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

Lu Weiyu, who was directing from the sidelines, saw everything, but besides feeling anxious, she had no other options.

Should I switch to Poliwag or Swampert?

Sylvanas's attempt to meditate and strengthen himself will only hasten the end of the match.

Should we continue the fight?

Given the increasingly apparent decline of Nimmelon, this is not very realistic.

No matter what she does, it's wrong. Having revealed all her cards, Lu Weiyu is lost and confused.

Aside from mechanically directing Nume to relentlessly continue using the Iron Tail attack, she didn't know what else she could do.

Time ticked by, and the situation had been dragged into a slow death.

…………

"The final, deafening roar struck, and Goodra collapsed, unable to battle. The tenacious Sylveon finally defeated its opponent's trump card Pokémon in a nearly ten-minute tug-of-war. The score is now 1-0!"

"..."

"The second and third defeats on the field came one after another! Swampert used its last bit of strength to charge fearlessly and used Waterfall to defeat the equally exhausted Sylveon. Then, it was defeated by Milotic's Freeze-Dry! The score is now 2:1, with Xia Chen still maintaining the advantage!"

"Poliwrath has been appointed to a critical mission. Can it withstand the pressure from Milotic and Gardevoir and turn the tide against two opponents?"

"..."

"Thunderbolt! Poliwag is down! The referee steps forward to confirm the information. If there are no surprises, this will be the end of the match... OK, the referee blows the whistle to end the match!"

"The results of the most anticipated quarterfinals are in! Xia Chen, the youngest participant in this tournament, defeated Lu Weiyu, one of the biggest favorites to win the championship, with a score of 3:2, and successfully advanced to the semifinals!"

"Thank you to Xia Chen and Lu Weiyu for bringing us such a wonderful match, and thank you to Ms. Karuni for her analysis. The semifinal matchups for the second half of the competition have been determined: Bai Mu and Xia Chen will compete for their ticket to the finals tomorrow morning!"

"And this afternoon, there are two more exciting matches waiting for you to watch, so stay tuned!"

------

Having narrowly defeated his fellow townsman in the quarterfinals to advance to the semifinals of the tournament, Xia Chen, sitting in the Pokémon Center awaiting treatment, was still somewhat dazed and lost in thought.

The course of the match was much more complicated than he had imagined. In the early and mid-stages, as he had expected, he gained some advantages by relying on volt substitution and freeze-drying.

But the sudden appearance of Nyanmei Long interrupted his plans.

Sure enough, at this stage of the game, it's impossible for one person to have all the trump cards.

Today's battle with Lu Weiyu has already reminded me of this point, so what kind of trump card does Bai Mu, who is on the same level as her, have hidden tomorrow?

"Congratulations."

A soft, gentle voice rang in his ears, rousing Xia Chen from his reverie.

The owner of the voice was familiar; it was Lu Weiyu, whom he had just fought and defeated.

Xia Chen looked up and saw that she was sitting opposite him with her arms crossed, looking at him with a complicated expression.

Feeling Xia Chen's gaze, she shrugged. "Same as you, waiting for the elf to heal me."

Xia Chen replied softly, "Thank you, it's a tough match."

He didn't humbly say anything about luck or anything like that; talking to the person involved like that always felt a bit sarcastic.

Lu Weiyu tilted her head, suddenly smiled, and her eyes seemed to have less heaviness and more relief.

She suddenly whispered, "Don't let your guard down in tomorrow's match."

Xia Chen was somewhat taken aback. "What did you say?"

He wasn't that he didn't hear clearly, he just didn't understand what Lu Weiyu meant.

Lu Weiyu explained with some helplessness, "I mean, Bai Mu is very strong, and I'm pretty sure he's hiding something too."

Then, as if talking to herself, or perhaps explaining, she said softly, "Because we're just one step away, I hope you can... defeat him for me."

Xia Chen smiled knowingly. Was this mutual respect between masters?

Or perhaps, due to comparisons from the outside world, a sense of rivalry has developed between the two of them?

Xia Chen had no idea, but there was no reason to refuse such a small matter, so he smiled and nodded.

"I will."

"Um..."

After a short, nasal sound, Lu Weiyu suddenly asked, "By the way, do you have any other trump cards up your sleeve?"

"The trump card?"

Xia Chen gently tapped the Poké Ball at his waist that hadn't been sent for treatment.

"There should be...right?"

Chapter 230 The Overlord of Phantoms, Zoroark the Ghost Appears! (1 words! Requesting monthly votes!)

December 23, 2023 (League Calendar), Funan City, Liuhuo Arena.

The Donghuang Youth Trainer Competition, which lasted for nearly half a month, finally ushered in the highly anticipated final day.

The four finalists are Hu Yang and Chi Hong from the upper division, and Xia Chen and Bai Mu from the lower division.

The two groups of contestants will compete in the semi-finals in the morning.

Naturally, the winners and losers of the two matches will compete in the final and third-place match in the afternoon.

Among the four finalists, there were seeded players like Hu Yang and Bai Mu who were widely expected to win before the competition, as well as Xia Chen and Chi Hong, two dark horses who were not favored.

Regardless of the opinions and views of the audience before the competition, making it into the top four means that they are the future of the younger generation in the Donghuang region.

