After Tentacruel was defeated, the old man shook his head with a sense of helplessness. This was his strongest Pokémon, yet it couldn't cause Natsui much trouble, making the rest of the battle incredibly difficult.
He had checked Natsui's lineup before the match and knew Natsui also had an even stronger Gyarados. Since he couldn't even defeat Blastoise, he realized his run in the cup was likely over.
He felt truly unwilling to accept this; being an older man, he wasn't sure if he could participate in the next cup. He had worked hard to reach the Top 16, which was his best result ever.
But the sheer gap in skill made him feel a genuine sense of despair. This powerlessness made him realize that Natsui was indeed different from other competitors and extremely strong.
Seriously, why would a young Trainer with this level of strength participate in this kind of competition?
He sighed softly, and urged by the referee, he sent out his second Pokémon. A blue flash revealed an octopus-like Pokémon appearing before Natsui.
This was Octillery, a pure Water-type Pokémon. It looked much like an octopus from Earth, entirely red, with two suction cups on each tentacle, giving it a somewhat slippery appearance.
They generally live in rock formations or caves on the seabed, habitually boring holes and hiding in rocky caverns or jars. They will sometimes suddenly spray ink to escape powerful enemies or launch a sneak attack.
Despite its soft, squishy appearance, it is the opposite of its look, possessing a hard head. It will use its tentacles to coil around prey, preventing escape, and then repeatedly ram them. It delivers the final blow only after the prey completely loses the ability to resist.
Facing the old man's second Pokémon, Natsui neither needed nor intended to swap out Blastoise, choosing to keep it in the fight.
Given Octillery's physique, its tentacles could not possibly coil around Blastoise's huge body, completely neutralizing this primary advantage.
However, it did know a few Ice-type moves, which meant it was not entirely defenseless against Blastoise.
As the battle started, Octillery immediately used Aurora Beam, attempting to use the Ice type to counter Blastoise from a distance.
Blastoise could easily evade such an attack by jumping off its stone pillar and into the water. Furthermore, Octillery's power was insufficient to completely freeze the large battle arena, leaving it with no way to force a direct confrontation.
Aurora Beam only managed to freeze a small section of the water surface, turning the spray from Blastoise's leap into ice crystals, but it failed to hit the target.
Once Blastoise approached from underwater, Octillery couldn't even manage to launch any Ice-type moves.
Having no choice, the old man had Octillery also dive underwater, hoping to constantly swim and put distance between them while simultaneously looking for an opening in Blastoise's defense.
Blastoise, however, quickly used its signature ability, Hydro Pump, shooting continuous streams of water around itself like powerful twin propellers. This immediately formed a fierce underwater vortex.
Affected by the whirlpool's thrust, all the ink was pushed far away and successfully diluted.
The contaminated water surface couldn't return to its original state immediately, but it became much clearer. Without the protection of the ink, Octillery had nowhere left to hide!
Seeing this, the old man made a final desperate move, ordering Octillery to tightly wrap its tentacles around Blastoise. However, Blastoise was immensely strong and relied on its heavy physique, shaking free in just a few movements.
At that moment, Natsui seized the opportunity of the two Pokémon being close by, ordering Blastoise to use a series of moves. It ultimately finished Octillery with a powerful Skull Bash.
The referee immediately announced the result of the match.
The audience erupted in cheers upon seeing Natsui effortlessly defeat both of his opponent's Pokémon using only Blastoise.
At this point in the tournament, Natsui was the undisputed top seed in the eyes of the audience, thanks to his popularity, strength, and handsome appearance. More people paid attention to him every day, hoping he would win the championship!
Waving to the audience, Natsui returned to the lounge.
Ash and Misty stood up to congratulate him upon his return, but unlike Misty's genuine happiness, Ash seemed a little disappointed.
Both his travel partner and the rival he respected had advanced, while he was eliminated, making it difficult for him to feel calm.
Fortunately, he had a very easygoing personality, and after a brief period of low spirits, he quickly put his frustration behind him. He had already recovered before Natsui had even finished his match.
Natsui and his friends left together to meet up with Erika and Brock.
Since Natsui and Misty had successfully advanced to the Top 8, the day's competition was not over; in the afternoon, the remaining eight participants would need to fight two more rounds to determine the final two contestants for the finals. This, of course, significantly increased the chance of Natsui and Misty having to battle each other again.
Judging by the schedule, the tournament was very condensed. This was unavoidable because the Whirl Islands Cup was a local event; making it too long and time-consuming would risk losing Trainers traveling through the region and preparing for the Silver Conference.
Without the participation of these elite Trainers, and only leaving the elderly and weaker island residents to compete, the average skill level would drop significantly, even if the number of participants remained the same. Even if they had to settle for selecting the "best of the worst" Sea Hero, that champion would have no real prestige and would even damage the cup's reputation further.
Since there were only a dozen or so contestants left, the Top 16 matches were completed in just two or three hours.
While the group hadn't finished lunch in the restaurant, the pairings for the Top 8 were already freshly posted.
But before Natsui and Misty could even check who their opponents were, a young, pretty woman walked up to them.
The woman was about twenty-four or twenty-five, wearing light makeup. Her long red hair was styled into a side ponytail, and she wore two large, beaded earrings, a red T-shirt, and a pink long skirt.
She approached the pair, first looking Natsui up and down curiously for a long time, before finally turning her gaze to Misty.
"You must be Misty?"
Misty looked up at her, a blank expression on her face, clearly not recognizing the woman. "Yes, that's me. May I ask who you are?"
Before the woman could answer, Brock, seemingly shot by Cupid's arrow, instantly leaped up and quickly came to stand in front of the woman.
"I know! I know!" Brock's eyes seemed to turn into red hearts as he excitedly exclaimed, "You are the beautiful lady who easily won all her previous matches!"
Brock's ability to fall in love with every beautiful lady he meets and remember their specific traits is truly a remarkable talent.
The woman looked at Brock with surprise. "Oh? You know me?"
"Of course!" Brock seized the woman's hand and knelt on one knee like a knight proposing marriage. "I watched all of your battles, besides those of my friends! After all, a beautiful lady like you shines brightly wherever you go!"
The woman was clearly taken aback by Brock's sudden enthusiasm. She quickly pulled her hand free and stepped back, looking cautiously at the small-eyed man before her.
Seeing Brock's behavior, Misty raised her fist and fiercely punched him on the head, unceremoniously dragging him back.
"I apologize, please ignore this guy. There's something very wrong with his head!"
Natsui, Erika, and Ash exchanged a look, sharing a wry smile.
For them, and even for Erika, who wasn't very familiar with him, this was completely normal for Brock. Sometimes he even took notes! If there was ever a day he didn't chase after a pretty woman like a maniac, that would actually be the abnormal behavior!
Ignoring the man, the woman turned her attention back to Misty. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Trinity, and I am your opponent for the next match!"
Her opponent for the next match?
Misty was stunned, not expecting her opponent to seek her out directly. Her expression instantly became serious.
However, Trinity was clearly not approaching with hostility. She smiled at Misty, saying: "I watched your matches too. You and your Pokémon work well together, and your battle intuition is excellent. It's clear you are a powerful Water-type Pokémon Trainer. Especially your Psyduck, it's truly interesting and left a very deep impression on me!"
Hearing such high praise from Trinity, Misty's expression immediately softened.
"Thank you for the compliment!"
Trinity extended her hand and smiled as she shook Misty's hand. "I'm really looking forward to battling you. Let's both give our best performance and fight hard!"
After saying this, she then turned her gaze to Natsui, her eyes burning with intensity.
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