The Electricity Cup began, and Central Park was already packed with people.
It was a good thing that Trainers and spectators entered through different passages, otherwise Kebi was a little worried he wouldn't be able to squeeze in.
He originally thought that after training in the Kenpo of Da She, his physique was already quite strong.
But when he saw a spectator, an old lady, holding an Aron—a Heavy Metal one at that—as easily as if it were a plush toy, Kebi knew he still had to train!
Since the bankruptcy of Dashe Style Corporation, Mauville City hadn't been this lively in a long time.
After discussing with Tie Xuan, the mayor temporarily revised the Electricity Cup's format.
The format was changed to a two-on-two battle, extending the competition time; what could have been finished in one day was now stretched to three.
The number of Pokémon to prepare increased to four, and many Trainers with insufficient bench depth might be eliminated on the first day.
Free medical stations were set up near the competition venue, with Miss Joy from the Pokémon Center personally leading the team, ensuring excellent logistical support.
Kebi smiled confidently; regardless of others' complaints, the change in format provided an opportunity for his Pokémon to shine.
He wanted the Trainers present to remember that Kebi, from Sandgem Town, was an excellent Trainer!
Kebi's draw put him in Group K of the lower bracket. He aimed for an undefeated run to directly enter the main competition as the top seed and make a name for himself in Mauville City!
There were eight battlefields in total, and Kebi didn't have to wait long before it was Group K's turn to battle.
Kebi's opponent was a burly man. The burly man called the coin toss correctly, getting the first move, and sent out a Breloom.
The burly man grinned menacingly and said, "Kid, watch me flatten your Pokémon!"
Kebi scoffed, pouting his lips, and sent out Chimchar to battle.
"Gigi!"
Being the first to appear made Chimchar very excited; his fists were already itching, wanting to thoroughly beat something up.
The burly man confidently looked at the skinny monkey opposite him, "Breloom, Mach Punch! Flatten that little monkey for me!"
Kebi responded calmly, "Flame Wheel!"
Chimchar transformed into a scorching wheel, knocking aside Breloom's punch and crushing it from its abdomen upwards.
After Flame Wheel flew into the sky, it descended again, directly pinning Breloom to the ground.
The opponent's face changed drastically, "Impossible!"
"Nothing's impossible. Fire Punch, finish him!" Kebi said coldly.
Breloom, have you ever seen a punch descend from the sky?!
Breloom, who had just gotten up, was struck heavily on the head by Chimchar, who had leaped high into the air.
Breloom's body stiffened and fell straight backward.
The burly man's face turned very ugly, "My Breloom, how could this be…"
The referee waved the flag, "Breloom is unable to battle. The winner is Chimchar."
With such a slow Mach Punch, what's impossible about it?
It went down with just Flame Wheel and Fire Punch; just a weakling.
"Loudred, it's your turn."
Kebi also recalled Chimchar, replacing him with Piplup.
"Loudred, Hyper Voice!"
Loudred was his ace; he refused to believe that even Loudred couldn't score a point.
Kebi didn't play around either, directly waving his hand to give the command, "Piplup, Hydro Pump!"
Hydro Pump burst forth first, directly pouring into Loudred's wide-open mouth as it was still inhaling to power up Hyper Voice.
The powerful impact sent Loudred flying out of the arena, landing with swirling eyes.
The referee waved the flag again, "Loudred is unable to battle. The winner is Piplup."
As a professional referee, he almost forgot to wave the flag and make the judgment immediately.
It was truly because Piplup's movements were too fast, and Loudred on the other side was too disappointing.
It was defeated in one move.
Spectators whose attention was on other battlefields looked at the burly man leaving and asked in confusion, "Why did he leave? Did he forfeit?"
A spectator nearby who was watching Group K rolled their eyes and said,
"What forfeiture? He just lost too quickly!"
A spectator drinking water choked, "I just went to buy a bucket of popcorn, and the match is already over? What about my popcorn then? Who won?"
"That handsome guy with the sakura-colored hair won. That guy on the other side, he had big muscles, but I didn't expect him to be so useless."
Grabbing a handful of popcorn and stuffing it into their mouth, "What's the use of having big muscles yourself? Your Pokémon need big muscles!"
After sending Piplup and Chimchar to Miss Joy's workstation to recover their stamina, Kebi decided to have Seedot start the next round.
It was too easy to win; let alone Seedot, it felt like Treecko could even win if he went up.
Soon, two Poké Balls were sent back.
"Your Pokémon have recovered their stamina. I look forward to your wonderful performance."
"Thank you for your hard work, Miss Joy."
Throughout the entire Electricity Cup, the hardest working person was Miss Joy, who had to restore the stamina of so many Pokémon.
Fortunately, most problems could be solved with treatment machines, and there weren't many serious injuries that required Miss Joy's personal treatment.
This was just the Electricity Cup, not a regional tournament; unless they got carried away, no one had the urge to fight to the death.
After resting for less than half an hour, Kebi's second match began.
This time, Kebi had the first move. The female opponent on the other side affectedly twirled her hair, "Little cupcake, immerse yourself in big sister's beauty and let me eat you bite by bite."
Kebi shivered. Her face was painted like a ghost; couldn't she be less disgusting?
"If you intend to use your face to launch a mental attack on me, then I admit your plan succeeded, but my will is strong. No matter how ugly the opponent, I can grit my teeth and persevere until the battle ends."
The heavily made-up woman gritted her teeth in anger, wishing she could immediately rush up and have a real-life Trainer battle with Kebi.
"Beautifly, give this blind brat a good lesson!"
Kebi calmly tossed out a Poké Ball, "Seedot, it's up to you."
The heavily made-up woman covered her mouth with her hand and scoffed.
"Seedot, that's hilarious! Beautifly, Silver Wind!"
Without Kebi needing to give the command, Seedot fired a continuous Seed Machine Gun.
Before Silver Wind could be released, Seed Machine Gun struck first, making Beautifly cry out, and the heavily made-up woman's face contorted.
"Beautifly, quickly use Swift."
This time Swift was used, but Seedot launched another volley of Seed Machine Gun, prematurely detonating the Swift, which was theoretically so fast it was guaranteed to hit.
"Poison Sting!"
Still Seed Machine Gun!
"String Shot!"
Still Seed Machine Gun!
Kebi said nothing, his playful smile making the heavily made-up woman almost unable to control her anger.
"Seed Machine Gun! Seed Machine Gun! Don't you have any other moves?!"
Kebi smiled faintly, "Seedot, use Seed Machine Gun with full power!"
Seedot was like a Gatling gun, continuously pouring green seeds onto Beautifly.
Beautifly fell to the ground in a disheveled state, and the heavily made-up woman's face was somewhat contorted with rage.
"Ariados, it's your turn. Use Poison Sting!"
"Dodge it, Seed Machine Gun!"
As Ariados was blasted away by Seed Machine Gun, the match concluded, and the heavily made-up woman lifelessly recalled Ariados.
Kebi scoffed dismissively, "To beat you, this is enough."
Seedot took down two Pokémon with Seed Machine Gun. Kebi only hoped the heavily made-up woman wouldn't dream of Seedot and Seed Machine Gun tonight.