stonecrandall Chapter 493
Chapter 493
Chapter 493
"How did you sleep last night?"
Kukui sat down on the sofa, crossed his legs, and looked relaxed.
"fine."
Xia Chi sat down opposite him.
"The climate here is very comfortable, and I slept even more soundly than usual."
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"That's good, that's good."
Kukui nodded. "I was worried you wouldn't be able to adjust. Alola is quite humid, and some people from dry regions don't sleep well here."
"My island is also an island, so I'm used to it."
"Too."
Kukui smiled, his gaze sweeping over the elves in the living room.
Victini was munching on a macaron, while the Ice Sixtails sat in a row around the table, waiting for the second wave of breakfast to be served by the flapping wings.
"Oh, right."
He turned his gaze away from Xia Chi and asked, "What are the plans for today?"
Xia Chi thought for a moment, "I do plan to take Kanna to the beach."
"Then let's go this afternoon."
Kukui rubbed his hands together, a glint of light in his eyes. "Want to have a match this morning?"
Xia Chi smiled.
Of course he knew what Kukui was talking about.
"A warm-up match?"
"Warm-up match".
Kukui nodded and chuckled, "It's not formal, just a way to stretch your muscles. You've just arrived in Alola and haven't gotten used to the climate yet. I haven't had a match with a strong opponent in a long time either, and I'm itching to get my hands dirty."
"OK."
Xia Chi put down her coffee cup. "Where is it?"
"Master Village has a dedicated battle arena."
Kukui stood up, his smile widening.
"It's right in the center of the village, an open-air venue surrounded by stands that can seat hundreds of people."
"Several hundred people?"
Xia Chi was taken aback. "Someone will come to see?"
Kukui chuckled, took out his phone, and waved it in front of Xia Chi.
"Before I arrived, I posted a message on social media—a friendly match between Master Tournament players Dr. Xia Chi and Dr. Kukui will be held in one hour at the Master Village arena. Everyone is welcome to come and watch."
After he finished reading, he turned his phone screen towards Xia Chi.
Xia Chi glanced at the message and saw that it had already received several hundred replies in less than ten minutes.
The comments section erupted in cheers.
The screen was flooded with comments like "Will Leilei come?", "Go for it, big brother, your team is full of legendary Pokémon!", and "Professor Kukui, don't lose too badly."
"...You've been planning this for a long time."
Xia Chi shook his head helplessly.
"Of course."
Kukui retorted confidently, "We finally caught you, how can we let you go so easily?"
Kanna peeked over from the dining table, bread still in her mouth, and asked indistinctly, "Does Brother Xia Chi want to have a match?"
"Um."
Xia Chi nodded. "Do you want to go take a look?"
"want!"
Kanna's eyes lit up instantly, and she swallowed the bun without chewing it, almost choking.
"Let's go then."
Xia Chi stood up, stretched, and said, "Perfect for stretching my muscles."
He glanced at Miaoha.
Miaoha was lying on the balcony, continuing to sunbathe, when she heard the word "battle". Her ears twitched and she immediately jumped up.
Xia Chi smiled slightly, feigning ignorance as she asked, "Meow, wanna come?"
Miaoha rolled her eyes at Xia Chi and strode over.
Clearly, she has made her choice through her actions.
Xia Chi then looked at the other elves.
Bictini raised her little paws, her eyes sparkling.
Hoopa also emerged from the ring, shouting, "Hoopa wants to fight! Hoopa wants to fight!"
Xia Chi pressed it down with one hand, speechless, and said, "Stop causing trouble."
Even without summoning legendary spirits through a magic ring, Hoopachi's true form possesses power beyond the legendary realm.
Hitting Dr. Kukui is just bullying him...
The Ice Six-tailed Fox and the others wanted to join in, but Xia Chi glanced at their small bodies and remained silent.
Hupa going up there is bullying; if you go up there, aren't you just asking to be bullied?
There aren't actually many fairies in Xiachi.
Aside from those Pokémon that are completely outclassed from the start, there are only a handful of Pokémon that are actually viable.
Meowth counts as one, Victini counts as one, Dragonite counts as one, Tyranitar counts as one, Wingshot counts as one, and Latias counts as one.
There are exactly six of them, enough to form a team.
There aren't many good options.
Xia Chi pulled out several Poké Balls from his waist, pressed them lightly with his finger, and a red light flashed as Tyranitar, Dragonite, and...
Zhenyi Hair was taken inside.
