Xia Hunan sat on his chair, extending his hand to high-five the classmates who had finished their matches. "Good job, everyone. From now on, you only need to deal with an Eevee that will definitely have a type advantage over you. Vice-captain Wei Chiting will arrange the specifics. I need to rest for a bit."
He then leaned back on the lounge chair. "I have to study what to do next. You all keep fighting."
Wei Chiting looked at everyone. "Alright then, who's going first?"
Zhu Feng raised his hand. "I'll go first. Eevee doesn't have flying abilities, so I shouldn't be at too much of a disadvantage, right?"
Wei Chiting nodded, then looked at Xia Hunan. "Coach Xia, what do you think?"
Xia Hunan poked at the tablet in his hand. "No problem, but Zhu Feng, you need to be prepared to fight four Eevees. After all, Crobat's weaknesses are electric, ice, and psychic—three types within the Eevee evolution line."
"That doesn't mean fighting four, does he have four Eevees to send out?"
Wei Chiting explained, "Coach Xia means you need to be prepared for Espeon, Glaceon, and Jolteon, as well as Sylveon. Although the fairy type isn't on the weakness list, fairy and psychic types can sometimes be indistinguishable, and it's common for them to have each other's moves."
Xia Hunan added, "Yes, and you need to be prepared for him to switch from Jolteon to Flareon right after, or even change back from evolution to Espeon. If you're going to fight, finish it quickly. The longer it drags on, the more variables there will be."
Remembering the instructions from Xia Hunan and Wei Chiting, Zhu Feng stepped onto the battlefield. As he watched the match, Xia Hunan asked the system, "System, logically, a Pokémon has a limited amount of internal energy. Surely he won't truly revive with full health after just one evolution, right?"
The system replied, "It's possible. After all, evolution is a strange form of transformation. It's not strange to recover all energy after changing into an evolved form."
On the battlefield, the match had already begun.
"Crobat, use Wing Attack!"
"Eevee, dodge it and evolve into Glaceon!"
Crobat swooped down at Eevee at high speed, and Eevee nimbly leaped away. A white light emanated from its body, and when the light faded, a cute blue creature appeared on the field.
"Eevee, use Icy Wind!"
Glaceon opened its mouth and blew out cold white air, covering Crobat.
"Crobat, descend and use Dazzling Gleam!"
"Eevee, revert evolution!"
Xia Hunan's prediction had come true. Glaceon's ability to revert evolution could indeed be used freely. Eevee, having returned to its normal type, was completely immune to Dazzling Gleam and allowed it to hit its body.
"Eevee, use Quick Attack followed by Draining Kiss!"
This was a very common combination: use the high speed of Quick Attack to quickly approach the opponent, then use Draining Kiss to strike. Although Draining Kiss theoretically cannot be dodged, it can still be countered by a direct clash of moves. However, as long as the distance is close enough, it doesn't matter.
Eevee flickered and appeared below Crobat, then unleashed a series of Draining Kiss attacks at Crobat's underside.
Crobat was hit by Draining Kiss, but Eevee's attack power wasn't very high, so Crobat could still withstand it.
"Crobat, use Wing Attack on Eevee!"
"Eevee, evolve into Jolteon, use Thunderbolt!"
Crobat's Wing Attack successfully closed the distance to Eevee, but it only reached Eevee after Eevee had finished evolving. Jolteon's Thunderbolt and Crobat's Wing Attack hit each other simultaneously. Crobat fell first, while Jolteon persisted.
Zhu Feng stepped off the stage, sighing. "This is not easy at all. I wanted to finish quickly, but it didn't happen."
Xia Hunan nodded. "I'm starting to suspect this Eevee is a product of genetic engineering. It's normal that you couldn't win. Wei Chiting, you're up next. Your Shuckle was set up by me, so don't hold back. Use Trick Room followed by Power Trick, then hit it directly with Earthquake. It should just be a simple Vaporeon, with no other tricks."
Wei Chiting stepped onto the stage to start the second match. However, Eevee didn't evolve into Vaporeon to attack. Instead, it first evolved into Leafeon and used Synthesis to recover health.
Xia Hunan shook his head. "This is truly courting disaster. If you didn't want to sleep, you had moves like Aqua Ring, Morning Sun, Moonlight, etc. But you chose Leafeon using Synthesis. Isn't that just asking to be defeated?"
On the field, Wei Chiting also knew this was an excellent opportunity and quickly commanded, "Shuckle, Trick Room followed by Power Trick and then Bug Bite!"
After setting up Trick Room, Shuckle's speed increased significantly. Power Trick and Bug Bite were executed seamlessly, biting into Leafeon. Although Leafeon's Synthesis could recover health, it was no match for Shuckle with Power Trick. Leafeon was instantly defeated in one hit.
