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

Cattleya might even use this characteristic to confuse Cynthia's judgment.

For example, in the first wave of attacks shortly after the start, she was verbally commanding Ice Punch, but Metagross used Agility to increase its speed.

This is certainly not a common situation among novice trainers where Pokémon don't obey commands; rather, it's a trap deliberately set by Cattleya.

However, this trick might fool others, but it didn't fool Cynthia. Without a second thought, she had Garchomp activate Quicksand Hell, which covered the entire arena.

Dust filled the sky, and sand and gravel danced wildly.

In the blink of an eye, the battlefield was engulfed in a dust storm.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of the quicksand hell; the true terror of this move lies on the ground.

The vast expanse of flowing sand, unwilling to passively wait for its prey to fall into the trap, under the control of energy, sand pillars made of energy-infused quicksand shot into the sky, like ghostly hands emerging from the ground, attempting to drag everything above ground into this abyss.

Champion-level strength is not only reflected in the intensity of various abilities and energy, but also in the ever-changing and unpredictable moves of the Pokémon.

Without a doubt, Cynthia's ace Pokémon, Garchomp, is the best of the best.

…………

Even though Metagross can float in mid-air through electromagnetic forces, it was still caught off guard by two "sand palms" while distracted by its high-speed movement.

Metagross, whose strength is not far from that of Garchomp, will naturally not be easily bound by a Sand Hell.

Energy surged, and a chilling aura swirled around its steel claws. Metagross used the power of its Ice Punch to easily break free from the shackles of the Quicksand Hell.

Facing the dust storm, its high-speed movement allowed it to nimbly dodge the successive sand pillars.

With its claws, brimming with immense cold energy, held horizontally, the Mega Charizard, though not upright, still charged towards Garchomp at incredible speed.

Faced with Ice Punch, which is four times weaker, an ordinary trainer would probably have had Garchomp use Dig or Protect to temporarily avoid its attack.

Such command, while not outstanding, is certainly not prone to error.

However, Cynthia did not choose this safe approach, not because of her arrogance as the world's best, but because of her absolute trust in her Garchomp.

Like needles meeting wheat awns, Garchomp's fine, sharp teeth surged with Dark-type energy, instantly condensing into the move [Crunch], and then fearlessly charged forward, retaliating with its own teeth!

Two shooting stars, one purple and one blue, streaked across the sky, their afterimages lingering. Their hot, rough bodies collided passionately with the cold, steel bodies. Although no fire-based techniques were used, sparks seemed to fly everywhere in the air.

With neither Pokémon dodging, Ice Punch and Crunch, two moves that are mutually exclusive, both landed with full force on each other.

Both being Champion-level Pokémon, a fourfold advantage is ultimately stronger than a double advantage.

Even a powerful Garchomp, after taking this long-prepared Ice Punch from Metagross, wore a hideous mask of pain on her face.

Just as the first round of combat was about to end with Metagross gaining a slight advantage, a sand pillar several times thicker and longer than before shot into the sky from the ground, transforming into a rough, giant hand that grabbed at Metagross.

Metagross, with its incredibly fast reflexes, instinctively tried to escape, but one of its claws was being firmly bitten by Garchomp. How could it possibly escape?

Seeing the giant sand palm that swallowed Metagross's entire body, the audience finally understood Cynthia and Garchomp's true intentions.

If Crushing Bite isn't enough to counter Frozen Fist, then what about adding Quicksand Hell?

Caldelia reacted in a very short time. Since she couldn't escape, she decided not to.

The Metagross's frozen fist, which hadn't been bitten, froze again. Suddenly, a bright blue light shone from the quicksand, and the overflowing chill dispersed the sand that was engulfing it.

The two Pokémon were already very close, and Garchomp was determined to bite Metagross's claws and not let go. Naturally, the second punch landed on Garchomp again.

The icy aura seeped into the skin, corroding the point where the steel claws met the Garchomp's body, turning a large area of ​​the surrounding skin a bluish-purple hue.

This injury did not deter Garchomp. Dark Dark-type energy once again swirled between its teeth. Garchomp's bite force was extremely strong, and it closed its jaws with force, causing cracks to appear on Metagross's steel body.

Meanwhile, from beneath him, another sand demon crawled out of the still-raging quicksand hell, tearing at the Metagross's body.

…………

All of these scenarios occurred within a mere ten seconds.

This intense, fast-paced, and violent fighting style, where injuries were exchanged for injuries, filled every minute of this exhibition match.

The two champions and their Pokémon presented the audience with a match that ignited the entire venue with their violent aesthetics.

The number of viewers in the live stream almost doubled in just over ten minutes, approaching the 100 million mark.

In short, the exhibition match far exceeded the organizers' expectations and was nothing short of perfect.

As for the final result, it wasn't surprising; Cynthia narrowly won 3-2.

She also maintained her winning streak for two and a half years, with a total of 37 official matches of varying sizes.

Aside from the legendary match against Mastedt from the Galar region decades ago, this is the longest and most consecutive winning streak in nearly thirty years.

