On the afternoon of June 27, the second half of the round of 16.

Judging only by the degree of attention, the afternoon session is significantly higher than the morning session. For no other reason, the two of the league's most talked-about players, Kyoji Kusama and Greyhous, will be playing in the afternoon. However, the appearance of the tournament is hardly reflected in this - because the quartz stadium has been packed since early in the morning.

The first battle of the afternoon was a duel between Kyoji Kusama and Kiriha Aoki. The vast majority of viewers didn't think the latter, a little-known newcomer to the tournament, could make a splash, and they were confident that this match would be the No. 1 seed's solo show, as always.

- And Kusama Kyoji himself thinks the exact opposite.

The dark-green long-haired teenager stepped out of the shadows and stepped onto the sunny arena step by step. He could feel his friend's gaze flying from the other side of the distant playground, falling heavily on him.

"I'm finally on the same field as you, Kiritha. Kyoji said with a smile.

After a moment of silence in the stadium, an uproar erupted. Kusama Kyoji's words didn't seem to be said to an opponent he didn't know, and the simple word "finally" vaguely showed that the two had a great relationship.

Kiritha had no time to care about the audience's surprise.

He still remembers when his friend asked him to join the Quartz League. When he saw Kyoji's expression, he understood what Kyoji meant almost immediately. But, sure enough......

"I'm sorry. I ......"

As soon as he started speaking, the chestnut-haired boy on the opposite side raised his hand to interrupt him, "Now that we are opponents, if we have something to say, we should use the battle to convey it." You're going to deliver on your promise, right?"

Kiritha looked at his friend's smiling face, and finally just nodded and replied briefly, "Of course." ”

The audience was bewildered by the conversation between the two of them, and the initiators had quickly reined in their irrelevant thoughts. After the signal for the start of the game was given, Kiripa who attacked first sent an Ladybug to take the lead. Kyoji's Poké Ball was thrown right behind, and as the light lit up, flames erupted.

"Smoke!"

Before the naked eye could see the Pokémon clearly, the flames and black smoke had already spread, swallowing the ladybugs in one fell swoop. The tiny insect looked extremely fragile in the midst of the fire, but it stood still, and the air slashed around it, condensing into a shield of wind that blocked the flames.

Under the instructions of the trainer, the ladybug rushed forward with the wind, almost sticking directly to the face of the opponent's Pokémon, and then turned around lightly and drew an irregular arc.

The hulking Pokémon carrying two craters on its back couldn't keep up with the ladybugs' movements and had to spin in place. But Kyoji keenly caught the scene of the ladybug's fist glowing, and immediately said, "The power of the earth!"

The crater on the back of the fire-breathing hump no longer erupted with heat, and the earthy yellow light carried the earth and sand and stones from all directions. The ladybug's fist slammed into the earthen wall with great speed, and the ripples that had been dispersed spread out one after another—as Kyoji had expected, it was not a sonic fist, but an ultrasound wave disguised as a sonic fist.

Before becoming a disciple of the Rika Pavilion Master, Kyoji had traveled in the Hoenn region with Kiritha for a while, so he was well aware of Kiritha's fighting style. He knew that Kiripa relied more on controlling his opponent with special states than on attacking, and there was a possibility that there were traps hidden under every seemingly ordinary move. In the eyes of ordinary people, Ladybug's camouflage of ultrasound may be enough to confuse the real with the fake, but Kyoji can already see through such a disguise at a glance.

After withstanding the ultrasonic attack, the earthen wall collapsed automatically. Instead of taking advantage of the situation, the ladybug circled in circles near and far, dodging the flames of the fire-breathing camel. Kyoji didn't care whether the opponent's playing style was negative or not, and said calmly, "Rock avalanche, the power of the earth!"

Sharp rocks fell from the sky, and the earth turned into spikes and protruded upward. The momentum of the up and down strikes is like the teeth of a fierce beast, precise and full of coldness.

The ladybug struggled to dodge between the two moves, but even though it used its dexterity and swiftness to the limit, it still couldn't shake off the bite of the rock beast. After a brief pause, Kiritha seemed to whisper something, the sound was muffled by the roar of falling rocks, and the ladybug that received the instructions froze, and instead of fleeing in embarrassment, he rushed straight towards the fire-breathing camel, his fists bursting with bright orange light.

- To be honest, such an aggressive offensive stance doesn't match Kiriba's usual style. Kyoji knew that his friend didn't like to fight, either in the ring or in the wild. In the mood of thinking about his friends, it seems that he should not invite such a person who just wants to be a nurturing family to participate in the "fight and kill" competition.

However, what he wanted to say could only be conveyed through combat.

The rock beast chased after the ladybug, blocking the way back. Charizard knew that the ladybug could throw a punch that didn't match its small body, and when it had enough strength, it slammed into it.

As soon as the two sides touched and separated, the ladybug was knocked far away, seemingly completely unable to match the opponent's strength. But Charizard and Kyoji immediately discovered that the situation was not right - the ladybug clearly flew out on its own, and the attack power of the Charizard did not have time to fall on the ladybug at all.

The slender ladybug bounced off like lightning, and the shining fighting energy of the fists had switched to the light yellow of the insect system. It flicked around the rockslide and the force of the earth at an astonishing speed, and crashed straight into the trainer's arms. Another Poké Ball flew out at the same time as the ladybug disappeared, and a clear juvenile voice also fell, "Play in the water!"

