I caught a Pokémon

Off the field, no matter how Ash called out to Squirtle, it showed no signs of waking up. Seeing this, the referee decisively raised the colored flag and announced the result of the first battle.

Ash quickly recalled Squirtle and racked his brains for a solution. However, before he could decide which Pokémon to send out, Pikachu had already moved on all fours, activated its move, and charged towards Butterfree!

Faced with Pikachu's Quick Attack, Butterfree had no time to dodge and was hit squarely. Seeing that it still wanted to fly into the air, Pikachu grabbed one of its feet and then used Thunderbolt, turning Butterfree into a roasted moth!

This time, despite Pikachu acting on its own initiative, it was thanks to it that the situation was brought back on track.

However, its condition is really worrying. It seems that it had exhausted a lot of energy before arriving at the arena. Now it is covered in sweat and its movements have become quite slow, as if it has reached its limit!

Seeing its appearance, even Xiaochun, who didn't know much about combat, noticed something was wrong.

"Is Ash's Pikachu alright? It looks completely exhausted."

Xia You nodded: "Do you remember what I said before? Just watch, in this battle, running out of stamina and Pokémon not obeying commands, this is the biggest challenge Ash faces!"

When the score became 1-1, Ahong did not hesitate and immediately put Little Fire Dragon on the field.

Charmander kept breathing fire, forcing Pikachu to keep moving and dodging, which exhausted all its energy. Finally, Charmander used a charge attack to knock Pikachu out of bounds.

However, when the audience realized that they had waited so long only to see such a boring battle, many people booed in dissatisfaction.

"What's going on? Is this really a round of 16 match?"

"Exactly! This childish fighting style is even worse than a street acrobatic performance!"

"Hmph, those two should really see the battle in the last Ice Arena. I still remember Gyarados's imposing figure and the huge water column caused by the collision of the two 100,000-volt dragons!"

As fellow travelers, Xiaoxia and Xiaogang, hearing the surrounding chatter, awkwardly straightened their posture.

Even if they wanted to refute it, they actually had no way to say it.

After all, Pikachu's condition was indeed extremely poor, and Ash wasn't good at creating big scenes. The fifth round's arena was too ordinary, and there wasn't really anything to create surprises or unexpected events.

However, due to the great distance, such doubts could not reach Ash's ears.

At this point, Ash saw that Pikachu had been defeated and had no other choice but to send out Charizard.

However, when Charizard entered the arena, it found itself facing its own initial form and couldn't muster even the slightest interest.

Faced with the Charizard standing lazily in place, Ahong's Charmander attacked first. However, when its sparks grazed past the Charizard, this provocation seemed to have provoked the Charizard's anger instead.

The Charizard opened its mouth and spewed out a huge ball of fire, forcing the Charmander to flee all over the place.

Left with no other choice, Hiroshi had to recall Charmander and instead send out his last Pokémon, a Pikachu with bangs!

But right after Hiro brought out Pikachu, Charizard seemed to disdain fighting such a young Pokémon and simply lay down on the ground, pretending to take a nap!

No matter whether Ash begged or pleaded, Charizard remained unmoved.

The audience erupted in uproar!

This is an extremely rare occurrence since the Quartz Conference began!

Seeing that Charizard had no fighting spirit, the referee waited for a while and, after confirming that Ash was still unable to control Charizard, raised the flag and announced the result of the match.

"Charizard has lost its will to fight, Hiroshi wins!!"

Ash took a dejected step back.

Despite feeling extremely unwilling, she composed herself, put on a smile, and walked to the center of the field to shake hands with Ah Hong.

However, compared to his carefree attitude, the audience was clearly not satisfied.

Even after several seconds, people, including the host, were still in shock.

What's going on?!

This match not only lacked any exciting performances from either side, but it also suddenly ended!?

It's easy to imagine that the current online public opinion is extremely unfavorable to Xiaozhi!

Fortunately, Xiao Zhi never uses electronic products, so this incident had almost no impact on him.

Xia You was actually quite disappointed with this outcome, since he had reminded Xiao Zhi to communicate more with Charizard before, but it seems that nothing has changed.