Wei Chiting looked at the opposing team, Jianling Da. "Please hurry, everyone. Since you're all planning to use Eevee in this match, does it matter which Eevee you use?"
Wei Chiting said this, but he was thinking that Trick Room had a time limit. If they dragged it out like this, once Trick Room wore off, the battle would be different.
Jianling Da understood Wei Chiting's thinking, but they were also a team with strong competitive spirit. As soon as the first player stepped off, the second player stepped on.
"Eevee, evolve into Vaporeon, use Water Pulse!"
"Shuckle, use Bug Bite to finish him off!"
The two sides began their direct confrontation as soon as they entered the field. Wei Chiting hoped to hold back Earthquake as much as possible. Moreover, with Bug Bite, a Bug-type move, the damage output wasn't significantly different.
Shuckle's attack landed on Eevee first, and Vaporeon's counterattack also accurately hit Shuckle. Shuckle, with Power Trick active, had very little defense. A single Water Pulse successfully defeated Shuckle.
Wei Chiting returned to the waiting area. Xia Hunan immediately sent out the third contestant, Tan Yue's Steelix.
Tan Yue's Steelix had performed exceptionally well in the recently concluded free-for-all. The moves it carried were Gyro Ball and Tri Attack. It didn't even bring any STAB moves...
This was also Xia Hunan's idea, mainly to guard against Jianling Da's three-pronged attack. He hadn't expected to run into an Eevee lineup like this. However, it was acceptable. Steelix's weaknesses were water and fire. Water-type moves could be countered by Thunder Fang, so as long as it wasn't Flareon, it wasn't too disadvantageous.
However, Tan Yue realized that Jianling Da's players weren't fools. Seeing Steelix appear, and considering the previous match, they changed Eevee from Vaporeon to Flareon right at the start.
"Steelix, use Gyro Ball to ram it! Don't give it a chance to react!"
Steelix moved rapidly. Before Flareon could even stabilize itself, it was hit by Steelix. Furthermore, Steelix had clearly been practicing recently, constantly keeping Flareon airborne and preventing it from landing. It then bit Flareon with Thunder Fang all the way to its defeat.
Xia Hunan sat in the waiting area, clapping. "Lighter Pokémon have this problem. Once they're hit, they can lose their bearings."
However, Jianling Da's counterattack was also swift. The next contestant immediately evolved into Espeon and engaged Steelix in hit-and-run tactics, utilizing its speed. Although Steelix's speed had increased with Gyro Ball, it still couldn't match Espeon's speed.
Moreover, Espeon's primary offensive ability was special. It spent the entire battle luring Steelix around. Although Steelix managed to bite Espeon once, the effect wasn't particularly significant.
...
The subsequent matches involved both sides constantly trying to outmaneuver each other. The Six Spirits University team, with Xia Hunan devising quick attack strategies, and Jianling Da countering with their own quick attacks. Players rotated continuously, and in the end, Jianling Pokémon Technology University emerged slightly superior, winning the final head-to-head match by a narrow margin to secure the last point.
This resulted in a complete tie between the two sides, with the outcome now resting solely on the final team battle.
Xia Hunan discussed their next strategy with everyone. He scratched his head and said, "I don't know if this is right, but I have a thought..."
Everyone was stunned. "What thought?"
"Eevee can learn Double Team. If it really splits into eight, can all eight of those Pokémon evolve? If so, that would be over forty chaotic Pokémon, and that would be very difficult to fight."
Wei Chiting: "Coach Xia, that thought is terrifying. Although Double Team doesn't last long and is easy to break, having so many appear one after another would be very troublesome."
Xia Hunan nodded. "But we'll worry about that when it happens. I'll arrange the next lineup now."
After saying this, Xia Hunan glanced at Wei Chiting. He had originally planned for Wei Chiting to go, but Wei Chiting felt he couldn't bear such a heavy responsibility, so he let Xia Hunan rack his brains a bit more.
"Alright, that's how it will be. Wei Chiting, you'll use Shuckle. Don't hesitate to use Earthquake. Chu Xiaodie, how is your coordination with Senior Zhu Feng? Are there any issues?"
Chu Xiaodie shook her head. "Don't worry, Coach Xia. Senior Zhu Feng and I have practiced many times. There won't be any problems."
Xia Hunan gave a thumbs-up. "That's good. Yan Chunyu and Tan Yue, you two will also participate. Your mission remains the same. As for the last person..."
At this point, Xia Hunan looked at Xing Kai. "Xing Kai, are you ready?"
Xing Kai took a deep breath. "Don't worry, Coach Xia. Since I volunteered, I won't let you down."
Xia Hunan nodded. "Alright, you all go then. Try your best to put on a good show. Winning or losing doesn't matter."
What Xia Hunan said was indeed the truth. Although he had prepared some simple tactics, he still had no confidence against Jianling Da's "Eevee Flow."