Footsteps echoed down the long corridor, accompanied by the laughter of a young man and woman.
When they pushed open the door, they found the Champions from various regions already seated inside.
"The last two little partners have also arrived."
Gui Ling nodded, his gaze towards Ash carrying a hint of doubt.
Upon seeing this, Ash immediately gave a reassuring gesture, and only then did Gui Ling close his eyes.
"It's good that you brought it."
………
The Pokémon World Championships! Eight Masters Tournament Elimination Round! This is the grandest elimination Tournament in history, where the top 8 ranked Masters from eight major regions will compete in Pokémon battles for the strongest position! Who will ultimately win the title of World Champion?
"Now, let's introduce the lineup of the Eight Masters! First, in eighth place! The first Champion of the Alola region's inaugural League Conference! Ash, from Pallet Town in the Kanto region!
Seventh place! Aiming to be a Dragon Master, the young Unova Champion who is still growing! Iris!
Sixth place! The legendary Mythical Pokémon Trainer! The Champion of the Lumiose Gym in the Kalos League! Gui Ling!
Fifth place! The world-renowned actress takes the stage, with first-class battle skills, the Kalos Champion! Diantha!
Fourth place! The new Champion of Kanto and Johto! A Pokémon investigator who shows no mercy to criminals! Lance!
Third place! The heir to the Devon Corporation in the Hoenn region! Also the Hoenn Champion! Steven!
Second place! An authority in Pokémon archaeology! Also the Sinnoh Champion, Zhu Lan!
Finally, in first place! The Galar Champion! Also the reigning king of the Pokémon World Championships! The world's strongest and undefeated Champion, Leon!
"Now! The Eight Masters on stage represent a miraculous moment where Champions from various regions gather together! This is also one of the greatest joys of the Pokémon World Championships! Even the undefeated Champion Leon must start from the first round of battles and advance with the other 7 Trainers present! Champion Leon, please say a few words!"
"Bring it on! My Pokémon and I will defeat all of you!"
"Now! Let's begin the grouping! The first battle…"
"Gui Ling vs. Zhu Lan! Ash vs. Steven! Iris vs. Leon! Lance vs. Diantha!"
"Zhu Lan?"
Gui Ling turned to look at Zhu Lan behind him. Zhu Lan was startled by this result at first, then smiled and bowed to Gui Ling after realizing.
"Miss Zhu Lan, please go easy on me."
Gui Ling also bowed to Zhu Lan, finally looking at the order on the battlefield.
"My match is first?"
Gui Ling's eyelids twitched when he saw this. Zhu Lan was arguably the most formidable among these Champions, besides Leon. He had originally planned to study tactics, but now he was up first.
"Garchomp… Ground and Dragon?"
Thinking of this type, Gui Ling unconsciously touched a Poké Ball at his waist and immediately thought of a tactic.
"If I remember correctly, she should also have a Spiritomb that specializes in Hypnosis and Dream Eater? Against me, she'll probably send that thing out, so I need to be careful."
"It's a three-on-three full battle, with no restrictions on battle time or Pokémon switching. The one who makes all three of the opponent's Pokémon unable to battle wins! Additionally, Dynamax! Z-Moves! And Mega Evolution! Only one of the three can be used once per match!"
Gui Ling looked at the atmosphere on stage; it was even more intense than the Kalos League battles he had experienced before.
"As expected of the Eight Masters, this tactic should work, right?"
Gui Ling nodded, looking at the three Poké Balls in his hand, while also looking a little worriedly in Ash's direction.
"I hope you really brought it… Battling you is not only to prove myself but also to put a perfect end to my childhood!"
After speaking, Gui Ling walked determinedly onto the battle stage and simultaneously released his first Pokémon with Zhu Lan.
"Gengar!"
"Spiritomb!"
"Battle… start!"
Everyone on stage was surprised by this scene: Ghost-type battling Ghost-type.
"Use Sucker Punch!"
"Dazzling Gleam!"
Both attacks hit their targets, causing significant damage simultaneously.
Spiritomb and Gengar lay on the ground, resisting the damage from the previous attacks. A moment later, both stood up simultaneously.
"Hypnosis!"
"Night Shade! Then throw a Shadow Sneak into the air and direct it at yourself!"
After Spiritomb was hit by Night Shade, due to the excellent effectiveness of Ghost-type moves against Ghost-types, this hit directly left Spiritomb with only one breath.
Gengar also fell asleep from Hypnosis at this time. However, the Shadow Sneak floating above its head suddenly struck downwards, and Gengar was directly woken up by its own Shadow Sneak.
"It can be done like this?"
"Of course, after all, any bad idea seems reasonable in front of me."
Zhu Lan chuckled upon hearing this.
"It's the first time I've seen someone insult themselves."
"This isn't insulting myself; this is self-awareness. After all, in terms of Trainer experience, I can't compare to you, so I have to come up with bad ideas, right?"
"Then? What about this?"
As soon as the words fell, a black mist emerged from Spiritomb's rocks, enveloping Gengar. Subsequently, Gengar also lost its ability to battle after taking damage.
"Destiny Bond?"
"Didn't expect that, did you?"
