I caught a Pokémon

From the stands, Xia You had no idea what Xiao Guang was thinking.

But I can't help feeling fortunate for her.

Why is this?

Of course, it's because Musashi didn't participate in this tournament!

If Musashi were to join in the fun, he might actually be able to push Hikaru out of the running!

Fortunately, although Team Rocket also came to Ash Town, they didn't do much, just like Ash. And Jessie, for some reason, remained unmoved despite being on such a dazzling stage.

Although it's not like Musashi's style, it's fortunate that it allowed Hikaru to advance smoothly.

Before the eliminated trainers could be disappointed for long, the group assignments for the second round of battles were displayed on the big screen.

Come to think of it, today might really be Xiaoguang's lucky day.

She and Xiaoyao looked at the big screen at the same time, and then both breathed a sigh of relief.

Above, the two were assigned to different groups. If all goes well, they will have to wait until the final battle to see who gets to fight!

This made the two of them smile at each other.

The fact that they didn't meet beforehand is already the best outcome for them!

Even Ash and his friends in the stands were very satisfied with this grouping.

"Great!" Ash exclaimed with a fist pump, "Looks like both of them will make it to the finals. I just wonder who will win in the end!"

Xiao Gang stroked his chin and analyzed for a while: "It should still be May. Although Dawn is also very strong, May is better in terms of experience and Pokémon strength. But Dawn is already very strong to have made it to the finals!"

Listening to the two people beside her having such wonderful fantasies about Xiao Guang's match, Xia You couldn't help but shake her head inwardly.

These two guys are oversimplifying things...

Of course, it's almost certain that Haruka will make it to the finals, but as for Hikaru...

Xia You's gaze returned to the list of people in Xiao Guang's half of the area.

Besides Dawn, the other two members of that three-person Coordinator team are also in the same team as Dawn.

They're not so easy to deal with...

In particular, Xiao Guang's first opponent was the tall man among the three, named Tai Ge!

This person achieved a commendable fourth place in the recent performance review, and is definitely not someone to be trifled with.

He also possesses Piplup's final evolution, Empoleon. By all accounts, his strength on paper is greater than Dawn's.

Although the blond man who seemed the strongest among the trio was assigned to Haruka's half of the group, Haruka's situation was definitely much better than Hikaru's.

Therefore, whether Xiaoguang can successfully enter the finals in this competition is really an unknown.

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Here's a 6000-word summary!

Chapter 989 Xiaozhi: I have a question I don't understand...

Anyway, now that the groups have been decided, there's no point in thinking about it anymore. Let's just hope that Xiaoguang can perform well.

The already short rest period passed in the blink of an eye.

However, just a few minutes later, the second round of the match review began!

Right from the start, it's Xiaoguang's battle with that man called Taige!

As the five-minute countdown began, the man called Taige released his Pokémon—Emmabon—without any hesitation!

This is not surprising, since a trainer's starter Pokémon is usually their main Pokémon. Moreover, he used this Pokémon to battle Dawn yesterday and the day before, so it can be said that Empoleon already has a general understanding of Dawn's fighting style.

Most importantly, after learning that Hikari has a Piplup, sending Empoleon into battle allows it to naturally exert a certain degree of suppression due to the difference in evolution level!

Even if Dawn sends out other Pokémon, his Emerald is more than enough to handle it!

Just as she was thinking this, Dawn sent out her Pokémon.

Just as Taige was guessing Xiaoguang's lineup, Xiaoguang was naturally also guessing which Pokémon Taige would send out.

And it's highly likely that the one sent by Teego was his Emperor Nabo.

After all, neither Ash, May, nor I were able to determine a winner with the other party, whether it was yesterday or the day before. If this man wants to continue, he should send out Empoleon.

In that instant, she considered sending out other Pokémon, but in the end, her competitive nature kicked in, and she gritted her teeth and actually sent out her Piplup!

