Under the watchful eyes of all.
Baimu and Elma ascended the stage from opposite sides.
The cheers were like waves, echoing continuously in the main venue.
There were quite a few supporters for Elma, and the shouts were quite loud.
However, the overall support in the venue was still mainly for Baimu, with almost half of the audience chanting his name, cheering for him.
Liuqia and Xiaoguang, already in cheerleader outfits, were shocked as they looked around.
"Amazing! It's like when Uncle enters the stage!"
"Even more than before..."
After the sponsorship event and several matches, Baimu's fame had significantly risen, resulting in an even greater turnout than in the previous rounds.
Xiaogang solemnly said, "Contestant Elma is rumored to be from the Alola Region and has been a somewhat famous Trainer since an early age! It's probably not going to be easy to deal with!"
Mann Chong had great confidence in Baimu, but he wasn't one to contradict others, so he silently waited for the match to begin.
"Contestant Baimu and Contestant Elma are officially entering the stage! As two of the most popular competitors in this Ever Grande Conference, what kind of match will they bring us? Let's wait and see!"
The commentator's voice was somewhat hoarse but piercingly strong, reminiscent of the background sound often heard during Ash Ketchum's early tournament challenges, perhaps even the same person.
He carefully explained the rules of the championship tournament, as the largest screen in the main venue displayed the portraits of Baimu and Elma, each with six circles beside them to mark the Pokémon they would use.
And in between the two portraits, there was a four-colored roulette divided into yellow, blue, green, and gray, symbolizing four different feature arenas.
"Let's see what the battlefield for the first half will be—"
The bright light flickered endlessly within the roulette segments.
Beep!
Gray was selected.
The commentator revealed the answer to the audience: "Ice Arena!"
Buzz!
With a massive rumble, a continuous trembling came from beneath Baimu's feet, as the gigantic battlefield before him split along the center line, slowly raising an ice arena composed of numerous ice rocks and a smooth ice surface.
A chilling cold came rushing at them.
On the platform outside the arena, the referee raised a dual-colored flag.
Baimu and Elma, positioned on either side, exchanged looks and simultaneously tossed their Pokeballs forward.
"It's your turn to go!"
"It's up to you, Komala!"
Bang! Bang!
A flash of white light.
A gray and black shadow spilled in front of Baimu, as a chubby Altered-color Gengar jumped out from it, losing its balance upon landing on the ice and almost skidding over.
After finally steadying itself, it let out a sigh of relief, "Heh~"
The audience burst into laughter.
"Keheeheehee!"
Gengar didn't mind at all and laughed mischievously on purpose to calm itself down. At this moment, it raised its head curiously to look at the light blue koala holding a tree stump opposite it.
However, the other party did not meet its gaze, eyes closed, breathing evenly, and even letting out faint snoring sounds.
Komala, the semi-awake Pokémon with General Attribute, Trait [Comatose].
The interesting thing about this Pokémon is that it is always in a special sleep state, and its Trait cannot be replaced or overridden, while it won't fall into any abnormal conditions either.
However, techniques that require the enemy to be asleep are effective on it.
With Gengar possessing Nightmare and Dream Eater going against Komala, it's like divine intervention.
It seems Elma also did not anticipate...
"Hmm? Not switching?"
Baimu raised an eyebrow, noticing the opponent had no intention of changing Pokémon.
Clearly, Elma did not think Gengar would have a significant impact on Komala, or perhaps he had other plans.
What is he planning?
Under Baimu's curious gaze, the portraits of the two Pokémon appeared on the big screen.
The referee waved the flag.
"Battle begin!"
Elma had been waiting for some time; the moment the referee's words fell, he raised his hand to point at Gengar, smiling lightly: "Slide the stump across the ice to get close and use Yawn!"
"Black Gaze!"
Baimu squinted, finding it impossible to determine what technique Elma would use just by lip reading.
Additionally, because the battlefield was just too large, once the Pokémon move a bit further away, he'd have to shout to give orders, making it impossible to hear what the opponent was saying right now.
He could only judge based on the specific movements of the opponent's Pokémon.
Let's make sure Komala can't leave the field!
"Heh!"
Gengar floated and flew forward.
Meanwhile, Komala, eyes tightly shut, directed the plump wooden stump like a paddle with its small paws, deftly swaying side to side, swiftly sliding up!
What a miraculous operation!
Gengar was amazed yet did not stop using its technique as its eyes shot out beams of jet-black light, enveloping Komala within.
Instantly.
Komala seemed momentarily frozen in place, but there was no sign of panic on its face as it opened its mouth and sighed, blowing out a puff of white air.
"Nahpof~"
The white air spread rapidly, reaching Gengar just as Baimu ordered a dodge.
The gray fatty instinctively flew backward, but the white air had already smeared over its face. Initially, there was no reaction, leaving Gengar somewhat puzzled, but soon...
"Heh~"
It yawned, the gradually creeping drowsiness making it aware that something was amiss.
Baimu frowned from behind: "I guessed wrong."
The commentator shouted: "Yawn hit! Black Gaze can't stop it! Contestant Elma has seen through Contestant Baimu's intentions!"
He initially bet that Komala would use Rush to get a head start, so he specifically used Black Gaze to pin it down, not expecting Elma would choose to use Yawn.