Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game

…………

The third and fourth days were the most crucial two days of the qualifiers.

Over the next two days, the remaining 96 players in the winners' bracket will face off one by one, with the winners advancing directly to the main tournament.

The losers will fall into the losers' bracket and compete with the remaining contestants for the final sixteen spots.

Because of its importance, this round of 48 matches will be held over two days, with the two groups playing simultaneously.

Xia Chen was assigned to Group B, the group where neither Chi Hong nor Hu Yang were.

It's somewhat good news, after all, it's better to avoid trouble.

If they were to face them, he might be able to win if he played all his cards, but the competition is still long, and Xia Chen certainly wouldn't want to do something so unprofitable.

After the draw ceremony, Xia Chen learned about his opponent's information.

Jiang Pei, 20 years old, a core apprentice at Huangsha Dojo, a Ground/Rock-type Trainer. (Additional characters provided by readers in the comments section; slightly modified to fit the plot.)

To be precise, they are the Sandstorm Team's expert trainers.

The good news is that he is not a dojo lineage holder.

The bad news is that he is stronger than the average dojo master.

The so-called dojo is not like a gym, which requires the official approval of the league to be built and operated. It is an official organization whose purpose is to test and evaluate the strength of trainers.

Simply put, a dojo is a place established by a highly renowned master or a large family, where trainers can train and learn the way.

This can be understood as a private school with a more targeted approach and better teaching staff.

The most famous one is naturally the gym located on the Isle of Armor in the Galar region, which was opened by Mash, who won the Pokémon League Championship for eighteen consecutive years and is known as the "living legend".

It was there that outstanding talents like Dan Di were born.

Of course, Jiang Pei's Huangsha Dojo is definitely not as good as Ma Shide's dojo.

But it is also a well-known place in the northwest of Donghuang.

Huangsha Dojo has a long history, said to be over a thousand years old, and has produced many dojo masters and even the Four Heavenly Kings.

For example, the current abbot of the dojo, Tao Gongye, is the Sandstorm King who came from the Huangsha Dojo.

However, that was more than 20 years ago. Now nearing 70, he has long since returned to the Yellow Sand Dojo to train the next generation of trainers in the place where his story began.

The lineage of the temple continues endlessly.

This is the soul that has allowed the Huangsha Dojo to endure for thousands of years.

Jiang Pei is one of the best young talents at Huangsha Dojo.

…………

"Hippopotamus, Excadrill, Alakazam, Sandstorm team, this is tough... Luckily his Taric hasn't evolved into Tyranitar yet, otherwise he wouldn't be able to hold on at all."

Looking at the information about his opponent that Teacher Lin Quan sent him, Xia Chen, who was preparing for the match in the player area, sighed silently.

Having dodged the poplars and the crimson, they finally encountered a tough opponent.

It has to be said that Xia Chen has always had terrible luck when it comes to drawing lots.

He drew an opponent who was a shoo-in for at least the quarterfinals in the qualifiers...

But since I've already been drawn, I can only play my best. If I fall into the loser's bracket, who knows what kind of monsters I'll encounter.

Wanting to avoid trouble and accidents, Xia Chen decided to go all out in this match.

The match is the sixth game in Group B, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, it should be this morning.

Therefore, Xia Chen didn't have much time to think about tactics and countermeasures.

The opponent is a standard sandstorm team.

The Sandstorm Team, as the name suggests, is a team that uses sandstorm weather as the main tactical focus throughout the competition.

To be fair, Xia Chen played a lot of Sandstorm Team matches, but that was in the game.

There is a big difference between games and reality.

Since arriving in this world, he has only encountered them twice during the school rankings, and they were only half-formed Sandstorm teams, whose strength was definitely not comparable to the Yellow Sand Dojo apprentices who started with sandstorm tactics.

This can be seen from Jiang Pei's professional lineup.

Hippowdon is definitely a weather setter with the [Sand Stream] ability. Before Shakiras evolves, it will most likely be the first to start the Sandstorm weather.

Then, depending on the situation, you can use Stealth Rock, or Yawn for crowd control, or Blow Away enemies for tactical purposes, and if the situation allows, you can also deal damage.

Dragon Head Groundhog, nicknamed Rat Head Earth Dragon, is the core attacker of the Sandstorm team, with terrifyingly high attack power.

According to the data, Jiang Pei's Excadrill has the ability [Sand Splash], which greatly increases the Pokémon's speed during sandstorm weather.

This dragon-headed mole is not only a resilient and powerful warrior, but also an assassin who appears and disappears without a trace.

Alakazam, the team's coverage specialist, has the ability [Magic Guard].

