23 Chapter 23: Flannery

"Hello, I watched your match this morning. Your Swellow is really well trained!"

At this moment, it was already 1:30 in the afternoon, so the participants for the afternoon matches were all resting in the resting area provided by Devon Corporation, and Rex was no exception.

He was in the middle of closing his eyes to rest when suddenly he heard a somewhat fiery female voice.

Rex opened his eyes and saw a hot-looking, beautiful girl, and what impressed him the most was her fiery red hair.

"Hello, I'm Rex. Are you also a participant in the afternoon matches?"

Rex didn't go to other competition venues to watch matches in the morning, so he wasn't very familiar with participants from other venues.

"I'm Flannery, indeed I am a participant in the afternoon matches. Nice to meet you!"

After introducing herself, Flannery extended her hand.

"Nice to meet you, Flannery!"

Rex also shook hands with her.

After seeing Flannery's appearance, Rex felt like he had seen her somewhere before. Then he kept flipping through his memories, and suddenly, a flash of inspiration came to him.

"Excuse me, are you a Gym Leader from the Lavaridge Gym?"

That's right, after searching through his mind, Rex finally confirmed that the girl in front of him was indeed a Gym Leader.

"Yes, that's right. Have you ever challenged our Lavaridge Gym before? I don't seem to remember you."

Flannery didn't expect Rex to recognize her identity. She had only taken over as a Gym Leader from her grandfather not long ago, so few people outside should be able to recognize her.

"Do you know a young man from the Pallet Town named Ash?"

Rex didn't answer Flannery's question directly but instead asked her back.

"Oh, you know Ash! No wonder you know me. About a month ago, Ash and his friends challenged our Lavaridge Gym."

Hearing Rex mention Ash, Flannery thought he knew Ash and heard him mention herself, so she didn't pay much attention to Rex recognizing her.

"Miss Flannery, it's almost time for the match to start. We need to go to the arena now!"

Rex saw that Flannery had smoothly diverted the topic, so he didn't bother to explain anything further and quickly changed the subject.

"Oh right, let's go quickly. I hope we'll have the chance to battle this afternoon!"

Flannery glanced at the time and indeed it was almost time for the match, so she went to the arena together with Rex.

In the afternoon's first round, the matches were still conducted simultaneously on four fields, determining the eight finalists.

This time, Rex was assigned to the second match of the first field. There was a group of participants who needed to compete first.

"Go, Sceptile!"

"Go, Blaziken!"

The Pokémon of the participants who made it to the top 16 were all strong. The Pokémon battling now were the final evolved forms of the starters from the Hoenn Region. However, Sceptile was at a disadvantage against Blaziken due to type advantage.

The trainer using Sceptile was a young man in his twenties, while the trainer using Blaziken was a cool-looking boy about the same age as Rex.

"Sceptile, use Leaf Blade!"

"Blaziken, let's use Blaze Kick too!"

With the commands of their respective trainers, Sceptile and Blaziken engaged in a fierce battle. The audience below was cheering for their favored Pokémon, watching with excitement.

However, in the end, it was Blaziken who won due to its type advantage, ending the battle with a fiery blast. However, due to the high energy consumption of this battle, Blaziken's condition wouldn't be too good for the next battle.

Next, it was Rex's turn to battle. His opponent was a well-dressed young lady, a rich girl whose appearance indicated wealth.

"Hello, I'm Tiansuo Nai, pleased to meet you!"

"Hello, I'm Rex!"

Before the match began, the two exchanged friendly greetings.

"Go, Gardevoir!"

Seeing the opponent's Pokémon, Rex was somewhat surprised. Gardevoir was a highly valued Pokémon.

Moreover, Gardevoir is a Psychic and Fairy type Pokémon, with both beauty and strength, making it an ideal Pokémon for many trainers's dreams.

"Go, Swellow!"

Rex also released Swellow. This match seemed a bit difficult, as Gardevoir could teleport instantly, and no matter how fast Swellow was, it couldn't match teleportation.

"Gardevoir, use Misty Terrain!"

"Swellow, use Double Team!"

Unexpectedly, both sides started with supportive moves.

"Swellow, use Focus Energy, then follow up with Air Slash!"

Rex continued to strengthen Swellow.

"Gardevoir, sense Swellow's position and then use Swift!"

Tiansuo Nai commanded her Gardevoir.

Thanks to the Misty Terrain, the power of Swift was enhanced. Even though Swellow was in the air, it couldn't escape the attack due to the enhancement, but fortunately, Swellow's Focus Energy wasn't interrupted and was already completed.

"Swellow, use Aerial Ace!"

Although Swellow was hit by Swift, the damage wasn't significant due to the distance.

Upon hearing Rex's command, Swellow turned into a lightning bolt and flew towards Gardevoir.

"Gardevoir, use Teleport!"

Unfortunately, Swellow was still a step behind, as Gardevoir used Teleport first.

However, Swellow didn't give up and continued to attack Gardevoir. For a moment, the audience saw a scene that astonished them.

Swellow attacked Gardevoir with extraordinary speed, while Gardevoir relied on its powerful perception to teleport before getting hit each time.

Seeing this scene, Rex didn't stop it. It was now a test of endurance between Swellow and Gardevoir. Whoever couldn't hold on first would lose.

Once Swellow stopped attacking, Gardevoir's subsequent attacks might render Swellow unable to battle.

Your support is my motivation!

(End of this chapter)