The Chapter get Retranslated
The top eight contestants mostly had one or two Pokémon with deep green aptitude. Qingwu wasn't surprised by Drowzee's aptitude, what truly astonished him was that Drowzee knew the move Calm Mind.
Calm Mind is a very practical move in battle, as it can raise Special Attack and Special Defense by one stage each.
Qingwu had previously searched for the Calm Mind TM disc in Team Rocket's exchange library, but the exchange quantity was always a big fat zero.
The Colonel told Qingwu that the Calm Mind TM disc was highly sought after; it would be snatched up within a second of becoming available, so he shouldn't hold too much hope.
It would be quicker to spend a good amount of points after acquiring a Psychic-type Pokémon to have a Team Rocket member's Pokémon that knows Calm Mind directly teach it.
"Drowzee, use Petrifying Skill!" Koihime was not polite, immediately preparing to use Petrifying Skill to immobilize Golbat.
Drowzee's ring-holding hand turned grayish-white, and Drowzee fixed its gaze on Golbat.
"Golbat, Quick Attack, then use Bite!" Since Drowzee wanted to use its Psychic move, Petrifying Skill.
If Golbat was fast enough, it could preemptively use the Dark-type move Bite on Drowzee before Drowzee even noticed, thereby disrupting Drowzee's attack.
Drowzee was surprised to find Golbat had disappeared.
The next moment, Drowzee's ring-holding hand felt a sharp pain, and a deep, unfathomable wound appeared.
Blood trickled from the wound, causing Drowzee to almost drop its ring to the ground. Drowzee's Petrifying Skill was interrupted.
This was Golbat's Bite attack, biting Drowzee's hand, with Dark-type energy clinging to the wound.
"Drowzee, use Recover!" White specks of light suddenly appeared and merged into Drowzee's body.
The foul energy on Drowzee's wound was completely expelled, and the wound scabbed over in a flash. Then the scab fell off, revealing skin as smooth and new as before.
"Drowzee, use Calm Mind, then adopt the Dancing Foot Supine Position!" Koihime gave up on immobilizing Golbat.
Golbat was simply too fast. Koihime decided to strengthen her buffs first before attacking.
"Golbat, use Snarl, interrupt Drowzee's Calm Mind!" Qingwu wanted to stop Drowzee from successfully buffing itself.
Drowzee already had an advantage over Golbat, and if it successfully buffed itself, Qingwu might suffer an unexpected defeat.
Golbat's Snarl roared from its large mouth, causing visible vibrations in the air. A clear rebound.
Drowzee's Calm Mind was directly interrupted by Golbat's Snarl. After the failed attempt to use Calm Mind, Drowzee also suffered a considerable backlash.
"Damn it, Drowzee, use Shadow Ball!" Koihime was exceptionally furious after her buff was interrupted.
She knew there were only two ways to escape Lan Ling's scrutiny: first, to defeat Qingwu fair and square and regain Lan Ling's favor; second, to defect to Qingwu and leave Lan Ling's protection.
"If Qingwu is strong enough, maybe that's not impossible," Koihime was shocked by the thought that flashed through her mind.
"How can this be? I'm a member of the Frost Rose Troupe!" Koihime shook her head, but if Qingwu could utterly defeat her, Koihime felt she could accept it.
After all, Team Rocket's rule was to obey the strong. As for the pursuit that might be caused by defecting from the Frost Rose Troupe, Koihime pouted.
If she couldn't provoke them, couldn't she at least hide from them? As a Psychic-type user, she could come and go as she pleased.
"Drowzee, use continuous Shadow Ball!" Koihime gritted her teeth, looking at Qingwu's smiling face.
Drowzee clapped its hands together, and several Shadow Balls were conjured one after another. Drowzee pointed in Golbat's direction, and the Shadow Balls whizzed towards Golbat.
Golbat disdainfully watched the approaching Shadow Balls, then flapped its wings, releasing several thick Air Slashes that met the Shadow Balls head-on.
With a thunderous boom, the Shadow Balls exploded, creating a huge gust of wind and smoke that caused both Qingwu and Koihime to unconsciously retreat two or three steps.
As the smoke filled the air, Golbat saw a giant Shadow Ball break through the smoke, flying straight towards itself. This was Drowzee's hidden trump card.
"Golbat, be careful! Use Wing Attack!" Golbat took a deep breath and injected Flying-type energy into its wings.
Golbat's wings became as hard as iron. Golbat exhausted all its strength and used Wing Attack against the Shadow Ball.
The Shadow Ball struck Golbat's iron-hard wings. Drowzee watched Golbat struggling against the Shadow Ball, a sly smile appearing on its face.
Drowzee's first few conjured Shadow Balls were just a diversion; the real killing blow was in the last one.
"Golbat, send the Shadow Ball back!" Qingwu said calmly, as if victory was already in his grasp.
Golbat nodded, exhausted all its strength, and successfully sent the Shadow Ball back the way it came.
Drowzee's smile lasted less than three seconds, then suddenly froze. It looked at the incoming Shadow Ball with a panicked expression.
"Drowzee, use Protect!" Drowzee was a bit dazed, but Koihime wasn't. Koihime gave the most correct command. Drowzee raised a white protective barrier, and the Shadow Ball was blocked outside the white barrier, canceling each other out.
Before Drowzee could even breathe a sigh of relief, Golbat's next attack arrived.
Golbat vanished silently in the air, reappearing behind Drowzee the next second.