Therefore, as two blue lights flashed, a dramatic turn of events occurred—Bogarman versus Emperor Naboo!

Looking at these two Pokémon of the same species but different evolutionary forms, people were surprised, and could almost conclude that Piplup was probably no match for Empoleon.

After all, one is fourth place and the other is eighth place; one is in its final form and the other is in its initial form. No matter how you look at it, the latter doesn't have much of a chance of winning.

Hearing the exclamations and good-natured laughter from the audience, Xiao Guang naturally knew that the situation seemed to be very unfavorable to him.

Fortunately, the most important thing in a flashy battle isn't who's stronger, but who can be defeated and have their flashiness reduced!

With both players harboring their own thoughts, the battle officially began.

Because these two had fought before, they didn't probe each other at the start and immediately pushed the battle to its most intense part!

Relying on its larger size, Emperor Naboo completely disregarded the tiny Piplup. Despite having the same attributes, it spared no effort in using its water guns and water cannons, continuously firing at Piplup.

Piplup's physical attributes are naturally not as strong as Emperor Naboo's, but it is smaller, more agile, and has higher talent. Most importantly, its moves are equally powerful!

It dodges water cannons, but when faced with water guns, it can also spray water to neutralize Emperor Naboo's attacks!

This performance also surprised many people.

After all, they thought that this Piplup would be defeated by the final form of Empoleon very quickly, but unexpectedly, it not only did not fall into a disadvantageous position, but also fought Empoleon to a standstill!

This really opened their eyes.

What surprised them even more was yet to come!

Whether it was the little girl's excellent command or the Piplup's outstanding performance, at a certain moment, Piplup actually succeeded in attacking, inflicting damage on Emerald and deducting its brilliance value!

This caused an even bigger sensation!

While this level of flashiness wasn't enough to make a difference, they witnessed a Pokémon in its initial stage overtaking a Pokémon in its final stage!

This piqued their interest, and they changed their previous attitude, cheering for Xiao Guang.

But as I said before, this trainer named Taige is no pushover either!

An initial setback doesn't mean anything. As the battle continues, the two Pokémon go back and forth, each winning and losing. But as time goes by, their respective flashiness gradually decreases.

Their battle grew increasingly intense, drawing the audience in more and more. But just as they were speculating about who would ultimately emerge victorious, the fight abruptly ended with a bell ringing as the five-minute countdown ended!

People were initially taken aback, but after they came to their senses, they realized that time had simply passed.

They hurriedly looked at the scoreboard and saw that Xiao Guang and Tai Ge's brilliance value was only about one-third left. It seemed that if they had a few more minutes, the game would be over.

Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that Xiao Guang's level of glamour is slightly higher than Tai Ge's.

It was precisely this slight difference that determined the outcome of the match!

"What a closely contested battle! Congratulations to Xiaoguang for being the first to advance to the semifinals!"

Hearing Bai An's cheers, Xiao Zhi and the others in the stands couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

That was incredibly close!

It was so close!

If it weren't for that slight lead in the initial battle, Tai would probably have won!

Seeing this result, Xiao Guang couldn't help but feel relieved. While marveling at how tough his opponent was, he couldn't help but cheer.

In contrast to her, Taige shook her head in frustration, her face full of helplessness.

It can only be said that one outcome led to completely different feelings for the two people...

Regardless of Hikari's happy ending, Haruka's match started immediately after hers.

This energized Ash and his friends, who were all eager to see how May would perform.

But all I can say is that Xiaoyao will never disappoint again.

Facing a second round of intense competition with formidable opponents, she immediately dispatched her most trusted partner – Blaziken!

With the arrival of Blaziken, its overwhelming power effectively ended the match.

Her opponent in this round couldn't even mount an effective attack; the battle ended halfway through the five-minute timer.

"Xiaoyao is getting stronger and stronger..." Xiaogang couldn't help but sigh when he saw this.

