Match 1: Aiko vs. Chisana
The first match of the semifinals was a showdown between two contestants who had both received perfect scores in the primary judging. The audience was filled with anticipation.
Chisana had developed the ability to assess his opponents. As he stepped onto the stage, he thought to himself, ‘My Crobat hasn’t evolved for long, while my opponent’s Weavile has been trained quite well. Winning this battle won’t be easy—I must be careful.’
Aiko, too, did not dare to underestimate his opponent. Both contestants focused their attention, waiting for the announcer to declare the start of the match.
On the stage, Weavile and Crobat locked eyes. Their respective Coordinators observed the changing situation, calculating their strategies.
“Let’s go.”
As the battle began, Weavile shot forward, its entire body seeming to defy gravity as it moved with an extraordinarily unique footwork. In an instant, it had crossed half the stage and appeared beneath Crobat.
Swish, swish, swish, swish!!
The sound of claws clashing with wind blades echoed, with smoke lingering in the air. Weavile’s movements were quite peculiar, and Terrance on the panel of judges couldn’t quite figure it out at first glance. However, Crobat also reacted swiftly, successfully blocking the opponent’s assault.
“An interesting way of moving,” Terrance murmured, subtly adjusting the position of his arm on the table while keeping his eyes fixed on the stage.
At that moment, Chisana softly gave a command: “Haze!”
The move Haze released a black smoke. Any Pokémon that came into contact with it would return to their original state, nullifying any temporary stat boosts.
However, Weavile had not used any stat-boosting moves yet, so the audience immediately understood Chisana’s intent.
He simply wanted to use Haze to obstruct Weavile’s vision while Crobat relied on Supersonic as its eyes to detect.
Weavile kept retreating, trying to avoid the oncoming Haze, but the Haze spread rapidly, obscuring the view below in an instant.
“Crobat, use Supersonic to lock onto Weavile,” Chisana commanded.
“Hmph,” Aiko scoffed. “Is that all you can do? Just these little tricks?”
“Weavile, Double Team—then use Screech!”
As the command was given, the three judges’ eyes shone slightly. Terrance, in particular, cleared his throat as he shifted his gaze back to Chisana—only to see the sudden change in his expression.
Weavile split into nine copies, each one sharpening its claws simultaneously. A piercing Screech rang out, making the audience instinctively want to cover their ears. The powerful sound waves disrupted Supersonic’s detection trajectory while quickly spreading into the Haze.
In just a brief exchange, both contestants’ appeal points fluctuated, with Chisana falling behind.
Terrance shook his head. If Chisana couldn’t counter Screech, Supersonic would remain unusable due to interference. At this rate, Crobat would undoubtedly lose within ten turns.
Sure enough, with Supersonic neutralized, Haze became a hindrance for both Weavile and Crobat.
Chisana had essentially trapped himself—he could neither advance nor retreat.
In the end, Chisana gritted his teeth and decided to launch a surprise attack from within the Haze. However, as Crobat flew through the haze, its movement inevitably altered the form of the Haze. In that fleeting moment, Aiko and Weavile pinpointed Crobat’s moving direction and Icy Wind was unleashed!
Whoosh!
Although the damage sustained was minimal, Crobat was blown away along with Haze, nearly causing it to lose control of its flight. The Haze dissipated even more quickly, completely vanishing from Crobat’s surroundings.
“Weavile, use Dark Pulse!”
Aiko didn’t let go of this opportunity to continuously attack and shouted loudly. Hearing the command, both Crobat and Chisana immediately focused their attention on Weavile. But to Chisana’s surprise—there was no Dark Pulse.
Crobat, concentrating intensely to evade Dark Pulse, suddenly saw Weavile curl its claws and let out a mocking laugh, its eyes gleaming with a mysterious energy.
It’s a trap! Chisana was startled.
“You fell for it!” Aiko declared.
Taunt!
For a set duration, Crobat would lose its rationality, with its attacking instincts heightened to the maximum!
That meant—Supersonic was sealed off again!
Watching this unfold, Terrance couldn’t help but feel pity for Chisana. Despite his great improvement and determination to challenge himself, he still couldn’t make it to the final round.
It was over…
With Taunt successfully executed, the situation on the stage rapidly changed.
As Terrance had anticipated, it wasn’t long before Crobat, despite its fierce momentum and sharp attacks, showed signs of strain. Even Crobat’s Coordinator, Chisana, looked tense and pale, as during this period, there was almost no coordination between him and Crobat.
It appeared strong, but it was full of weaknesses.
Chisana was heartbroken. Right now, Crobat couldn’t properly understand his commands. He wanted to endure until Crobat’s Taunt-induced rage wore off, but Aiko had no intention of giving him that chance. She maintained a steady rhythm, launching relentless, well-planned attacks. As a result, Crobat’s advantage steadily diminished, and Chisana’s appeal points plummeted.
Bang!
A direct hit landed squarely.
“I lost.”
Crobat fell from the air, and the command Chisana had wanted to give caught in his throat. In the end, he could only offer a bitter smile.
Aiko’s expression remained calm. This victory was no stroke of luck. Chisana’s biggest mistake had been revealing Crobat’s trump card in the primary judging—it was a foolish move. Aiko had initially expected him to prepare countermeasures, but she had overestimated him. In the end, her original strategy was more than enough. Crobat lost the ability to fight back.
“As expected, he is still too inexperienced,” Terrance remarked with a faint smile.
Losing to Aiko was not an unjust outcome for Chisana.
Both contestants left the stage, and the next match began.
Sora and the Coordinator Yamato, who owned a Solrock, stepped onto the stage. Sora’s expression was serious as she sent out her Beautifly. She had already prepared for a difficult battle.
As a Bug-type, Beautifly was at a significant disadvantage against Solrock, which could freely manipulate flames.
Moreover, aside from a couple of moves, Beautifly had no real techniques capable of dealing effective damage to Solrock.
“This battle… I can only win through clever tactics.” As she stepped onto the stage, Sora quickly assessed the situation.
However…
Even though she had a plan, the battle quickly turned into a disaster.
Beautifly’s disadvantage was simply too overwhelming.
The techniques she had learned from Terrance were completely restricted against Solrock, which possesses psychic powers.
Her only effective move, Giga Drain, relied on using silk threads as a medium. However, once Solrock used its fire to create a defensive barrier, Beautifly’s silk couldn’t break through.
The stalemate continued for about three minutes, until the passive Beautifly was finally caught off guard. When its appeal points were close to depleting, it was struck by several flaming rocks hurled by Solrock.
Terrance silently watched the stage.
Two people connected to him… and neither had made it to the finals. What was going on?
“Contestant Yamato advances! Up next—the grand finale! Contestant Aiko and Yamato will battle for the Fallarbor Ribbon!!” Vivian announced loudly.
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