Pokémon Heart Journey

Chapter 278: Fierce Battle (1)

"Okay, that should be enough. But my opponent is Satoshi after all. No matter how meticulous the plan is, it is likely to be broken by him. I can only improvise when the time comes." Sundae slowly closed the notebook full of words and stretched out in the chair.

After glancing at the night outside the window, he seemed to have made up his mind and walked out, heading straight for Serena's room.

The corridor was dimly lit, and Sundae's footsteps made almost no sound on the soundproof carpet. She stopped in front of Serena's room, raised her hand and knocked twice, her knuckles so lightly as if she was afraid to disturb the night wind.

The door quickly opened a crack, and Serena stuck half of her face out, her hair still wet from the shower.

"Why are you here at Sundae? Come in!" Serena moved sideways to open the door.

There was only one bedside lamp on in the room, and the warm orange glow made the walls a soft honey color.

Sundae hugged the notebook to his chest, sat on the edge of the bed, and unconsciously stroked the cover with his fingertips.

Serena handed her a cup of hot cocoa. She took it but didn't drink it. She just put her palm against the wall of the cup to keep warm.

Sundae looked down at the hot mist rising from the rim of the cup, as if he was looking at a cloud of thoughts that could not be blown away.

"Serena..." Her voice was so soft that it was almost inaudible, "I have a battle with Xiaozhi tomorrow." Serena draped the towel over the back of the chair and sat across from her, her knees gently touching Sundae's: "I know."

"Honestly, I feel like I'm likely to lose the next battle," Sundae said solemnly.

"I wrote seventeen pages of tactics, and then deleted them until only three pages were left." Sundae put the notebook on the bedside table, his fingertips still on the cover.

At this point, she suddenly changed the subject and said, "After this competition, whether I win or lose, I have decided to take the first step."

These words made Serena's body stiffen suddenly. She looked at Sundae with some disbelief, and her expression began to become a little helpless.

Before she could say anything, the other party continued, "After this Quartz Conference, I may not be able to continue traveling with him. I have to gradually take over the affairs of the family. And with Xiaozhi's personality, he will definitely not stop. If I don't take that step now, I'm afraid that he and I may become strangers, so..."

She suddenly looked up at Serena, who seemed to have calmed down, and the panic in her eyes was gone.

"If that's your plan, then I won't fall behind either," Serena said, looking at the other party seriously.

The two looked at each other silently for a moment, and then

"puff!"

"Hahaha"

"Hahaha"

"What are you laughing at?!"

"No, it's just like this. I always feel it's really funny!"

"Then it's decided!"

"Ok!"

.........

next day

For the round of 16 matches of the conference, the venue was changed back to the ordinary flat earth.

On the field, Xiaozhi and Sundae looked at each other silently.

In the audience, the relatives and friends of the two looked down with serious eyes.

Just then, two familiar voices suddenly sounded behind everyone, one lively and the other cold.

"Oh, luckily I made it in time!"

"Has the game just begun?"

Everyone who heard the voice turned around and saw that there were two very beautiful women coming. One was a young woman with reddish-brown hair, and the other was a queen with purple hair and a face like an icy mountain.

"Aunt Hanako! Miss Nancy!"

Yes, the people who came were Xiaozhi's mother Hanako and Nancy who had not been seen for a long time.

Hanako greeted everyone and said, "There was a traffic jam on the road and I almost missed the opening."

As she spoke, she tiptoed to the sidelines and waved, "Keep going, Xiaozhi! Mom made you croquettes for lunch!"

"Uh... it's true that like son, like mother!" Yu Longyuan scratched his cheek in embarrassment, then looked at Nazi who was sitting beside him.

"Speaking of which, why is Miss Nazzi with Aunt Hanako? What's the situation in Golden City?"

"Leave the rest to Dad," Nancy glanced at Hanako beside her, lowered her head slightly and added, "Mom came to Golden City to find me five days ago."

"Mom!?" x2

"Oh ho~" x2

"?!!"x2

"The first match of the Quartz Conference's top 16! Who will be the final winner? Let's wait and see!!" The voice of the broadcast also sounded, pushing the atmosphere on the scene to a higher level again, and the referee walked forward skillfully.

"The Quartz Tournament Finals, Ash from Pallet Town versus Sundae from Viridian City. The match is now officially underway, and Ash goes first!"

"Go Forest Lizard!"

"Please, Desert Dragonfly!"

A dry wind blew across the dirt field, and a forest lizard landed on its knees, its tail flaps swishing into a emerald green fan, its signature branch in its mouth. Across from it, a desert dragonfly flapped its wings and hovered in the air, its dragon wings stirring up dust, its red pupils locked onto its opponent.

The commentator immediately raised his voice, "The opening battle is a battle between the Grass-type Forest Lizard and the Ground + Dragon-type Desert Dragonfly! There's no stat difference between them, and both trainers are known for their cunning tactics, so the outcome is far from certain!"

"Cunning tactics? Xiaozhi..."

After hearing the commentator's words, Xiao Yang looked at Xiaozhi below in confusion, and then recalled several of Xiaozhi's battles.

"Hmm~, so...it seems to be correct?"

Xiaozhi raised his hand and said in a crisp voice: "Forest Lizard, lightning!"

The green figure turned into a flash of lightning, drawing a Z-shaped trajectory along the ground, and in the blink of an eye, it was under the belly of the desert dragonfly.

Sundae raised the corner of his mouth slightly: "I'm waiting for you, Desert Dragonfly, Quicksand Hell!"

The desert dragonfly flapped its wings violently, and a vortex of sand opened up under its feet in an instant, like a hungry mouth.

The forest lizard misstepped and its feet became entangled in the fine sand, causing its speed to drop sharply.

"Don't stop, use Leaf Blade!"

The forest lizard's tail leaf lit up with emerald green light blades, spinning and slashing towards the quicksand barrier.

A gap was cut in the sand curtain, but the next second——

"Dragon Breath!"

A beam of scorching blue-purple light burst out from the desert dragonfly's mouth and hit the gap directly.

The forest lizard jumped sideways hastily, but was still knocked over by the aftermath, its back hitting the earth wall, splashing up a cloud of mud and dust.

Immediately afterwards, the desert dragonfly flapped its wings and flew high, and the sand flow behind it swirled into a sand column tornado, gradually covering half the field.

Sundae raised his hand: "Sandstorm!"

The whistling yellow sand instantly obscured the view, and the earth field turned into a dim desert area.

Xiaozhi narrowed his eyes, but his gaze remained firm beneath the brim of his hat: "Forest Lizard, locate by sound—Blade Leaf Flurry!"

The forest lizard closed its eyes, moved its ears slightly, and then its tail leaves spun at high speed. Several crescent-shaped green lights cut through the sand curtain and went straight for the dragon shadow in the air.

Sundae calmly commanded: "Dig a hole!"

The desert dragonfly suddenly dived down and crashed into the ground, and all the blades cut through the air.

A deep hole was left on the sand, like the open throat of a giant beast.

"Down below!" Xiaozhi growled.

The forest lizard leaped up almost instinctively, and right under its feet, a desert dragonfly broke out of the ground, its dragon claws wrapped around the sand flow and tore it fiercely into the air.

The forest lizard managed to block the blow with its tail leaves, but was still overturned by the huge force and fell heavily to the ground, splashing a circle of dirt.

"Come back, forest lizard!"