Elf: Start with small diamonds, then mutate into Diancie!

The surface tiers of the two Pokémon are roughly equal: Venusaur and Milotic at the late Elite tier, and Kingdra and Vileplume at the mid Elite tier.

However, just two minutes into the game, what exactly caused this one-sided battle?

The referee was stunned for a moment; even a seasoned veteran like him had never seen anything like this before!

As if realizing it too late, the referee confirmed that Venusaur and the others had lost their ability to battle and hurriedly said, "Venusaur and Vileplume have lost their ability to battle!"

The referee's voice was amplified through the loudspeaker, and the loud sound echoed in the No. 14 arena. The audience in the stands seemed to wake from a dream and instantly burst into huge cheers.

"Minor damage!?"

"Instant kill!?"

"Wow, the blizzard unleashed by two non-Ice-type Pokémon is even scarier than an Ice-type Pokémon."

"Milotic! Milotic! I love you!!!"

................

The news that Su Hao and Bai Ziyu, a powerful duo, quickly defeated their opponents in just two minutes during the 32 matches of the Imperial Capital High School Cup instantly became a trending topic.

On the Trainer Forum, Su Hao's Milotic's incredible control over the Rain Dance move, and the blizzard that the two of them could create with their combined power, was a topic of much discussion.

Su Hao and Bai Ziyu sat in the lounge, surrounded by incredibly attentive support staff.

Team leader Luo Song patted the two on the shoulder, his hand trembling slightly, almost unable to speak. After a long while, he could only manage to utter two words: "Amazing!"

Zhao Ci was still focused on the match between Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng on court number 19 and did not say anything.

Bai Ziyu gave Su Hao a bear hug and exclaimed, "This rainmaking technique is amazing! This blizzard is amazing!"

As the person involved, he knew his own Kingdra's capabilities; his Kingdra's mastery of Blizzard was only good enough to negate Solar Beam.

The overwhelming blizzard was mostly caused by that outrageous Milotic.

Su Hao frowned, letting Bai Ziyu hold him, seemingly preoccupied.

"what happened?"

Holding him, Bai Ziyu noticed that Su Hao's mood was off and asked with concern.

Su Hao shook his head to indicate that he was fine.

He was troubled; this battle was too strange.

It's normal for Milotic's Blizzard move to have this power, since it often hangs out with Articuno.

But the important thing is that Su Hao never let Milas train in the Rainmaking Technique; he could only say that Milas barely mastered it.

But according to Milotic's feedback, she covered the sunny sky with almost no effort, as if the environment here was perfect for rainmaking...

What is going on?

------------

This is the third update, an extra chapter for a reader who loves to comment. Tomorrow will also be the third update.

And happy birthday to me today, hehe!

Note 1: The official translation of Solar Beam is Solar Beam, but I personally think it sounds better.

Geioka.

Chapter 273 Round-Robin Tournament

The scene shifts to the hotel where Su Hao and his friends are staying.

In the conference room, analyst Zhao Ci convened another meeting to discuss tomorrow's opponents.

After the first day of competition, the 32 winning teams were randomly divided into 8 groups.

Each group of four teams will begin a round-robin tournament.

It's still a doubles match. The winner gets 2 points, the draw gets 1 point, and the loser gets no points.

The team with the highest score in the group advances to the main tournament, which is a singles match.

Once you get past this hurdle, you'll be able to prove yourself based on your individual abilities.

Team leader Luo Song looked troubled, his voice hoarse: "Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng, that's all the analysis we have on your opponents. Any thoughts?"

The two played very well in the doubles match yesterday. He thought that if they were lucky and didn't get matched with too strong opponents, they might be able to break into the round of 16 in the singles competition.

Who knew...

The two exchanged a glance, their spirits somewhat low.

After a long pause, Li Hua forced himself to remain calm and said, "Since we've run into this, there's nothing we can do but try our best to fight our way out."

Jiang Chengcheng closed her eyes tightly, took a deep breath, and said firmly, "We can't bet on whether the Imperial Doubles Team 1 will send out a professional-level Pokémon. I think the same way: we must go all out."

Jiang Chengcheng thought that since she had already run into Ning Ling, who was second only to Su Hao, this was the only way.

Upon hearing this, Luo Song and Zhao Ci exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with deep helplessness.

Li Hua and Jiang Chengcheng were unexpectedly drawn into the same group as the doubles team, which was considered a strong contender for the championship.

"Alright, from now on, just contact the logistics team anytime regarding Pokémon status; they'll be on call 24/7. Get some rest and recharge."