Of course, this excludes a person from another region who is traveling to the Donghuang area.

With the year drawing to a close and the festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year in full swing, today's competition attracted the attention of almost the entire Donghuang region, and tickets for the Liuhuo Arena were extremely difficult to obtain.

At 9:00 AM, amidst thunderous cheers and applause at the venue and lively discussions in the live stream chat, the first semi-final was about to begin.

The two teams facing off are Red, a traveling trainer from the Kanto region, and Hu Yang from Tokyo University.

Based on pre-match audience support, Hu Yang and Chi Hong were roughly 80/20.

Besides supporting local athletes, most viewers also believed that Hu Yang was the stronger athlete.

Of course, support rate does not represent win rate, and this nearly half-hour-long, drawn-out battle proved this point once again.

The two teams fielded Gengar, Charizard, and Slowking, respectively, while Red fielded Pikachu, Venusaur, and Snorlax.

It's worth mentioning that both players' Slowking and Snorlax were Pokémon that had never been shown before the competition.

This battle was also an all-out effort where both sides used all their trump cards.

…………

The match was exceptionally dramatic. To put it simply, the first half was dominated by Hu Yang's ace Pokémon, Gengar, delivering a phenomenal performance.

The second half of the game featured Pikachu, which was jokingly called "more numerous than stray dogs on the roadside," delivering an incredible performance.

No one could have imagined that Pikachu would pull off such an incredible comeback after Venusaur and Snorlax were defeated by Gengar.

He wasn't even a Pokémon in its final evolved form...

But this scene, which could be described as a ghost story, actually happened in front of tens of thousands of people at the scene and in front of hundreds of millions of viewers on screen.

Although Gengar was in terrible condition after defeating two Pokémon, and Charizard and Slowking were also injured to some extent in the first half of the battle, it was still a miracle.

Even Kikuko, one of the Four Heavenly Kings from the Kanto region and a guest at this competition, praised this 19-year-old as the most promising young man in the Kanto region and the most likely to reach the summit of Mt. Hakugin.

The stunningly gorgeous and insane performance of the crimson color is a testament to this.

After Pikachu narrowly defeated Slowking's Psychic with a final Thunderbolt, thunderous applause lasted for nearly three minutes in the circular arena shaped like a hotpot.

However, Crimson, the object of the applause, did not enjoy the spectacular scene for long, because after defeating his opponent, his last Pokémon, Pikachu, collapsed from exhaustion.

After briefly thanking the audience and his opponent Hu Yang, the boy in the red and white training uniform carried Pikachu and headed to the Pokémon Center.

Hu Yang was left staring blankly at the departing figure of the crimson figure, then recalled the Slowking King and silently stepped off the battle stage.

He paused for a moment as he passed by Xia Chen's rest area for preparation.

"Good luck in the afternoon's match, beat him for me."

Hu Yang said this.

Xia Chen raised an eyebrow in surprise and gestured towards the rest area opposite the arena with his chin. "So confident that I can beat him?"

Before the match between Xia Chen and Bai Mu, the audience didn't have high expectations for this "youngest contestant".

Besides the difference in strength, the more important reason is that Bai Mu has not yet revealed his trump card, while Xia Chen has given his all in his battle against Lu Weiyu.

Faced with Xia Chen's question, Hu Yang didn't say anything, but just smiled and shook his head. He patted Xia Chen's shoulder in a mature and sophisticated manner, and then walked towards the Pokémon Center in the arena.

Thus, following his promise to the principal a long time ago and Lu Weiyu's "entrustment" yesterday, Xia Chen's burden inexplicably became heavier.

However, none of these are the most important factors. What motivates Xia Chen to desire this championship is his and his team's relentless efforts over the past year.

…………

Because of the flexible scheduling, there is a full half-hour interval between the two matches. Before the second match at 10:00, the special guests invited to each match are naturally responsible for maintaining the audience retention rate.

And Xia Chen's guest for this competition is a top trainer with whom he has a close relationship.

"Welcome to our competition venue, Ms. Marie, the Gym Leader of the Aromatherapy Gym in the Carlos region, a world-renowned fashion designer, and the President of the World Coordination Trainers Association!"

In the studio, Miss Ma Xiu, dressed in a gorgeous, butterfly-like gown, raised her sleeves and covered her mouth with a soft laugh.

Sorry, not as many people came this time.

Even as a virtual holographic projection, Miss Ma Xiu exudes a unique charm that is as elegant and captivating as a fairy.

The host picked up on the joke at just the right moment, "Haha, Miss Ma Xiu is much more humorous than I imagined."

Ma Xiu smiled and nodded, "Well, ever since I met someone, I've inexplicably become like this. In your Donghuang language, it's called 'being influenced by one's surroundings.'"

The host continued the conversation, "First, to correct you, it's 'one is influenced by one's company,' and second, the person you mentioned, could it be one of the contestants in the upcoming competition?"

Ma Xiu never shied away from her close friendship with Xia Chen in any public setting, and perhaps this gossip-worthy topic is why the competition organizers invited her to be a guest.

As expected, Ma Xiu was very frank this time as well.

"Yes, although we haven't seen each other for a long time, I still often miss the time we spent together."