Greatest Pokémon Trainer

In the second match, although the Scyther's opponent struggled a bit, it wasn't enough to significantly affect the Scyther.

Seeded player Xie Ming successfully advanced to the next round.

It didn't come as a surprise to anyone.

In the third and fourth matches, there wasn't much to watch. Fang Yuan judged that, barring any surprises, the one to advance to the top sixteen from this group would likely be Xie Ming.

"Seeded players are indeed formidable. Although I have trained with Growlithe for such a long time, I'm still not very confident about matching it against that Scyther."

"If Growlithe's Fire Type Spells could hit, it would be fine, but if they couldn't... it would be troublesome…" Lin Jing compared.

"Does your Growlithe know High-speed Movement and Fire Splash?" Fang Yuan asked.

"This... It seems it doesn't know them yet…" Lin Jing replied awkwardly.

Then the chances of winning are indeed slim...

Most of the time, it would be an easy giveaway.

Unless you use a Piece of Fire Stone to evolve Growlithe now, it might be possible to win against the opponent by relying on the strong physical capabilities of Arcanine.

After the four matches of group A ended, there was a brief rest period before the players of group B started preparing.

Fang Yuan didn't plan on leaving. At least for today, he intended to watch the entire process.

If he could get a general impression of all the advancing players and become familiar with their fighting styles, spending this time would definitely be more meaningful than a bit more training.

After all, knowing both your enemies and yourself ensures victory in a hundred battles.

Next, he also planned to record the remaining seeded players' battles to study them with Eevee later.

For the sake of victory, Fang Yuan was all in.

All morning, the matches proceeded in an orderly fashion. The seeded player's Mr. Mime from group B and the Dream Demon from group C both garnered support from a group of spectators.

The battling process is actually a chance for each player to showcase themselves. If they perform outstandingly, gaining fans is not impossible.

"Next up is your match," said Lin Jing from the player's stand.

"Don't be nervous," Fang Yuan said.

"Shouldn't you be the one who's nervous?" Lin Jing asked in surprise.

"That's true. If you're not nervous, then help me record a video of my battle later! I'll record yours too," Fang Yuan said. "Just make sure your hand doesn't shake. Participating in the competition is rare, so it's good to keep a memento."

Lin Jing was speechless, but it occurred to her that it indeed wouldn't be bad to have a commemorative video.

If they didn't make it to the top sixteen, at least they'd have the battle videos to prove they were there.

"Sure," Lin Jing agreed.

Soon, the first match of group D ended, and Fang Yuan also arrived at the passageway leading to the arena, waiting to take the stage.

Outside, the commentator began introducing the players.

"Next up is the fourteenth match of today! First, let me introduce the contestant approaching from the left, Fang Yuan. Student Fang Yuan is from Pingcheng, and he won his preliminary match very easily. His strength should not be underestimated."

"And the contestant now stepping out from the right, Han Jia, is also not a local from Magic City, but comes from the farther Yingcheng..."

"Now, let's see what exciting battle they will bring to us!"

...

Up in the guest seats, after watching so many matches, each guest was becoming bored. Out of over a dozen battles, only a few were actually worth watching, indeed quite dull.

However, it was still necessary to maintain appearances, so when Fang Yuan and Han Jia entered the stage, they began to speak to each other symbolically.

"Pingcheng... speaking of which, a super miniature secret location appeared in Pingcheng a while ago. Not only did it not cause any casualties, a Sand Scale Fruit Tree was also discovered inside. The Trainer Association of Pingcheng really has good luck," a representative from the Dawn Group remarked.

"Yeah, the provincial city association there probably benefited quite a bit too..." a representative from the Magic City Trainer Association said.

Several other guests also expressed their agreement.

Meanwhile, the battle below had already begun.

"Sand Naya, that kind of Pokemon... I remember they love living in the desert, don't they?"

"Let me ask you a question, does Sand Naya have a Dark Type attribute after it evolves?"

"Does it use Dark Type moves now?"

"Why aren't you answering?"

On the field, while Eevee was dodging the poison pins thrown from Sand Naya's arms, Fang Yuan was asking his opponent questions.

He thought about it and realized that to distract his opponent, you didn't necessarily have to verbally spar; just continuously drawing their attention could have the same effect.

Fang Yuan had carefully read the battle rules several times and noticed that there was no rule against talking to the opponent during the battle, which gave him an idea.

For a Pokemon like Sand Naya, he only asked three simple questions, and the girl opposite him was already showing an impatient expression.

"Uh... It seems like Fang Yuan is saying something to Han Jia on the field," the commentator adjusted his glasses.

"Could it be that the two of them knew each other before?"

Since Sand Naya wasn't as fast as Eevee, and because Eevee had been through many high-difficulty battles at the club, Fang Yuan was confident in letting it handle the situation on its own, focusing instead on practicing his still unskilled trash talk.

He definitely didn't like this kind of tactic, and Fang Yuan himself wanted to win the battle in an upright and cool manner, but that wasn't safe. Having invested so much in the Little Phoenix King Cup, he decided to go all out. As long as it didn't violate the rules of the battle, they would do whatever it took to win.

After securing the Soothing Bell and the prize money, it would not be too late to go back to being a quiet, handsome man.

"By the way, our group's seeded player seems to also be a Grass Type spirit's trainer. What do you feel about that, given that Sand Naya is also a Grass Type, right?"

"Do you think there's somewhere Sand Naya hasn't performed well, which led to the other party being set as a seeded player instead of you..."

"Are you annoying or what?" Han Jia said.

"Be careful, Eevee is getting close to your Sand Naya!" Fang Yuan said.

Han Jia was startled for a moment and realized that Eevee had indeed suddenly accelerated and gotten close to Sand Naya using Quick Attack, and she... had gotten distracted.

"Sand Naya, quick use Poison Pin!" Han Jia shouted.

Having made it this far, Sand Naya's strength was unquestionable. Hearing the trainer's command, it immediately swung its spikey arms fiercely to smash the nearby Eevee. Seeing how quick Sand Naya's reaction was, Han Jia breathed a sigh of relief and swore to herself to concentrate harder from then on.

However...

"Eevee, Quick Attack."

Fang Yuan's next words made Han Jia freeze because the target of Sand Naya's attack wasn't Eevee at all, but rather a shadow clone created by Eevee's high-speed movement. If she had been observing the situation seriously, she definitely wouldn't have been deceived so easily. But due to Fang Yuan's constant questioning, Han Jia hadn't been alert, and Fang Yuan's reminder was part of the plot.

The goal was to distract her and cause her to issue the wrong command, thereby creating an opportunity for Eevee to attack.

As Eevee suddenly sent Sand Naya flying, Han Jia felt like crying. She had never experienced such a frustrating battle and couldn't help but glare fiercely at the innocently looking Fang Yuan.

"This Fang Yuan... is quite interesting."

In the guest seats, many had clearly never seen such a unique battle.