I caught a Pokémon

After putting Nidoking away, Gary gripped the Poké Ball in his hand even tighter.

Including the previously injured Finch, he has already lost two battles in a row, so the last Pokémon to appear must have the ability to turn the tide!

However, among his many Pokémon, only a handful meet the requirements.

Should we send out Blastoise? Or should we send out Arcanine?

Blastoise was his first Pokémon and his most trusted partner, while Arcanine was equally powerful and helped him defeat many enemies.

However, the difficult decision now is that Blastoise and Arcanine are both countered by Xia You's Jolteon and Gyarados!

Before the match, he had thought about many things and anticipated that it would be a tough battle, but he never thought he would face such a situation.

She glanced at the handsome, calm-looking man opposite her. Just then, a gentle breeze blew by, ruffling a strand of Xia You's bangs. At that moment, he seemed so unfathomable!

Is he really that amazing?

Am I really that weak in front of him?

Now, he has been forced to the edge of a cliff. If he continues to lose like this, he will fall into an abyss!

Looking back now, those boastful words I made before were so naive and ridiculous!

Just as he was feeling sentimental and melancholy, a series of sharp, uniform female voices suddenly reached Xiao Mao's ears from the audience.

He turned his head and saw his cheerleaders, those beautiful young ladies, cheering him on with all their might. Unfortunately, because they were too far away, Xiao Mao couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but from their excited expressions, it was easy to tell that they were telling him not to give up!

Everyone……

Touched, Xiao Mao looked to the side and saw the old man in the white doctoral robe sitting next to them!

Grandpa came too?

Feeling Professor Oak's gaze, Gary was instantly enveloped in a warm feeling.

"Hmph, so you've finally decided to leave the lab and come watch my match?"

Shigeru muttered something under his breath, but despite his apparent disdain, the sudden smile on his face showed that Professor Oak's arrival had given him immense courage!

Finally, his gaze fell on Ash.

Now that you've made it to the next round, I absolutely cannot afford to fall here!

Regaining his confidence, Xiao Mao cleared his mind and turned to look at Xia You again.

That's right, with so many people supporting me, how could I possibly give up at this time?!

With that thought in mind, he put away the Poké Ball and decisively sent out his third Pokémon.

"Go! This is my last resort!!"

When the blue light flashed, what appeared on the field was actually an Electabuzz!

"Oh, oh, oh!" the host exclaimed. "After careful consideration, Gary has finally made his final choice and sent out Electabuzz! It has to be said that, being of the same Electric type, Electabuzz can both suppress Gyarados and ensure that it doesn't fall behind when facing Jolteon. It's really a good choice!"

Electric-type Pokémon?

On the other side, Xia You recalled Gyarados and then slowly traced her fingers across several Poké Balls.

After thinking for a moment, he finally sent out Jolteon again.

Since that's the case, let's have a contest with similar attributes!

"Rayle, the rest is up to you!"

Leaping out from the blue light, Jolteon let out a soft cry and rushed impatiently to Electabuzz, confronting it.

After the referee announced the start of the match, the two Pokémon did not even test each other before the battle became extremely intense!

In an instant, the arena was filled with the ear-piercing crackling of electricity and the intense flashes of light!

Even those viewers who were closer had to squint to avoid being hurt by the bright light!

Blocks of ice shattered!

Cracks appeared in the ice!

Especially when two 100,000-volt bursts erupt simultaneously, the enormous energy instantly caused a large area of ​​the ice field to collapse!

The explosion sent a massive column of water rising from the pool, which then turned into a downpour in mid-air, showering the ravaged ice field.

The once thick layer of ice has now shattered into countless pieces, drifting on the surface of the pool.

By the time the audience recovered from the intense battle, Jolteon and Electabuzz were standing on two separate ice floes, looking at each other, both panting heavily.

However, after the battle, despite its intensity, Xiao Shi realized that something seemed amiss.

Although Electric-type Pokémon only inflict half the damage on each other, why is it that after suffering so many attacks, Electabuzz's body is covered in scorch marks, while Xia You's Jolteon seems to be completely unaffected?

