Pokémon: Master System.

To deal with a high-speed Pokémon like Sceptile, you must limit its speed, otherwise Drapion will never be able to catch up with Sceptile.

"Dragon King Scorpion, charge forward, Cross Poison Blade!"

Seeing that the time was almost right, Shang Hongxin gave the final order to attack.

The continuous use of Venom Impact, coupled with several Dragon Pulse attacks from Lizard King, has depleted most of Dracovish's stamina!

Now is the time to decide the outcome. Shang Hongxin has staked all his chances of victory on this attack. He's fighting with his back against the wall, going all out. The outcome depends on this attack.

Upon hearing Shang Hongxin's command, the Dragon King Scorpion's eyes also flashed with ferocity. It charged towards the Lizard King using all four legs.

Xia Yu then realized that Shang Hongxin's tactic was to force the Lizard King to fight the Dragon King Scorpion. He looked at the Lizard King and made a decision in an instant.

Since that's the case, let's have a competition! Xia Yu was also full of confidence in his Lizard King. Even against a top-tier creature like the Tyrannosaurus Rex, the Lizard King could put up a fight, let alone the Dragon King Scorpion!

Is the Lizard King destined to lose in close combat?

"Sceptile King, use Grassy Terrain, then unleash your full power Leaf Blade, hold nothing back!"

Xia Yu's voice rang out. He was full of confidence in his Sceptile, but to be on the safe side, he still chose to have Sceptile use Grassy Terrain to amplify the power of Grass-type moves.

Grass-type energy surged from beneath the Lizard King's feet, instantly changing the terrain to a grassy field.

Immediately afterwards, the Lizard King looked sharply at the Dragon Scorpion opposite him, his gaze like a knife.

"boom!"

Grass-type energy surged from the Lizard King's arms, forming a scimitar-like leaf blade on its wrists!

"Chamo!"

The Lizard King stared coldly at the Dragon Scorpion. At this moment, the Lizard King seemed to have transformed into an ancient warrior, holding two blades and showing murderous intent.

"Cross-shaped Poison Blade, Dragon King Scorpion!"

The Dragon King Scorpion's claws were also filled with poisonous energy as it swung its forelimbs and launched its final attack!

When two Pokémon meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail. In such close combat, the greatest test is actually the Pokémon's courage and confidence, and no one dares to hold back even a little!

With a flick of its blades, fluorescent green grass-type energy bursts forth.

With a cross-shaped slash of poisonous blades, purplish-black poisonous energy erupted forth!

"boom!"

A loud crash was heard as the Lizard King and the Dragon King Scorpion collided like two heavy trucks!

The Lizard King's over three-meter-tall body slammed into the Dragon King Scorpion, directly blocking the Dragon King Scorpion's charge. Then, the Leaf Blade was swung, and only a flash of green light could be seen.

"Roar!"

The change happened so fast. All the people saw was the Lizard King colliding with the Dragon Scorpion, followed by a flash of fluorescent green grass-type energy. Before they could even react, the Lizard King severed the hook claws on the Dragon Scorpion's forelimbs, and then its sharp leaf blades struck the Dragon Scorpion's head without hesitation.

At the same time, fluorescent green grass-type energy surged out, instantly engulfing the Dragon Scorpion.

"stop!"

The referee on the field was also surprised by this outcome and quickly blew his whistle and rushed over.

When the green light dissipated, all that could be seen was the Lizard King pinning the Dragon King Scorpion to the ground with one hand, while the other hand held a fluorescent green leaf blade against the Dragon King Scorpion's neck. Its gaze was sinister, as if it could sever the Dragon King Scorpion's neck at any time if it wanted to!

Faced with the threat of death, the Dragon King Scorpion dared not move, its gaze fixed on the Lizard King, and it dared not utter a sound.

"I admit defeat!" Shang Hongxin came to his senses and quickly admitted defeat.

Xia Yu wins and advances to the round of 16!

"Xia Yu!"

