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

From a psychological perspective, Lulina felt that if it were her, she would choose to place the "real Gardevoir" behind Gyarados.

Moreover, Xia Chen is always cunning. The previous teleportation was backward, so there's a high probability that the second one will also be backward.

so...

"Gyarados, look up! Gardevoir is up there!"

With a loud shout, Lulina pointed the way for the bewildered Gyarados.

The reason for changing her mind at the last minute was simple. She thought from Xia Chen's perspective that the opponent would place the real Gardevoir behind him, but that guy could also think of this. She decided to think one step ahead of the opponent!

As for the endless nesting of ideas like "he knows I know his thoughts," that was completely outside her scope of consideration.

If she continues to think like this, she'll drive herself crazy first, which might actually lead her into Xia Chen's trap.

All of Lulina's thoughts occurred within a mere two seconds.

On the battlefield, after receiving the command, Gyarados immediately moved with the wind, suddenly raising its ferocious dragon head, which looked as if it were plated with a layer of metallic luster, pointing directly at the figure that was not far above, whose authenticity was unknown, its aura dangerous and terrifying.

Perhaps it was the continuous teleportation and shadow clones that slowed Gardevoir down, or perhaps it was because it was afraid that the premature release of Moon Power would allow Luna to pinpoint Gardevoir's location. It wasn't until Gyarados began to move that the deep purple light in front of the two Gardevoirs suddenly erupted.

One above and one to the right, energy beams from different directions converged precisely on Gyarados as it raised its head, just like laser cannons.

At the same time, the metallic dragon head slammed into the Gardevoir's body above.

…………

Furosemite

There was only a whooshing sound like the wind in response. In the sky, Gyarados's desperate, hard iron head tore through the illusion, announcing that Lulina's rock-paper-scissors game had failed.

It's unclear whether Xia Chen was thinking about the atmosphere or if he simply hadn't considered it and was just standing on the floor.

The real Gardevoir is located behind the original Gyarados!

boom--

Unlike Gyarados's Iron Head Hollow Strike which landed empty on the shadow clone, the second Moon Power struck Mega Gyarados with considerable force.

Although the Moon Power could only hit the less vital area on its back due to the angle, Gardevoir's terrifying output and solid double super-effectiveness still caused Gyarados to let out an extremely shrill and painful roar.

It's fortunate that Gyarados has high Special Defense; otherwise, even with its near-Champion-level Pokémon attack power, it would have been defeated by the impact of two Moonblasts.

Although it hasn't fallen yet, anyone can see that if it lands another attack, Gyarados will definitely be unable to withstand it.

Of course, the same applies to Gardevoir.

Lulina's beautiful face was expressionless, but her lips were unconsciously pursed tightly.

To say she had no regrets would be against human nature, so Lulina could only tell herself that she still had one last chance.

"Gyarados, use Hurricane first, then charge!"

To prevent Xia Chen from deceiving her again with moves like Shadow Clone, Lulina cleverly commanded Gyarados to use Hurricane.

Although Gyarados's Special Attack is somewhat weak, this hurricane wasn't meant to finish off Gardevoir directly, but rather to tear apart any possible shadow illusions.

Mega Gyarados tilted its head back, took a deep breath from its wide-open mouth, and then exhaled it suddenly.

call--

A violent gust of air roared out from his mouth, raging across the airspace above the field.

One can imagine that, covered by turbulent air currents like sharp blades of air, any afterimage would be extinguished in an instant, like a faint candle flame in a storm.

Because it doesn't aim to deal any damage, the speed at which this storm is released is incredibly fast, so fast that Gyarados almost flies out in sync with the storm, diving towards Gardevoir's location.

Xia Chen's response was simply a single move: "Gardevoir, Swift!"

The tight battle rhythm allowed Gardevoir to unleash several attacks in a short period of time, including two instances where the teleporting Gardevoir was unable to use moves like Moon Power or Dazzling Gleam.

But that's not the key point. In this final stretch, a high-speed star can end the game.

…………

A string of star-shaped energy beams shot out unpretentiously. What should have been a Normal-type move, High Speed ​​Star, contained rich Fairy-type energy due to Gardevoir's [Fairy Skin] ability after Mega Evolution.

The pure white luster then turned into a light pink.

The high-speed star, equipped with a built-in "lock-on" effect, floated towards Gyarados, much like Gungnir, the eternal spear in mythology that cannot be dodged once thrown.

Despite knowing this, Gyarados continued to fly forward, its stubborn figure resembling the ridiculous knight Don Quixote who charged towards the windmill until his death.

Don Quixote finally sprinted to the windmill just before Gungnir plunged into his chest.

With its sharp fangs wreathed in dark energy, and filled with resentment and anger before its fall, [Crush] pierced through Gardevoir's smooth skin.

A beautiful black dress floated down from the sky, and before it hit the ground, it was illuminated by a red light and returned to the ball.

Less than five minutes had passed since Xia Chen voluntarily substituted, which meant that Gardevoir could not participate in this match regardless of whether it had lost its ability to battle.

At this point, Lulina tied the score at 1-1.

"Gyarados, protect!"

Undeterred, Lurina tried to block the high-speed star with her Guard.

However, it was too late to hold on. In the next instant, the star-shaped energy blast struck Gyarados's head with a deafening roar.

boom--

The sound of the energy explosion wasn't particularly loud; it was mostly masked by the sound of rain falling over the field.

But for Gyarados, whose condition was already as fragile as a candle in the wind, this was enough.

In a faint light, the deep blue, ferocious dragon reverted to its original form. This was not because Lulina actively deactivated her Mega Evolution state, but rather because it was automatically deactivated due to the loss of her combat abilities.

