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The match between Team Rocket and Anthony unfolded exactly as it had in the original anime storyline.
Team Rocket had Meowth sneak beneath the ring to spread glue and stick Hitmonchan's feet to the ground.
Then the two humans used their signature "teleportation" technique to dramatically leap onto the ring, performing their usual theatrical display.
Of course, neither Bruno nor Morning Sun were moved by this performance - their hearts weren't just unaffected, they actually wanted to laugh at the absurd spectacle.
"Mr. Morning Sun, my father has decided not to participate in the Fighting tournament anymore. I'm sorry for making you come here for nothing," Rebecca said as she approached Eddie with genuine remorse.
Rebecca still had a conscience, it seemed. She felt that Eddie might be disappointed by this turn of events, so she came over to apologize personally.
"It's perfectly fine. Your problem has been resolved, which is a good thing. There's no need to apologize to me," Eddie replied naturally, comforting Rebecca with a gentle tone.
Besides, her father's situation had little connection to Eddie's purpose here. Eddie had come to win the championship of this tournament.
"I hope the reward is worthwhile, otherwise I'll feel quite disappointed," Eddie thought to himself.
Although the objective was simple, the process was incredibly tedious. It wasn't nearly as engaging as the previous hypnosis incident, which at least had some complexity to work through.
In this tournament, he was forced to battle against these novice trainers, which was mind-numbingly boring.
"Alright! Now it's finally time for the finals!" the announcer declared enthusiastically.
"We invite Hitmonlee and its trainer, the Giant competitor, along with Lucario and its trainer, Mr. Morning Sun, to take the stage!"
The host was giving his energetic speech while encouraging Eddie to enter the arena.
Eddie stepped forward at this moment, but he couldn't help wanting to laugh when he saw the Team Rocket trio in their pathetic disguises.
He pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at Hitmonlee. He had forgotten to check this Pokémon's strength earlier, but now that he had to battle, he wanted to understand his opponent first.
Name: Hitmonlee
Type: Fighting
Level: Level 40 (Peak rank)
"Just barely reached Peak level, but still quite weak..." Eddie mused with boredom.
Fortunately, his opponent was at least Peak rank. If it had still been Advanced level, he would have sent Team Rocket flying immediately.
Although, in the end, it was certain that the trio would be blasted off anyway.
"Why is this guy clearly smiling, but I'm getting chills all over?" Jessie started shivering again as she asked James nervously.
"Don't ask me - I'm trembling too," James replied, also shaking with fear.
"By the way, ask Meowth if everything's ready. Without some tricks up our sleeves, we can't possibly win," Jessie suddenly remembered their backup plan and immediately spoke to James.
"It's preparing everything. We just need to stall for a little while longer," James replied, naturally knowing that without some underhanded tactics, they would definitely lose to Lucario.
They had formulated their strategy early on and now just had to wait for Meowth to set up all their equipment.
"The match begins now!" the referee announced.
While Jessie and James were whispering to each other, the battle had officially started.
"Hmph... Look at the way they're whispering to each other. They're obviously planning some kind of scheme," Eddie observed with growing interest.
Instead of defeating his opponent directly and ending the match quickly, it would be much more entertaining to play along with their little games.
"Eevee, go under the ring. Do this and that..." Eddie whispered instructions to Eevee, telling it exactly what to do.
"Vee! Vee!" Eevee nodded happily, indicating that it would execute the plan perfectly.
It jumped down from the ring and then snuck underneath the arena floor.
There, Eevee spotted Meowth secretly installing an electrical device.
If Eddie hadn't given specific orders, Eevee would have definitely given Meowth a shock right then and there. But because of Eddie's instructions, it remained hidden for the time being.
"Lucario, play around with them for a while. Don't win until I give you the signal," Eddie instructed his Fighting-type partner.
Lucario looked puzzled when it heard this command, then noticed the movement beneath the ring. It sensed that both Meowth and Eevee seemed to be doing something down there.
Having been with Eddie for quite some time, Lucario naturally understood that Eddie sometimes enjoyed activities that amused him.
It simply rolled its eyes at Eddie, then helplessly indicated that it understood the plan.
"Hitmonlee! Use Blaze Kick!" Jessie shouted, seeing Eddie talking to Lucario. She immediately became nervous and launched a direct attack.
"Lucario, counter with Blaze Kick!" Eddie called out calmly.
Hitmonlee was already airborne at this point, kicking hard toward Lucario with flames surrounding its leg.
However, Lucario performed a perfect 360-degree spinning Blaze Kick, meeting Hitmonlee's attack head-on.
Although Blaze Kick is a Fire-type move that's super effective against Steel-type Pokémon, Lucario was significantly stronger than Hitmonlee.
Not only did the two attacks cancel each other out completely, but when Hitmonlee's attack dispersed, Lucario followed up by kicking the opposing Pokémon away with an ordinary, non-move kick.
This kick was just a regular physical strike, not a Pokémon move, so it wasn't particularly powerful.
"Excellent. Just keep playing with them like this," Eddie said, switching into spectator mode as he watched the match with the expression of someone enjoying a theatrical performance.
In his own words, all he needed now was a bottle of soda and a bucket of popcorn to complete the entertainment experience.
"This kid is clearly just toying with them," Bruno observed from the stands, immediately recognizing that Eddie was simply playing around. He rolled his eyes helplessly.
It seemed that no one in this Fighting tournament could serve as a proper opponent for Eddie, so Bruno couldn't observe Eddie's true fighting style.
This kind of playful battle was no different from the previous one-hit knockouts - it didn't reveal Eddie's genuine combat strategies.
"Well, it's still early in the day anyway. I'm not in any rush," Bruno decided, knowing he wouldn't learn anything useful today.
"Trainers like him will definitely participate in the Indigo League Conference. That's when I'll get to see his real fighting style," Bruno muttered to himself as he prepared to leave.
After Bruno departed, Eddie's match was nearing its planned conclusion.
"Damn it! I can't land a single effective hit! Is Meowth ready yet or not?!" Jessie shouted angrily.
No matter what moves Hitmonlee used, Lucario would easily counter them and then knock Hitmonlee away with non-move attacks.
This battle had been continuing for several minutes, and Jessie was growing increasingly frustrated watching the one-sided affair.
"Ready, ready, meow!" Meowth announced, having finished installing the device. It scurried out from beneath the ring and called to Jessie.
Of course, as soon as Meowth left the underside of the arena, Eevee instantly evolved into Jolteon and used its electricity to disable the device that Meowth had just installed.
Then Jolteon carefully removed the sabotaged equipment and snuck to a position close to Team Rocket's location.
It was waiting for Eddie's signal, ready to surprise Team Rocket when the moment was right.