Right in front of Xia You, Xiao Zhi praised her, saying, "Of course! She's traveling with Brother Xia You, so it's only natural that she'd become stronger!"

After saying that, he raised his eyebrows at Xia You, with a smug look on his face, as if to say, "How about that? I saw through you!"

Xia You glanced at him, shook her head helplessly, and then refocused her attention on the competition.

Although he didn't say anything, Alice still saw everything, which made her feel very strange.

After spending the last two days with them, she had gained some understanding of Ash, May, and Brock.

Especially in yesterday's battle against Xiaoxin, Taige and the other two, Xiaozhi's strength showed her that he is indeed a very strong trainer. Now that Xiaoyao has also shown such a performance, it seems that these two are not ordinary people.

But how could she not be suspicious when this trainer praised the man next to her so much, whether at the dinner table or in casual conversation?

Of course, she wasn't doubting anything else; she was just constantly wondering just how powerful this man could be!

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but recall the trainer with Rayquaza in the dimensional space yesterday!

After Xiaoyao left the stage, the other two matches proceeded in turn, ultimately determining the four finalists.

Besides May and Dawn, the red-haired female trainer named Xiaoxin and the blonde trainer named Shenghai also unsurprisingly made it into the top four.

In this way, apart from the one who was defeated by Dawn, two of the three Coordinators made it into the top four, which is indeed a very impressive level.

It could even be said that if it weren't for Xiao Guang, that guy called Tai Ge could have made it into the top four!

That's truly outstanding skill...

However, among Xia You's group, Xiao Yao and Xiao Guang also made it to the top four. Although the number of people was the same, each of them was younger and more talented than the other two!

After the list was generated, the group assignments were also revealed.

Of course, just as Xia You had predicted, the next battles were between Xiao Guang and Xiao Xin, and between Xiao Yao and Zhan Hai!

Who is stronger and who is weaker will truly be decided in this one battle!

However, Ash and Brock were clearly very confident in their two companions, and with their encouragement, May and Katsumi were the first to take the field.

Since the Pokémon chosen for the competition had already been decided in the quarterfinals, they could not be changed at this point, which meant that the two players' lineups were already fixed.

Blaziken versus Torterra from the Sea.

Judging from the attributes, it's clear that Torterra is at a significant disadvantage. Moreover, Blaziken had performed so well before, which explains why Sheng Hai already had a serious expression on his face when he appeared.

However, since they are all Pokémon at their final evolution stage, their physical attributes are also quite similar, which makes Sheng Hai very eager to recreate the scene when Xiao Guang fought against Tai Ge.

Unfortunately, his fighting style is quite different from others.

Blaziken is no match for the Regal Naboo from before!

This put Sheng Hai's Earth Platform Turtle at a disadvantage from the start of the battle.

Blaziken showed no mercy to this Pokémon it was weak against, and the flames burned almost from head to tail.

Even though Sheng Hai was the strongest of the three, he could only be defeated by Xiao Yao's steady yet fierce attack.

The battle lasted only a little over three minutes before it ended with the fall of the Earth-Based Tortoise.

"That's really amazing..." Ash couldn't help but exclaim again upon seeing this, and then almost blurted out, "If she can keep this up, maybe May can win the championship in one go at the Grand Festival!"

"Of course." Xia You smiled and nodded. "Don't forget, that's why she came here."

May's early victory has given Ash and his friends more confidence that Dawn will be able to meet her in the finals.

But when Xiaoguang appeared, reality hit them hard.

Just like May and Katsumi, due to the rules, after participating in the quarterfinals, Hikari and Shin's Pokémon were already fixed: Piplup and Infernape, respectively.

In terms of attributes, Piplup undoubtedly has the upper hand, so even in the battle between the initial form and the final form, Ash and his friends are very confident in Dawn.

After all, in the quarterfinals just now, Xiaoguang was also a beginner against an ultimate opponent and won even with the opposite attribute. So now with the same attribute, he will definitely win even more easily!