Nothing to say overnight.
This was the sixth day of the competition, with the top eight being decided this morning, the top four this afternoon, and the Champion being decided tomorrow, along with generous rewards.
Lin Fan sat in the waiting area, holding his phone, constantly replying to messages in the class group chat.
Originally, he had planned to post on his social media after winning the championship, but after Su Ling posted, his classmates in the group chat found out about it.
They then saw the list of Top 16 qualifiers on the Zero Moon Cup official website forum, and upon seeing Lin Fan's name, the group chat undoubtedly exploded.
From last night, he had been hounded by classmates, and even now, many were still chatting with him, preparing to watch today's live broadcast.
Lin Fan looked up at the television crew, carrying long and short lenses, scattered throughout the arena, truly not expecting that the battles after qualifying for the Top 16 would be live-streamed.
From today onwards, he would also be considered someone who had appeared on television.
Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the Top 8 matches officially began.
Those who could make it this far basically had the strength to compete as seeded players; however, after comprehensive consideration, only eight people were selected, with the other eight unfortunately missing out.
a group was Kirlia versus Growlithe.
The latter's Trainer came from a family of police officers, and this Growlithe was also a carefully selected, excellent Pokémon, possessing formidable strength.
b was Scyther versus Heracross.
Both Pokémon were very rare Bug-type Pokémon, and Lin Fan coveted both of them.
This battle was also dubbed the “Little Bug King Battle” by busybodies.
The reason it wasn’t called the “Bug King Battle” was because Beedrill’s performance of instantly defeating its opponent yesterday was too shocking.
Everyone implicitly agreed that Beedrill was the strongest “Bug King” of this Zero Moon Cup, and those who initially supported Scyther had all defected, becoming loyal followers of Beedrill.
The c group was Spheal versus Shellder, with their attributes resisting each other, which was quite dramatic.
Moreover, it was said that Shellder's Trainer and Spheal's Trainer, Liu Zhiruo, were friends and had come to compete together, further heightening the dramatic tension of the battle.
The a group battle quickly began, with both sides having no intention of probing, going all out from the start.
Kirlia used Psybeam, and Growlithe unleashed Bite, which it had never used before, easily breaking through the attack, then counter-attacked with Flame Wheel charging towards Kirlia.
The latter was not to be outdone, abandoning Psychic-type moves and instead using the Fairy-type Disarming Voice, as well as using Double Team to evade Growlithe, who was trying to get close.
After several rounds, Xu Yue figured out Growlithe's moves, and directly had Kirlia use Teleport to appear in front of Growlithe, who had just finished its charge.
A close-range Hypnosis successfully put Growlithe to sleep, followed by two Psybeams to end the match.
The final outcome was instantaneous; many spectators were still immersed in the back-and-forth battle when they saw Growlithe suddenly collapse, and the match ended in confusion.
Flashlights flickered wildly below the stage, and countless reporters wrote furiously, striving to publish their first articles as quickly as possible.
“Teleport?! Kirlia can use Teleport already?!”
Lin Fan's eyes widened.
As useless as the Teleport skill was in games, it was equally powerful in reality; in fact, half the reason Psychic-type Pokémon were so valuable was because the Teleport skill was too much of a bug.
But precisely because it was so much of a bug, its learning difficulty was extremely high, and the requirements for the user were also extremely high.
He truly hadn't expected Kirlia, who had only recently evolved, to be able to use Teleport.
Is this the foundation of a Psychic Gym?
While he pondered, the b group battle had already begun.
Although both sides were very strong, Heracross, like Exeggcute's quadruple weakness to Bug-type, was quadruply weak to Flying, and Scyther happened to have the Flying-type.
A few Wing Attacks easily ended the battle.
“Quadruple weakness is really fatal,” Lin Fan muttered.
Next was Spheal versus Shellder.
Both Pokémon's move pools basically only contained Ice-type and Water-type moves, resisting each other, making the fight completely ineffective.
After probing for a round or two, Shellder's Trainer directly raised his hand to concede, and Liu Zhiruo's expression remained unchanged, clearly, the two had already discussed it.
Both battles ended anticlimactically, and the audience was clearly not very satisfied, after all, these were Top 8 battles, but they looked more like preliminary rounds.
Hearing the disappointed voices around him, Lin Fan sheepishly rubbed his nose.
Sure enough, when the referee announced that Lin Fan's opponent had chosen to forfeit, the audience was instantly petrified.
There were only eight matches in total in the Top 8, but three of the first four matches showed such dramatic performances, naturally leaving everyone speechless.
“It's up to you to liven up the atmosphere.”
Lin Fan handed the lucky hat to Su Ling and gave her a serious task.
Su Ling glared at Lin Fan speechlessly, took a deep breath, and with a slightly nervous expression, put on the hat.
She composed herself and stepped onto the stage as the referee's voice rang out.
Machop versus Onix!
The moment these two Pokémon appeared on the battle arena, the dissatisfaction that had permeated the audience instantly vanished.
Everyone held their breath, anticipating the start of this battle.
Although most of the audience were not Trainers, after watching and learning for the past few days, they understood that both of these Pokémon were very strong.
Onix had the edge in raw power, but Machop had a type advantage over Onix, making the battle's outcome unpredictable and thus more captivating to the audience.
Wu Heng still had the harmless smile on his face as Lin Fan had first seen him, his gaze falling on the familiar hat on Su Ling's head.
He chuckled and greeted Su Ling, “Hello, I heard you’re with Lin Fan.
Please tell him for me that I’m looking forward to battling him.”
Su Ling gritted her teeth; this guy seemed friendly, but he had already decided she wasn't his opponent.
As soon as the referee announced the start of the match, Su Ling, who had been holding her breath, immediately gave her command: “Machop, Focus Energy, Low Kick!”
Machop clenched its fists, flexed all its muscles, composed itself, and calmly charged towards Onix, which was dozens of times larger than itself.
Wu Heng smiled: “Rock Slide, block it.”
Massive rocks fell from the sky, precisely blocking Machop's path forward.
The latter reacted just as swiftly, leaping to jump over the giant rock in front of it, but what awaited it was Onix, roaring and charging towards it.
Bang!
A dull thud sounded, and Machop's figure flew backward, suspended in mid-air for a few seconds before finally landing and staggering to its feet.
However, before it could prepare itself, Onix's figure attacked again.
“Don’t underestimate Onix’s speed, my friend.”
Wu Heng's voice, tinged with a faint smile, rang out, full of confidence.
“Sand Tomb!”
A howling sandstorm rose into the sky, swirling to trap Machop within it.
Machop, already struggling to control its balance, swayed even more under the powerful tearing force of the sandstorm, completely unable to make an effective counter-strategy.
Just as it finally managed to regain its footing, a massive head suddenly appeared before its eyes.
“It’s over, Onix, Iron Head!”
A metallic luster spread, and with a “boom,” a huge sound erupted, and dust filled the air.
As it cleared, Machop had already lost its ability to battle.
Onix, a complete victory!