After Ethan's battle, the tournament continued.
It was unknown whether it was because Stefan and Ethan had set the tone, but in the following battles many competitors confident in their own strength began to reveal their most powerful side.
Among the matches of the eight groups, numerous battles appeared where a single trainer consecutively defeated the opponent's three Pokémon, and the information of all those participants was quickly collected by those who were interested.
"Does group 7 have five favorites to qualify?" Ethan murmured.
At that moment he had also received the list, and his face showed a thoughtful expression.
Each group only had two qualification spots, but in Ethan's group there were five strong candidates, which truly made it a group of death.
Moreover, according to the strength ranking indicated on the list, he was placed in fifth place.
The meaning was quite clear: practically no one believed he could qualify.
There was another interesting piece of information: among all the names on the lists, there were only two favorites under 20 years old.
One of them was naturally Ethan.
The other was Kevin, from the Tavaria League.
It was also worth mentioning that in the first round of the tournament all representatives of the Daleron League had achieved victory, advancing to the second round of the group stage.
...
The next day, the battles continued.
While the giant screen continuously spun the matchup roulette, the new list of battles for the group stage was displayed.
"This... I didn't expect that in the second match I would already run into one of the favorites to qualify."
After seeing the list, Ethan could not help but sigh somewhat helplessly.
"Ethan, be careful," Lucas said. "This Eirik is the fourth strongest trainer of the Valhalla League, and his strength is very great. Moreover, he specializes in ice-type Pokémon, and his strength is very close to the Quasi-Elite level."
When the battle was about to begin, Lucas also showed Ethan all the information about his opponent.
"An ice-type trainer?"
"I already know who to send."
Ethan nodded and quickly walked toward the battlefield.
In front of him stood a robust figure, as strong as a bear. When both stepped onto the field, the entire stadium erupted in cheers.
However, compared to the cheers directed at Ethan, the shouts supporting Eirik grew louder and louder, until they completely drowned out those supporting Ethan.
"Eirik, let's go!"
It was not difficult to notice that most of those cheering for him were students from Harvard Pokémon University.
After seeing how Harry had been completely crushed, the students were still full of anger.
So when Ethan's battle started, they all rushed to cheer for his opponent.
They really wanted to see Ethan suffer a defeat in order to feel a little better.
"It seems you're not very popular," Eirik said with a smile, using the League's common language.
"I would say it's quite the opposite," Ethan replied with a smile. "It's clear that all of them came here because of me."
Eirik shook his head.
"Interesting. Then, let's start our battle."
At that moment, the giant screen showed who would attack first.
Eirik had the first turn.
"Go, Abomasnow!"
With a flash of white light, Abomasnow appeared on the field.
Abomasnow is a huge Pokémon that walks on two legs. Its body is covered with thick white fur; its hands, feet, and tail are dark green, and four green pinecone-like protrusions stick out from its back.
"An ice and grass-type Abomasnow!"
"If I'm not mistaken, its ability must be Snow Warning."
Ethan observed thoughtfully.
Eirik was an ice-specialist trainer, so he surely mastered snow weather strategies.
"Then let's have a battle of weather teams." Saying this, Ethan threw his Poké Ball. The Pokémon that appeared was Charizard.
Whoosh~
At the very instant the battle began, Abomasnow activated its ability Snow Warning, creating snowy weather.
An intense cold began to blow across the field and snowflakes started falling from the sky.
"Charizard, Sunny Day!"
While Abomasnow changed the weather with the Snow Warning ability and the move Hail, Charizard also moved.
Fire-type energy gathered in its mouth, transforming into a fireball that quickly ascended into the sky, releasing intense heat.
At that moment, two climates collided on the field.
"Both of them master weather moves!"
The spectators were surprised.
"Ability plus a weather move. If both Pokémon have similar levels, that Abomasnow will definitely win."
The students of Harvard Pokémon University were almost all excellent scholars and quickly made their own judgment.
Under normal circumstances, they were right: an ability combined with a weather move usually secures control of the weather.
But there was an equally important point: the degree of mastery over the move.
And these theorists from Harvard Pokémon University had clearly ignored that detail.
Because right after they spoke, the move Sunny Day began to suppress the hail weather.
"Why is this happening?"
"How can it lose under these conditions?!"
A student shouted in frustration.
"Could it be that Charizard also has the ability Drought?" Someone proposed the idea, and the stadium fell silent.
But instantly someone refuted it.
Charizard was one of the most popular Pokémon and had already been thoroughly studied.
The ability Drought?
If Charizard could really have the ability Drought, I would dress as a woman!
"Drought?"
Seeing the scene, Ethan smiled slightly.
A normal Charizard could not have that ability. But Mega-Charizard Y could.
After multiple mega evolutions, Charizard was already extremely familiar with the ability Drought.
That also raised his mastery of the move Sunny Day to an entirely new level.
In addition, it had the ability Solar Power, which allowed it to match the combination of weather ability + weather move.
And as if that were not enough, Charizard also mastered temperature control, which further increased the power of the move Sunny Day.
The combination of all these factors allowed a simple use of Sunny Day to directly suppress the ability Snow Warning + the move Hail.
"We can't keep going like this!"
On the field, Eirik began to grow nervous as he watched the hail being suppressed.
He clenched his teeth.
"Abomasnow, use Blizzard!"
"Abboomaass!" Abomasnow roared.
Suddenly, a violent gale appeared in the sky.
The snow and hail falling from the sky were absorbed by the wind and transformed into a devastating snowstorm, which rushed directly toward Charizard.
"A Blizzard that gathers all the power of the hail?"
Ethan was surprised.
Before he could react, the storm devoured Charizard's flames and completely engulfed him.
"The hail weather and the Sunny Day move have both disappeared!"
The spectators were stunned.
Everyone looked toward the thick white fog that covered the field.
"What a terrifying Blizzard."
"That attack gathered all the energy of the hail weather!"
"Its power already rivals a real Blizzard."
The students of Harvard Pokémon University were excited.
According to their calculations, that attack had surpassed the normal power limit of the move Blizzard. Even a Quasi-Elite level Pokémon would hardly be able to withstand it head-on.
"Look! Charizard is frozen! The battle is over!"
A student shouted excitedly.
When the fog dissipated, a huge block of ice appeared on the field.
Charizard was completely frozen inside.
"Incredible... it even directly froze a fire-type Pokémon like Charizard. That attack almost rivals Absolute Zero."
Many spectators were left dumbfounded.
(End of Chapter)