The cold girl glanced at them indifferently and walked ahead.
"Hey, brother, don't be like that. We just watched the Water Ballet together, remember—"
Fatty tried to keep talking, but when he met Gu Qiu's eyes, he immediately swallowed his words.
He gulped.
That gaze… terrifying.
He forced a grin and obediently followed behind.
"All three lucky audience members are present. Now we will explain the battle rules."
"The six participants will draw lots and be divided into two teams."
"Each trainer may only use one Pokémon. If that Pokémon loses its ability to battle, the trainer is eliminated."
"When all three members of one team are defeated, the opposing team wins."
"Now, the drawing begins."
"Numbers versus letters. Those who draw numbers form one team. Letters form the other."
The draw started.
"Pretty creative format. As expected of the Cerulean Sisters," Gu Qiu thought.
He looked at his lot.
Number 3.
The cold girl had Number 2.
Fatty drew Letter B.
On the opposite side, Botan drew Number 1.
Thus, the Number Team consisted of Botan, the cold girl, and Gu Qiu.
The Letter Team consisted of the second sister Ayame, Fatty, and the eldest sister Sakura.
Order of appearance wasn't determined by the numbers — this was an exhibition match after all.
"Ah, we're doomed. Big Sis and Second Sis are on the same team. We're definitely losing."
In matches like this, the real backbone was always the Sisters themselves.
The lucky spectators were mainly there to add entertainment.
Botan was the weakest among the three sisters. From the looks of it, defeat seemed certain.
Botan pouted, visibly troubled.
"Not necessarily."
The cold girl suddenly spoke.
"Hm?"
"You're Gu Qiu, right?"
Her tone remained flat and emotionless.
Gu Qiu nodded.
Botan finally processed the name.
"You're Gu Qiu?!"
Her voice was loud enough that even the host heard it.
The host's eyes lit up.
"What a surprise! The Number Team includes the prodigy Gu Qiu! Today truly is full of surprises!"
Down below, the three students from Indigo Academy were also present.
"Zhìyě, your rival is here."
"Hmph. I noticed earlier. Last time he was just lucky. If I had used that Pokémon, he wouldn't even have qualified to win."
"But you still lost."
Zhìyě turned his head away, irritated.
He couldn't refute it.
A loss was a loss.
He would wait for another opportunity to prove himself with strength.
On stage—
"Botan, if you go all out, can you trade with Second Sis?"
"I'm not stronger than her, but if I aim to take her down with me, I'm eighty percent confident."
"Good."
"Then I'll take out Big Sis. Botan trades with Second Sis. Gu Qiu, your Greninja is strong. Beating the fat guy shouldn't be a problem."
"That way, we win."
"Alright. No problem."
Botan looked surprised.
She hadn't expected the two randomly selected spectators to be this confident — especially the cold girl, who spoke as if trading blows with her elder sister was guaranteed.
"Let's go with your plan," Botan agreed.
Gu Qiu felt slightly underestimated.
But he didn't argue.
If he could lie back and win, so be it.
"Please send out the first trainer from each team."
Seeing Fatty step forward from the opposing side, Gu Qiu shrugged.
Looks like he was up first.
"Good luck."
Unexpectedly, the cold girl spoke just as he stepped forward.
Gu Qiu glanced back.
Her expression hadn't changed.
"I don't like losing," she said softly.
He paused briefly.
"Coincidentally," he smiled, "neither do I."
The moment he turned away—
A faint smile bloomed on her face.
Beautiful.
Truly beautiful.
Unfortunately, Gu Qiu didn't see it.
"Brother! Didn't expect we'd fight first."
"So you're Gu Qiu! Fatty's luck is amazing today."
"Don't worry, since we watched Water Ballet together, you're my brother now."
"When we battle later—"
He kept rambling.
Gu Qiu's forehead twitched.
"We can start now."
"Ah, you're no fun."
"Come out — Machamp!"
This time, Fatty didn't summon the Machoke from earlier.
He sent out its evolved form.
Gu Qiu's expression turned serious.
This guy…
He had real strength.
This was the highest-level Pokémon Gu Qiu had faced so far.
Pokémon: Machamp
Attribute: Fighting
Ability: Steadfast
Quality: Top-tier
Level: 41
Skills: Low Kick, Leer, Focus Energy, Revenge, Low Sweep, Knock Off, Seismic Toss, Dual Chop, Bulk Up, Vital Throw, and more.
A well-trained, extremely troublesome opponent.
Machamp's four muscular arms flexed powerfully.
At peak conditioning, it could unleash a thousand punches in two seconds. One arm alone could move mountains.
Fighting techniques from all four arms simultaneously were nearly impossible to block.
Gu Qiu narrowed his eyes.
"Wonder whose raw strength is greater… Machamp's, or Kirlia's?"
Just a passing thought.
Kirlia's level was still too low.
Sending her out now would be a disadvantage.
This battle—
Would require serious consideration.
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