Murata Chihiro was a student from the Ellie Region, not particularly tall, with a black headband and three Poké Balls at his waist. He also stepped onto the battlefield.
Kalia's unfamiliar face puzzled Murata Chihiro momentarily, but he quickly realized she must be an external participant from the Sebas region.
Encountering an outsider in the first round likely meant her strength couldn't be too high. In the previous competition, Murata Chihiro had nearly made it into the top ten. The primary goal of the initial elimination rounds is to weed out weaker participants, so the academy wouldn't typically match him against strong opponents right away.
As Kalia faced Murata Chihiro, she wasn't aware of his Pokemon choices. However, this unpredictability defined real battles; knowing your opponent's entire roster beforehand would make things far too dull.
"Both contestants, please send out your Pokémon." After a brief moment, the referee announced, signaling the start of their battle.
At this time, many students were focused on the mid-level class matches, as beginner-level class battles tended to be uninteresting due to most trainers' Pokémon not having evolved yet, making them relatively weak.
Similarly, advanced-class battles often lacked suspense since most students knew each other's Pokémon, including their movesets, rendering those matches somewhat monotonous.
In the advanced class battles, individual Pokemon strength becomes crucial. Even if one Pokémon is exceptionally powerful, weaker teammates can still contribute effectively. As long as the strongest Pokémon defeats its counterpart, victory is typically assured.
"Go, Charmeleon!" Kalia sent out her Charmeleon. After chatting with other students, she anticipated that her first-round opponent wouldn't be too formidable. Deploying Charmeleon should suffice to secure a win without revealing Ninetales' Drought Ability.
"Hmph." Murata Chihiro chuckled upon seeing Charmeleon, instantly underestimating Kalia. Typically, Charmeleons were more common in beginner-level classes; it was unusual for them to appear in mid-level competitions.
"Go, Scyther."
Murata Chihiro tossed his Poké Ball, releasing a Scyther. Despite Charmeleon being a Fire-type, he consistently preferred starting with Scyther, and a single Charmeleon wasn't enough to alter his strategy.
Lian looked up at the airborne Scyther, feeling delighted. He particularly relished encountering Pokemon weak against Fire-types, as it guaranteed an effortless victory.
For Lian, defeating this Scyther with a single Flamethrower would be effortless, unless Murata immediately switched Pokemon. However, according to the rules, once a Trainer sends out their starting Pokemon, they cannot switch until at least one round of combat has occurred. Only after observing the opponent's move can a substitution be made for tactical defense.
Murata Chihiro quickly commanded, "Scyther, use Agility!"
Agility is a status move that involves relaxing the body, making it lighter and enabling swift movements, thus increasing the Pokemon's speed.
"Charmeleon, Flamethrower," Kalia instructed, disregarding her opponent's chosen move.
Lian gathered a ball of flames in his mouth. Murata intended for Scyther to utilize Agility, evading attacks while simultaneously boosting its own speed. Unfortunately for him, he was facing Lian.
The Scyther began rapidly darting around, leaving trails of afterimages, appearing incredibly difficult to hit.
Lian didn't rush; instead, he observed the movement patterns of the Scyther. Its erratic flying resembled a fly, and hastily releasing Flamethrower could easily miss the target.
Boom!
After a brief moment, Lian opened his mouth and unleashed a burst of scorching flames. However, this time was different; the flames had already ignited inside his mouth before being released.
The orange-red flames shot out with extraordinary speed, accelerating like a cannonball, significantly faster than usual.
This effect occurred because Lian modified the move's release technique. By harnessing a small explosion from part of the flames, he generated immense propulsion, greatly increasing the forward momentum of the remaining flames.
Lian could name this move "Blazing Velocity." The downside was the self-inflicted damage due to the initial flame explosion, making it a strategy where harming oneself by 20% inflicted harm on the enemy by 1000%.
However, its primary advantage lay in the astonishingly rapid speed at which the flames were propelled. Normally, flames could only be expelled through the mouth, but with added propulsion, their velocity dramatically increased.
Lian employed this move specifically to ensure hitting Scyther. Given Scyther's agility, even when using high-speed movement, Lian anticipated its patterns, rendering evasion nearly impossible with this enhanced attack.
The released flames truly resembled a cannonball, blasting forth instantaneously. It seemed mere milliseconds passed before the fiery projectile struck Scyther directly.
By accelerating the Flamethrower's speed, it seemed to have increased its power as well. Lian felt that this rapid-fire version might be even stronger than regular Flamethrower.
However, there were side effects; he couldn't use it frequently without risking more harm than benefit, similar to Solar Power, making it suitable only as a trump card.
Theoretically, if Sunny Day persisted indefinitely, Lian would eventually succumb to Solar Power's adverse effects, losing his combat ability and falling unconscious.
Murata Chihiro's Scyther continued using Agility, but suddenly found itself confronted by a blazing inferno. Although aware of the danger, there was no time to dodge.
Everything happened too swiftly. Normally, while utilizing Agility, most moves could be easily evaded, especially for Murata Chihiro's Scyther, which had extensively trained in dodging during high-speed maneuvers.
Its success rate had always been remarkably high, allowing Scyther to freely dominate once it successfully avoided an attack after executing Agility.
But not this time.
The Scyther endured the fiery impact, akin to being struck by a heavy hammer. Combined with the double weakness to fire-type moves, Scyther was instantly propelled away and crashed hard onto the ground.
After struggling briefly, the Scyther lost its fighting capability and lay motionless.
The battle concluded too swiftly. The expected scenario for the students was that Murata Chihiro's Scyther would execute Agility flawlessly, outmaneuver Charmeleon, and secure an easy victory.
Instead, Charmeleon defeated its opponent with a single move—its Flamethrower precisely hitting and instantly knocking out Scyther.
"How...?" Murata Chihiro was utterly astonished. How could Charmeleon's Flamethrower so effortlessly hit Scyther? Was it sheer luck?
Regardless of the reason, his Scyther had been swiftly taken down, leaving Murata Chihiro visibly dismayed.
This was just the first round! The academy purposely matched him against a weaker opponent, yet his first Pokemon was instantly defeated. Losing now would be incredibly embarrassing.
Murata Chihiro realized the gravity of the situation and scrutinized the opposing Charmeleon on the battlefield. After a moment of contemplation, he decided to go all out.
"Let Empoleon take the stage," Murata Chihiro murmured as he tossed a Poké Ball, summoning a blue-bodied Empoleon onto the field.
This Empoleon was Murata Chihiro's starter Pokémon, evolved from Piplup. Apart from Scyther, Empoleon was his strongest Pokémon.