A majestic curtain of water emerges from the sky. If the trainer hadn't clearly said the word "playing with water", the scene in front of him would have been recognized as another move. The water splashed in a spiral, and the fire-breathing camel that bore the brunt of it was immediately doused on its head, and the flame energy that was ready to be released in the crater on its back also cooled. Looking ahead, the figure of the ladybug is long gone, replaced by a white bug Pokémon with gorgeous wings.

The moment he saw the appearance of the rain-winged moth, Kyoji immediately understood Kiriba's intentions. He didn't intend to let Ladybug fight Charizard, who was good at fire attacks and had thick skin, all the previous encounters had only dragged on for time, and only the final quick turnback was the first part of the strategy.

In order to prevent players from frequently exchanging Pokémon for negative matches, most official tournaments will stipulate that players are not allowed to actively exchange Pokémon within 30 seconds after sending out Pokémon. Thirty seconds of delay under the onslaught of Charizard was not a difficult task for Kirovera.

If the situation is unfavorable, choose to exchange, and delay for 30 seconds before the time is less, which is more likely to occur in more professional arenas than in regional league matches. Only Kiriba is so "cautious" in both formal and informal settings.

In a hurry, Kyoji ordered again, "Rock avalanche." ”

When the rocks fell with a torrential rain, Kiripa frowned slightly. Playing with water reduces the power of fire-based moves, so switching to rock-based attacks seems to be correct, but it is too simple for Kyoji - especially when Kyoji already knew that such an attack would not help the Rainwing Moth.

In terms of mobility, the rain-winged moth is superior to the ladybug, flapping its brightly colored wings and easily dodging the stones falling from the sky.

"Shadow doppelganger, foam light. ”

The rain-winged moth spun lightly in the rocky rainstorm, its body turning into four, four, eight, countless translucent foam and shadow clones spreading together, filling the entire arena in just a few seconds.

Charizard cautiously halted its attack. The crystalline water bubbles reflected the harsh summer sun, occupying every part of Charizard's field of vision with a field of colorful colors, and even the audience seats not far away were refracted by the bubbles. The fire-breathing camel seems to be in a huge kaleidoscope, and there is no trace of the rain-winged moth.

Before it could recover from its dazzle, a sharp stream of air flew out of a cloud of foam and slashed at its back.

A single air slash doesn't do much damage to Charizard. It jerked around, but caught only a fraction of the color of the rain-winged moth's wings reflected off the foam. The continuous air slash continued to fly from other angles, and Charizard could only feel the pain of the sharp blade, and could not capture the opponent's position at all.

When the audience exclaimed, Kyoji wasn't surprised. Among the various tactics that Kiritha has used, this is not the most difficult to parry, but it is only because the bubble light spreads exponentially through the power of the shadow clone, blocking the opponent's field of vision in a very short period of time is somewhat threatening. And such a layout generally comes and goes quickly, and the fragile foam simply cannot withstand a powerful blow.

At the command of the trainer to "Jet Flame", the flames spat out by the Charizard swept across, and the foam disappeared in pieces like erased black letters on a white piece of paper. However, when the moment the flames and water bubbles met, a large amount of water vapor rose and the vast white engulfed everything in view, Kyoji suddenly realized that something was wrong.

The foam light does not contain much moisture, and even if it collides with the flames, it is impossible to produce so much steam, unless Kiriha deliberately manipulates it. And the experience of fighting against Kiripa many times tells Kyoji that when the vision is briefly seized by Kiripa, it must be the most critical moment of the situation, and he immediately gives instructions for the "power of the earth".

Sturdy walls of earth rose from all sides, enveloping the fire-breathing camels so thoroughly that they were covered with a wall of dirt overhead—since the view was obstructed by the white mist, nothing would be lost by sealing it off completely. If the Rainwing Moth's attack hits the dirt wall, Charizard, which wields the power of the earth, will immediately determine the direction of the opponent and counterattack.

And the next moment, everything that happened on the field still broke all of Kyoji's predictions.

Before the fire-breathing camel could take measures to disperse the water vapor, the rain-winged moth made an unbelievable move. The shiny scales mixed in with the wind, carrying the water vapor into the sky. The thick mist was dispersed, and Kyoji subconsciously covered his face with his arm, and a trace of space between his fingers poured out the appearance of a silver whirlwind rushing into the sky.

The whirlwind seemed to have been mixed with too much scales and powder, and it was as if it had absorbed water vapor, and the air current, which should have been transparent, was completely stained white like milk. Before Kyoji could figure out what that meant, a loud roar had already reached his ears.

The solid earthen walls collapsed like castles with their foundations extracted, sending up a cloud of smoke. Amid the crash of dirt and gravel, the screams of fire-breathing camels reached the trainer's ears with exceptional sharpness.

====================

Small Theatre:

Kyoji: (solemnly) Finally standing on the same stage as you, Kiritha.

Kiritha: (guilty) I'm sorry. I ......"

Kyoji: (deep) Now that we're opponents, I want to say that we should use a battle to convey it. You're going to deliver on your promises, right?

Audience: Wait, that's too much information, can you explain what happened before the game?