The next day, the semi-finals of the Kyoto University Pokémon Battle Tournament officially began.
Jiang Mo and Wang Sheng's match was scheduled for the first session in the morning, and the venue drawn was the Water Field.
The center of the Water Field was a wide pool, surrounded by floating platforms for Pokémon to stand on, which was undoubtedly a huge advantage for Water-type Pokémon.
Before the match began, Wang Sheng stood on one side of the battle arena, his brows tightly furrowed.
He had watched all of Jiang Mo's previous matches and found that Jiang Mo's Eevee was unfathomably strong, capable of freely evolving into multiple forms, and easily defeating opponents every time.
This put immense pressure on Wang Sheng; although his Pokémon were all Superior Level, he wasn't entirely confident facing Jiang Mo's Eevee, and since Jiang Mo hadn't sent out any other Pokémon, his trump cards remained unclear.
In fact, even before the match started, Wang Sheng had proactively approached Jiang Mo.
He walked up to Jiang Mo with an arrogant expression, a hint of disdainful smile on his lips, and whispered, "Jiang Mo, I know your Eevee is strong, but I'm not without options."
"For this match, if you forfeit, just name your price. I can guarantee that your days at Kyoto University will be very comfortable from now on."
Jiang Mo raised an eyebrow, looking at Wang Sheng's self-important expression, and sneered inwardly.
He had long heard about Wang Sheng's background and knew that this guy was a spoiled rich kid, relying on his family's power to act like a tyrant in school.
A mere spoiled brat from an Elite Level family dared to be so arrogant. It was fortunate he was a freshman; otherwise, in a place like Kyoto University, which was full of hidden talents, someone would have taught him a lesson long ago.
However, unfortunately, this time he kicked Jiang Mo, a steel plate, so he might have to learn his lesson in his next life.
"Oh? Forfeit?"
Jiang Mo showed a mouthful of white teeth, smiling harmlessly, "Sure, but my price isn't low."
Upon hearing this, a hint of triumph flashed in Wang Sheng's eyes, thinking that Jiang Mo was indeed sensible.
He waved his hand and said with a pretense of generosity, "Tell me, how much? I, Wang Sheng, never mistreat sensible people."
Jiang Mo smiled and slowly extended a finger, saying, "One trillion Poké Coins."
"What?!"
Wang Sheng's face instantly turned ashen, as if he had been slapped hard.
He widened his eyes, looking at Jiang Mo in disbelief, "Are you messing with me?!"
One must know what a trillion Poké Coins meant; selling their entire Wang family a hundred times over wouldn't be enough. Jiang Mo was clearly toying with him.
Jiang Mo shrugged, saying in a relaxed tone, "Didn't you ask me to name a price? I did, so what, can't you afford it?"
Wang Sheng's face turned from green to red, and finally to a liver-like color.
He gritted his teeth and said, "Jiang Mo, don't be ungrateful! I warn you, know when to quit, or you'll need to be careful when walking alone at night!"
Jiang Mo maintained his harmless smile, but his tone turned cold: "Oh? Then I'd like to see what you can do to me."
Wang Sheng was completely enraged by Jiang Mo's attitude, but he also knew it wasn't the time to explode.
He glared fiercely at Jiang Mo, dropped a "You just wait," and turned to leave.
......
The match officially began, and the Rotom referee announced that both sides could send out their Pokémon.
Wang Sheng took a deep breath and threw out his first Pokémon - Magneton.
Magneton floated in the air, emitting buzzing electrical sounds, clearly ready for battle.
However, to everyone's surprise, Jiang Mo did not send out Eevee at the same time, but instead sent out Marshtomp.
Marshtomp leaped out of its Poké Ball and stood steadily on the floating platform of the Water Field, its eyes revealing confidence.
"Marshtomp? Jiang Mo didn't send out Eevee?" A wave of discussion immediately erupted in the stands.
"Marshtomp hasn't completed its final evolution, is Jiang Mo trying to give away points?"
"Could it be that Jiang Mo's other Pokémon aren't strong enough? After all, he's a Researcher, perhaps only focused on training Eevee and Pikachu."
Wang Sheng was also surprised to see Jiang Mo send out Marshtomp, but then a cold smile appeared on his face: "Hmph, it seems Jiang Mo is nothing special."
Although his Magneton had some attribute disadvantage, it was more than enough to deal with an unevolved Marshtomp!
The match began, and Wang Sheng launched the first attack: "Magneton, use Swift!"
Magneton quickly condensed powerful Normal-type energy, and a string of white stars shot out instantly, striking towards Marshtomp.
However, Marshtomp reacted extremely quickly, diving into the water and easily avoiding the Swift attack.
Jiang Mo smiled slightly and commanded: "Marshtomp, use Mud Shot!"
Marshtomp poked its head out of the water and quickly sprayed a blob of mud, directly hitting Magneton.
Although Mud Shot is a Ground-type move, its effect on Magneton is not significant because Magneton can fly in the air, and if the flight altitude is high enough, the reaction time is long, making it easy to dodge.
But Jiang Mo didn't care; his goal was clearly to exhaust the opponent's stamina.
Seeing this, Wang Sheng frowned: "Magneton, use Supersonic to restrict its movement!"
Magneton released Supersonic, attempting to put Marshtomp into a confused state.
However, Marshtomp dived into the water again, and Supersonic quickly dissipated in the water, failing to hit.
In the subsequent battle, Marshtomp utilized the advantage of the Water Field, constantly moving through the water, dodging Magneton's attacks, while continuously exhausting the opponent's stamina with Mud Shot and Earthquake moves.
"Damn it, Magneton, use Hyper Beam!" Seeing the situation was not good, Wang Sheng directly ordered Magneton to unleash its ultimate move, determined to get rid of this mudskipper.
"Marshtomp, use Hydro Pump to counter!" Jiang Mo commanded.
"Boom!"
Hyper Beam and Hydro Pump collided, producing a violent explosion.
"Now! Use Earthquake!"
Although Magneton's attack power was strong, after using the ultimate move Hyper Beam, its body experienced a brief rigidity, and Jiang Mo seized this opportunity.
Finally, Marshtomp leaped and pinned Magneton down, then a close-range Earthquake directly hit Magneton, knocking it to the ground.
"Magneton is unable to battle, Marshtomp wins!" announced the Rotom referee.
A gasp of surprise immediately rose from the audience.
No one expected that Jiang Mo's Marshtomp would be able to defeat Wang Sheng's Magneton, and in such a flexible manner.
Wang Sheng's face became grim.
He gritted his teeth, recalled Magneton, and threw out his second Pokémon - Gliscor.
Gliscor spread its wings, hovering in the air, its sharp eyes fixed on Marshtomp.
"Gliscor, use U-turn!" Wang Sheng decisively ordered.
Gliscor quickly rushed towards Marshtomp while it was still adjusting, hit it with one strike, and then quickly returned to its Poké Ball.
Wang Sheng then sent out his ace - Meganium.