In this match, his opponent's starter Pokémon was a Lombre, which had evolved from a Lotad.
Lombre does not need to reach a certain level of strength to evolve again; it can simply use a Water Stone to evolve.
However, research has shown that it is more beneficial for a Pokémon to build a solid foundation before evolving with an ite, so the opponent was not in a hurry to evolve their Lombre into a Ludicolo, clearly feeling that their Pokémon still needed refinement.
The battle results proved this point: under Beedrill's fierce offensive, Lombre quickly fell, taking less than a minute, once again eliciting gasps from the audience.
"Top 32, huh? Should I post something on my Moments to celebrate?"
Lin Fan muttered, then thought about it and decided against it.
It wouldn't be too late to post after winning the championship.
However, compared to Lin Fan's confidence, Su Ling seemed to have a 'broken pot, broken throw' attitude, posting two updates: one celebrating her entry into the Top 64, and another celebrating her entry into the Top 32 in advance.
"Popping champagne before the match, that confident?"
Lin Fan shook his head and casually liked Su Ling's post.
With her strength, as long as she didn't encounter Wu Heng, she could indeed have such confidence.
And the result was as expected: facing the opponent's Zigzagoon, Machop, with its type advantage, powerfully defeated its opponent and successfully advanced to the Top 32.
"I'm exhausted, but after today, I'm done, so it's like a vacation for myself."
Su Ling lay on the chair in a 'big' shape, like a character for 'big'. Although she was a girl, having practiced martial arts since childhood, she had a very carefree personality, never caring about such details, and scoffed at comments about how girls should behave.
The Top 32 contention matches were held in the morning, and the Top 16 contention matches were to begin in the afternoon, meaning that, barring any unforeseen circumstances, Su Ling would face Wu Heng tomorrow, so her statement was not wrong.
However, compared to Su Ling's own nonchalance, the class group chat exploded because of her two updates, with messages @Su Ling constantly flooding the screen, all congratulating and praising her.
Even the homeroom teacher, Bai Qiliang, popped up to like Su Ling's post.
Homeroom Teacher Bai Qiliang: Keep up the good work! The Zero Moon Cup is quite prestigious. I didn't expect you to participate and even make it to the Top 32. Try to go one step further. There will be school team tryouts after school starts; with this honor, you might be able to directly join the school team.
As Su Ling replied, she looked at Lin Fan, thinking with emotion what kind of reaction her classmates and homeroom teacher would have if they knew Lin Fan had also participated in the competition and also advanced to the Top 32.
What a freak. He has no Trainer resources, yet he can carve out a path with his Beedrill.
Is this what they call a genius?
Lin Fan saw Su Ling's gaze and knew exactly what she was thinking. He grinned, revealing a kind smile that looked very pure and innocent.
Cheating feels good for a while, and it feels good all the time.
Not long after, the morning matches concluded, and the list of the Top 32 was officially released. The audience, who had watched so many matches, gradually found their favorites and began to discuss the Top 32 list heatedly.
"I'm rooting for Wu Heng. Who can beat such a strong Onix?"
"Onix excels in physical defense. In my opinion, it can't beat Xu Yue's Kirlia. And more importantly, Xu Yue is so beautiful; I support Xu Yue!"
"Eww~ Is that lust at first sight? Shameless! But actually, I also think Xu Yue is beautiful, so I support her too."
"A bunch of perverts, can't move when you see a beautiful woman, huh? I think that little handsome guy Lin Fan's Beedrill is very powerful; I support him!"
"No, we men supporting beautiful women are perverts, so you, as a woman supporting handsome men, are not perverts?"
"This is called appreciation of beauty. Food and sex are human nature; you rough guys wouldn't understand."
......
Amidst the rising and falling discussions in the stands, time quickly arrived at 3 PM, and the Top 16 matches officially began.
The a group and b group matches were as usual, nothing to see, but the C group's seeded player, Liu Zhiruo, encountered a formidable opponent whose starter Pokémon was a Drowzee. Its Hypnosis, which had never been shown before, was used with divine skill and was very difficult to deal with.
"It seems I'm not the only one who hid their strength. This Drowzee, with its Hypnosis, can completely make it onto the list of seeded players."
Lin Fan muttered, looking at the Spheal easily put to sleep on the field, and nodded, acknowledging Drowzee's strength.
Su Ling, standing beside him, gazed at the situation on the field, asking with a slight hint of surprise, "Is that Drowzee's Hypnosis a bit too strong? I saw that Spheal was clearly prepared, but it was still forcibly put to sleep head-on. That's too outrageous."
Lin Fan held up two fingers and explained, "Two reasons. Firstly, Drowzee is famous for its Hypnosis and naturally has an extremely high mastery of it. Secondly, this Drowzee's Ability is most likely Forewarn, which is a very strong Ability for Psychic-type Pokémon, greatly enhancing the power of their moves, and Hypnosis can also receive a boost."
Su Ling was stunned, looking at the eloquently speaking Lin Fan, her beautiful eyes widening slightly, and she sincerely praised, "Your tactical literacy is too high. You know the characteristics and Abilities of obscure Pokémon like Drowzee inside and out. The school never taught any of this."
Isn't this basic common sense?
Lin Fan almost instinctively retorted, but suddenly stopped himself before speaking.
These things really weren't basic common sense. He only remembered all Pokémon's Abilities and move pools from playing games for over a decade in his previous life, and people like him were actually rare. Many people, even if they played games for over a decade, had no understanding of obscure Pokémon.
Let alone in a real world like this, where more consideration was given to a Pokémon's habits, distribution, and how to deal with them.
Compared to the Insect Plate, the extremely rare tactical literacy developed in his previous life was his greatest personal asset.
His thoughts slightly shifted in his mind. Lin Fan smiled subtly, not directly replying to Su Ling, but instead continued to look at the two sides on the battleground: "Unfortunately, Drowzee encountered a Pokémon that somewhat counters it. A Pokémon like Spheal can learn Snore by itself."
Just as Lin Fan said, although Liu Zhiruo's eyebrows slightly furrowed because Spheal was easily put to sleep, she was not flustered at all. Her voice clear and cool, she commanded Spheal to use Snore.
The opponent's previously confident expression immediately changed. He looked somewhat flustered at Spheal, whose next attack was interrupted by Snore, completely unaware that Spheal could even use a move like Snore, which can be used while sleeping.
Spheal also woke up quietly at this moment. To be safe, Liu Zhiruo directly had Spheal use Powder Snow with full power.
A powerful cold wind swept through, and the field instantly formed a thin layer of ice, directly freezing Drowzee's legs.
"Very strong Powder Snow. I heard her family specializes in Ice-type Pokémon. This must have used some special technique."