Around Xia You and the others, some audience members were already leaving, grumbling and cursing.

Seeing this, they didn't dare to delay and hurriedly got up and walked to the contestant exit, waiting for Ash to appear.

A few minutes later, Ash, holding Pikachu, walked out of the player tunnel with a disappointed look on his face.

He glanced around and, seeing so many people who cared about him, shook his head with a wry smile.

"I'm sorry everyone, I've let you down."

Seeing him like this, Hanako, Professor Oak, Misty, and Brock all stepped forward to comfort him and said a few words of encouragement.

After everyone's encouragement, Xiao Zhi's mood improved significantly. He rubbed his nose and finally turned his head towards Xia You.

"Brother Xia You, I lost. It's up to you now!"

Xia You patted him on the shoulder.

"Young man, it's okay! Don't be too discouraged or disappointed. Remember, you still have a long road ahead of you. Even if you fail, it won't be the only time. Sooner or later, you'll get used to it!"

Xiao Zhi: ...

Is this really meant to comfort me?

It sounds like some kind of curse!

Because Xiao Zhi's match was postponed, Xia You's match was also postponed for a long time.

When his match began, even though it was almost night, the audience still showed great enthusiasm!

As a popular contestant who possesses both good looks and strength, the cheers from the crowd were overwhelming, a stark contrast to Ash's battle just now!

Xia You and Jimu are stationed on opposite sides.

When the referee signaled the start of the match, Xia You sent out his Venusaur as the first Pokémon, while Jimu sent out a Persian!

These two Pokémon are not superior in terms of type, but that still did not affect Venusaur's performance.

Once the battle began, Xia You showed Jimu why he had eliminated so many favorites to win the championship and become the most popular person!

Facing Persian, who primarily engages in close-quarters combat, Venusaur gave it absolutely no chance to gain an advantage.

Using the Leaf Blade for ranged attacks, the Vine Whip for restraint, and the Hypnotic Powder and Growth Techniques, the Cat Boss was finally brought a brief moment of light to the increasingly dim arena with a powerful beam of sunlight, which also completely depleted the Cat Boss's stamina!

Chapter 159 Advancing to the Round of 8

Jimu recalled the unconscious Meowth and sent out the three-headed bird Dodrio, hoping to counter Venusaur with its type advantage. However, Xia You, who was well-versed in this, naturally wouldn't let him have his way and instead sent out Jolteon to fight against Dodrio.

In terms of strength, Yoshiki should be on par with Shigeru, and perhaps even stronger.

But at this moment, he finally understood the helplessness that Xiao Mao felt when his attributes were constantly suppressed when he faced Xia You!

This man in front of me really puts this into practice. As long as he wins the first battle, he will never let himself suffer any disadvantage in the subsequent attribute arrangements!

This situation presented a significant challenge for Yoshiki.

In fact, when the second battle began, just as he had predicted, Duduli slowly fell into a disadvantageous position.

As a chocobo that has been running for many years, Dodrio's wings have long since degenerated. Although it is a Flying-type Pokémon and can use some Flying-type moves, it cannot actually fly in the air.

However, its legs are thick and powerful. Although it is slightly slower than Jolteon, its endurance is extremely long, which prevents it from falling behind in the chase with Jolteon.

But this did nothing to change anything. As the battle intensified and Doduri was constantly attacked by electric-attribute moves, his stamina became increasingly depleted, and even his legs became weak and sore.

On the other side, even though Jolteon had the advantage, Xia You remained cautious and did not let it approach Dodori rashly.

After all, Duduli's three bird heads can each attack independently, which gives it a huge advantage in close combat!

"Rayle, use Thunderbolt!!"

In the end, Dodori was covered in wounds and became critically injured. After several exhausting attacks, it fell to Jolteon's Thunderbolt!

Outside the stadium, spectators waved their light sticks and cheered.

Compared to Xiao Zhi's match just now, Xia You's two battles, although lacking some spectacular scenes, were still quite exciting for the audience.

Especially those viewers who already liked Xia You were even more delighted to see their favorite player win so easily.

