Divine Plan? But I'm a Pokémon trainer.

Chapter 407 The Riddler of the United States

Joey was too quick to be satisfied.

Not long after, she and Principal Xi Lan arrived at the location of the first question.

"Normal type is not strong against any type, but is weak against Fighting type. In addition, under normal circumstances, which of the following types is Normal type most effective against?"

A. Rock system

B. Ghost type

C. Dragon type
D. Steel system
Clearly, the answer to this question is C.

Dragon-type Pokémon are all very powerful. In terms of type alone, they will not be able to resist Normal-type attacks.

"New trainers often think that dragons are stronger, which is indeed a point of knowledge that is easy to misunderstand."

The Dragon attribute is indeed powerful, but it is primarily a defensive attribute.

Principal Xi Lan began to appreciate the intrigue of the puzzles within the Ripple Dojo.

Joy wholeheartedly agreed, emphasizing that type advantage is fundamental for trainers and something newcomers need to take seriously.

But then again.

"Let's see what happens if we choose the wrong answer, so let's not choose C for now, let's choose B."

Joey pressed the button, but nothing happened.

The shortcut to the depths of the labyrinth has not been opened; they must continue to proceed slowly.

However, the consequences of answering the questions incorrectly quickly became apparent—

Wild motor lizards have been spotted!
"There are wild Pokémon in the maze?" "These aren't wild Pokémon; they're Pokémon bred by the gym."

Joey was taken aback by the attack and immediately sent Chinchilla to fight back.

To maintain the Pokémon's state, Nurse Joy intended to have Cinnamon "Sing" first so that the move would hit, but Lizard "Provoke" first, accidentally interrupting its upcoming song.

The latter then lashed out with its tail in a "wide-area destruction" attack, leaving Chinchilla struggling to keep up.

The motorcycle lizard takes the opportunity to shoot out its scales, maintaining a relatively long distance to expend its energy.

But the Chinchilla used its superb technique to repeatedly "sweep and slap" its tail, easily knocking off all the scales without causing any damage.

"Chipmunk, use the 'Seed Machine Gun'."

The number of scales that the Motor Lizard can fire is ultimately limited, so Joey seized the opportunity and fired continuously using a similar strategy.

Seeing this, Principal Xi Lan frowned. Using Grass-type moves like "Seed Machine Gun" to attack Dragon-types was not a reasonable choice. Instead, "Tail Sweep" would be more appropriate.

A barrage of high-powered, energy-rich projectiles shot out of the Chinchilla's mouth, while the Motor Lizard nimbly dodged the attacks and closed in with incredible speed.

This was precisely Joey and Chinchilla's strategy of waiting for their prey to come to them: "Now..."

However, before he could finish speaking, the incredibly fast Moto Lizard curled into a ball and spun at high speed, crashing into the Chinchilla and using the force to bounce away and disappear in a flash.

The sudden battle came to an abrupt end, concluding with the escape of the Motor Lizard.

"Is this the price of getting it wrong?"

Joey now understands why challengers need shortcuts.

If you are constantly worn down like this along the way, it will be very disadvantageous when facing gym leaders.

Just then, Chino the Chipmunk found her and indicated that his props had been stolen by the Motor Lizard.

"Forehead……"

The Moto Lizard was faster than she expected, and in the instant it approached at high speed, it even managed to steal the King's Token carried by the Chinchilla through a "thief"!
"Don't worry, the items will probably be returned after the gym challenge ends."

More than that, Joey was concerned about the design concept of the dojo.

Is the price of answering a question incorrect too high?

If a newbie who has just received a beginner Pokémon comes here, the Motor Lizard alone could cause them considerable damage.

Principal Xi Lan dismissed this, saying, "That Moto Lizard's mission is probably 'wearing down' rather than 'fighting,' so it shouldn't be able to eliminate a challenger's Pokémon right away. Besides, if it hasn't even mastered the most basic knowledge, it shouldn't have passed the gym's test in the first place."

Joy reluctantly accepted this explanation. "Well, the first gym needs to establish the right mindset for the newcomers, but has Dr. Who considered the possibility that challengers might deliberately answer incorrectly and battle the gym's Pokémon to train?"

This question surprised both Principal Xi Lan and Link, who was watching the live broadcast from outside the Forest of Connection.

Instead of challenging the gym leader, it deliberately answered questions incorrectly to get the gym's Pokémon to fight.

Outrageous?
Outrageous.

Impossible?

Link thought he might do it himself; was there a more convenient and safer spot to farm monsters?
"Fu..."

Fire Fox, still sleepy after breakfast, had a good idea: why not add a cooldown period (CD) to the challengers? If they fail three times in a row, they'll have to wait a while before trying again.

“That makes sense. It may not be a long time, but it’s unacceptable for someone who wants to get eight badges to embark on a journey.”

On the other hand, there aren't actually that many trainers who deliberately answer questions incorrectly.

Having at least confirmed the consequences of giving the wrong answer, Joey no longer intended to make mistakes intentionally.

Not long after, she and Principal Xi Lan arrived at the area for the second question.

"When used as an attacker, the General type is generally ineffective against Rock and Steel types, and usually has no effect against Ghost type. Which of the following types is most similar in effect when used offensively?"

A. Dragon attribute.

B. Ghost attribute.

C. Fighting attribute.

D. Superpower attribute.

"what?"

Has the difficulty increased that quickly?
This question stumped Joey a little; she needed to think about it for a moment.

"In short, this question asks which of the following attributes has 1 invalid attribute and 2 resistant attributes when attacking."

"Dragon-type has no invalid attributes, and it is only resisted by Steel-type, so it is ruled out first."

"Ghost-type attacks are ineffective against Normal-type attacks, and are only resisted by Dark-type attacks."

"Fighting-type attacks are resisted far too often..."

Without a doubt, the answer is D.

"The Psychic type is only resisted by Psychic and Steel types, and is ineffective against Dark types. It can even damage Dark-type Pokémon normally through special techniques, just like the Normal type. It is one of the types that is closest to the Normal type in terms of offense..."

Are there any other attributes that are similar to those of the Normal type?

Principal Xi Lan explained, "There's also the Ground attribute, Miss Joy. Ground is only resisted by insects and grass, and it's ineffective against Flying types."

However, as far as Principal Xi Lan knows, Ground-type moves don't actually "see through" "Miracle Eye," so Psychic-type moves are definitely closer to it.

"It seems the problems will only get more difficult from here on out."

Joey was mentally prepared, but she had one question: "Will all the following questions be based on common sense about attributes? Won't it get a bit monotonous?"

In fact, new trainers don't necessarily need to memorize all the type matchups; they can often gradually learn the less common ones during their travels.

If you're too fixated on this aspect, you're being too demanding, even at a basic dojo.

Xi Lan disagreed, thinking that someone who didn't even understand this couldn't be a trainer, but she decided to keep going anyway.

Soon the two arrived at the area for the third question—

Which of the following Pokémon from the Unova region is the hardest to hit with a Ghost-type attack?

A. Long-haired dog

B. Flame King

C. Heart Bat

D. Warrior Eagle
(End of this chapter)