After a moment of surprise, he suddenly remembered something.

Oh, so this Jolteon's ability is to store electricity...

No wonder electric-type moves are ineffective against it!

Having figured this out, Gary quickly ordered Electabuzz to switch to attacks of other types.

A flash of lightning, a high-speed star, a kick, a wall of light...

He used almost every move that Electabuzz could use, but without electric-type attacks, Electabuzz was like a toothless tiger. Although its claws were still sharp, it couldn't use its most lethal weapon, which gradually put it at a disadvantage.

Conversely, Jolteon can attack without restraint.

Relying on its agile steps and nimble speed, it constantly moves between the ice floes, looking for any opportunity to strike!

Finally, when a huge block of ice floated across the pool, briefly obstructing Electabuzz's vision, Jolteon seized the opportunity and ended the battle with a Pin Missile!

"Wow!"

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause and cheers for this visually stunning battle!

When Shigeru saw Electabuzz fall, he instinctively took a step back, his mind momentarily dazed.

In fact, even with a strong belief, when faced with an absolute gap in strength, no matter how unwilling you are, you still cannot change the outcome!

The momentum that had just been painstakingly built up collapsed once again, like a dam bursting.

Both Pokémon were defeated. Gary stood there blankly for a while until the referee urged him to send out Feraligatr again.

This time, it seems everyone has already foreseen Xiao Shi's fate.

In the audience, some of his cheerleaders, unable to accept the reality, were already quietly shedding tears! Even some of Xia You's supporters gave Xiao Mao friendly applause.

In the arena, despite knowing that Gary was powerless to struggle, Xia You still cautiously sent out a third Pokémon.

The next second, Charizard soared into the sky, its eyes fixed on its prey.

The two flying Pokémon chased and fought in the air, but the difference in strength allowed the injured Finch to be defeated by Charizard's Flamethrower and fall into the water.

Upon seeing this, the referee raised the colored flag.

"Finch is unable to battle, and all three of Gary's Pokémon have been defeated. The ultimate victor on the Ice Terrain is Xia You!!"

Upon hearing the result, people cheered enthusiastically, but Xiao Mao knew that these cheers were reserved for the winner and had nothing to do with him.

He gave Xia You a complicated look, then silently put away his giant sparrow and left the arena quietly and dejectedly...

Chapter 155 The Top 16 Contestants

Amidst cheers from the crowd, Xia You walked out of the arena through the players' tunnel.

At the exit, Xiaochun, Xiaoxia, and the others had been waiting for a long time. When he appeared, they all gathered around and applauded to congratulate him.

Further away, the biker gang was blocking several reporters and fans from getting close and disturbing them.

"That was fantastic!" Brock exclaimed. "Congratulations on your victory and your advancement! Now you and Ash are both in the top 16!"

Xia You also showed a bright smile.

He was, of course, the happiest one to have advanced to the fifth round of the competition.

But speaking of Ash...

Xia You turned her head and looked around. She saw Professor Oak and Hanako standing to the side, but she couldn't find Ash anywhere.

Where's Ash?

Xiaoxia covered her mouth and chuckled: "That guy Xiaozhi, after seeing Xiaoshi leave with a sigh, followed him with a complicated expression. I think he's probably comforting him now."

As expected of his original rival and friend, Ash still can't let go of Gary...

However, upon hearing her mention Gary, Xia You turned to Professor Oak and said apologetically, "I'm sorry, Professor, I defeated Gary. I hope he won't be too sad."

To everyone's surprise, Professor Oak smiled and waved his hand after hearing this.

"It's okay. Since it's a competition, there will always be losers. In fact, I think this defeat is actually a good medicine for Shigeru!"

"Good medicine?" Xiaochun looked at him in confusion. Her grandson had clearly been defeated, so why did he not seem worried at all?

