"Charizard, Heat Wave!"
Watching Exeggutor begin absorbing solar energy, Auron issued his command with a puzzled expression.
And with that, the girl on the other side completely collapsed to the ground, no longer wanting to get up.
She'd thought Charizard was going to use Blazing Sun, which had thrilled her to no end. She'd immediately tried to read ahead and had Exeggutor use Solar Beam.
That way, the moment Charizard finished using Blazing Sun, he'd be hit by Exeggutor's Solar Beam.
She'd had it all planned out perfectly—who could have predicted that after taking a barely-noticeable Leaf Storm, Charizard would simply tilt his head back and roar at the sky?
The girl sat slumped on the ground. Before Heat Wave could reach Exeggutor, she recalled her Pokémon, who was still absorbing solar energy in preparation to attack.
"Referee, I forfeit."
The referee merely glanced at the girl once before raising the small flag in his hand.
"The opponent has conceded. The victor of this match is Auron Vale."
Auron smiled slightly. Without saying anything, he simply recalled Charizard.
A practical demonstration of "The Read and the Counter-Read and the Counter-Counter-Read."
Well... in reality, it was purely the opponent assuming she'd made a successful read.
After all, who could have guessed that Charizard tilting his head back wasn't to use Blazing Sun, but simply to roar? So in a situation where she'd gone all-in, this kind of move—well, it wasn't bad.
At least that was what Auron thought. So after the battle ended, Auron simply gave the girl sitting slumped on the ground a gentle smile and nod before leaving the arena.
"How'd it go?"
The moment Jace spotted Auron, he immediately asked.
"I won, obviously." Auron smiled, found a random spot to sit down, and resumed playing with Dratini.
"I'm so excited right now—tomorrow I'll finally get to show everyone my Mega Charizard Y in all its glory!"
Because Charizard had two Mega Evolution forms, at Auron's suggestion, they'd settled on using X and Y to distinguish them.
Just like before—Fire/Dragon type was Mega Charizard X, and Fire/Flying type was Mega Charizard Y.
Auron smiled and nodded. "Actually, the ideal scenario would be for the two of us to face each other in the finals, then Mega Evolve at the same time. But considering your skill level might not get you to the finals, we settled for the backup plan of just doing it once we reach the main tournament."
"Bullshit! Me not make the finals? What kind of joke is that?" Jace's face instantly turned bright red.
Auron flashed Jace a radiant smile. "So you think you can get past Serena?"
Jace choked. He snorted coldly, then refused to engage with Auron any further.
If he was being completely honest with himself—he really didn't have a great shot at getting past Serena. Milotic was too much of a pain to deal with. High Defense, thick HP, fast recovery—how was anyone supposed to beat that? And on top of that, there was the type disadvantage.
"What are you two even talking about? I've been listening this whole time and haven't understood a word. Charizard has a Y version? What does that even mean?"
Serena on the side was utterly bewildered. She'd understood the first couple of sentences when Auron came back, but after that, she couldn't make sense of anything.
What was "Charizard Y"? What was "Mega Evolving at the same time"? What on earth were they talking about?
Auron gave Serena a mysterious smile but didn't tell her the specifics.
In the end, Jace couldn't resist his urge to show off. With a smug grin, he dropped a hint to Serena.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
Serena rolled her eyes and decided to stop engaging with these two who kept playing coy.
Before long, Tim came bounding back cheerfully.
"Judging by your expression, you won?"
"Of course! Who do you think I am?" Tim stood with his hands on his hips, looking smug as he addressed Jace.
"Tch."
Jace turned up his nose and decided he didn't want to deal with this pompous guy anymore either.
Time fast-forwarded. Simon and Lena both came back together, laughing. In the end, Mismagius had fallen just short, losing to Haunter and missing the chance to advance.
Then came Jace's and Serena's matches. Though Jace ran into some trouble, he still won handily.
As for Serena—that went without saying. With Milotic's current strength, as long as she didn't run into something specifically designed to counter her—like Nutbell, with its dual high defenses, solid Attack stat, and type resistance—she generally had no problems.
That evening, after returning to his little apartment and finishing dinner with his Pokémon, Auron collapsed onto the sofa.
Playing mind games every single day was exhausting. He had no idea how all those women in the Qing palace managed it.
"Bang bang bang~"
"Hm?" Hearing the knock at the door, Auron blinked in surprise. It was already this late—the dorms had closed for the night. Who would be coming over at this hour?
Auron's brain spun through possibilities at high speed, but he still couldn't think of who would be knocking on his door at this time. With no other choice, he got up to answer it.
"Ta-da! Surprise!"
Auron stared expressionlessly at Dax Jonas standing in the doorway with a cheerful grin. He opened his mouth slightly. "Wow. What a surprise."
Seeing Auron's reaction, Dax pouted in dissatisfaction. "Alright, stop pretending. That was way too half-hearted."
As he said this, Dax pushed right past Auron and stepped inside.
"Not bad—your place is decorated pretty nicely."
Watching Dax make himself completely at home, Auron sighed helplessly and closed the door. "Uncle Dax, what brings you here?"
Dax plopped down onto the sofa without ceremony. "Well, I'm watching your matches tomorrow, so I came early tonight. That way I won't have to worry about being late."
"Fair enough. What would you like to drink?"
"Whatever's fine."
Auron nodded, went into the kitchen, grabbed two bottles of Lady Huajie Sweet Tea from the fridge, and tossed one to Dax. "So are you staying here to watch all the matches these next few days?"
Dax shook his head with a serious expression. "How could that be possible? I'm way too busy to watch your matches every single day. I'll only be attending on the first day and the final day."
After he finished speaking, Dax took a sip of the Lady Huajie Sweet Tea. His eyes brightened slightly. "Oh—this is pretty good."
Auron also took a sip and nodded. These past couple of days, he'd grown quite fond of this sweet tea's flavor too.
"Right? That's why I stocked up on it."
After Auron spoke, Dax didn't respond. The atmosphere immediately fell into awkward silence.
Though... it seemed only Auron felt awkward. Dax was still curiously observing the layout and facilities of Auron's place, occasionally taking gulps of his sweet tea with a satisfied "glug glug glug."
"Uh... Uncle Dax, did you come this late for a reason?" In the end, Auron couldn't stand the atmosphere anymore and took the initiative to ask.
Hearing this, Dax dropped his casual demeanor. He set down the sweet tea on the table, sat up straight, looked directly at Auron, and spoke seriously.
"Yes. I came to find you because there's actually something important I'd like to ask your help with."
Hearing this, Auron also grew serious.
"Please, go ahead. I'll see if I can help."