The room erupted in cheers, followed by thunderous applause.
But thinking that this girl might face Abigail later, everyone in the room became troubled for a moment.
"This girl is really amazing," Gus murmured.
None of the previous matches had brought such intense tension as this one.
It felt like the score was being contested point by point.
But everything seemed to be within Serena's expectations.
Caroline became somewhat nervous.
Meanwhile, Serena exited the stage. Four duels had ended, and they were now drawing lots for the winners to battle.
Serena walked toward backstage while praying.
She temporarily didn't want to face Abigail immediately.
The main reason was that she currently couldn't determine Gengar's strength based on its current performance, nor which Pokémon she should choose.
Although she knew Gengar's level, she clearly understood that the strength Gengar displayed was definitely not what an ordinary Gengar of that level should possess.
The strongest Pokémon she currently had was her Delphox, which had been with her since the beginning of her journey.
It even had a type advantage against Gengar, but unless absolutely necessary, she didn't want to send it out.
Thinking this, she took a deep breath, prayed for a while, then looked up at the scoreboard.
Seeing that she was separated from Abigail, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
So she jogged forward, greeted Abigail, and then solemnly said to her: "If we really meet in the finals later, don't let me win either, okay?"
Abigail was startled for a moment, then raised a smile at her: "No problem. You too, give it your all."
Though she said this, Abigail didn't put the rings back on Gengar.
After all, it was "giving it your all," not "full power cheating."
As a veteran gamer, Abigail could distinguish the difference between the two.
Additionally, she began to have plans to catch new Pokémon.
On one hand, she might encounter Gyms that required several Pokémon to challenge later. On the other hand, the Contest Battle made her realize that during this time, she had become overly dependent on Amber, who was trained by Ron.
Of course, although she also had battle experience accumulated from going into the mines with it, this seemed somewhat unstoppable in Kalos.
Which made both Gym battles and regular battles seem uninteresting.
Thinking this, Abigail took Gengar onto the battle field.
Serena waved at Abigail, then turned to look at the broadcast screen.
Only Serena and her opponent remained backstage now.
"Her Gengar is very strong," that person suddenly spoke: "Is she your friend?"
"Mm, it's very powerful," Serena nodded.
Upon hearing this, that person continued silently watching Abigail on the field. At this moment, both had tacitly acknowledged that one of them would face Abigail later, so they were both solemnly observing Gengar on the field.
"Removing the accessories was to go all out?" he asked again.
This was something Serena had just noticed. Looking at Gengar with bare claws, she thought and said: "Perhaps?"
This person became even more cautious. From Gengar's appearance until now, it had actually only used one move.
Therefore, information was pitifully scarce, making him feel the pressure multiply for a moment.
Meanwhile, Ron saw Gengar without its accessories.
He paused, looking at Gunther nearby.
Gunther was currently desperately recording this hard-won information.
"Should I copy you some videos of previous battles and League matches next time?" Ron asked.
——
"Huh?" Gunther looked up sharply at Ron: "Really? When?"
"Winter probably. The exact date isn't set yet. Maybe once everything at the farm is settled, I'll set out," Ron said.
Gunther nodded excitedly. He then seemed to remember something, pulled out a rusty key from his pocket, and handed it to Ron: "I don't have much to thank you with. This is the key to the sewers over there. It's yours."
Gunther himself felt this gift was somewhat shabby, but he truly had nothing else to repay Ron with, so he thick-skinnedly turned back to continue watching the match.
Although Gengar wasn't wearing rings this time, its own strength was still there. It only took three moves to defeat the opponent's Pokémon.
The commentary also lost much of its enthusiasm.
"Quagsire is unable to battle! Gengar wins!"
"Although the moves weren't gorgeous enough—it at least demonstrated a wild beauty," the judge gave a difficult evaluation.
Meanwhile, the defeated party exited the stage and went to the recovery area in the back to treat their Quagsire, where they happened to run into the Coordinator who had first battled Abigail.
"I underestimated you," that Coordinator said, looking at the unconscious Quagsire.
"Huh?" The defeated party didn't understand the logic, looking at his still-sleeping Inkay: "What do you mean?"
"That girl from Pelican Town actually chose to remove her accessories when facing your Quagsire," he said, looking at his own Inkay knocked out in one hit: "In this situation, your Quagsire actually withstood three moves."
Upon hearing this, the Quagsire's Trainer became even more confused.
For a moment, he also couldn't tell whether the Inkay's Trainer was making a big deal out of nothing, or if his Quagsire was really that amazing.
Thinking this, he touched his Quagsire with some pride.
Equally grave was Serena's opponent.
Of course, there was no intention of underestimating Serena, but obviously, in Contest Battles, compared to someone who let the opponent perform, someone like Abigail who gave no chance at all was clearly more troublesome.
This meant all preparations for the Contest Battle were for naught, leaving only brutal head-on confrontation. And because the opponent's details were unclear, there was no way to know if they could win.
"Good luck," Serena smiled at him, beginning to prepare to go on stage.
Meanwhile, Abigail took Gengar to recover its condition.
After all, having said she would go all out, she needed to let Gengar attack in its best, non-cheating state.
Thinking this, Abigail entered the backstage of the Pokémon Center.
The television nearby was broadcasting Serena's battle, but she didn't feel Serena would lose at all. So she was still confirming battle strategies with Gengar—how to use moves as gorgeously as possible without being so simple and crude.
The two Trainers nearby couldn't help but show stern expressions. Upon learning that Abigail was preparing for a battle with Serena, they looked at Serena on the screen with added caution.
—Could she actually be even stronger than that girl from Pelican Town?
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