Chapter 147: You're Throwing Sand at Me?
After his match, Basalt walked back down the competitor's tunnel and into the lounge. As he entered, a tall, well-built young man, at least six feet tall, looked over at him. Their eyes met, and a slight smirk played on the young man's lips.
This was Aiden, the seeded competitor from Ochre City. He had won his match in Group Six, which had taken place before Basalt's. With his Combusken's speed and power, he had easily secured his victory.
Though they acknowledged each other, neither made a move to say hello. They could be friends later, after a winner was decided.
"Huh? Where's Waylon?" Basalt glanced around, noticing his teammate was gone. He must have left right after losing his match.
"Just as well. Saves me the trouble of trying to console him," Basalt thought with a wry shake of his head. Waylon had always been a bit of a lone wolf, not particularly skilled at socializing. After losing to Basalt, he had become even more withdrawn. They'd been on the same team for a while now but had barely exchanged a few words.
With that brief thought, the quarterfinals continued. The fifth match featured a Breloom against a Magneton. It was the same Breloom that had knocked out Yao's Onix in the preliminaries—incredibly fast and powerful. But the Magneton was even more impressive. It started with a Light Screen to block attacks, then used Electroweb to slow the Breloom down, followed by a relentless bombardment of Signal Beams and Magnet Bombs, securing an easy victory.
"Silas," Basalt murmured, recalling the Magneton trainer's name. He was another member of the Centralis City team, ranked just below the two championship favorites. If Silas weren't so patient, he could have easily evolved his Magneton into a Magnezone in a special magnetic field and contended for the championship himself.
The sixth, seventh, and eighth matches followed in quick succession. Basalt finally got to see Kaden and Elara in action. They were on a completely different level, their opponents utterly dominated from start to finish. Watching them, Basalt felt a pressure he hadn't felt in a long time.
"I'm still not strong enough," he thought, clenching his fists. "If only you could evolve," he whispered to Drilbur's Poké Ball.
Honestly, with all the resources Drilbur had accumulated, it should have been ready to evolve long ago. But for some reason, perhaps because of its incredibly high Life Energy, its body was like a bottomless pit, still greedily absorbing the energy from the metal fluids, unwilling to stop. Agent Zhou had originally estimated it would evolve in about a month. It had been almost two, and there was still no sign of it.
The eight matches of the Round of 16 took a full two hours to complete. By the time they were finished, it was already eleven o'clock.
"Basalt, great job!" Supervisor Hoffman greeted him as he came out of the tunnel. Making it to the Top 8 was a significant achievement. Metro City didn't manage it every year, mainly because the trainers from Centralis and Nexus City were just too strong.
The newly minted Top 8 roster was a testament to that fact. Centralis City had taken three spots, Nexus City had two, and Ochre City, Jade City, and Metro City had one each. Every other city had been eliminated. And the quality of the Centralis trainers was staggering; two of their three quarterfinalists were the top championship favorites. The gap in skill was immense.
"Have the groups for the Relay Battle been announced yet?" Basalt asked. With the individual matches on hold until tomorrow, it was time to focus on the team event.
"They have," Hoffman said with a sigh. "Our luck isn't great, but it's not terrible either. We're in a group with Haven City and Ochre City. Our first match this afternoon is against Haven."
"Haven City has historically been one of the weakest teams in the region, so we don't need to worry too much about them. But Ochre City... they're the strongest city outside of Centralis and Nexus. That's going to be a tough fight."
"Ochre City, huh? What a coincidence," Basalt said with a raised eyebrow. His opponent tomorrow morning, Aiden, was Ochre City's seeded competitor. It seemed he'd be facing them in both formats.
"Basalt, your quarterfinal match tomorrow is crucial for both you and Metro City," Hoffman said, his eyes intense. "It's been almost ten years since we've had a trainer in the Top 4. If you can make it, I'm sure the city will reward you generously."
The implication was clear. Basalt still hadn't used Sandstorm. And his opponent was a Fire-type Combusken, giving Drilbur a type advantage. The only issue was that Aiden was a championship favorite and likely had a few tricks up his sleeve.
"Don't worry," Basalt said with a smile. "I won't let you down."
The Relay Battle against Haven City was a blowout. Metro City dominated from start to finish. Basalt, who was in the anchor position, didn't even get a chance to battle. Waylon's Haunter, in particular, was an absolute monster, pulling off a three-Pokémon sweep. But the team didn't let the victory go to their heads. They knew their real opponent was Ochre City.
The next morning, Basalt once again stepped onto the battlefield.
"Both trainers, please release your Pokémon!"
At the referee's signal, Basalt and Aiden locked eyes and threw their Poké Balls.
"Combus!" With a sharp cry, a Pokémon that resembled a fighting cock appeared. It was the Fire/Fighting-type, Combusken. Its eyes were sharp and piercing, radiating a fierce energy.
"Chaa!" But Drilbur wasn't intimidated. Battling weaklings was boring. A championship favorite? Now this was a fight worth having.
"Let the battle begin!"
"Vacuum Wave!" Aiden commanded instantly.
"Combus!" Combusken threw a punch, and a wave of compressed air shot forward, slamming into Drilbur.
BAM!
Drilbur slid back three steps, digging its claws into the ground to stop itself. It was already injured. This Combusken is a mixed attacker, Basalt realized. Its special attack is impressive. But he wasn't worried. Everything was going according to plan.
"Sand Tomb!" he countered.
RUMBLE!
The ground beneath Combusken collapsed into a swirling vortex. But the Fire-type had reacted instantly, leaping seven or eight meters into the air just before the ground gave way. Aiden had clearly done his homework on Drilbur and was prepared for this move.
"Mega Kick!" he commanded.
"Combus!" In mid-air, Combusken aimed a powerful kick at Drilbur.
"Crush Claw, meet it head-on!"
But to everyone's surprise, Combusken's trajectory shifted in mid-air, its arms spread out as if gliding.
"It's the move Aerial Ace!" the commentator explained. "At the last second, Combusken used the air currents to change its position."
"A feint?" Basalt frowned. He's avoiding a direct confrontation? That doesn't make sense.
Then, it clicked. "He's trying to stall for time..." Combusken's Speed Boost ability needed time to activate. Aiden was trying to buy enough time for the first speed increase before overwhelming Drilbur.
"Quick on the uptake, aren't you?" Aiden smirked. But it was too late. The first speed boost was about to kick in.
"Sand Attack!" he yelled, preparing to lower Drilbur's accuracy and seal his victory.
"Combus!" Combusken kicked up a cloud of sand and sent it flying toward Drilbur.
But something strange happened. As the sand neared Drilbur, it didn't hit. Instead, it began to swirl and spin around it, as if controlled by an invisible hand.
"What... what's going on?" Aiden stammered, completely baffled. He'd never seen a Sand Attack with that kind of power. And why was the sand from the Sand Tomb also being drawn into the swirling vortex?
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