"Xia Yu!"

"Shang Hongxin, you're the best?"

The entire stadium erupted in thunderous applause, with almost all the spectators standing up and cheering for Xia Yu and Shang Hongxin. Without a doubt, this match was the most exciting one to date.

Even though Shang Hongxin was the loser, he still gained the audience's approval.

Chapter 232: Sixteen to Eight Opponents

Even after stepping off the stage, Xia Yu could still clearly hear his heartbeat, which was still pounding rapidly. On such a high-profile stage, the intense battle had made Xia Yu's palms sweat with nervousness, but fortunately, he still won the match and emerged victorious.

When Xia Yu returned to the rest room, he found that Wu Yaozu, Zhao Ruohan, and his father Xia Yong had been waiting for a long time.

"Xia Yu, you're so damn cool!" Wu Yaozu came up and gave Xia Yu a big hug. Seeing his good brother's performance on stage, Wu Yaozu was really happy for him: "Brother Yu, your performance today was simply amazing."

"You flatter me, you flatter me," Xia Yu said with a smile, his tone nonchalant, but with a smug look on his face. "It's nothing, just the top sixteen. I can easily handle it."

"Damn, Brother Yu, you're such a good actor!" Wu Yaozu said disdainfully. "But today it's your turn to act, Brother Yu, you're really handsome."

"Hahahaha." The two looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.

At this moment, Zhao Ruohan also stepped forward, her eyebrows curved, her bright eyes looking at Xia Yu, a smile appearing on her lips, congratulating Xia Yu on making it into the top sixteen: "Xia Yu, congratulations."

"It's too early to congratulate them now." Xia Yu was clearly in a good mood and joked with Zhao Ruohan, "This is nothing. We're only in the top 16. We need to at least make it to the finals. It's not good to open champagne at the halfway point. We need to keep a low profile."

Li Zhiqiang, standing to the side, also congratulated Xia Yu, with a hint of envy in his eyes. He wished he could also make it to the top 16 or even the top 8 like Xia Yu, but he knew his own strength was limited.

Finally, there's Xia Yong, the father. As the team leader for this university cup, Xia Yong was very happy to see his youngest son, but so many people had already congratulated Xia Yu.

At this moment, he could only play the role of a strict father, looking at Xia Yu with a stern face: "Xiao Yu, go back and get some rest today, and prepare seriously for the next competition. It's only the top sixteen."

"Okay, Dad."

…………

Back at the hotel, Xia Yu discovered while feeding his Pokémon that Dragapult was on the verge of evolution and could evolve at any moment.

According to Xia Yu's plan, he was to go to the Dragon-type Secret Realm and use the rich Dragon-type energy there, along with A-grade dragon scales and the Ghost-type core energy from the Punishment Pot, to make Draco Mesia split and evolve into Draco Chi in one fell swoop.

Thinking of the Dragon Realm, Xia Yu thought of Teacher Long, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, and recalled her graceful figure and slender waist, which made his heart burn with desire.

What's wrong with me? How could I have such filthy thoughts?

Xia Yu gave himself a good scolding, then made a video call to Teacher Long.

"beep."

The video call was quickly connected, but Teacher Long wasn't facing the camera directly, which made Xia Yu slightly disappointed.

"Teacher Long, where are you? I can't find you." Xia Yu asked.

"Xia Yu, what do you want?" Upon hearing Xia Yu's words, Long Yan Ning turned the camera lens towards herself, slightly tidied her hair, and made herself look better on camera.

"Teacher Long, my Draco Mesia is about to evolve. I'll come to the Secret Realm to find you after I make it to the National Finals, and I'll let Draco Mesia evolve there."

“Okay. You can come now,” Long Yan Ning replied.

"By the way, Mr. Long, did you watch my match today?" After finishing the business, Xia Yu couldn't help but ask.

