There's Something Off About My Pokémon. [38]
To A-Le's surprise, his opponent in the second round was even weaker than the Beautifly he faced in the first round. This time, his opponent was a yet-to-evolve Houndour, a black Doberman-like Pokémon that looked fierce but hadn't even fully developed its fangs. It was taken down by A-Le's Wingull with just two Water Guns.
A-Le was left a bit stunned. Two rounds in a row, he had faced opponents that were weak against his Pokémon's type advantage. Could his luck really be this good?
"The winner, A-Le from Venue 17!" It wasn't until the referee raised the flag to signal the victory that A-Le snapped out of it and rushed to embrace his parents, who were cheering from the sidelines.
For two matches in a row, his parents had put their work aside to attend his battles, and A-Le was incredibly moved. No matter what, he was determined to make it into the top 128!
A-Le swore this silently in his heart.
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"Hello everyone, I'm Yu Lei, a guest commentator for Jiangcheng TV, and I'm pleased to provide commentary for this match." As a special guest commentator, Yu Lei always had high expectations but often looked down on these elimination matches, feeling they didn't even need his commentary. However, for some reason, the station director was dead set on promoting some unknown poor kid, leaving Yu Lei speechless. Either way, he was getting paid, so he figured he'd just do his job.
With that in mind, Yu Lei plastered on a professional smile and shouted, "On the left side of the arena is the contestant aiming for the championship, the tournament's number one seed, Wartortle's trainer, Wang Yingjie!"
"And on the right, his opponent's Pokémon is... uh, Gloom?" As the red light of the Poké Ball faded, a purple creature with drool dripping from its mouth emitted a stench akin to rotting corpses, causing the audience's faces to turn pale. According to the Pokédex, this smell was described as "a mix of old sneakers, garbage, rotting eggs, and skunk spray," which couldn't be more accurate.
On the sidelines, Lu Cheng stared at the grotesque creature with its bulbous, purplish body and four large, pus-filled nodules on its head. Without a word, he put on a mask. Didn't expect this, did you? He had prepared in advance! He had met the Gloom trainer's parents before the match, and they had politely hinted that their kid's Pokémon was a Gloom. Lu Cheng immediately ran to a pharmacy outside the venue and bought a large, double-layered filter mask.
As for why he had come to watch the match, it was simple: the overwhelming publicity surrounding Wang Yingjie had piqued his curiosity. He wanted to see for himself what kind of person Wang Yingjie was. Whether he's all talk or the real deal, I'll see with my own eyes.
The female host stood at the edge of the arena with the cameraman, both of their faces turning purple from the stench. But since they were on camera, the host had no choice but to force a smile and say, "Dear viewers… we are now… live at the scene of Wang Yingjie's match."
"Touted as the top seed, can Wang Yingjie secure this victory?"
"Guh—" Struggling to finish her sentence, the host rushed to a trash bin to retch. The stench of Gloom was just too overpowering!
Watching the host suffer, a barely noticeable smile crept onto Wang Yingjie's face. The foul odor of Gloom had no effect on him.
"This smell is nothing compared to the stench of fish back home," Wang Yingjie muttered, his expression suddenly becoming intensely focused. "Wartortle, hold off on attacking for now."
The turtle with its large, fan-like ears nodded, facing Gloom with full concentration.
Gloom's trainer was a boy with severe nasal congestion, sniffling as he commanded, "Gloom, use Razor Leaf!"
Specializing in physical attacks, huh? Wang Yingjie thought to himself.
Unfortunately, the weakness hadn't been found yet. The swirling leaves from Razor Leaf slashed toward Wartortle, but it simply retracted its limbs into its sturdy shell, taking no damage at all.
Lu Cheng frowned. Based on that previous exchange, Wang Yingjie didn't seem as arrogant and overconfident as he had appeared in his TV interviews. Faced with the type-disadvantaged Gloom, instead of launching an aggressive attack, Wang Yingjie relied on Wartortle's strong defense, waiting for the right moment—this Wang Yingjie must have another trump card!
Instinctively, Lu Cheng pulled out a magnifying glass and focused on Wartortle, which was tucked inside its shell.
WartortleNature: Careful
Ability: Torrent
Moves: Water Pulse, Bite, Withdraw, Ice Punch, Dig.
Five moves! The appearance of these skills on the list meant that Wartortle had mastered them all. Moreover, the wide variety of attack types, combined with learning Ice Punch and Dig from TMs, made them lethal weapons! This Wang Yingjie would not be easy to deal with.
Just as Lu Cheng was deep in thought, a gasp rose from the audience.
"Oh my god, Wang Yingjie's Wartortle won the battle in a single move!"
In the moment that Lu Cheng had zoned out, the battle had already ended. When the opposing trainer ordered Gloom to use Absorb, Wang Yingjie had seized the perfect moment, commanding Wartortle to use Bite right on Gloom's head.
One second Wartortle had been tucked safely inside its shell, and the next, it had sprung out to attack. Gloom didn't even have time to react before Wartortle clamped down on its spore sac.
Critical hit!
Just now, Wang Yingjie had been patiently waiting for the right moment, while also pinpointing Gloom's weak spot, before commanding Wartortle to launch a sudden attack.
"Another one-hit victory! Wang Yingjie has won two consecutive rounds in this overwhelming fashion!" Commentator Yu Lei had long put away his initial disdain for Wang Yingjie and had even begun to admire him. After all, he had commentated on hundreds of matches, and this kind of clean and decisive style was a commentator's dream!
Wartortle spat out a mouthful of purple liquid, clearly disgusted by the strange smell. Irritated, it kicked Gloom aside, which lay collapsed in front of it. A red beam of light, and it was returned to its Poké Ball. Wang Yingjie gave an OK gesture to the female host on the sidelines, flashing his signature honest smile to the camera.
"What are you standing there for? Say something!" The cameraman nudged the female host urgently. She snapped back to attention, forcing a smile that looked more like she was on the verge of tears. "An overwhelming victory… Congratulations to Wang Yingjie!"
With such strength, why would a contestant like him choose to market himself with such viral, over-the-top tactics? Lu Cheng frowned, deep in thought. He looked up just in time to meet Wang Yingjie's gaze. Those eyes seemed unusually weary yet possessed a maturity and steadiness beyond his years.
When Wang Yingjie noticed Lu Cheng, he appeared slightly surprised, but then smiled. That guy has sharp eyes. He'll definitely be a formidable opponent.
Lu Cheng was thinking the same thing. It was as if Wang Yingjie had sensed Lu Cheng's thoughts when suddenly the system notification rang.
Ding—New task 'The First Evolution' detected!
Task objective: Evolve Treecko into Grovyle within half a month!
Task reward: +2 Speed, 10,000 yuan in cash, and TM Brick Break!
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If there are any mistakes let me know!
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