"Indeed, I didn't. I thought that hit would take down Spiritomb."
Gui Ling's heart immediately became flustered. His plan was for Gengar to defeat Spiritomb first, then use Destiny Bond in the second round to take out the opponent's second Pokémon. This completely disrupted his plan.
"Go! Milotic!"
"Banette!"
Fairy and Water?
Difficult to deal with, was Gui Ling's first thought. There was no type advantage, the only effective attack was Banette's Will-O-Wisp.
"Use Disarming Voice!"
"Will-O-Wisp! Flamethrower!"
Boom!!!
When the smoke cleared, both sides were still standing on the battlefield, but Banette was now completely enveloped in blue Will-O-Wisp.
"I forgot to tell you, my Banette doesn't deal Ghost-type damage; it deals Fire-type."
Zhu Lan also noticed Banette's unusual ability at this moment and suddenly remembered that during the Kalos League Conference, Gui Ling seemed to have always used this Banette to reach the semifinals.
"Interesting, your Pokémon are one stranger and more powerful than the last. Although I don't know how you manage to do it?"
"Luck, I guess? Luck can also be considered part of strength, though my luck is sometimes good and sometimes bad."
"In that case… use Hydro Pump!"
"Flamethrower!"
Boom!
"It's useless. Offense is the best defense. If you want to use long-range attacks against my Banette, you'll only be worn down! Large Character Blaze!"
"Psybeam!"
Boom!
"Being worn down, you say?"
Zhu Lan realized at this point that Banette was drawing power from the Will-O-Wisp around it every time it used a move. This meant that Banette must have some unique ability to continuously burn the surrounding Will-O-Wisp without expending its own energy.
This will only put me at a disadvantage…
"I finally understand why so many people can't defeat you. You're a Trainer who simply doesn't play by the rules. Battling you always refreshes my understanding of Pokémon."
"The world is vast and full of wonders; I'm just that one exception."
"In that case… use Rain Dance!"
Immediately, the sky became overcast, and it began to rain.
"As long as I extinguish your fire, you'll… Huh?"
The imagined scene of the Will-O-Wisp being extinguished did not happen. The rainwater touching the Will-O-Wisp was like adding fuel to a fire, making it burn even brighter, until the flames seemed to shoot towards the sky above the battlefield.
"This is too absurd, isn't it?! Is this even reasonable?!"
Zhu Lan couldn't sit still anymore. Was this Banette or a monster???
"Oh, thank you. You even know I need water. Banette! Use all your energy to unleash an explosive burn!"
"Ding-dong!"
Boom!!!
In an instant, flames shot into the sky, and Milotic fell into the blue Will-O-Wisp, losing its ability to battle.
…………
"Miss Zhu Lan, are you… angry?"
Gui Ling saw Zhu Lan's very serious expression and secretly thought, 'This is bad.' At this moment, Zhu Lan looked at Banette on the field and found it increasingly unsettling.
"Gui Ling, after this battle, could you bring your Banette to my lab?"
"Huh?"
"Please, I really want to know what happened to this Banette."
Oh, what happened?
Even Gui Ling didn't know this; Banette never told them.
"Okay."
"In that case, let the battle continue. Soar through the sky, Garchomp!"
"Flare Blitz!"
"Wait for him to get close, then use Dragon Claw!"
Banette's entire body gathered power again, and the Will-O-Wisp fiercely rushed towards Garchomp. But Garchomp reacted quickly, dodging to the side and using Dragon Claw to directly slash at Banette.
This move instantly emptied Banette's HP, making it unable to battle.
However, blue Will-O-Wisp appeared on Garchomp's claws, putting it in a burned state.
"Excellent, it worked!"
"You did that on purpose?"
"Hehe, I have a lot of little tricks."
Looking at Gui Ling, who was still grinning foolishly, Zhu Lan felt an unidentifiable anger. At this moment, Gui Ling saw Zhu Lan's increasingly serious expression and knew his psychological warfare was working.
"Excitement and anger can lead to wrong judgments and mistakes. Let's see if Zhu Lan is that kind of person."
"Then go! My Little Princess!"
"Gui Ling's third Pokémon is Diancie! Fairy-type against Dragon-type! There's a clear type advantage!"
"Your battles usually pick advantageous types. Because you have so many Pokémon, and almost every type, you dare to be so brazen."
"Hmm, pretty much."
"I'm quite curious, why didn't you send out a Mythical Pokémon to end this battle?"
"No need. But I don't mean to disrespect you. I've been too reliant on Mythical Pokémon, and I've truly realized that now. So, for this opening ceremony, I want to have a dignified battle using Pokémon that aren't Mythical Pokémon!"
Zhu Lan's expression became even more serious after hearing this.
"What kind of normal Pokémon is this? Whose Banette emits such a large fire? Whose normal Pokémon is a Mythical Pokémon?"
Seeing Zhu Lan in this state, Gui Ling couldn't help but laugh internally.
"It worked! She's getting emotional! But this fighting style of mine is a bit annoying… If Ruo Xi hadn't come up with this bad idea, I wouldn't have wanted to fight like this… But it really is effective."
Ruo Xi: "Of course! That's how I fought Yin Xing before, always worked!"