Divine Plan? But I'm a Pokémon trainer.

Chapter 473 What can save you, my insectoid...

Link, who has never been good at raising slow-moving Pokémon, wasn't very interested in Slowpoke. He and Urquid watched Slowpoke leisurely for a moment from afar at the Slowpoke Well before heading straight into Azalea Town.

It was raining on Highway 33 not far away, but the weather here was relatively sunny and dry.

The oak forest on the west side was excessively dry, raising concerns about what would happen if an accidental fire broke out.

The locals have planted a large number of cone trees and inherited the ancient craft of making Poké Balls.

However, the main economic crop of Huipi Town is still the timber from the oak forest on the west side, and the charcoal produced here is famous far and wide in Chengdu and even other regions.

The peaceful coexistence of locals and elves in the forest is a common way of life in the Johto region.

"Unlike the rainy Hoenn region, more than 80% of the Johto region is forest, which explains why it has developed a relatively unique culture."

But actually, the Tokyo area is quite mild and humid with abundant water vapor.

Egui Pong adapted well to the environment of Cypress Town and felt a sense of nostalgia.

However, the unremarkable town doesn't have many noteworthy attractions. The only ones are the Charcoal Sage and Citrus Ball Sage, which have been passed down for many years, and the Cypress Gym, which is associated with insects.

Charcoal and citrus balls were commonplace to him, and there was no need for him to make a special trip to see them.

In particular, the Citrus Balls made by Mr. Steel have been far surpassed by the new Poké Balls developed by his son after he went to Silver Company in the last two years.

Link had no intention of arguing whether handmade or mass-produced Poké Balls were better; he generally just picked the ones that looked good and whose colors and patterns matched the Pokémon.

After traveling for several days, he did not rush to take on the challenge, but instead took the elves to rest for the night in the center.

At this point, a month and a half had passed since the start of this Silver Tournament, and new trainers from all over the country had already moved beyond the beginner stage and were beginning to challenge for their second or even third badge.

As a gym specializing in Bug-type Pokémon, Azalea Town has begun to welcome trainers from all over Johto.

According to unreliable statistics, most trainers tend to prioritize challenging the Azalea Gym.

After all, it's a Bug-type...

However, due to the popularity of Bug Catchers in Kanto and several surrounding cultural spheres, there are many trainers who truly love Bug-type Pokémon, like Aryu whom Link once met. Trainers who skillfully utilize and develop the potential of Bug-type Pokémon should not be underestimated.

As for Azalea Gym Leader Abi, who aspires to become a Bug-type Pokémon Professor, he is known as a "living encyclopedia of Bug Pokémon" and is the youngest Gym Leader in the Johto region, having only recently taken on this role.

As the Bug-type Gym Leader, he originally thought it was his duty to revive the glory of the Bug type. However, as many trainers came to challenge him, he realized how difficult it was for Bug-type Pokémon to face different Pokémon.

It is resistant to Poison-type moves, so even Bulbasaur, Oddish, and Bellsprout, which it could normally counter, are no longer effective against it.

It is resisted by Flying-type moves, and Powder and Silk-type interference moves are also difficult to use.

It was resisted by Fighting-type... Why would Fighting-type resist Bug-type?
It is resistant to Fire-type attacks, and it has the same problem as Flying-type attacks.

Resisted by Ghost and Steel types, fortunately, the trainers who challenge Abi are usually not yet at the point of encountering these two types of Pokémon.

The Bug type has very limited weaknesses, only being effective against Grass, Psychic, and Dark types.

Psychic and Dark-type Pokémon are rarely used by novice trainers challenging Abi.

In the Johto region, the only pure Grass-type Pokémon are Sunflower and Chikorita.

For some unknown reason, novice trainers rarely choose Chikorita as their starter Pokémon. Sunflower, on the other hand, is generally not favored by trainers due to its unsuitability for battle, the long evolution time required, or the lack of Sun Stones.

As a result, Abi almost never encounters Pokémon that are weak to Bug-type Pokémon in battles.

Of course, in recent years, trainers have increasingly noticed the importance of strategies such as "covering up weaknesses" and are no longer following the trend of using four STAB moves.

Abi also taught his Bug-type Pokémon many moves of other types to deal with challengers.

Although the power of moves not from the same type is ultimately much weaker, at least you can flexibly choose the most suitable move for the current situation.

After solving the problem of restraint, the second issue arises—resistance.

Bug-type is weak against Fire, Flying, and Rock types.

New trainers who don't want a starter Pokémon from the local gym leader can simply apply to the League to get a Cyndaquil as their starter Pokémon.

Putting that aside, Growlithe, a strong and well-behaved Fire-type Pokémon, is also found everywhere along the roadside. There are large populations of wild Growlithe on Routes 35, 36, 37, and 48 in the Johto region.

Due to the popularity of Growlithe, so many have been bred that trainers can almost always adopt one in major cities or breeding centers if they want to.

There were even more Flying-type Pokémon by the roadside!
However, Abi is not particularly afraid of Rock-type characters.

Rock-type Pokémon are indeed very strong offensively, but for beginners, it is difficult to make up for their speed deficiency, and they are not good at distinguishing physical special moves to choose Rock-type Pokémon with corresponding advantages in bulk.

New trainers often send out Onix to beat Bebeelzebub... well, it's not entirely wrong, but Onix will be defeated by Bebeelzebub's Energy Ball before it can defeat Bebeelzebub.

The issue of type disadvantages is embarrassing for Bug-type trainers, and the individual strength of Bug-type Pokémon is also at a disadvantage.

Trainers who want to defeat the first two badges can't send out Pokémon like Heracross, so Metapod and Kakuna can only rely on Tackle and Poison Sting for defense and counterattack.

As for Abi's ace, Scyther, whose talent is almost comparable to the final evolution form of a beginner Pokémon, is too strong for a new trainer.

It's really hard to specialize in your favorite Bug-type trainer...

Nevertheless, Abi did not have even the slightest thought of giving up.

True love is everything. Even if your favorite spirit has a weaker attribute, you should try to make up for it with knowledge and love.

That's why he keeps studying, wanting to become a professor by using his knowledge of insect-related things.

"Sigh, accepting challenges is also a necessary part of my continuous understanding of Bug-type Pokémon. The answer I'm looking for must lie within it."

After another dojo challenge that was like two noobs pecking at each other, Abi took a short break and began to check the information of the next challenger.

"The next challenger will probably be a rookie trainer who chose Cyndaquil."

"Actually, the small tortoise is not bad either; if you encounter it, it will be a tough battle."

"Chrysanthemum leaves are actually not bad at this stage. At least you can use 'vine whip' and 'poison powder' to deal with Metapod. Metapod's 'poison needles' are not so easy to hit it..."

"What do you mean a former champion with a Burning Bug is coming to challenge my gym!?"

(End of this chapter)