"Okay, teacher."

Not long after the two left, two sighs of regret were heard.

"Oh, what a pity."

It's not that they lack confidence in their own players; if they were of equal skill level, it would be hard to say who would win.

The sound of the conference room door closing was dull, much like the two people's current mood—not pleasant.

Su Hao leaned against the corner of the wall. Because they would be fighting three matches tomorrow, Bai Ziyu had already gone back to adjust the Pokémon's condition.

He stayed here because he was a little worried about the condition of his two friends.

Seeing the two of them come out, Su Hao lowered his voice and asked, "Are you done talking?"

"Ah."

The atmosphere fell silent, and the three of them looked at each other in silence for a moment.

Finally, the composed Jiang Chengcheng broke the silence. She patted Su Hao on the shoulder and said with a smile, "It's a bit shameful to be cowardly before the battle even begins, but I'm afraid we should stop here."

Under the current rules, professional-level combat power is indeed among the top tier.

People who are capable of training a Pokémon to a professional level in just six months are extremely rare.

After all, for the sake of fairness, everyone can only use Pokémon that they caught in their senior year of high school and whose strength does not exceed that of a professional-level Pokémon.

Li Hua gave Su Hao a reassuring look and echoed, "That's true, but we won't be cowardly enough to surrender. We'll still fight if we have to."

"We'll only know who wins and who loses after the match."

..............

The No. 8 and No. 9 match venues will host 12 doubles matches today.

The four teams each need to rotate between two venues, with almost no chance to catch their breath.

In high-intensity battles, once the ace's stamina is exhausted, and if the other Pokémon he has trained are relatively weak, he can easily be defeated unexpectedly.

Under this format, it's time for the tactical analysts accompanying each team to shine.

Knowing how to effectively utilize the Pokémon in your team's hand to counter your opponent is an art.

Zhao Ci's advice to Su Hao and his team's first-round opponents was: Su Hao should send out Little Diamond to support Bai Ziyu's Desert Dragonfly, forming a Sandstorm team.

The matchup for Su Hao and Bai Ziyu was also quite challenging, as they were matched against a seeded player who was also skilled in fairy-type characters.

Just before going on stage, Bai Ziyu seemed to have some concerns and called out to Su Hao, "Are you really not going to the Sandstorm team?"

The opponent is a fairy-type specialist, so he only has one concern: if Su Hao uses the Blazing Roaring Tiger to wreak havoc, that would be fine.

The worst thing is when a non-ace player faces the opponent's ace and accidentally loses.

Su Hao laughed and said, "No. You use Aluminum Steel Dragon, I'll use Duolongqi."

Doronchi's leveling up has been a bit slow lately; he's only at the mid-elite level.

Take this opportunity to fight a few more matches; Doronchi's mobility is just right to deal with his opponents.

Since breaking through to the late-stage Elite level in Orudron City, Minas is now preparing to break through to the Professional level.

After the Emerald Warrior Eagle leaves the Thousand Winds Secret Realm, its strength will likely increase to some extent.

At that time, apart from Riolu, which has only been born for a short period of time, Dragapult will be in the most awkward position.

Furthermore, the channel to reverse the world remains unopened.

You ride Latina so powerfully, how come you're such a wimp when you ride it?

After a while, the first match of the round-robin tournament began.

The first opponent of the Su Hao and Bai Ziyu duo in the semi-finals was one of the favorites to win the championship, just like them, as debated by netizens.

Masahiro Oyama is a hybrid of the Divine Continent Alliance and the Sakura Kingdom Alliance.

His ace is a late-stage Elite-level Shiny Gardevoir, who is highly proficient in Fairy-type moves.

His teammate is a beautiful and gentle girl who grew up with Mahiro Oyama as childhood friends. Her ace Mr. Mime is very skilled in various support moves.

According to the data, the two are a very difficult pair to work together.

A short while later.

The match began as scheduled, with both players entering the arena one after the other.

The Suzhou teams were the first to enter.

Immediately afterwards, Su Hao and Bai Ziyu entered from the other side.

Su Hao looked closely and realized that the white-haired boy with a gentle smile on his face must be Masato Oyama.

Behind Mahiro Oyama was a pretty girl in a floral dress, who must be his childhood friend Chuwei.

To ensure the smooth running of the competition, the organizers specially dispatched Pokémon to disperse the rain clouds near the arena, allowing sunlight to shine into the arena.

The atmosphere in the stands was incredibly enthusiastic, with every seat filled and cheers echoing throughout the venue as fans from both sides continuously chanted the names of their favorite players.