"Drowzee, use Light Screen!" A Light Screen appeared behind Drowzee, but it was useless.
Light Screen is effective against special attacks, but Golbat was using a Quick Attack-boosted Tackle against Drowzee. Light Screen had no effect on such a purely physical attack.
Not all Pokémon were like Jessie's Fruit God, capable of reflecting all attacks.
"Drowzee, use Psychic to evade!" Koihime became anxious, shouting loudly at Drowzee, her expression extremely worried.
Even if Koihime wanted to defect to Qingwu, she wanted to display sufficient combat power to gain Qingwu's attention, not be easily defeated like this.
Unfortunately, Koihime's command came a bit late. Drowzee had just covered its entire body with Psychic energy when Golbat slammed into its back.
The force of the impact was so strong that it not only dispersed Drowzee's newly gathered Psychic energy into blue light particles but also knocked Drowzee out of the battle arena.
Drowzee was covered in scrapes, landing miserably on the ground, unconscious.
Koihime's Pokémon no longer had the strength to fight. At this moment, Qingwu had no intention of letting Koihime off the hook. After all, Koihime's actions had successfully disgusted Qingwu, and the stench on Qingwu's wrist had not yet fully dissipated.
"Go, Golbat, attack Koihime!" Qingwu gave the order.
Before Sō and Frostwolf Instructor could react, Golbat mercilessly launched an attack on Koihime.
Golbat transformed into a blue streak of light, flashing to Koihime's side with breakneck speed.
"No!" Koihime's pupils constricted. At that moment, a gentle breeze swept by, and Golbat's sharp wings brushed past Koihime's hair. Her pink long hair was cut into two by Golbat.
Koihime felt a lightness on her head as countless pink strands of hair fell to the ground. Koihime, who originally had waist-length hair, now had only ear-length short hair.
Koihime felt a jolt like an electric shock emanating from her hair tips. Her cheeks turned as pale as a spilled palette.
A blush spread across Koihime's fair face, and even her clean, jade-like ear tips turned crimson.
"Is this... the feeling of love?" Koihime mumbled to herself, having already decided to defect to Qingwu.
"This is your punishment," Golbat returned to Qingwu's side.
This battle did not require much effort from Golbat; it only sustained some damage to its wings when using Wing Attack against the Shadow Ball.
Koihime remained slumped on the ground for a long time, unable to move, her heart pounding.
"...At least no one died," Sō and Frostwolf Instructor simultaneously breathed a sigh of relief.
This Koihime was the daughter of a high-ranking Team Rocket official, practically a relative of Athena.
If Koihime had died here, Sō and Frostwolf Instructor would have a hard time explaining.
Having her hair cut off was certainly better than losing her life here.
"Qingwu versus Koihime, Qingwu wins!" After Frostwolf Instructor announced the final result, Qingwu left with Golbat.
On the other battlefields, the fights were still intense. Qingwu walked to a corner of the plaza to observe the battles on the other three stages.
Raimei fought Lan Ling. Raimei unexpectedly used Meowth, while Lan Ling used Jynx.
Jynx, skilled in Psychic and Ice-type moves, inflicted considerable damage on Meowth. However, Jynx was not fighting at full strength, but rather toying with Meowth like a cat playing with a mouse. Overall, Meowth was at a disadvantage.
Ailena fought the blond kid. Ailena used an evolved Houndoom, while the blond kid's Pokémon was a Weezing. This battle, if no surprises occurred, had a very high chance of Ailena winning.
Elvis fought Kuraki. This match greatly surprised Qingwu. Elvis sent out Machoke, while Kuraki sent out Seviper. That Machoke actually caught the scythe-like tail of Seviper bare-handed.
However, from the grayish-green expression on Machoke's face, Qingwu knew that the Machoke had already been badly poisoned.
With this initial assessment, Qingwu sat cross-legged and closed his eyes to meditate, no longer paying attention to the match. Golbat also landed on the ground, resting and preparing for the next battle.
Not long after, the results of the matches were out. Kuraki and Ailena (Wang Nuo Hao) undoubtedly qualified for advancement.
But what surprised Qingwu was that Lan Ling had lost the match, and Raimei's Meowth had won.
Raimei's Meowth was very clever, secretly poisoning Jynx. Furthermore, Raimei's Meowth could also use Flamethrower, which allowed it to turn the tables and qualify for advancement.
Qingwu glanced at the dispirited, zombie-like Lan Ling.
Originally, Lan Ling was aiming for first place, but unexpectedly, she stopped at the quarterfinals. The huge disparity left Lan Ling unable to accept the reality.
Lan Ling's thoughts were too complex, and she didn't focus all her energy on Pokémon training. Moreover, this Jynx was probably not Lan Ling's own Pokémon, so their tacit understanding was low, which gave Meowth an opportunity.
Lan Ling trusted Jynx's strength too much, but her own trainer level didn't match it.
Qingwu had changed the outcome of his previous life like a butterfly. If Qingwu hadn't cured Raimei's poisoned Meowth and given Raimei a Spinarak with deep green aptitude, Raimei would have only made it to the top eight with just Electrike.
The matchups for the semifinals were released shortly after.
Qingwu versus Kuraki.
Raimei versus Ailena.
Regardless of the outcome, three members of Qingwu's team entered the semifinals, which spoke volumes about the strength of Qingwu's team.
Qingwu and Kuraki exchanged glances. Qingwu saw ambition in Kuraki's eyes.
"I've been waiting for this day for a long time, Qingwu," Kuraki muttered.
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