I'm not a Pokémon succubus.

Finally, the list of people who advanced to the quarterfinals was Aisha, Xiaoyou, Mali, Nie Zi, Dandi, Chibana, Hep and Peter.

Old lady Poplar was probably tired from fighting, so she exposed several flaws to Peter in the quarterfinals and was defeated by the heir of the gym.

The heat of the championship challenge is getting higher and higher as the battle becomes more intense, and the audience's emotions are getting more excited.

So, on the third night, the list of opponents for the semi-finals was announced.

The first game, Xiaoyou VS Hep.

The second game, Dandi VS Peter.

The third game, Nie Zi VS Chibana.

The fourth game, Aisha VS Mary.

"Eh?"

After learning that her opponent in the semi-finals was Aisha, Mary looked stunned.

"I beat Coach Ai?"

Chapter 834: Semi-finals, competition

“Hiss… I almost flipped over.”

In the evening, in the restaurant, Chibana looked depressed, chewing pasta in big mouthfuls, speaking unclearly, and complaining to Dandi opposite him.

"Caidou's strength has improved so much that even I was almost defeated by her. If it weren't for the strong defense of the Aluminum Steel Dragon, I would have been eliminated in the first round like Lurina and Yaluo!"

In the afternoon match, Chibana was matched with Caidou.

I thought it would be the same as in previous years and I would be able to easily defeat Caidou and win.

But unexpectedly, Caidou brought him a big surprise.

"Caidou's Pokémon, especially her ace Pokémon, have seen a huge improvement in strength compared to the previous two months. This improvement isn't just in their physical strength, but also in their fighting skills, including their proficiency in close combat, brute force, and tile splitting. Their overall strength has increased by more than a level."

Emperor Dan smiled gently and pointed out the crux of the problem.

"Although Caidou has made progress, there's still a significant gap between her strength and yours. The reason you almost lost was not only because she caught you off guard, but also because you underestimated her."

"Well!"

Chibana choked.

But the Dan Emperor was merciless in his words.

"When I was watching Coach Ai's live broadcast, I learned an old saying from the Dayan region: Even if a lion fights a rabbit, it will use all its strength."

Shaking the cup in his hand, Dan Di smiled slightly and said.

"I think this statement makes a lot of sense. Just like your match with Caidou in the afternoon, if you had fought with all your might right from the start, even if Caidou had become much stronger, you would still have easily won. But you didn't. You even looked down on Caidou a little bit?"

Dandi's gaze was slightly scrutinizing, which made Chibana feel embarrassed.

He was right.

It's often said that Pokémon's personalities become more and more like their trainers.

But conversely, the trainer's temperament will become more and more similar to that of his own Pokémon through contact with them.

Kibana is a gym leader specializing in dragon attributes. The biggest characteristic of the dragon attribute is that it is good at infighting and has an arrogant personality.

After dealing with these arrogant and bad-behaved dragons for so many years, Chibana naturally developed the habit of admiring the strong.

Although he would not bully the weak, he would subconsciously look down on those who were weaker than him and would not bother to fight them with all his strength. Even if the other party was Caidou, a gym leader and his colleague, Kibana did not take her seriously.

The consequence of this was that in the afternoon's battle, Chibana made frequent mistakes in command, and Caidou seized the opportunity and hit him repeatedly.

In previous competitions, even if Caidou tried her best, she could only defeat Chibana's three Pokémon at most. The Gigantamaxed Alpha Dragon, which was carrying an Evolution Stone, was the Wall of Sighs that she could not break through no matter what.

But in this afternoon's game, Caidou's performance was far better than ever before. Through the cooperation of Scallion Pancake, Line Soldier, Octopus Warrior and Wrestling Hawkman, she defeated three of Chibana's Pokémon in succession. Her ace strength was used to seize opportunities several times, and she cooperated with War Dancer to defeat Chibana's Sand Dragonite and Slimy Dragon with close combat and brute force.

Finally, Gigantamax faced Gigantamax Steelix. Three Gigantamax attacks hit the target, and two of them were critical hits, severely damaging Gigantamax Steelix.

If it weren't for the Aluminum Steel Dragon carrying the Evolution Stone, whose durability was too incredible, the one who was eliminated in the first round might have been Chibana!

"Tsk."

Although he was very unhappy with Dan Di's preaching, the facts were before him. He was the one who underestimated the enemy and almost lost. He was also the one who won in an ugly way. Chibana was unable to refute and could only mutter a little.

"Is this why he loves frying fish and playing Baby Cup every day, and why you use Charizard to fight the shorts guy and bug catcher on the street every day?"

Just fry fish, what about lions, rabbits... huh, they're just nice words!

"Uh."

Dandi was choked by Qibana's backlash, smiled awkwardly and scratched his head.

"Anyway, it's always a good thing to never underestimate the enemy..."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it, I get it. Don't keep nagging me. It's annoying me so much that I can't even eat. Really, sometimes I don't know whether you're a champion or a teacher..."

"Hey, Coach Ai once said, 'You never stop learning,' and I often teach new trainers, so in a sense, you can really call me Teacher Dandi!"

Emperor Dan raised a finger and said with a smile.

"I'm sick!"

Annoyed by Dante, Chibana stabbed the fork in his hand hard, and the iron impact made the porcelain plate containing pasta make a crisp sound.

"Okay, I won't say anything anymore."