Therefore, although Alakazam's element is not Ground, Rock, or Steel, it is immune to damage from sandstorms.

The lineup is complete and the characteristics are professional.

Jiang Pei is undoubtedly a formidable opponent.

…………

"Milotic, I'm counting on you for this match."

Xia Chen entrusted his generals with important responsibilities.

"Your moves are released faster, making you more suitable for taking advantage of weather conditions than Sylveon."

Milotic, aware of the difficulty and importance of this match, nodded solemnly, "Fuwoo!"

Regardless of the type of weather team you're playing against, mastering the weather is of paramount importance.

Xia Chen's lineup doesn't depend on the weather, but he wants to annoy his opponents.

Therefore, Milotic, with its high Rain Dance skill level, fast move release speed, and ability to counter two Ground-type Pokémon, is the core of this match.

Besides Milotic, the other key damage dealer in this match is Gardevoir.

The reason is simple: the Sandstorm team is particularly adept at using moves like Earthquake, which have a huge range and are almost impossible to dodge.

Gardevoir is currently the only Pokémon among Xia Chen's main Pokémon that can briefly fly using psychic abilities.

As for Xianbu... Xia Chen's instructions to her were only four words: adapt to the situation.

After discussing their strategy, Xia Chen and the elves watched the short video attached to the end of the document.

That was a collection of Jiang Pei's competition clips, compiled by the intelligence team temporarily assembled by Beijing University for Xia Chen and his team. It was of great reference value.

Know yourself and the enemy, a hundred battles will never end.

Information asymmetry is also one of the legitimate advantages that can be utilized in war.

As they pondered their opponent's command habits and the characteristics of their Pokémon, time ticked by.

Soon, at 10:30 a.m., the fifth match ended.

The next match is between Xia Chen and Jiang Pei.

The competition also has seeded players and weak players.

Like Xia Chen and Jiang Pei, one is the second seed in the Beijing University selection competition, and the other is the new generation leader of the renowned Huangsha Dojo.

This match naturally became the focus of this round.

Even before the fifth match was over, Pixiv had already changed the title of the Group B live stream.

[Genius Elf Researcher VS Future Sandstorm King, who will secure the advancement spot?]

Hmm... the title has a strong anime/manga vibe.

However, since Pixiv originated from anime and manga, it doesn't seem out of place; as long as the hype is there, it's fine.

At this moment, a large flock of bean pigeons rushed to the live broadcast room after hearing the news.

…………

"Wuhu, I heard that Master Pigeon has a competition soon. Even though it's only 10:30, I've already ordered takeout. Let's eat!"

"Daily question: Will I be able to see Gardevoir today?"

"It's highly likely. The opponent in this match is on a completely different level from the opponents in the previous two rounds. Even if Gardevoir is used, it's not guaranteed that we can win."

"It would be best if they didn't win. I hope Master Pigeon falls into the loser's bracket so he can play several more rounds of matches. I love watching that!"

"It's on! The competition has begun!"

Amidst the casual chat in the live chat, the battlefield had already been roughly organized.

Xia Chen and Jiang Pei also stepped onto the battlefield one after the other.

Jiang Pei is a fair-skinned, tall, and handsome young man.

Judging from his appearance alone, it's impossible to associate him with the rough men in the Sandstorm team.

However, Xia Chen is not one to judge people by their appearance. The strength of a Pokémon has nothing to do with the appearance of its trainer.

Just like Xia Chen himself, being so handsome, did it affect Xianbu and the others' strength?

While Xia Chen was sizing up Jiang Pei, the other party was also observing Xia Chen.

Huangsha Dojo is not as large as Beijing University, and its intelligence work is far inferior to that of Xia Chen's team.

His understanding of Xia Chen was limited to major events like discovering Sylveon and the legendary Pokémon incident; he knew very little about Xia Chen's expertise in Pokémon battles.

Because the selection competition at Beijing University prohibits recording to protect the contestants' abilities, Jiang Pei hurriedly searched for information online after discovering that his opponent was Xia Chen, but could only find relatively old match videos.

Back then, Sylveon was still Eevee...

There are video recordings of the matches from the previous two days, but they were completely one-sided and have no reference value.

It's not even as meaningful as those ridiculously blurry videos of Xia Chen's ranked matches on campus that look like they were filmed with a door lock.

So in the end, the only useful information Jiang Pei got, besides Xia Chen's three main Pokémon, was the text information that Milotic knows Quiver Dance and Water Spray and releases moves very quickly, Sylveon knows Earth Power and reacts very quickly, and Shiny Gardevoir is very pretty.

Wait a minute?

What kind of valid information is the last one?