This clearly means that Gyarados has also lost its ability to battle.

Lurina remained relatively calm and took out a Poké Ball to retrieve the Gyarados that had fallen from mid-air.

Then, two whistles sounded belatedly, announcing that both elves had simultaneously lost their ability to fight.

The score fluctuated again, with Xia Chen leading 2-1.

The pace of this match is extremely fast; even now, only three minutes have passed since the opening whistle.

Xia Chen, however, already held match point, and the game looked like a crushing defeat for an underdog.

However, none of the audience members had such thoughts. Instead, they all gave Xia Chen and Lulina a warm round of applause before they sent out their last Pokémon.

The commentator, Cai Dou, also gave the battle a very high evaluation: "From pre-match preparation to the actual battle, both sides made ample preparations. It can be said that the strategic maneuvering between the trainers played an important role in this match, no less important than the Pokémon themselves. The reason why Lulina is at a disadvantage at this moment is not because she did not command well when facing Gardevoir's clones. The essence is that there are no countermeasures in her lineup. Otherwise, she would not have bet everything on Mega Gyarados."

This assessment is quite accurate, because very quickly, Nume Ryu demonstrated the terrifying power of the [Trick Room] technique with incredible speed.

…………

God knows how fast a Great Dragon can go when the wind is favorable and the [Easy Swim] ability is activated in the rain. Goodra barely showed the audience her face after she entered the battle – the battlefield was filled with afterimages!

The Hudoujian Shuttle, which is known for its high speed and high attack, could only swim slowly in the water bubbles formed by condensed energy.

Having lost its speed advantage, the Hudoujian Shuttle faced a clash with the sticky dragon, which was as hard as a steel plate. The consequences were obvious.

Even with the enhancement of Taijing Water, it could not pose the slightest threat to Taijingfei's Goomei Dragon.

Without breaking a sweat, Nian Meilong defeated Hudou Jiansuo with a few lightning strikes, ending the match.

With this, Xia Chen defeated Lu Lina 3-1, securing their first victory in the group stage and firmly taking control of their qualification chances.

Although the Galar spectators in the stands felt a little disappointed by Lulina's defeat, they also generously applauded Xia Chen for his beautiful victory.

As is customary, Xia Chen retrieved the sticky dragon and walked to the center of the battlefield to shake hands with the defeated Lulina.

The dark-skinned beauty looked slightly defeated, seemingly annoyed that she had lost to Xia Chen, who had only been the head of the club for a few days. However, she still accepted Xia Chen's outstretched right hand and smiled, "Congratulations."

Xia Chen returned a bright smile, "I wish us all the best in our upcoming matches."

The competition has now come to an end.

Xia Chen turned and walked off the battlefield, letting out a long sigh of relief.

Among the three Nazas in his group, Lulina's strength is closest to his own, making the first battle crucial. If he loses, he must strive to defeat the strongest in the group, Natsumi.

As for Natsume... in the anime, she's a terrifying being who can turn people into dolls with her mind. Xia Chen thinks this ability is even more terrifying than his master Cattleya's explosive superpower.

Given her secret identity as a Team Rocket executive, her strength is definitely not just that of a gym leader, making this a fierce battle.

Fortunately, they won the first match steadily. Even if they lose to Naz, as long as they defeat their last opponent, Naki, they can still advance smoothly.

As for Naki's strength... although she is not weak, she is still a bit inferior to Lulina. As long as Xia Chen performs well, winning the match will not be difficult.

…………

Xia Chen's victory over Lu Lina was not particularly noteworthy among the other matches, as people's expectations for him were quite high, and it was hardly an upset.

The only truly surprising result was that the tournament favorite, the host country's Cibana, was defeated by Liu Bo, the third-place finisher from the Kanto and Johto regions!

While the latter does indeed have a natural advantage over Dragon-type, it's hard to believe that a young trainer hailed as a "champion potential" couldn't defeat a nearly seventy-year-old.

It's important to understand that being a trainer isn't about getting older. A trainer's peak is usually before the age of fifty, because most of the Pokémon that grow alongside you are also in their twenties or thirties, when they are in their best physical condition.

After that, the various bodily functions of the elves will begin to decline irreversibly, just like those of humans.

Among them, Bug-type Pokémon were the earliest, and Ghost-type Pokémon were the latest.

Even a near-god-level being cannot avoid such a thing, except that their lifespan is relatively longer and their bodies age later.

Meanwhile, Liu Bo's elf was already nearly fifty years old. Although it was still a long way from natural death, theoretically its physical condition was definitely far inferior to that of Qi Bana's elf, which was in its prime.

But the actual performance was far from that. The Pokémon that had accompanied Boogeylor, Lapras, and Mamoswine, which had been with him for over fifty years, showed no signs of old age.

It has to be said that this is quite a strange thing.

Xia Chen couldn't help but think of Liu Bo in the special episode, who tried to capture Celebi in order to revive Laplace, who died in an accident when he was young, and use his ability to travel through time and change the past.

Liu Bo in this world is so powerful, I wonder if he might also be an ambitious schemer plotting something...

Apart from this match, there weren't any major upsets in the first round of matches in the eight groups.

The competition has already reached its fifth day, and the most anticipated third round of the group stage is about to begin. As for why it's so highly anticipated—

This round of matches is a clash between the top seed and the second seed in each group!

Xia Chen's match was still in the third match of the afternoon, and his opponent was none other than Sabrina, the gym leader from Saffron City in the Kanto region!

In the second round of the competition, Nazi defeated Naqi with overwhelming strength and surpassed Xia Chen with a net score of 3:0, temporarily ranking first in the group.

…………