Latias doesn't need the ball; she's always been used to staying close by, invisible to everyone.
The group, accompanied by the elves, walked out the door in a grand procession.
Kanna walked at the front, holding Nebula in her arms, with a Swablu perched on her shoulder, followed by the Ice Vulpix and the others, like a small elf parade.
The Masters Tournament players' village is very large.
It took nearly fifteen minutes to walk from Xia Chi's villa to the battlefield.
Neatly trimmed tropical plants line both sides of the road: palm trees, hibiscus, and frangipani, emitting a faint fragrance in the sunlight.
Finally, the battlefield came into view.
It was an open-air venue surrounded by stands.
The venue itself is not large, a standard rock battlefield, with the gray-white rock surface gleaming faintly in the sunlight.
The stands, which can seat several hundred people, were already packed.
Although there were only a few hundred people, the scale of the event was no different from that of a large arena that could hold tens of thousands of people.
The reason is simple: the Alora people are too enthusiastic.
They never hesitated to applaud and cheer.
Incidentally, this number does not mean that the competition can only attract a few hundred people.
It's just because the Masters tournament players' village only allowed this many people in.
This place was originally intended for the champions from various regions to rest properly, so the security measures are very strict; you can't get in without a pass.
This time, it was because Dr. Kukui made a last-minute decision to open up some places to local residents, which allowed these few hundred people to come in.
More?
No, it wouldn't be good to disturb the other players' rest.
Because the number of people was not large, the sharp-eyed Xia Chi even spotted quite a few familiar faces in the audience.
The person sitting over there seems to be Kiawe, whom I once faced off against at the World Pokémon Academy Tournament in Kitakami Township.
The dark-skinned Alora boy with hair standing on end like flames was sitting in the third row of the stands, a straw hat beside him, a glass of iced drink in his hand, waving at Xia Chi.
Xia Chi nodded to him as a greeting.
It's not surprising that this Aloraman appeared here.
Kiawe is a promising new trainer in the Alola region and a student of Professor Kukui, so it's perfectly normal for him to come and cheer for his teacher.
What puzzled Xia Chi was why Daigo had "refreshed" over there.
The young nobleman was sitting in the front row of the stands, his silver-blue hair gleaming in the sunlight.
Then Xia Chi suddenly realized that this guy was also here to participate in the Ten Masters Tournament, so it wasn't surprising that he was here.
Daigo ranked fourth among the champions, securing his place in the main tournament.
He came to Alora ahead of time, probably to acclimatize, or more likely... to dig for new stones in some cave in Alora.
Daigo saw Natsumi looking over and waved to him with a smile.
Xia Chi returned the gesture, indicating "we'll talk later".
Daigo nodded, then continued to look at the venue.
After exchanging greetings, Xia Chi and Dr. Kukui stood on opposite sides of the battlefield.
Dr. Kukui stood at the other end of the field, his floral shirt fluttering gently in the sea breeze, his hands in his shorts pockets.
"Since it's just a friendly match, we won't go into a big 6v6 match."
Dr. Kukui's voice came from across the field, somewhat scattered by the sea breeze.
"3v3, allowing super evolution and terrestrialization, how about it?"
Xia Chi smiled and replied, "No problem."
Friendly matches naturally don't have professional referees.
On the unadorned rock battlefield, besides Xia Chi and Kukui, there was only one other player, Rotation Rotom, hovering in the air.
The Rotom floated in mid-air, its body slowly rotating, with the camera focused on the center of the arena.
However, its purpose is not to host the competition, but to broadcast the live.
Meanwhile, countless viewers around the world are preparing to watch the match through Dr. Kukui's live stream.
The number of viewers in the live stream skyrocketed—from zero to a million in less than five minutes.
In the comments section, the bullet comments scrolled down like a waterfall, so fast that it was impossible to read what each one was saying; you could only catch a few keywords occasionally.
[After three months, Prison Water finally has a competition! I have to watch it! My happiness is back!]
Why do all the other regions send their champions to the Masters Tournament, but Donghuang only has Xia Chi, an unofficial participant? He's not even a Heavenly King. Isn't that cheating?
[Isn't this a good thing? Having a trainer who isn't even a Champion participate in the competition is a huge boon for other regions, isn't it? (Magnemite grinning.jpg)]
[Hilarious! Don't you guys know whether this is good or bad? Those champions are probably praying they don't run into Xia Chi in the first round.]
Dr. Kukui is really brave; he went straight for the boss. No matter what, I salute him—he's a true hero!
