On the big screen, the information for Natsui and Damian was now displayed. Below their portraits were three icons representing the number of remaining Pokémon.
The rule for the match was a 3v3 battle. Whoever's Pokémon were all defeated would lose the qualification to advance to the next round.
A referee stood in the center of the field. Seeing that both sides were ready, he raised the two small flags in his hands and shouted, "Both sides, send out your Pokémon at the same time!"
Natsui cleared his mind of distractions and took the already-chosen Pokémon from his waist.
On the other side, Damian smiled confidently and also held a Poké Ball in his hand.
As both sides opened their Poké Balls simultaneously, two flashes of blue light shot out. A monkey-like Pokémon with a pig's snout, a spherical, furry body, and stout limbs appeared on the field, along with Gardevoir!
So it was a Primeape.
As a Fighting-type Pokémon, Primeape was at a complete disadvantage against Gardevoir, a Psychic and Fairy-type.
And as soon as Gardevoir appeared, the ordinary people in the audience, who were unfamiliar with Pokémon from other regions, let out gasps of admiration at its graceful form.
Countless cameras simultaneously focused on it.
Even Damian on the opposite side, with his limited knowledge and experience, had never seen such a Pokémon.
"Hey, hey, hey, what kind of Pokémon is that?"
Faced with the unknown, Damian frowned and quickly asked, but he received no answer from Natsui.
And in front of so many spectators, he was too embarrassed to pull out his Pokédex to scan it.
Feeling that this was tricky, Damian could only guess its type from Gardevoir's appearance. But after looking at it for a few moments, he could already feel a sense of danger from its blood-red eyes.
With the sound of a bell, the match officially began.
"Gardevoir, use Psychic!"
"Primeape, charge in and take it down!"
The two trainers gave their commands at the same time. Just as Primeape was about to leap towards Gardevoir, it was hit by an invisible psychic force, as if struck by an invisible truck, and was slammed hard onto the ground.
Due to the type matchup, this one hit dealt double damage.
Seeing this, Damian's guess was confirmed in his mind, and his expression changed drastically.
Damn it, so it really is a Psychic Pokémon!
What a bad start!!
After Gardevoir's move hit, it gave Primeape no chance to resist and continued to use its psychic powers to suppress it.
The continuous psychic attacks made Primeape howl in pain.
Damian watched anxiously and urged, "Primeape, hurry up and fight back!!"
In its pain, Primeape flailed its hands around and unintentionally touched a fist-sized rock. Seeing this, Damian's eyes lit up as if he had grasped a life-saving straw.
"Quick, use Fling!"
With his shout, Primeape threw the rock at Gardevoir. To block the rock, Gardevoir did indeed stop its psychic attack.
Taking this opportunity, Primeape struggled to its feet and leaped towards Gardevoir.
But before it could get close, the very rock it had just thrown bounced back at an incredible speed, flying right back towards Primeape's face!
Fortunately, at the critical moment, Primeape tilted its head slightly, and the rock didn't hit it squarely between the eyes, but grazed its cheek and flew past its ear!
"Primeape!" Seeing that the distance was now close enough, Damian shouted, "Quick, use Seismic Toss!!"
Primeape stretched out its hands, just about to grab Gardevoir and leap into the air with it, when the figure before it flashed, and Gardevoir teleported to the other side.
In the next second, Psychic struck again, knocking Primeape to the ground.
"Damn it!!"
Knowing the type disadvantage, Damian was already thinking of switching his Pokémon.
He gritted his teeth, took out a Poké Ball, and was just about to raise his hand when Natsui anticipated his intention.
"Gardevoir, stop him!"
The Poké Ball in Damian's hand shot out a red beam of light, about to recall Primeape into it, but Primeape's body was caught by psychic power and lifted high into the air.
Although Natsui's words had just been spoken, due to its telepathic link with its trainer, Gardevoir had already reacted in advance.
The red light flew under Primeape, missing its body completely.
"Damn it!"
Damian cursed under his breath and aimed the Poké Ball at Primeape again. But as the red light shot out once more, he saw Primeape's body slam down hard, hitting the ground with a 'thud'!
This time, Primeape couldn't take it and was directly knocked out. And Damian finally didn't have to worry about his Poké Ball not being able to aim at his own Pokémon.
The stadium erupted in enthusiastic cheers and applause, especially from the bikers and Koharu's group, who were roaring with all their might.
For the audience, although they liked to see evenly matched, exciting battles, they still gave considerable respect to the winner of such a one-sided sweep.
And after this battle, although he had not yet officially advanced, Natsui's good looks, along with Gardevoir's beautiful form and strength, had already attracted many casual fans.
On the command platform, losing the first round made Damian's face flush red.
He was not a good-tempered person and couldn't help but curse under his breath.
Before the match, he had been full of confidence and had even boasted to his friends that he would definitely make it to the top four, maybe even compete for the championship. But he never expected to meet such a strong opponent in the very first round of the preliminaries.
And for Natsui, this was indeed a very easy battle.
The entire fight was almost completely one-sided. From beginning to end, Primeape didn't cause Gardevoir a single bit of trouble.
At that moment, the announcer's voice rang out in the stadium, "Oh my, competitor Damian's first Pokémon is down! But it's okay, let's wait and see what Pokémon he will send out to turn the tide of battle!"
Without much time to think, Damian gritted his teeth and sent out his second Pokémon.
"Go, Marowak!"
A Ground-type Pokémon this time?
Natsui took out a Poké Ball, recalled Gardevoir, then slid his finger across his belt and sent out his second Pokémon as well.
"It's your turn now, Venusaur!"
His strategy was to, while trying not to lose a single match, let each of his Pokémon have a chance to perform on stage.
After all, competing under the watch of tens of thousands of spectators, the Pokémon were naturally just as nervous as he was.
By doing this, he could not only let his Pokémon experience the atmosphere here and get rid of their discomfort and nervousness, but also allow them to gradually adapt to high-intensity battles, as a warm-up for future qualifying matches.
Seeing that both Pokémon were ready, the announcer's voice echoed again.
"Alright, the second round is about to begin! Now, let's see whether competitor Damian can make a comeback, or if competitor Natsui can continue to maintain his advantage!"
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