The entire venue erupted, and the audience cheered. Although the battle lasted less than two minutes, its visual impact left all the spectators thoroughly satisfied.
Su Ling stared blankly as Wu Heng waved at her, then turned and left.
It was an absolute crushing defeat by sheer power, and she accepted it wholeheartedly.
Retrieving Machop, who had recovered some of its energy, into its Poké Ball, Su Ling returned to the waiting area, sighed helplessly at Lin Fan, and returned his hat.
Lin Fan wanted to comfort her, but he wasn't good at it, so he just shrugged and smiled, "I'll get revenge for you."
"Be careful, that Onix is really strong. I couldn't find any opportunities at all and could only watch Machop get hit," Su Ling sighed, feeling helpless.
Lin Fan nodded. He naturally understood this. Given the strength Onix displayed, if it were to hit, Scyther would likely lose its ability to battle instantly.
Moreover, Onix used Iron Head at the end, which made Lin Fan certain that Onix's ability was Sturdy. It naturally learned moves involving its head very quickly, and their power was stronger.
"What a formidable opponent. As expected, I can't underestimate these people. It would be strange if they were weak after being personally trained by Gym Leaders and nurtured with top-tier resources."
Lin Fan muttered, then suddenly felt the Poké Ball at his waist vibrate, as if expressing dissatisfaction, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"I only said the opponent is strong, but I didn't say we would lose. Champion, I will not give up."
...
In the afternoon, the semi-final battles commenced as scheduled.
The first match was Xu Yue's Kirlia versus Lin Mo's Scyther. The second match was Liu Zhiruo's Spheal versus Lin Fan's Beedrill.
Perhaps because Wu Heng had unleashed his full power in the morning, Xu Yue also held nothing back. Blue light shimmered in her eyes, forming a strange connection with Kirlia. The latter's moves increased dramatically in power, directly suppressing Scyther head-on.
When Scyther finally managed to get close to Kirlia, it was pulled away again by a Teleport, and finally, it was blasted into unconsciousness by Psybeam.
Lin Fan was dumbfounded.
"Psychic?! Six hundred sixty-six, you're not even holding back now, are you?! No wonder Kirlia can learn Teleport; turns out its Trainer is a human Pokémon!"
Su Ling pondered, looking at Lin Fan: "Actually, reaching the top four is already very good, really. The reward is 100,000 yuan and a Pokémon item."
Lin Fan was speechless, but he understood Su Ling's meaning. Beedrill was already doubly weak to Psychic-type, not to mention that its opponent had a Psychic ability that was practically a bug.
"Whether I can win or not, I'll only know after fighting."
Taking a deep breath, Lin Fan walked towards the battle arena.
As for Xu Yue, Wu Heng, and the like, he'd deal with them after he got past Liu Zhiruo.
Speaking of which, Liu Zhiruo wouldn't have any hidden cards either, would she?
With an ominous premonition, Lin Fan looked at Liu Zhiruo, who was expressionless and said coldly, "Don't look, I don't have a freakish trump card like hers."
Was his meaning that easy to understand?
Lin Fan scratched his head and gave a dry laugh, then threw out his Poké Ball under the referee's command.
"Screech!"
Beedrill brandished its Double Needle, its eyes incredibly sharp.
It needed a decisive victory to restore Lin Fan's confidence in winning the championship.
Kirlia and Onix were strong, but it was absolutely no slouch either!
Feeling Beedrill's determination, Lin Fan was stunned, then gave a helpless smile.
When had he lost confidence in winning the championship? He had already said that he just thought the others were strong, not that he thought he would lose.
However, since Beedrill wanted a decisive victory, he didn't mind fulfilling its wish.
Liu Zhiruo looked at Lin Fan's expression and suddenly realized something was amiss.
She indeed had no hidden cards because it wasn't yet time to learn her family's inherited techniques.
But Lin Fan had never said that he had used all his strength!
Thinking of this, Liu Zhiruo decisively launched an attack: "Drench Beedrill with Water Pulse, then freeze its wings with Icy Wind!"
Lin Fan smiled: "Focus Energy, then... Agility!"
Beedrill let out an excited cry, a flash of white light shimmering on its body. Its speed suddenly surged, almost leaving streaks of afterimages in mid-air. It weaved through Water Pulse and Icy Wind like a phantom, reaching Spheal in the blink of an eye.
This was the result of Beedrill's training over the past half-month, and it was a crucial move for a speed-oriented Pokémon like Beedrill—Agility, which allows the body to relax and become lighter, thus dramatically increasing speed.
From the moment Beedrill began learning Focus Energy, Lin Fan had secretly planned for Beedrill to learn Agility.
This move is Psychic-type, and self-learning it is quite difficult, but coincidentally, its core points overlap with Focus Energy. Through the Focus Energy manual taught by Su Wu, Lin Fan finally helped Beedrill learn this move two days ago.
He came from a very ordinary background, without the connections and inheritances of Xu Yue, Wu Heng, and Liu Zhiruo. But it didn't matter; he only needed to train Beedrill's speed and strength to the extreme, and the latter would naturally lead him to pierce through all obstacles.
"Speed is power."
As Lin Fan muttered, Beedrill grinned at the completely unreactive Spheal, its hands glowing with a dense Bug-type energy.
Whoosh—Whoosh—
Two almost overlapping whooshing sounds rang out. Spheal's round body flew backward, bouncing "thump-thump-thump" a few times on the ground. Its legs kicked, its eyes turned into circles as round as its body, and it lost its ability to battle.
Speed converted to power + double damage on critical hit = still an instant knockout.
"Job done."
Lin Fan recalled his sharp-edged Beedrill, smiled amicably at Liu Zhiruo, and then turned to leave.
Liu Zhiruo crouched down to help Spheal up, her gaze following Lin Fan's retreating figure.
"...Jerk. He held back himself, no wonder he was worried I also held back."
Gritting her teeth, Liu Zhiruo left angrily.
In the waiting area, Su Ling looked at Lin Fan with a complex expression, wanting to speak but holding back, finally only sighing.
"Freak."
"That's called overpowering everything with one force," Lin Fan corrected.
"You've revealed this trump card now, what will you do against Xu Yue tomorrow?" Su Ling asked with some concern.
"Beedrill hasn't undergone special training specifically for Teleport. With its current reaction time, it's not enough to pinpoint a Pokémon after it uses Teleport and get close to it. So, while Agility has elevated Beedrill's damage to another level, it doesn't allow it to effectively counter Kirlia."
Lin Fan explained, then seeing Su Ling's even more worried expression, he couldn't help but smile: "Don't worry, I've already figured out how to deal with Kirlia. You've seen that move before; it's just stronger now."
"I've seen it?" Su Ling blinked in confusion, but she couldn't recall what kind of move could allow Beedrill to approach Kirlia, who could use Teleport.
Lin Fan looked at Su Ling's confused expression, offered no explanation, and turned to leave with a smile.
Wu Heng's next opponent was an Elekid, a pure Electric-type Pokémon. Although it inherited a Cross Chop, it still wouldn't be a match for Onix, so there was no need to watch further.
He still needed to go back and have Beedrill quickly absorb that item. It cost 10,000 yuan per piece. If it weren't for better executing the strategy against Onix, he wouldn't have shamelessly borrowed 10,000 yuan from Su Ling.
Everything was ready, just waiting for the final push.
The championship, he was going to take it.