Pokémon: Trainers Start as Bounty Hunters.

"However, the other side might not necessarily send out those two near-Elite Four Pokémon," Yoshihiko Kashiwagi thought at the same time.

He is not without a chance of winning.

The two nodded amicably, each lost in their own thoughts.

Soon, with the end of the previous battle, the two walked towards the battle command platform at opposite ends of the field under the referee's watchful eye.

"The match between Tetsuya Tamaki of Viridian City and Yoshihiko Kashiwagi of Sagano City is now beginning. Please send out your Pokémon." The referee waved his flag, announcing the start of the match.

"Go, Blastoise!" "Go, Pidgeot!"

The two released their spirits at the same time.

Tetsuya remained calm; this was something he had prepared for long ago, and it was time for Pidgeot to make its appearance and get used to it.

Yoshihiko Kashiwagi let out a barely audible sigh.

Blastoise, his ace, hadn't played in the previous qualifiers, but that didn't matter much. He was still thinking that as long as he didn't fight Pidgeot, even if he faced Blaziken, he would have a great chance of winning thanks to type advantage.

It seems the other party isn't giving us a chance at all.

That's normal; who wouldn't want a ten-game winning streak to secure a spot in the main tournament?

Yoshihiko Kashiwagi perked up.

The odds of winning are slim, but we can't give up.

"Blastoise, rain!" He commanded Blastoise to launch an attack.

Is this a common practice in the rain? Tetsuya thought. Heavy rain would indeed affect Pidgeot's flight agility, and wet feathers would also be somewhat inconvenient.

However, it was the wrong choice.

Tetsuya watched quietly as Blastoise fired a ball of light into the sky.

When dark clouds covered the battlefield and a light drizzle began to fall, he finally issued his first command: "Pidgeot, use Storm."

In rainy or heavy rainy weather, storms are almost guaranteed to hit.

Kashiwagi Yoshihiko licked his lips. Was he not considering hiding his strength at all?

As a powerful energy attack move of the Flying type, Storm is a move that even Pidgeot, a near-Elite Four level, can not master. It's like revealing a trump card in the qualifiers.

If Tetsuya knew what Yoshihiko Kashiwagi was thinking, he would definitely be speechless.

He wouldn't even think about that much.

The reason for this is probably the age difference between the two.

Yoshihiko Kashiwagi is already 29 years old. His strength and talent are neither particularly outstanding nor lacking. For him, every step is crucial, and all steps serve his own plan.

But Tetsuya is more than ten years younger than him, so he doesn't need to worry about these things at all; he just needs to show himself.

He has ample room for trial and error; as long as he doesn't make any major mistakes, these things are minor.

He has only one goal: to win continuously, and even if he loses, he wants to lose decisively and thoroughly.

Strong winds gradually formed on the field, and the rain intensified under the influence of the storm, turning the field into a foggy mess.

With a flap of its wings, the Pidgey blasted a storm of rain towards Blastoise.

The sheer scale of the event attracted many trainers who were watching from the sidelines.

"Hold the line," Yoshihiko Kashiwagi commanded briefly.

A green light barrier formed around Blastoise's body, blocking the storm's onslaught.

"Air Slash." Tetsuya stood his ground.

When the opponent adopts a defensive stance, it means that you will have an abundance of opportunities to attack.

If it were up to him to choose, he might as well try letting Blastoise use its Water Gun in the rain and see if it can break through the resulting storm head-on. Those two Water Guns on Blastoise's back are not just for decoration.

"Beep~"

Pidgeot let out a soft cry, crossed its wings, and then swung them sharply, sending seven or eight nearly transparent air blades hurtling toward Blastoise.

Wherever it passed, it left a distinct vacuum mark in the rainy weather.

"Iron Wall, turn around, and then retract into your shell."

As Yoshihiko Kashiwagi directed, his Blastoise seemed to have the movements etched into its very soul, completing all the actions in an instant.

"How many times must he have been beaten to gain this experience?" the onlookers wondered.

