A few more days passed, and the inter-school city competition finally began.
Originally, the competition venue was planned to be set at Furong Elf Middle School, which had the best equipment.
However, due to the attack by Hunter J a while ago, the battleground at Furong Elf Middle School was severely damaged and has not been fully repaired yet.
Therefore, this time, the competition venue could only be set at Xingcheng No. 1 High School, which had slightly inferior conditions.
As soon as Jiang Mo arrived at the school, he felt that it was much livelier than usual, with various banners plastered all over the campus. The Superiors from various schools had also prepared early in their respective seats.
Just then, Jiang Mo heard a commotion from not far away.
It turned out that several contestants from Furong Elf Middle School were pointing fingers at the students of Xingcheng No. 1 High School, their faces full of disdain.
"Hmph, this Xingcheng No. 1 High School is too shabby, hosting a city competition in a place like this?" A yellow-haired contestant from Furong Elf Middle School sneered.
"Exactly, their school is only good at raising those flowery Pokémon. When it comes to actual battles, they're simply no match." Another tall person echoed.
They exuded the arrogance of noble offspring, showing no respect for the common students of Xingcheng No. 1 High School.
Coincidentally, in a match that had just ended, a contestant from Furong Elf Middle School easily defeated a contestant from Xingcheng No. 1 High School.
This made the group from Furong Elf Middle School even more arrogant.
"See that? That's the gap. You Xingcheng No. 1 High School should just go back and tend to your gardens!" The yellow-haired contestant yelled.
The students of Xingcheng No. 1 High School would not tolerate this and retorted one after another.
"Don't get too carried away, you just won one match!"
"Exactly, what's so great about that? You'll be crying later!"
The two sides exchanged words, with constant trash talk, and the air was thick with tension.
......
After several days of elimination rounds, the number of people in the arena gradually decreased.
Jiang Mo was lucky during this process; he drew opponents from ordinary high schools several times.
Most of the Pokémon owned by those opponents were Rattata, Butterfree, and the slightly stronger ones were nothing more than Pidgeotto, which were also countered by Pikachu's type, so Jiang Mo advanced smoothly all the way.
On the other hand, Furong Elf Middle School, as expected of Star City's best noble school, showed strong strength, with almost everyone successfully making it into the top fifty.
After the elimination rounds, the intense and exciting ranking matches immediately followed. The key objective of these ranking matches was to determine the top ten.
The top ten would not only receive generous rewards provided by the Alliance but also a precious opportunity to enter the Evergreen Secret Realm, which was a huge draw for every contestant.
As Jiang Mo prepared for his next match, he checked the battle information and found that the upcoming opponents were Lu Jiyin and Chen Jiaxing.
As one of the ace contestants of Furong Elf Middle School, Lu Jiyin was powerful and hailed as the top seed for this competition, while Chen Jiaxing, though not as dazzling as Lu Jiyin, was not to be underestimated.
Especially since both of them were Jiang Mo's good friends, Jiang Mo had long wanted to introduce them to each other. It was a good opportunity to get to know each other through battle; with this battle experience, they would surely find it easier to get along later.
With the referee's command, the duel between Lu Jiyin and Chen Jiaxing officially began.
Around the arena, the students of Furong Elf Middle School and Xingcheng No. 1 High School cheered loudly, interspersed with insults from both sides.
"Hahahahaha, it's Senior Lu! You're doomed, prepare to be crushed!" shouted a student from Furong Elf Middle School.
"Don't celebrate too early! Our Chen Jiaxing's strength is not to be underestimated!" Xingcheng No. 1 High School's side was not to be outdone.
The commentator spoke with passion: "Now we see Lu Jiyin send out his Growlithe, which is an extremely promising Pokémon that has resolved battles with incredible speed in previous matches."
"And Chen Jiaxing has sent out Quilava. As a Starter Pokémon, its strength certainly cannot be underestimated, and its performance in the previous matches has been excellent.
"Both are Fire-type Pokémon, so this duel is sure to be exceptionally intense."
Lu Jiyin's eyes were calm as he gave the first command: "Growlithe, use Agility, then Flamethrower!"
"Woof!"
Growlithe moved like lightning, instantly increasing its speed, then spewed a surging flame from its mouth, heading straight for Quilava.
Chen Jiaxing was not to be outdone and shouted loudly: "Quilava, don't panic! Dodge and then use Flame Wheel to charge at it!"
"Eek!"
Quilava nimbly dodged to the side, curling its body into a Flame Wheel, charging towards Growlithe with rolling heat waves.
Growlithe, however, remained calm. Lu Jiyin calmly commanded: "Growlithe, hold your ground, use Howl!"
Growlithe's gaze was firm as it watched the charging Quilava, unmoving.
Bang!
Growlithe and Quilava collided, producing a loud sound, and energy waves spread in all directions.
"Woof!"
Immediately after, Growlithe howled to the sky, strengthening its attack.
Chen Jiaxing's heart tightened, and he shouted: "Quilava, after landing, use Smokescreen to obscure its vision!"
Quilava spewed out a large cloud of smoke, and the arena was instantly enveloped in mist.
Chen Jiaxing pondered: "First, hide in the smoke, then look for an opportunity."
Jiang Mo looked at the smoke-filled arena and thought: "Although this smokescreen can temporarily obscure vision, it's not a long-term solution, especially since Growlithe has already been boosted once."
"Thinking of hiding with a smokescreen? Not so easy! Growlithe, use Lock-On to find Quilava, then use Bite!" Lu Jiyin commanded calmly.
Growlithe sniffed lightly with its nose, quickly pinpointed Quilava's location, then opened its mouth wide and bit.
Lu Jiyin said softly: "Your little trick can't escape Growlithe's nose."
"Quilava, quickly use Dig to hide underground!" Chen Jiaxing shouted anxiously.
Quilava quickly dug a hole in the ground and burrowed in.
Chen Jiaxing wiped the sweat from his forehead. This Growlithe was very strong, arguably the toughest opponent he had encountered so far.
"It's not safe underground either! Growlithe, use Flamethrower to force it out!" Lu Jiyin ordered.
Growlithe unleashed a Flamethrower at the hole, and scorching flames poured into the tunnel.
Lu Jiyin murmured: "Let's see how long you can hide in that hole."
Chen Jiaxing gritted his teeth: "Quilava, burst out from the other side and use Fury Swipes!"
Quilava burst out of the hole behind Growlithe, its claws sparking as it swiped at Growlithe.
Chen Jiaxing yelled: "Catch it by surprise!"
Growlithe didn't react in time and was successfully hit by Quilava's Fury Swipes.
Lu Jiyin reacted quickly and shouted: "Growlithe, turn around and use Flame Vortex to trap it!"
Growlithe turned and spewed a swirling Flame Vortex, trapping Quilava within it.
Quilava struggled in the vortex, constantly taking damage from the flames.
Lu Jiyin frowned slightly: "Still trying to resist? It's futile."
Chen Jiaxing was anxious and quickly shouted: "Quilava, quickly break out!"
Quilava's eyes turned red, and the flames on its back burned even more intensely, and it instantly burst through the Flame Vortex.