Under the gaze of the entire audience, Su Qingxue and He Yongsen stepped onto the battlefield and took their positions.
Even before the match began, the spectators could feel the heavy fighting intent radiating from the two of them.
Though privately Su Qingxue and He Yongsen had sparred before...
This was their first time facing each other in such a formal setting.
And their previous private battles had mostly been discussions of tactics or move mastery.
They always stopped short of going all out.
So the two of them had long been looking forward to this battle.
Especially after Su Qingxue learned that He Yongsen had been arranged by Teacher Guo specifically to block her path, her desire to win became even stronger.
I must defend my position as the head honcho of our teacher's lineage!
Su Qingxue swore silently in her heart.
Seeing the two take their places, the referee raised his flags, ready to announce the start.
"Wait!"
Su Qingxue and He Yongsen suddenly called out at the same time.
"Is there something the two of you need?"
The referee paused and asked.
He Yongsen spoke first: "Referee, can we change the match rules? We'd like to battle in a double battle format."
"That's right, referee!"
"We'd like to know if this request can be approved."
Su Qingxue also nodded.
A double battle!
This was the battle format they had agreed on yesterday, after learning they would be facing each other.
Comparing their Pokémon He Yongsen's Arcanine naturally stood above the rest.
But in overall team strength, the difference wasn't huge.
After all, He Yongsen's Wartortle was only Veteran Tier.
Although not far from Ace Tier, it had not yet reached it.
One higher, one lower...
The gap between his team and Su Qingxue's two Ace Tier Pokémon wasn't as large as outsiders assumed.
Double battles were the method they came up with to balance their strength most fairly.
Hearing their request, the referee didn't immediately respond.
Instead, he turned toward the VIP stand.
He was just a referee.
A rule change like this required the leadership's approval.
Upon hearing the request the principal, Director Tang, and the others exchanged glances, then nodded.
"Since both students have agreed, the rules of this match will be changed to a double battle."
Since both direct participants proposed it, they had no reason to refuse.
And from the looks of things, a double battle would likely be far more exciting than a single battle.
"Both sides, please release your Pokémon."
Once the leaders spoke, the referee resumed his role.
He Yongsen and Su Qingxue exchanged a look, then simultaneously threw out their Poké Balls.
Four flashes of red light.
Nidoqueen, Beedrill, Wartortle, and Arcanine appeared on the field together, fully alert.
In terms of type matchups, Arcanine—the strongest on the field—had an overwhelming advantage against Beedrill.
But Arcanine was in turn countered by Nidoqueen.
Nidoqueen, however, was countered by the Water-type Wartortle.
Looking at type charts alone, He Yongsen seemed to hold the advantage.
But no one should forget Nidoqueen's terrifying move pool.
With Thunderbolt in her arsenal, Nidoqueen posed no small threat to Wartortle.
And given Nidoqueen's natural strength, paired with the Life Orb and Sheer Force if Wartortle made even a small mistake, it risked being instantly knocked out.
Which meant the next phase would depend entirely on the trainers' commands.
"Arcanine, [Flamethrower]!"
"Wartortle, [Water Pulse]!"
He Yongsen launched the first strike.
And his commands were straightforward, by the book.
Flamethrower was aimed at Beedrill, and Water Pulse targeted Nidoqueen.
It was a textbook example of type-countering attacks.
Facing the surging flames, Beedrill instantly vibrated its wings. Electric currents surged across its body, granting it a swift burst of agility.
A black lightning bolt streaked through the air as Beedrill evaded Arcanine's Flamethrower.
Against the overwhelmingly powerful Arcanine, Beedrill naturally chose to dodge instead of confronting head-on.
But against Wartortle, Su Qingxue chose to strike back directly.
"Nidoqueen, [Water Pulse]!"
"Nido!"
Nidoqueen opened her massive jaws wide, gathering endless torrents of water, finally forming a powerful sphere that shot forward fiercely.
It collided directly against Wartortle's attack.
Although Wartortle had a type advantage boosting its move, Nidoqueen was similarly enhanced by her Life Orb and Sheer Force ability.
Thus, her move's power was at least equal, if not stronger, than Wartortle's.
Not to mention Nidoqueen's own level advantage. Wartortle's Water Pulse was easily overwhelmed, and the surging blue sphere continued charging directly toward Wartortle.
"Wartortle, [Ice Beam]!"
He Yongsen was well aware of Nidoqueen's strength.
He was fully prepared for Wartortle's Water Pulse to be countered like this.
"Wartortle!"
A pale, freezing beam shot from Wartortle's mouth.
Amid bursts of chilling air, the water sphere instantly froze into an ice lump, dropping harmlessly to the ground.
The initial clash could be described as evenly matched.
The warm-up was over.
The true battle had just begun.
"Arcanine, close in with [Extreme Speed]!"