"I watched it." Long Yanning nodded in response. Although she hadn't gone to watch Xia Yu's match in person, she had watched it through the live stream. She couldn't help but say earnestly, "You've improved a lot, and you played very well today. But don't be arrogant; you've only made it to the top sixteen."

"Hmm." Hearing that Teacher Long had watched his match, Xia Yu couldn't help but feel secretly pleased. He then chatted casually with Teacher Long: "Teacher Long, have you been busy lately?"

"It's alright, nothing much has happened lately." Long Yanning has been quite relaxed lately, usually just cooking and training her Pokémon, nothing much to do.

"Then you should get plenty of rest, avoid eating junk food, drink less alcohol, and stay up less late," Xia Yu instructed, her tone completely unlike that of a student.

Hearing Xia Yu's caring words, Long Yanning felt shy and her face turned slightly red: "Yes, I've been staying in the secret realm recently and haven't gone out for drinks."

“By the way, Teacher Long, I remember you promised me something,” Xia Yu suddenly said.

"What is it?" Long Yan Ning asked, frowning.

"I remember you promised me that if I could make it to the national finals, you would have dinner with me, right?" Xia Yu suddenly remembered the promise he made with Teacher Long.

Long Yan recalled that Xia Yu once asked her to dinner, but she refused, telling him to wait until she made it to the national finals: "Okay. I'll agree as long as you make it to the national finals."

"Okay! Teacher Long, wait for me." Xia Yu said with a smile.

"Okay. I'll wait for you," Long Yanning replied softly.

…………

After hanging up the video call, Xia Yu lay on the bed with a smile on his lips. He remained stunned for a long time before he came to his senses, put away his smile, and seriously prepared for tomorrow's match.

Just now, Xia Yu's opponent for tomorrow has been confirmed. He is Liu Qipeng, the runner-up from Fujiang City. Liu Qipeng's strength is not particularly strong, and he is even slightly inferior to Shang Hongxin.

His advancement to the round of 16 was largely due to luck and skillful positioning; he avoided some strong opponents and made it to the round of 16.

Liu Qipeng is an Electric-type trainer. His ace Pokémon are the Solar Power-type Umbreon, and the Electric Creator-type Ursaring and Swampert.

Liu Qipeng's team composition is very simple: use the Sea Urchin to create an Electric-type terrain and Sunny Day, allowing the Electric Umbreon to deal massive damage.

The Electric Frill already has a pretty good Special Attack and Speed ​​stat, and with the combined boosts of Sunny Day and Electric Generator, the power of its Electric-type moves reaches a terrifying level.

Aside from Ground-type Pokémon, few other Pokémon can withstand the onslaught of Razorlizard. However, when encountering Ground-type Pokémon, Liu Qipeng will send out Swampert to deal with them. Furthermore, Liu Qipeng's three Pokémon are all quite powerful, all being Totem-level Pokémon.

After reviewing Liu Qipeng's information, Xia Yu didn't feel too much pressure, as Xia Yu's Pokémon were relatively effective against Liu Qipeng's team.

With a snap, the sea urchin opens up a sunny day, allowing Charizard to take advantage of the weather. Meanwhile, Xia Yu also has a Grass-type Sceptile, which can completely shut down Swampert, which is four times weak to Grass.

The electric frilled lizard doesn't pose much of a threat to the Lizard King, since the Lizard King has twice the resistance to electricity. To be honest, Liu Qipeng would have a hard time dealing with Xia Yu's Lizard King alone. It's quite possible that Xia Yu's Lizard King could take on three of them at once.

Therefore, Xia Yu was not too worried about the next match. He was more worried about the quarterfinals. After looking at the schedule, Xia Yu found that he was likely to meet Xu Jiahao, the number one seed from Crimson Lotus City and a Fire-type trainer, in the quarterfinals.

Xu Jiahao's ace Pokémon is also Charizard, but his Charizard is a dual-wielding Pokémon. The other two Pokémon are Ninetales with the Sunlight ability and Leafeon with the Chlorophyll ability, a standard Sunny Day team.