"Dear viewers, dear viewers!!" Even the host's words seemed to be completely biased towards Xia You. "Xia You has once again secured match point with a 2-0 lead. Will this be another clean and decisive victory, as usual? Let's wait and see!!!"

On the field, for Jimu, who had finally made it into the top 16, he was naturally unwilling to be easily eliminated here.

He recalled Dodrio and sent out his last Pokémon.

"Let's go, Rumble Rock!"

With a flash of blue light, the heavy body of the Golem landed on the ground with a muffled thud. Seeing this, Xia You decisively recalled Jolteon and sent out Blastoise instead.

However, compared to Dodrio, this Ground/Rock type Golem is in a worse situation, being four times weak to Water-type moves, making its chances of turning the tide extremely slim!

But when faced with Blastoise's water gun and water cannon attacks, Golem still showed a tenacious fighting spirit. Relying on its thick-skinned body, it rolled like a pebble to Blastoise and made a final struggle.

It wrapped its arms around Blastoise, then leaped high into the air. After reaching a certain height, it suddenly turned its body upside down and slammed it to the ground!

"It's used it!" the host shouted. "Faced with an opponent with a type advantage, Golem used Seismic Toss! It once relied on this powerful move to fight its way to the top 16, but now, facing Xia You's Blastoise, can it rise from the ashes and turn the tide of the battle!?"

The two Pokémon continued to fall towards the ground from mid-air.

Along the way, Blastoise tried to struggle, but Golem's strength was too great, and it was unable to break free.

Seeing this, Xia You remained completely calm.

If it were any other Pokémon, he might worry about it getting hurt, but his Blastoise naturally has unique defensive methods!

"Blastoise, use Retreat!"

Upon hearing Xia You's command, Blastoise quickly retracted its body into its thick shell.

Boom!!

With a loud bang, the tortoise shell slammed heavily onto the ground, creating a huge dent in the otherwise flat surface!

The dust kicked up floated everywhere, covering a large area.

Golem stood panting outside the thick smoke, its trainer Jimu both gazing hopefully at Blastoise in the pit.

To their disappointment, when the dust settled and the shell shook, the Blastoise stretched out its limbs and poked its head out of the shell again!

It shook its head; although it had suffered some shock, it seemed to be fine.

"What!?"

This was completely unexpected by Jimu!

He gritted his teeth, a sense of powerlessness welling up inside him. This was his last trump card, and he never expected it to be so easily neutralized!

"Oh dear!" The host's tone sounded somewhat gloating. "Under the protection of the shell, the damage from the Golem Earth's projectiles has been completely avoided! So, how will he break this deadlock next?"

However, to everyone's surprise, Jimu, who was driven to the brink of despair, chose a different path at this moment.

He shrugged and said helplessly, "I surrender."

"What?" The referee seemed unable to believe his ears and asked instinctively.

"I say I surrender." Jimu raised his right hand and sighed dejectedly. "There's no need to fight anymore. I've lost this match!"

In fact, Jimu understood that even if he managed to defeat Blastoise by chance, the opponent still had two Pokémon, and with Golem's strength, Bengen couldn't win.

Since he was destined to lose, why should he let his Pokémon suffer for nothing?

"Jimu has actually surrendered!!" the host exclaimed. "Although he has lost the spirit of never giving up, it must be said that it was indeed a wise choice! So, let's congratulate Xia You on successfully advancing to the next round!"

The crowd erupted in huge cheers, and various support items slammed and clanged loudly.

Meanwhile, in the stands, Xiao Zhi stared intently at Xia You, his fists clenching involuntarily.

Both were participating in the league conference for the first time, but their performances were completely different.

Judging from the strength he has shown, this man is far ahead, while he struggled all the way to get here, but in the end, he only made it to the top 16.

Watching Xia You gracefully exit amidst the attention of everyone, even Xiaoxia and Xiaochun beside him were genuinely cheering for him, he felt a deep envy even though he didn't say it.

Defeating one powerful enemy after another alongside Pokémon must be one of the happiest things in life, right?

Chapter 160 New Record

After a day of rest, Xia You returned to the Quartz Stadium the following day to participate in the quarterfinals.

It was from this round that a full-scale 6V6 battle system was adopted!