Divine Plan? But I'm a Pokémon trainer.

Chapter 409 Miss Joy (in Unova form) has come to challenge us.
Joy's gym challenge was not going well; even though they were just some general-type questions for beginners, she still struggled with quite a few.

This led to unexpected events while progressing through the maze, including but not limited to: falling into traps, being ambushed by three pink creatures, and being interfered with in battle by passing wind sprites.

Generally speaking, it is difficult to maintain combat strength after encountering these during the test. Fortunately, Nurse Joy has a team healer like Doll, so she was able to successfully pass through the maze and arrive at the battle arena of the Ripple Gym.

"Congratulations on finally passing the test, Miss Joy. How about the maze I applied with the dynamic balance mechanism to provide a proper challenge for trainers of all levels?"

At the end of the maze, a blonde girl dressed in a black and white dress and wearing a witch-like black hat came into view.

Principal Xi Lan never expected that the mysterious Dr. Who was actually a young girl.

However, she seemed to have a slightly poker face, though he wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.

"By the way, I set the difficulty level for Miss Joey to be 8 badges."

At this stage, the trainer lineup is largely complete and capable of handling many tricky and unexpected events.

"I've challenged many gyms, but I've never been in such a predicament as today," Joy complained, exasperated. "Dr. Who, your standards for trainers are just too high."

The blonde girl shook her head: "You've only encountered very 'basic' troubles."

Nurse Joy had no way to refute this; given her level of 8 badges, she was indeed unable to stand alone against the trainers she encountered.

Principal Xi Lan seemed thoughtful, feeling that this approach would be well-suited as an extra course for students at Blueberry Academy.

“Dr. Who…”

"I hope you can keep my information confidential," the blonde girl solemnly instructed. "I don't like to be in the public eye, and I'm usually very busy. In the future, gym challenges will be mainly handled by faculty, outstanding students, or other gym trainers."

Joey was not entirely surprised; otherwise, the other party wouldn't have needed to use such a form of address to conceal their identity.

She is only responsible for reviewing dojos; anything that does not interfere with the operation of the dojo is none of her business.

"Although the challenge was very... well, I am very satisfied with the test that Ripple Gym presented to the challengers. These basic-related problems and difficulties are indeed something that trainers have to face. Encountering them in the gym in advance helps in dealing with them in practice."

Therefore, Joey had to give this mode a high score.

“Then it’s time for the gym challenge, shall we? Would you like me to be the referee?” Principal Xi Lan suggested.

"Then I'll leave it to the principal. I'll choose the 63 singles match."

Joy only has 3 Pokémon left that are still healthy. The rest are either paralyzed or burned by poison, or they are unable to battle, or they used too much stamina to heal their teammates with "Healing Wave"...

"If you don't have enough Pokémon to battle, you can also choose to temporarily borrow Pokémon from the gym. We have three options: Lizard, Arrogant Pheasant, and Longhair Dog."

"No need, a 3-on-3 singles match will suffice."

So the gym leader and the challenger arrived at the battle arena and began their trial battle against the Ripple Gym.

"Go, Greatsword Demon!"

"Motor Lizard, it's you I choose."

The battle began, with both sides sending out their respective starter Pokémon from Ripple Town and Unova.

Upon seeing the Motolizard, Joy immediately recalled the first Pokémon he encountered in the maze... and the King's Token that it stole.

Although she is not a professional trainer, she will not do it a second time!

"Greatsword Demon, 'Frozen Wind'!"

Despite his robust appearance, Greatsword Demon is a well-rounded dual-wielder.

Having already witnessed the speed of the Motor Lizard, Joey decisively chose to restrict its movement. However, the Motor Lizard's reaction speed was far faster than that of the Greatsword Demon.

Before the opponent can unleash the Ice Wind, the player has already begun to "shift gears," increasing both offensive capabilities and speed.

Then, an icy wind gradually filled the entire area, but the motorcycle lizard was difficult to catch due to its agility.

However, the Greatsword Demon's restriction was not in vain. The surface of the battlefield was covered with a layer of ice under the blowing of the "Frozen Wind", which made it easy to slip.

Unfortunately, the Motor Lizard has a countermeasure: it uses "high-speed rotation" to further increase its speed, and like an "ice vortex," it uses the force of rotation to break through the ice and attack its opponent.

Seeing this, the Greatsword Demon drew his "Shell Blade" and prepared for battle, covering it with ice-attribute energy to transform it into an ice blade, aiming to inflict maximum damage.

In the blink of an eye, the Motor Lizard charged toward the Greatsword Demon, and the moment the latter swung its sword, the Motor Lizard abruptly "shifted gears" and came to a stop.

The icy blade, wreathed in chilling energy, brushed past his face. The Motor Lizard dodged the "Shell Blade" and charged straight at it with "Lightning Strike."

The unexpected turn of events caused the slightly slow-witted Greatsword Demon to miss his chance to dodge.

However, it leaned back briefly to stand on its two hind legs and swung its second frost-covered "Shell Blade".

This is a dual-wielding elf in the literal sense.

Unfazed, the Moto Lizard continued its "Lightning Strike" without flinching.

The greatly enhanced physical attack of the Frostbite Blade, with power equivalent to the Electric-type special moves "Plasma Lightning Punch" and "Lightning Rush," sent the unbalanced Greatsword flying.

Fortunately, the two sides were evenly matched. The Greatsword Demon possessed "Hard Shell Armor," and its "Shell Blade" blocked some of the power; otherwise, this single blow would have been enough to render it unable to fight.

On the other hand, Motolizard, being a Dragon-type Pokémon, was still damaged by the Ice-type "Shell Blade," but its condition remained good.

However, just in case, it did not pursue, but instead used its dragon-attribute aura to extend its tail and pursue with "Wide Area Destruction".

The Greatsword, rolling and recovering, swung its sword and severed the dragon's tail. The Lizard then took the opportunity to "sever its tail" and return to Dr. Who's Poké Ball.

"The rest is up to you, proud pheasant."

The owner took the opportunity to rotate the birds, sending out the most common housebirds in the Unova region.

At this point, Joy had roughly guessed the opponent's three Pokémon; the last one was probably a Smoothie...

You guessed right, but there's no reward.

As soon as Fang entered the scene, the arrogant pheasant unleashed "Storm" to finish off the Greatsword Demon who had regained his balance and stance.

The damage from "Lightning Strike" is still too high.

Joey had no choice but to immediately recall the Greatsword Demon. During this time, the Proud Pheasant received a blessing through "Tailwind".

Despite the unfavorable situation, she remained calm and composed as a non-combatant, and sent out a new Pokémon.

"Go, Gopaloo!"

The next instant, a majestic, steel-blue, sheep-shaped four-legged sprite appeared on the battlefield.

Cobalion, the Ironheart Pokémon.

Pokémon with hearts and bodies of steel, fighting against humans to protect the legend of Pokémon.

"?"

(End of this chapter)