“Terrance has made it to the semifinals!”
With the first semifinalist determined, many people breathed a sigh of relief, but the battles were still intense.
As a first-tier contestant, Prince of Lightning was defeated in the quarterfinals. Surely, more first-tier contestants would soon exit the stage.
“Next match, Mizushima vs. Sadako.”
After Terrance’s match, Flowing Fish Mizushima’s Dewgong faced off against a second-tier female contestant in a Battle Stage that lasted three minutes. Mizushima’s superior skills allowed him to use ice and water to create a variety of attack patterns, dominating the opponent in terms of the appeal points.
First-tier Mizushima successfully advanced to the semifinals, confirming Terrance’s next opponent.
“The battle between Supernova and Flowing Fish—it’s going to be an interesting one.”
“Terrance’s battle style focuses on seizing opportunities, strengthening himself, finding his opponent’s weaknesses, and delivering a decisive blow. Mizushima’s style, on the other hand, revolves around manipulating water and using ice-type moves to disturb and suppress the opponent’s battle tempo to ultimately win.”
“Flowing Fish is very strong.”
“But isn’t Terrance just as impressive? Prince of Lightning and the others were on the same level, and they still lost.”
The six first-tier contestants being talked about online have certainly garnered attention for a reason. Coincidentally or not, two of them have now entered the semifinals.
There’s a high chance that the remaining two semifinal spots will also be filled from the other three first-tier contestants.
“Next match, Hikaru vs. Gayle.”
Terrance glanced at the matchup list in silence. After the battle between Shining Magician Hikaru and Master of Ice and Fire Gayle, Top Coordinator Hani would likely be facing another female Coordinator.
“As long as I defeat Mizushima, I’ll be in the finals…”
“I need to be extra cautious of ice-type moves; they can pose a threat to Beautifly.”
Beautifly had just finished a battle and needed immediate rest and recovery. During the Grand Festival, a nurse team on par with Nurse Joy was responsible for taking care of the Pokémon.
While waiting for his next match, Terrance stayed quietly in the preparation room, watching the ongoing battles. Every contestant could potentially be his competitor, so the more he learned now, the better his chances.
On the central stage, Hikaru’s Alakazam and Gayle’s Flareon were facing each other from a distance.
“Alakazam’s combination of Flash and Light Screen is incredibly troublesome. It’s even more dangerous to me and Beautifly than Dewgong and Flareon, who has type advantage over Beautifly.”
Terrance furrowed his brows. He had seen that Flash and Light Screen combo before, and to be blunt, it was more disruptive than Beautifly’s wind blades created with Bright Powder. Getting caught in that combo in battle would be quite unpleasant.
On top of that, Alakazam’s powerful analytical ability made the Light Screen combo unpredictable and hard to evade.
“If only I could use Mismagius in this match, it would be interesting…”
The clash between fake Flash and real Flash—who would come out on top? Plus, Ghost-types and Psychic-types were natural rivals…
Hikaru and Gayle’s battle fully showcased the uniqueness of their titles. Indeed, there’s no such thing as a wrong nickname, only a poorly chosen name.
Alakazam initially created a Light Screen room, attempting to set up a structure for reflecting Flash. However, Gayle clearly didn’t want to give him the chance. Flareon unleashed a Flamethrower, sweeping through and destroying a large section of the Light Screen.
“It’s said that his Fire-type and Ice-type Pokémon are his strongest, and it seems to be true. The temperature and intensity of this flame is both terrifyingly high. You’d believe it if someone said he is a Trainer,” commented a spectator.
“In comparison, Hikaru is a more traditional Coordinator. His Alakazam’s psychic power is too weak. While the Light Screen is cleverly made, it’s easily shattered, and even Confusion was easily destroyed by Flamethrower.”
Even so, the fact that Hikaru and Alakazam have made it this far is nothing to scoff at. Although the Light Screen’s defense isn’t strong, Alakazam’s intent on creating it wasn’t for defense. With Alakazam’s capabilities, the speed and quantity at which it can create these Light Screen is incredibly high.
Even when Flareon destroyed these Light Screen, Alakazam could quickly recreate them.
Countless beams of light were reflected, and although they lacked destructive power, they seemed to completely block Flareon’s vision. Flareon’s attack frequency couldn’t keep up with Alakazam’s speed in creating these Flash barriers.
As Flareon began missing more and more attacks, falling into Hikaru’s rhythm, the judges and audience felt that it was a pity. But who could have expected Flareon to suddenly explode with a new, never-before-seen combo move. Upon witnessing it, Nurse Joy’s expression changed dramatically, as the tide of battle was overturned in an instant. The combination of Smog and Lava Plume allowed Flareon to create a purplish-red “fire poison” smoke, which was not only extremely hot but also dangerously toxic. In a flash, it scorched through all of Alakazam’s Light Screens, shattering the Flash barriers and leaving Alakazam in a dire situation.
“That’s fire poison, and also smoke poison,” Nurse Joy commented. In the field of Pokémon medicine, this kind of fire poison was extremely rare.
“If I’m not mistaken, Smog and Lava Plume can’t naturally combine. This combo is Gayle’s own technique. Without finding the right method, no one else could replicate it,” Nurse Joy added.
Raoul Contesta remarked, “He didn’t use this combo in last year’s Grand Festival.”
Not only was the attack area massive, but it also contained astonishing power with a unique effect. Terrance watched the dramatic shift in the battle, keeping a close eye on the fire poison smoke. He knew he had to be careful.
“It’s likely a personal breakthrough for him, though the technique seems limited. Otherwise, we might have witnessed the birth of a great move like those seen 400 years ago,” Wallace said with a smile.
Four hundred years ago, a ninja developed Toxic. It was not only highly poisonous and difficult to cure but also exceptionally long-lasting. More importantly, any Poison-type Pokémon could learn Toxic through a medium to strengthen itself. Even non-Poison-type Pokémon could partially learn it. It was considered the first recorded instance in history of a “man-made move” that most Pokémon could learn and use.
Now, Toxic has become the signature move of Poison-types, though few people know that it was one of the rare moves created by a human, and not comprehended by Pokémon themselves.
While this fire poison smoke was impressive, in Wallace’s eyes, it was still immature. Perhaps it would become Gayle’s signature move, much like Terrance’s Altaria’s Erase, but it wasn’t yet comparable to Toxic, a move that could influence future generations.
“Gayle won,” Terrance muttered, scratching his head. He misjudged the outcome—he thought Hikaru would be the one to win.
But now he was curious—what would happen if Flareon, a Fire-type Pokémon, clashed with Hani’s Grassy Terrain? What kind of sparks would fly?!
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