Dan Di made a zippering gesture to indicate that he would not bother him anymore.

Only then did Chibana start to eat with a hum.

"Um......"

Although he looked impatient, it was obvious that Chibana had listened to what Dandi said.

His next opponent is Nie Zi, the weird guy who can defeat Kabu without even going Gigantamax.

Facing Nie Zi, if he still underestimated his opponent like he did this afternoon, he might really fail.

and so.

"I have to, I have to go all out."

After swallowing the last mouthful of pasta, Chibana's eyes became sharp, like a giant dragon guarding a treasure trove, about to open its bloody mouth and spit out breath that would burn everything to ashes.

......

After dinner, Aisha, Liliae, Xiaoyou, and Hep were walking back to the hotel.

Along the way, Xiaoyou and Hepu were arguing and chattering about the next day's game.

The two of them will face off in the semi-finals, and it will be the first game, which will start tomorrow morning.

"Hey~ This matching mechanism is just right~"

Hep put his hands behind his head, walked in front with a leisurely look on his face, and muttered to himself.

"Tomorrow, I'll defeat Xiaoyou, and then Coach Ai, my brother, and I will advance to the semifinals. In the semifinals, I'll defeat Coach Ai again, and in the finals, I'll defeat my brother. Then I'll be the new Galar regional champion!"

Hearing this, Aisha raised her eyebrows and looked at Hep's back with a strange look.

This kid, isn’t he afraid that his tongue will be blown away by the strong wind?

"Hey~"

Hep let out a mock sigh and shook his head, still saying, "The only frustrating thing is, we've won three games in a row, and you're all so impressive. It's exhausting! I'm afraid the woollyhorns will get tired too. Tsk tsk~"

My goodness, you're already saying you're tired before the fight even starts, and you still look like you're sure to win.

"Ah."

Beside Aixia, Xiaoyou sneered.

"No need. Tomorrow I'll just take on six of you in one go. The battle will be over in one minute. You won't be tired, and the woollyhorns will be able to rest well afterwards."

"Hmph, let's see. Either you defeat me six-for-one, or I defeat you and advance to the semi-finals!"

"Just try it, who's afraid of who?"

In the next ten minutes, Xiaoyou and Hep competed in all aspects, including battles, Pokémon training, tactical thinking, and performance in the quarterfinals, bickering constantly in an attempt to determine who was better.

In the end, neither of them could convince the other.

"Humph!"

Xiaoyou crossed her arms, snorted coldly, and turned her head away.

"Don't be stubborn. I'm telling you, I'll definitely win tomorrow morning's match!"

"Humph!"

Hepu also snorted and didn't look at Xiaoyou.

"You're going to lose miserably!"

"I don't know who it was, but Aunt Meirong almost defeated me this morning~"

Xiaoyou is sarcastic.

"That, that was an accident!"

Hep's face flushed red, and then he said a series of words that made people half understand, such as "Gigantamax Lapras is too strong, Gigantamax Aurora Melody can open Aurora Curtain even without snow, it's too shameless, and King Kong is weak to ice", and "I was careless and didn't dodge. Next time, King Kong and I will definitely pass the level without any damage."

"Well......"

Behind him, Aisha touched his chin.

In the afternoon, he also watched Hepp's fight.

This kid's strength should be at the average level of a gym leader. The fact that he can defeat Meirong has already proved his strength.

Considering the standards of a newcomer who debuted only a year ago, his strength is already terrifying. If he were in the Quartz Conference, he would be the biggest dark horse to win the championship.

But in the championship challenge, it is a bit insignificant.

Especially among the new trainees who are in the same period as her, there is also the monster Xiaoyou.

Hep's original Pokémon was Braided, and now it's Shaggyhorn, but his trump card is Toboggan, the Pokémon given to him by Dante and which he has been cultivating ever since.

This morning, in his battle with Meirong, he relied on the high durability of Gigantamax Bombing Gorilla, as well as the blessing of Grass Maker and Grass Field, to defeat Meirong's Gigantamax Lapras with Gigantamax Bombing and won the victory.

It is worth mentioning that when Hep won, he only had one Booming Kong left in his hand, and his physical strength was not very healthy.

That is to say...

"In that battle this morning, if Miss Meirong's Gigantamax Lapras lands a critical hit, you'll be the loser."

An arrogant voice came coldly from the side, expressing Aixia's thoughts.

"Ok?"

Hepu was still arguing with Xiaoyou, but when he heard the voice, he jumped three feet high.

"Peter, you bastard!"

"Hmph, idiot."

In the face of Hep's frustration, the voice continued to mock.

The voice slowly approached, and Aisha and the others could see the man's appearance clearly.

The one with white curly hair and purple coat was Peter.

"Good evening, Peter."

Xiaoyou greeted Peter with a smile.

"good evening."

When facing Xiaoyou, Peter was very normal. His expression and tone did not seem to ask for a beating. It was not known whether he was scared by Xiaoyou or was really convinced by Xiaoyou.

"Long time no see, Coach Ai."

Then, Peter looked at Aisha, lowered his head slightly, and greeted Aisha.

"Long time no see, Peter."

Aisha also smiled slightly.

He and Peter had only met once, that day in Wuzi Town, Wuzi Gym, when Poplar asked him to fight against Peter.

At that time, Aisha defeated Peter and obtained a fairy gem containing the power of Cang Xiang from Poplar.