This wasn't meant to mock or belittle; on the contrary, it showed great admiration for the other person.

Blastoise's strength lies in using its hard shell for defense and counter-attacks in unfavorable battles. The fact that it has mastered this combo to such a high degree fully demonstrates the hard work of the opposing trainer and Pokémon.

Watching the air slash relentlessly strike Blastoise's shell and hearing the dull thud, Tetsuya frowned.

This is somewhat troublesome. Eagles are inherently less adept at direct attacks, and the methods used by normal birds of prey in my previous life to deal with turtles are not applicable, at least since turtles in my previous life did not spray water.

The Blastoise, which had retreated into its shell, was knocked off balance by the air slash, but remained steadfast.

Pidgeot was gradually getting tired; using its wings to create air slashes was a very physically demanding task.

"Move at high speed, then attack with your wings," Tetsuya commanded Pidgeot.

"Impressive!" The surrounding trainers cheered for Tetsuya's quick reaction.

At this moment, the Blastoise's pale yellow belly is pressed tightly against the ground, with its brown shell upside down on top, indicating a very stable state.

However, if it is flipped over, and its shell becomes like a bowl, with its belly exposed to the air, its stability and flexibility will be greatly affected.

This is determined by its body shape; it's not so easy for it to turn over.

However, many trainers expressed their incomprehension regarding Tetsuya's ineffective actions.

"It's pointless. Whether it's the impact of the skill or the high-speed spin, you can overcome these effects to some extent with a little training. And the guy on the other side isn't some noob trainer."

A man stood in a corner, watching Tetsuya and Yoshihiko Kashiwagi's battle from afar, and said to his companion beside him.

"Well, let's see. Others might lack common sense, but this genius trainer shouldn't be," his partner chuckled and replied, his words revealing disdain for the trainers watching ahead.

Pidgeot's massive body glowed white, leaving a dazzling straight line in the rain, and in an instant it approached the Blastoise, which was focused on defense.

Yoshihiko Kashiwagi made no move, quietly watching Tetsuya and Pidgeot.

"boom"

With its magnificent and powerful wings, Pidgeot propelled the heavy Blastoise off the ground with tremendous force as it sped forward at high speed.

The entire tortoise shell swayed gently in the air, as if unaffected by gravity.

"High-speed rotation." "Swallow return."

The two trainers issued the commands simultaneously, as if they had expected it.

"hiss--"

The turtle shell, which was originally spinning slowly in the air, gradually accelerated, and the water droplets on its back were constantly being flung out, even creating intense friction with the air and making a sound.

The entire tortoise shell defied normal movement, hovering in the air and constantly rotating.

At the same time, Pidgeot, which had just knocked Blastoise away with its wings, suddenly increased its flight altitude and, under Tetsuya's command, made a 180-degree turn, arriving under Blastoise's shell.

Its speed was so fast that it caught everyone off guard; the white light of the swallow's return stretched into an inverted C shape through the rain.

"Boom"

Pidgeot's massive body, no less than Blastoise's, crashed directly into Blastoise's shell, and the impact of its Aerial Ace sent Blastoise soaring higher into the sky.

Kashiwagi Yoshihiko's expression was somewhat unpleasant. It was true that high-speed spinning could make Blastoise move quickly when it retracted into its shell, but Blastoise was not a Pokémon known for its mobility.

It's already quite remarkable to be able to translate left and right while rotating at high speed. If you add vertical translation, then it's not rotation, but flight.

At such a high altitude, Blastoise was completely helpless.

"The sky is always the domain of Flying-type Pokémon, especially birds," Tetsuya thought to himself.

"When the wind blows, don't let it fall to the ground."

He continued to command Pidgeot to launch an attack.

Blastoise, as one of the starter Pokémon, is indeed very versatile, possessing formidable strength in both water and land combat.

However, it was a big mistake for the opponent to use a high-speed spin while being lifted into the air, at least in Tetsuya's opinion.

