"Why is someone like that in this competition?"
"Isn't this competition for civilian Trainers like us?"
In the waiting area, the remaining participants kept complaining after watching the first battle. Scyther is a Pokemon that has a price of 100,000 Alliance credits on the Official Alliance website.
It was clearly unsuitable for a Pokemon like that to appear in this competition. The prize money of the first place can't even reach a third of Scyther's worth.
Not to mention, during the battle with Poliwag, Scyther constantly used moves like Trailblaze and Dual Wingbeat which can only be learned by Scyther through move discs.
While it is not explicitly stated in the rules, the Rookie Trainer Competition was tacitly agreed to be an opportunity for the civilian Trainers to help in their starting journey. For top Trainer families, their first opportunity to appear in front of the public is during their first Gym challenge and the Freshman Competition.
For someone like Louis, with a status of being the son of a Gym-leader, participating in this kind of event can be said to be a disgrace to his status among the upper class.
However, Louis doesn't care about what others think. Looking at Dante who was talking and laughing with that bimbo, he sneered angrily.
"Hey, that guy keeps looking at you. Are you sure you just defeated him in a battle? From his expression, it looks like you've killed his Pokemon."
On the side, Shinobu glanced sideways at Louis who didn't even bother hiding his gaze and complained to Dante.
"I also don't know what happened. This guy was not as crazy as this back then."
What Dante didn't know was, due to his loss to someone in his first Trainer battle, Louis and Scyther trained like crazy for this rematch, persisting late until the middle of the night and waking up early in the morning.
He always thought Dante was also training hard for their rematch, and he can only guarantee his win if he worked harder.
Therefore, when he saw Dante bringing his girlfriend into this competition and only taking a single glance at him at the beginning, Louis felt furious.
'Looking down on me just because of winning the last match by luck!? Let me see what your expression will be when I trample you and your Pokemon in front of your girlfriend!'
The next match was between two Trainers with a Lotad and a Bunnelby. From their battle, Dante could tell that Bunnelby was already nearing its racial limits. Bunnelby and his Trainer won the match and will proceed to battle Louis in the next round.
"Alright, it's my turn next. Let's go Shelly."
"You've both got this. I'm sure it'll be us who will meet at the finals."
Shinobu stood up from her seat and took back Shelmet. She smiled in response to Dante's words then proceeded to walk to the arena.
Her opponent was a Trainer with a Poochyena. Poochyena is a Dark-type Pokemon that looks like a wolf cub. Its racial limit before evolution is mostly at the 30-35 range, with only its Attack reaching 55.
From the previous battles, Dante knew that most of the Pokemon of the Trainers who qualified for the Top 32 have reached at least an average of 30 across all of their stats.
At the start of the battle, Shinobu quickly commanded Shelmet to use Struggle Bug.
Struggle Bug is a special attack Bug type move with a base power of 50. It is the weaker version of Bug Buzz, using sound in order to attack all opponent Pokemon that hear it.
Poochyena's only noticeable advantage to Shelmet was its Speed and Attack. But with the wide attack range of Struggle Bug, he wasn't able to escape from its range. Seeing this scene, his Trainer became a bit flustered and he hurriedly commanded Poochyena to use Roar.
Poochyena endured the pain and let out a loud Roar.
Roar is a sound-based move that can push an opposing Pokemon back. With higher stats and proficiency, Roar can even force an opposing Pokemon to return back to their Pokeball.
The Roar interrupted Shelmet's use of the Struggle Bug and the sound waves from their attacks also canceled each other out.
At this moment Poochyena's condition wasn't very good. Being a Dark-type, it suffered double the damage from Struggle Bug. If it hadn't interrupted Shelmet's attack, it would have already fainted by now.
"Now Poochyena! Use Bite!"
The Trainer took advantage when Shelmet was still recovering from using Struggle Bug and hurriedly commanded Poochyena to attack.
He knew Shelmet has a high defense, however, Poochyena at this stage still hasn't learned any special attack. Therefore, he can only do the next best thing and use Poochyena's strongest physical attack.
With its fast speed, Poochyena arrived in front of Shelmet just as it recovered. Baring its mouth, its teeth chomped down on Shelmet.
"Shelly, use Giga Drain!"
Shinobu ignored Poochyena's attack towards Shelmet. Shelmet's highest stat is her defense, which has already reached 85. Poochyena has a racial limit of 55 Attack. So even if it reaches its Attack limit, it still won't cause much harm to Shelmet.
And that was indeed exactly the case.
Shelmet only felt a little pain from Poochyena's Bite. Gathering Grass type energy in her mouth, she used Giga Drain and the little damage Poochyena had caused was immediately healed.
With the damage from Struggle Bug earlier, coupled with the Giga Drain now, Poochyena was unable to hold on and fainted.
After the referee confirmed Poochyena's condition, he raised the flag in Shinobu's direction.
"Poochyena is unable to battle! Trainer Shinobu wins and will proceed to the next round of the match!"
"What a wonderful battle! Let us give a round of applause to both Trainers for their amazing performance!"
The audience followed along and gave the two contestants a huge round of applause.
Shinobu was already used to interacting with a group of audience from her live-streaming. She waved her hand towards the audience with a smile and thanked them before walking back to the waiting area. There, she immediately headed towards Dante with a slight smile on her lips.
Dante congratulated her and the two sat side-by-side to watch the next few games.
When it was nearing noon, Dante's turn finally arrived.
"It's the 16th and last battle before the lunch break. This match is also probably the most disadvantageous fight among all the ones' we've seen today!"
"Here we have another favorite to win the Competition, Trainer Joseph! Together with his Onix, no other Pokemon was even able to survive a single attack during the qualifiers!"
"And his opponent, Dante, also showed an amazing performance together with his Pikachu! Will Trainer Dante be able to find a way to overcome the type disadvantage between Onix and Pikachu? Or will Trainer Joseph's Onix continue its powerful performance?"
"Let's all find out in the next chapter!"