Alex spoke with the young trainer for a short while before eventually parting ways and returning to his hotel.
Since his next match was scheduled for tomorrow, he still had plenty of time to rest and prepare himself.
...
Two hours later, after Alex had finished his meditation session, he once again took out his TRH device to check whether the tournament bracket had updated with the information about his next opponent.
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Contestant No. 49
Pokémon: Nidoqueen LV 50, Nidoking LV 48, Swalot LV 47, Seviper LV 47, Crobat LV 44, Gardevoir LV 44
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After reviewing the information about his opponent, Alex wasn't particularly impressed, even though this trainer was already a mid Elite level trainer.
While a mid Elite level trainer would be considered extremely powerful by most ordinary trainers, it wasn't anything particularly special from Alex's perspective anymore.
Aside from the fact that this trainer was only baraly at the mid Elite level and therefore not strong enough to qualify for a seed spot, his overall team strength also wasn't very remarkable compared to the stronger participants in the tournament.
At best, this trainer was probably strong enough to reach the real tournament stage—the Top 64—if he got lucky with his matchups. However, if he encountered a truly powerful opponent early on, he would most likely be eliminated immediately.
After thinking about it briefly, Alex stopped paying attention to the information and instead spent the rest of his time training together with his Pokémon.
...
A day later, Alex noticed his participant number appear on the large screen inside the waiting room.
He immediately stood up and calmly made his way toward the arena before heading once again toward Block B, where both his opponent and the referee were already waiting for him.
His opponent turned out to be a young girl who looked around 16 years old.
Alex was slightly surprised to see someone so young possessing this level of strength. It was extremely rare for a trainer under the age of 18 to already reach the mid-Elite level.
Although many of the talented trainers Alex had encountered belonged to this category, they were still only a very small minority among all trainers.
The young girl looked directly at Alex and loudly declared, "You ugly man, I'm going to beat you."
Alex, who had initially formed a fairly positive impression of the girl, immediately changed his opinion after hearing that statement.
Still, he only gave a faint smile as he replied, "How can you call me ugly? I'm at least average-looking."
The girl immediately showed a disgusted expression as she answered, "Ugh, average men are trash. There's barely any difference between ugly and average men. One is called ugly, and the other is called very ugly."
Alex didn't become angry after hearing such a strange statement and instead found it somewhat amusing.
Although he had been at least slightly above average in appearance back in his old world, he had long since given up comparing himself to the people in this world and simply accepted that he was only average here.
Afterward, he briefly looked at the girl's face and had to admit that she was actually very good-looking.
In a few years, she would probably even be considered a real beauty, even by the Pokémon world's unusually high standards.
Alex then let out a small chuckle before saying, "Little girl, you probably don't know this yet, but appearance isn't nearly as important to men as you think. For many women, there are things that matter far more than looks alone."
The girl looked at Alex as he calmly spoke with that relaxed expression and quiet chuckle, and for some reason, her heart suddenly skipped a beat.
Her face became slightly red as she immediately replied, "You pervert. What are you talking about?"
Alex showed a surprised expression because he had actually been thinking about something completely different.
He truly hadn't expected this girl to interpret his words in such a strange way.
The referee, who had been silently listening to their conversation the entire time, finally lost patience and said in a serious tone, "Can both participants stop talking and prepare themselves properly for the match already?"
Alex and the girl both remained silent, indicating they were ready.
The referee then raised one hand, clearly signaling both participants to release their Pokémon.
Blaziken and Nidoqueen appeared in the arena simultaneously.
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Pokémon: Nidoqueen
LV: 50
Type: Poison/Ground
Ability: Sheer Force (Hidden Ability)
Gender: Female
Potential: Gold (5%)
Moves:
- Growl, Scratch, Tail Whip, Poison Sting, Double Kick, Bite, Helping Hand, Toxic [E], Superpower
- (Innate Talent) Rock Slide [M], (Innate Talent) Ice Punch [M], (Innate Talent) Hyper Beam [M]
-(TM) Protect, (TM) Dragon Tail, (TM) Earthquake [E], (TM) Sandstorm, (TM) Brick Break [E], (TM) Shadow Claw
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"3, 2, 1, go!" the referee shouted loudly as the battle officially began.
The young girl reacted immediately and shouted, "Nidoqueen, use Rock Slide, quickly!"
Alex simply watched the battlefield calmly and said nothing at all.
He knew perfectly well that Blaziken possessed more than enough battle experience to win this match easily even without receiving direct commands from him.
Blaziken did not disappoint Alex and immediately began preparing a move on her own without waiting for instructions.
The young girl tried her best not to show it, but Alex still noticed that she was extremely nervous.
Although she acted arrogantly before the battle started, it was obvious that she fully understood the enormous gap in strength between them.
Alex remained silent and calmly watched as both Blaziken and Nidoqueen completed their attacks at almost the exact same moment.
Blaziken unleashed Overheat, while Nidoqueen used Rock Slide.
Both Pokémon attempted to evade the incoming attacks, but neither of them managed to dodge completely.
Blaziken nearly escaped the attack and only got hit by 3 large rocks, while Nidoqueen was struck directly by the blazing flames of Overheat.
Even though both Pokémon had been hit by Master Rank moves, the difference in power between the two sides became immediately obvious.
Nidoqueen crashed heavily onto the ground and lost consciousness almost instantly.
Meanwhile, although Blaziken had taken some damage from the extremely effective Rock-type move, She still stood proudly without showing any real signs of injury.
The young girl stared at the unconscious Nidoqueen with a stunned expression.
She had expected to lose the battle eventually, but she hadn't imagined that the difference between them would be this overwhelming.
The referee quickly examined Nidoqueen before raising his flag and announcing, "Nidoqueen is unable to battle. Blaziken wins."
Blaziken calmly shook the dust off her body and looked toward Alex with a confident expression, clearly showing that she hadn't considered the battle difficult in the slightest.
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