To put it another way, the final score will depend on how much water Xia Chi releases.
Don't underestimate Professor Kukui! She's the Alola Champion—well, honorary, but she's still quite strong!
Stop arguing, stop arguing, the competition is about to start!
Before the match even started, the comments section was predictably overwhelmingly in favor of the opposing side.
Although Xia Chi has not appeared in the public eye frequently for nearly three months, his reputation has not faded over time.
On the contrary, it increased instead of decreased.
This individual, who has only been in the industry for two years, is already universally recognized as destined to enter the Hall of Fame of Legendary Trainers, with countless fans all over the world, including in Eastern Europe, Galar, Hoenn, Sinnoh, and beyond.
Every match he plays is studied repeatedly, every Pokémon he plays is analyzed carefully, and every command he makes is regarded as a textbook example.
Therefore, the teasing of Kukui in the comments is not a sign of disdain, but rather an objective evaluation.
However, even Kukui himself never thought he could actually defeat Xia Chi.
Even a 50/50 chance is wishful thinking.
He knew very well that there was more than one level between him and Xia Chi.
The purpose of this match was simply to see a skilled opponent arrive and get itchy hands.
On the battlefield, Xia Chi and Dr. Kukui exchanged a glance and smiled knowingly.
There was no gunpowder or tension in those smiles, only the simplest competitive desire between two trainers who love to battle.
Then, almost simultaneously, the two threw out Poké Balls.
Two beams of white light exploded.
Two figures, one in red and one in green, appeared on the battlefield.
The red one is the Blazing Roaring Tiger.
The moment it landed, the entire battlefield seemed to tremble.
Tiger God stood on the ground, his muscles bulging, his red mane swaying slightly in the heat, like a burning flame.
It opened its mouth, revealing sharp fangs, and let out a deep roar that sent shivers down one's spine.
The green figure is Magic Masked Cat.
Her appearance was not as grand as that of the Blazing Roaring Tiger; in fact, it was quite silent.
A cheer erupted from the audience.
After all, they are the top three in two regions, and thanks to Xia Chi's "promotion," they are two top three whose popularity is approaching that of the most popular Fizz.
Some people were shouting "Go Roaring Tiger!" while others were shouting "Go Meow Ha!" The two voices mingled together, like a small-scale sonic battle.
Kanna sat in the stands, holding Nebula, and shouted "Go, Sister Meowha!" in a childish but loud voice.
The Ice Six-Tailed Fox stood on her lap, its six tails standing upright, and it also let out a whistling sound.
However, the appearance of the two elves was both unexpected and reasonable.
Since Incineroar earned the reputation of being the cutest hatchling in the universe, many trainers have used it as their first choice.
Especially when the opponent is certain that they do not have the [Competitive] counter-intimidation trait.
There's no way around it, this sprite is just too agile.
Intimidating a physical attacker is a win-win situation; the opponent's physical attack level drops by one, significantly reducing their physical output.
Then come the surprise attack with a high-five—a divine skill that guarantees a first strike in the first round, leaving the opponent unable to move and forced to take the hit.
Then, after making some harsh remarks, they attack and run away, while also lowering the opponent's physical and special attack by one level.
After this series of punches, the opponent was weakened for two rounds before even making a move, and his mentality was about to collapse.
However, this time Kukui will be facing Xia Chi, who has popularized this tactic.
Now that Kukui wants to play this trick in front of the Grandmaster, it's hard to say whether he'll gain any advantage.
Sure enough, as soon as the Incineroar landed, Dr. Kukui's command came through.
"A surprise high-five!"
A gust of wind swept by.
In an instant, Tiger God activated!
The Blazing Roaring Tiger vanished from its spot, transforming into a red afterimage as it pounced towards the Magic Masked Cat.
Its right forepaw was raised high, and a layer of visible energy fluctuations condensed on the paw pad, which was the unique energy halo of a high-five surprise attack.
Because of its inherent priority move, Incineroar is incredibly fast, so fast that most people in the audience only saw a red lightning bolt streak across the battlefield.
But Xia Chi's command sounded almost simultaneously.
"Shadow Claw!"
A glint of light flashed in Miaoha's eyes.
She didn't dodge, she didn't even back down.
She raised her right claw, and a ball of purplish-black energy instantly condensed at the tip of her claw.
The energy appeared particularly eerie under the sunlight, like a shadow compressed to its extreme, with slightly distorted edges, exuding an aura that did not belong to this dimension.
Shadow Claw!