And Cynthia is only now celebrating her 27th birthday.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, her legend will continue for a very long time to come.

According to the established competition schedule, the draw will take place after the exhibition match.

Taking advantage of the high popularity of the live broadcast, the host, Xiaojuer, quickly guided the two champions to begin the first round of the draw.

Then, Emboar, one of the three starter Pokémon of Unova, walked onto the stage carrying a transparent glass box with one hand. Inside were eight spheres of the same size and color.

Cynthia, as the "guest," draws first.

As the camera slowly zoomed in, she casually picked up a sphere, opened it, and displayed the note inside to the entire audience, as well as the viewers in the live stream.

The name above is...

Eastern Huang Region – Xia Chen!

Chapter 282 Holy crap, there's a divine beast man!

The first minor climax of the lottery ceremony came quite suddenly.

When the name "Xia Chen from the Donghuang region" appeared on the screen, a considerable commotion erupted throughout the venue.

Even among the eight best young trainers from each region, Xia Chen is undoubtedly the one with the highest profile and popularity.

His relationship with Cynthia is also a topic of much discussion.

So when Cynthia drew Xia Chen first, it created quite a buzz.

The cameraman skillfully focused the camera on Xia Chen and Cynthia on the stage, respectively, from the contestants' seats.

With a smile in her eyes, Cynthia, who had just landed a perfect shot, looked in the direction of Xia Chen, who shook his head with a helpless smile.

Being the first one drawn doesn't prove anything, nor does it affect the process or result of the competition. It can only be said that it was a bit of luck in a certain sense.

What really matters is who his opponent was in the first round.

The answer to this question will be revealed by Cattleya.

Once the emotions in the audience had calmed down a bit, Cattleya made a slight thought, and a sphere flew out of the glass box.

The slip of paper unfolded, revealing Xia Chen's opponent for the first round.

Kanto region - Blue and green!

The audience erupted in uproar.

The two favorites to win the championship have met so early!

Although this is not an extremely rare occurrence in a small tournament with only eight participants, many people were still surprised when it actually happened.

The camera immediately splits to show the first pair of opponents drawn, Xia Chen and Qing Lü.

The former had no expression, while the latter, after a moment of surprise, revealed an eager look.

No one showed any fear or timidity, at least not outwardly.

Clearly, they were all confident in defeating their opponents.

This is not surprising; every trainer who can stand on this battlefield is a person with strong self-confidence.

…………

The draw ceremony did not stop despite the gasps of the audience. The second pair, the third pair... the remaining three pairings for the four matches were also determined by Gadriya and Cynthia.

The first match today is Alice vs. Darko, the first match tomorrow is Daigo vs. Marie, and the second match tomorrow is Alain vs. Nemo.

Apart from the first match, there were basically no other strong matches.

Alice drew Darko, who is considered by outsiders to be among the weakest. The difference in strength between Marie and Daigo is also quite obvious. Only Alain and Nemo are evenly matched. It is hard to predict the outcome.

After the draw that sparked considerable discussion, the first match did not start immediately. The organizers thoughtfully allowed the players several hours to prepare before the match, which will officially begin at 2 p.m.

This gap of several hours cannot be allowed to leave the audience waiting in vain, otherwise everyone would leave in no time.

Just like the halftime show of the most famous baseball game in the past, the official organizers still pulled out their trump card: energetic songs and dances that everyone loves.

The audience continued to enjoy the stage performances they hadn't had enough of, while the contestants were in their respective rest rooms strategizing for their Pokémon.

This naturally includes Xia Chen.

At this moment, he was discussing the most important matter with the Pokémon: the Pokémon that would appear in this competition.

Blue Green's lineup is relatively transparent. Without considering what other Pokémon he might be hiding, his main lineup consists of Blastoise, Tyranitar, Rhyperior, Alakazam, Arcanine, and Aerodactyl.

A team that vaguely resembles a sandstorm team, yet is also quite well-rounded.

Among them, his starter Pokémon, Blastoise, which is also his ace Pokémon, had already reached the Gym level last year.

The fossil pterosaur, which was hatched from fossils from ancient times not long ago, is mysteriously powerful.

These fossil elves are different from egg-born elves. Scientists resurrect them by extracting genes remaining in the fossils, so their strength is closely related to their life before death.

Although they have just joined the team, their strength should not be underestimated.

As for the other Pokémon in the Blue Green Pokémon group, apart from Tyranitar, their strength is relatively average. They were estimated to be around the Gym Leader level before the competition, which is comparable to Xia Chen's.

…………

"Minas, Soroark, are you two okay playing in this match?"

After thinking for a while, Xia Chen looked at the two elves and asked.

He didn't ask who was willing to play, and the only person who could probably answer no to that question was probably Gullington.

The Minas Thunberg team has several Rock-type Pokémon and a Fire-type Arcanine, which can be used as the core suppression points.

Zoroark doesn't have any type advantage against the opponent's Pokémon; the reason it was chosen was because Xia Chen wanted her to gain more battle experience.

Although she has a wealth of practical combat experience, there are still some differences between actual combat experience and competitive matches.