Chapter 188: Preliminary Championship (3)

The afternoon arrived quickly, and since Rex was scheduled for the first match, he stood on the battlefield early.

Due to his past impressive performances, everyone present eagerly anticipated Rex's next battle, except for the unfortunate Jump, who had become his opponent.

Jump had spent his lunch break studying videos of Rex's past matches. The more he watched, the less confident he became. He realized that based on patterns, Rex might likely send out his exceptionally powerful Swellow for this match.

To secure a victory, Jump decisively sent out two Electric-type Pokémon: Jolteon and Raichu. Rex, on the other hand, sent out Swellow and Milotic.

"Great, I guessed right!" Jump thought to himself, feeling pleased.

Jump hadn't expected that Rex's other Pokémon would be Milotic, a Water-type, giving him a significant advantage in terms of type matchups and greatly increasing his chances of winning.

Rex felt a bit frustrated internally. He hadn't expected his opponent to send out Electric-type Pokémon, fully aiming to counter his choices. If Rex hadn't kept his afternoon Pokémon choices secret from others, he might have thought someone had betrayed him.

Meanwhile, far away at the Rex Farm, several girls, including Yuli, grew nervous. They understood basic type advantages, and seeing Rex's Pokémon countered made their hearts clench with worry.

Similarly concerned were Rina and May in the audience, while Ash didn't consider type advantages significant. He believed his determination could overcome any challenge.

As the match began, Jump, thinking he had the upper hand, immediately launched an offensive. He directed Jolteon to use Thunderbolt on Milotic while Raichu attacked Swellow with Thunder.

Thanks to Swellow's speed, it easily dodged the Thunder attack and even boosted itself with a Tailwind buff.

However, Milotic couldn't evade Jolteon's Thunderbolt. Fortunately, it managed to create an Aqua Ring before being hit. After enduring the Thunderbolt, the Aqua Ring started to restore its health, though Milotic still took some damage.

Seeing his attack succeed, Jump focused his firepower on Milotic, intending to defeat it first before concentrating on the speedy Swellow.

Of course, Swellow didn't stand idly by. It launched repeated Hyper Beam attacks at Jolteon and Raichu, forcing them to interrupt their moves and dodge the beams.

Taking advantage of this, Milotic used Recover to heal its wounds.

"That's so unfair!" Jump muttered, seeing his Pokémon suppressed by Swellow.

Against Swellow, which had turned into a bomber, Jolteon and Raichu could only dodge, waiting for Swellow to tire before counterattacking.

However, they didn't know that Swellow's energy reserves allowed it to sustain such bombing runs for a long time.

With Swellow keeping Jolteon and Raichu at bay, Milotic seized the opportunity to strike Raichu with Iron Tail.

Milotic's most practiced skills involved using its tail, a technique honed from its time as a Magikarp. Rex found Milotic's physical attacks more potent than its special attacks, evident from the strong muscles on its tail.

Milotic not only anticipated Raichu's movements but also calculated the strike angle in advance. Its hit sent Raichu flying into the air, where Swellow seized the chance to use Aerial Ace, striking Raichu's back hard.

Raichu, having taken two heavy hits, lost consciousness without even a chance to cry out.

Seeing Raichu's dire state, Jolteon shivered but still seized the moment to hit Milotic with Thunderbolt, making Milotic wail and significantly weakening its energy.

However, this was Jolteon's last move in the match, as Swellow had now locked onto it.

With only Jolteon left, the threat to Swellow diminished. It dove down like an arrow towards Jolteon, using Brave Bird.

Instinctively, Jolteon tried to dodge, but Swellow's speed was too fast. By the time Jolteon reacted, Swellow was already upon it.

Experienced in battles, Jolteon didn't surrender. It gathered all its electric energy to unleash a powerful current, rivaling Thunder.

"Boom!"

Swellow, wrapped in electricity, collided with Jolteon, and the battlefield was shrouded in dust.

Both trainers and spectators anxiously awaited the final result.

After a while, the dust settled, revealing a large pit on the battlefield with the unconscious Jolteon inside.

Swellow stood outside the pit, covered in wounds but still capable of fighting, showing its determination.

"Jolteon is unable to battle. Rex wins!" announced the referee.

The crowd erupted into applause for Rex, who had defeated his opponent despite the unfavorable type matchups.

With this victory, Rex felt relieved. Being a master of reverse type matchups wasn't easy and could easily lead to unexpected losses.

Back in the audience, Rex finally relaxed and enjoyed watching the other matches. He had made it to the top 32 and could participate in the championship tournament.

Next, it was Rina's turn. Her opponent made an opening mistake, and she seized the opportunity, commanding Sceptile to use Leaf Blade and defeat Swampert.

The remaining Pokémon, Exploud, quickly followed Swampert's defeat. Rina won decisively.

Sawyer also easily defeated his opponent, securing victory.

Ash's match was more tumultuous. He sent out Glalie and Grovyle, both countered by his opponent Clark's Charizard and Quilava, placing him at a disadvantage like Rex's battle.

However, Ash's match was much fiercer. Grovyle fought hard and took down Quilava, and then Glalie used its head to deliver a Headbutt, knocking out Charizard.

The audience cheered loudly for both trainers, who provided an exciting battle.

The final match ended as evening approached. Despite watching matches all day, the audience showed no signs of fatigue, still eager for more.

(End of Chapter)