Perhaps it was because Pidgeot's strength exceeded its opponent's expectations. Under normal circumstances, using a high-speed spin move slightly off the ground would be a good choice for either getting away or counterattacking.

However, based on a rough estimate, Pidgeot, which weighs less than half that of Blastoise, managed to throw it to a height of about three meters, which is truly astonishing.

Regardless of what the trainers thought, the battle between the Pokémon on the field continued, but it was clear that Blastoise's time was running out.

The pygmy eagle frantically flapped its wings beneath its shell, the surging winds injuring it and keeping it suspended in the air, unable to land.

The water cannon, which had been retracted into the turtle shell, was gradually revealed.

This means that Blastoise's physical exhaustion has reached a very serious level.

"The Last Tornado".

Tetsuya gazed at the battle above and issued his final command.

Helpless, Yoshihiko Kashiwagi shook his head in resignation.

"Beep~"

A sharp cry rang out, and as Pidgeot circled around the turtle's shell again and again, a long tornado was formed, engulfing Blastoise and forcing it to spin passively.

When the rain stopped and the wind died down, the slightly disheveled Pidgeot proudly flapped its wings. The Blastoise in front of it had already stretched its body out of its shell, its eyes gleaming.

"Blastoise is unable to battle, and the winner is Tetsuya Tamaki from Tokiwa."

The referee announced the result of the match immediately.

Applause erupted from the surrounding trainers, expressing their admiration for the two trainers who had delivered a spectacular battle.

Chapter 253 An Undoubted Ten-Game Winning Streak (12.6/22)

"You're amazing! I wish you the best of luck." Kashiwagi Yoshihiko recalled his Blastoise, exchanged a few pleasantries with Tetsuya, and left the arena, heading towards Nurse Joy's nearby treatment point.

The trainers who had been watching dispersed in twos and threes.

In the preliminaries, battles between trainers of Tetsuya and Yoshihiko Kashiwagi's skill level are not uncommon. However, they are less frequent when they are spread out across different venues. After each match, everyone would disperse without bothering to talk about the other trainer.

Zhe once witnessed two trainers with near-Elite Four level Pokémon unfortunately collide. Although their strength rankings were relatively low, both were in the triple digits, the evenly matched battle was truly spectacular.

The fight between Pidgeot, a near-Champion level champion, and the elite Blastoise today only looked impressive on paper; in reality, the difference in strength was huge. Pidgeot basically didn't take any damage, and most of the damage came from its own prolonged offensive attacks.

It is precisely because Blastoise's affinity is so much worse than Pidgeot's that Pidgeot appears somewhat powerless.

"Let's go check on Miss Joy a bit," Tetsuya said, turning to Pidgeot, who was on the ground using the Roost skill.

Feathers can indeed restore physical strength, but they have little effect on healing injuries.

As a trainer, one thing you must always do is take your Pokémon to Nurse Joy for a check-up and recovery after every battle, no matter what kind of battle you've been through, because they are the professionals.

Long before this point was widely adopted, countless trainers' Pokémon suffered accumulated injuries due to their own and their trainers' negligence, leading to decreased strength, diminished potential, and even shortened lifespans.

By the time you want to regret it, it will be too late.

Tetsuya and Pidgeot gradually disappeared into the crowd.

The seventh qualifying match.

"Nidoking is unable to fight, Pang Yan is victorious, and the winner is Tamaki Tetsuya from Tokiwa."

The eighth qualifying match.

"Magneto is unable to fight, Tyrannosaurus Rex wins, and the winner is Tetsuya Tamaki from Tokiwa."

The ninth qualifying match.

"Scyther is unable to battle, Togekis wins, and the winner is Tetsuya Tamaki from Tokiwa."

The tenth qualifying match.

"Togekiss, deliver the final blow, Magic Flame!" Tetsuya commanded Togekiss in mid-air with great momentum.

"Just right."

During the battle, Togekiss's face turned serious, completely unlike its usual carefree and playful self.

As soon as it opened its mouth, a ring of fire gradually appeared, the flames burning fiercely and constantly outlining various shapes.