“Yes.” Professor Oak said earnestly, “Shigeru has always been arrogant. Because he’s used to everything going smoothly, he looks down on all his opponents. I think this defeat has made him realize that there are always people better than you, and it will definitely be of great help to his future growth!”

Xia You nodded. It is said that no one knows a son better than his father, but Professor Oak also sees his grandson very clearly.

Moreover, as expected of a highly respected scholar, his way of thinking is obviously more rational, and he will not show any favoritism towards Xiao Mao because of blood relations!

In fact, as Professor Oak said, after experiencing the failures of the Indigo and Silver Tournaments, Gary's personality did change drastically. He not only learned to respect others and be humble and polite, but also found his true dream.

It can be said that it was these two setbacks that made Xiao Mao realize his own shortcomings, which in turn completely changed his life!

……

After all the preliminary rounds are over, the next step is the official competition between the 16 outstanding players to compete for the championship.

However, before that, due to the increased difficulty of the battles, there will be a two-day break for the players to rest and adjust their condition so that they can show their best side to the public.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, with the help of Xiaoxia and Xiaogang, Xia You seized the time to give his Pokémon special training, striving for steady progress and better results.

As for Xiaozhi, during one of his breaks, he happened to meet another player named Ahong during an outing!

Team Rocket, who had been relentlessly pursuing Ash from beginning to end, planned another attack in an attempt to steal Ash's Pikachu. However, after some time and communication, Ash and Hiro easily defeated them and even became friends with them!

When Xiaozhi brought Ahong to the group and introduced him to everyone, Xia You looked at this person who was about the same age as Xiaozhi and whose clothes were almost identical, and fell into a brief state of contemplation.

Are some things truly unavoidable and destined to happen?

"My name is Ahong, nice to meet you all."

Xiao Gang and his friends warmly welcomed the boy who also had a Pikachu. After talking with him, they could see that although this person was very similar to Xiao Zhi, there were still big differences in their personalities.

Not only is he more polite, but he is also more composed. After listening to Xiaozhi's account of their shared experiences, it's clear that Hiro doesn't panic when faced with problems and knows how to use his mind to solve them.

As they talked, Xiaochun sized up Ah Hong for a moment, then leaned close to Xia You and whispered, "Why does this person give me the feeling that... that..."

Xia You chimed in, "It's like an upgraded version of Ash, right?"

Seeing Xiaochun nod, Xia You looked around and, seeing that no one else was paying attention to them, turned to Xiaochun and said, "Just watch, this person will be Xiaozhi's biggest opponent in this tournament. If he doesn't handle this well, Xiaozhi's journey in the Indigo League may end here!"

"Huh? Really?"

Xiaochun glanced at Ahong again in surprise. Although she didn't understand why Xia You was so sure, her trust in him made her not doubt where he got his basis for his claim.

When the short holiday ended, Xia You, full of energy, arrived at the selection venue with the other fifteen contestants.

At this moment, all five workbenches in the venue had been removed and replaced by a large pool.

The pond is not deep, but through the clear water, you can see sixteen carp swimming in it.

A staff member came over and introduced the competition to everyone: "Welcome, contestants. Starting from the fifth round, our competition venue will return to the Quartz Stadium home field. The advancement rules have also changed. We will be divided into two groups, A and B. The eight contestants in each group will compete to produce one winner. The final will be between the winners of the two groups!"

At this point, she pointed to the pool next to her.

"The simple pond you see now is the facility for determining your group assignments. Each Magikarp here is marked with a number, and you will use fishing rods to compete in groups based on the number you catch!"

While listening to the staff's explanation, Xia You also scanned the faces of the remaining contestants.

Aside from himself, Ash, and Hiro, among the people he knew, only Beastmaster Akira and Yu Sheng, whom he met on New Island, made it to the top 16!

The remaining people were all unfamiliar faces whom I had never seen before!

At this moment, Xiaoming also saw Xia You and came over to greet her.

"Did you know that after defeating two favorites to win the championship in a row, you are now considered by everyone to be the biggest competitor among us players!"

"is it?"

Xia You had indeed heard some of these rumors.