothly?"

It wasn't that she lacked confidence in Ash; it was just that at this stage, any mistake could lead to elimination, and until the very last moment, it was impossible to know who would win.

This is completely different from watching Xia You's matches. Whenever Xia You fought, they were never worried that he would lose. They only discussed how much of his strength his opponent would make him show. But Xiao Zhi's matches were worrying not only when he was at a disadvantage, but even when he was in a position of advantage, he didn't feel secure. There was always the risk of being defeated.

"Just trust him." Xia You wasn't too worried about it and chuckled. "Xiao Zhi is the kind of player who can withstand pressure when things get tough. If he had an advantage all the way, he wouldn't know how to play. It's only when he's in a tough battle like this that he can unleash his true strength."

Hearing him say that, May looked towards the Trainer Command Area and saw Ash's serious expression. After thinking about his style carefully, she nodded gently.

For some reason, perhaps it was the change in address that made her feel closer to him. Lately, whenever she heard Xia You's voice, even if she was very nervous, she could always calm down.

It's really amazing.

In the arena, the forest lizard and the dire sea lion have already engaged in combat.

In terms of attributes, Deino is Ice/Water, while Grovyle is Grass. Both Pokémon can deal double damage to each other, and this mutual restraint will undoubtedly make the battle pace extremely fast.

Moreover, this Forest Lizard, although it hasn't evolved into Sceptile yet, can be said to be the strongest Pokémon in Ash's current team, which is why many people jokingly call it the 'number one'. Ash used it as the grand finale, which shows that he has full confidence in Forest Lizard.

With two such ace Pokémon clashing, it's no surprise that it's bound to be a spectacular battle.

Seeing the battle begin, Xia You couldn't help but sit up straight.

Come on, Ash, let me see how you've grown!

The Dire Seal immediately used Ice Beam, while the Forest Lizard dodged it and retaliated with Leaf Blade.

However, the Diallok simply dived into the water, causing the Forest Lizard to miss its target and lose its prey.