"Then, [Fire Fang]!"
Naturally, He Yongsen's main attacker was still Arcanine.
Compared to Flamethrower's long-range attack, close combat was where Arcanine truly excelled.
"Awooo!"
With a domineering howl, Arcanine blurred into a phantom, rushing toward Beedrill.
Arcanine, whose very duty was emergency rescue, needed no further explanation for its extreme speed.
Its mastery over Extreme Speed was also exceptionally high!
In the blink of an eye—
It appeared right in front of Beedrill.
Its jaws were ablaze with searing flames, ready to reduce Beedrill to ashes.
"Beedrill, [Drill Run]!"
"Nidoqueen, [Earth Power]!"
With Arcanine already at point-blank range, Beedrill had no time to evade.
Thus, Su Qingxue decided to combine the strength of both Pokémon, aiming to inflict massive damage on Arcanine.
"Bzzz!"
Facing the incoming Fire Fang, Beedrill's scarlet compound eyes showed no hint of fear.
It raised its spear-like stinger high.
Whirr!
In the next instant the stinger spun furiously like an electric drill, filled with surging Ground-type energy.
Bang!
With a heavy impact, Beedrill's attack struck Arcanine head-on.
But Arcanine's Fire Fang also bit fiercely into Beedrill's body. Flames roared, swiftly engulfing Beedrill's form.
"Nido!"
Seeing this, Nidoqueen stomped heavily onto the ground.
Instantly the earth trembled violently, rocks and debris erupting skyward.
As a Ground-type Pokémon, Earth Power was Nidoqueen's most devastating move.
Yet...
Facing Nidoqueen's strike, Arcanine chose to endure it directly.
Its goal was clear: eliminate Beedrill in one decisive strike.
"Wartortle, [Water Pulse]!"
He Yongsen naturally wouldn't stand by and watch his Arcanine suffer.
He immediately ordered Wartortle to attack again with Water Pulse.
"Wartortle!"
Another familiar blue water sphere shot toward Nidoqueen.
This time Nidoqueen had no strength left to counter. She could only watch helplessly as the water sphere exploded against her body.
Though Wartortle hadn't quite reached Ace Tier, it was only a step away.
Thus, its Water Pulse delivered considerable damage even to Nidoqueen.
"Nido!"
Nidoqueen cried out in pain but gritted her teeth, still controlling Earth Power to slam into Arcanine.
Suffering two consecutive Ground-type attacks, Arcanine was also in immense pain.
Its jaws loosened their grip on Beedrill, who seized this opportunity to escape Arcanine's fangs.
However having taken a direct Fire Fang hit, Beedrill's condition was terrible.
Its body was scorched black, and even maintaining flight became a struggle.
Its remaining fighting capability was probably less than a tenth.
Seeing this scene, the spectators sighed emotionally.
"He Yongsen's ruthless—he willingly endured two powerful attacks just to cripple Beedrill!"
"Of course! Look at his background—a Pokémon firefighter. Decisiveness is forged through fire."
"It's a pity! Though Beedrill hasn't fainted yet, it's as good as finished."
"And Nidoqueen took a direct hit from Wartortle's Water Pulse, so it's also in bad shape. The scales of victory are now clearly tipping toward He Yongsen."
"Not necessarily! Have you forgotten Teacher Guo's Nidoking? Su Qingxue's Nidoqueen is definitely not simple either!"
In the audience, opinions varied between those supporting He Yongsen and those backing Su Qingxue.
But overall, those favoring He Yongsen were greater in number.
And not just the students—on the VIP stand, most teachers also favored He Yongsen.
"He Yongsen's strategy is clear: keep hitting Beedrill until it's down."
"Exactly. Beedrill's behind in speed, strength, and typing—Arcanine can easily seize opportunities against it."
"Once Beedrill falls, Nidoqueen alone can't handle Arcanine and Wartortle."
In a double battle once one side lost a Pokémon first, the rest of the battle would turn entirely passive.
Winning a 1-vs-2 was nearly impossible unless the Pokémon had overwhelming strength.
Imagining Su Qingxue's defeat, one teacher sighed: "Such a shame. If Teacher Guo hadn't deliberately arranged for his own disciples to face each other, Su Qingxue would've definitely been the champion of this freshman tournament!"
Another teacher laughed and replied: "What's there to regret? If Su Qingxue loses, the champion's obviously He Yongsen."
"Either way, it's Teacher Guo's disciple."
"Haha, you're right about that."
However—while the teachers were busy lamenting Su Qingxue's imminent loss, Guo Yi remained calm and composed. At this very moment, a faint smile even appeared on his lips!
"Lose?"
"It's far too early for that!"
---
T/N: was gonna update earlier but got lazy, so im just doing 4 chapters for today's update, should be an update tomorrow too maybe 4 maybe not
Hello. I'm Enkidu.
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