Pokémon: I picked up a reborn Eevee at the start of the game.

Xia Chen wasn't too surprised. The Water Field is a place with extremely high water vapor content, and this Milotic was, after all, a Water-type Pokémon bred by Wallace, so it was in a state of confusion after instantly asking for rain.

"Next up is... the spectacular water cannon!"

Without giving Xia Chen and Gardevoir a moment to catch their breath, under the increasingly intense rain, a column of azure water suddenly spewed from Milotic's mouth, carrying extremely penetrating and violent energy through the rain curtain, shooting straight in a certain direction.

There, Gardevoir is still meditating!

Chapter 320

(Sorry for the delay, I'm not feeling well today. I'll write another free side story this month as an apology. You can leave a message here about what you want to see (it can be serious or not). I'll take the number of likes into account, highlight the key points, and consider them. I won't accept anything too outrageous.)

A fierce battle is raging in the Water Arena of the Crystal Gym.

A powerful water cannon pierced through the rain curtain, and the surging torrent roared like a water dragon, trying to devour the Gardevoir at its end.

Gardevoir, aren't you going to dodge?

Are you really going to take this water cannon shot?

The spectators on the sidelines couldn't help but gasp in surprise, some with worry, others with doubt.

In the rain, Water-type moves have a 1.5x damage bonus, and with the STAB bonus, even without being super effective against Water, this Hydro Pump still poses a significant threat to Gardevoir.

If Gardevoir gets hit by this water cannon, it will be at a complete disadvantage right from the start.

At the critical moment, Gardevoir suddenly opened its eyes, and a flash of light disappeared in its strange and beautiful ruby-like eyes.

Under the influence of the strange superpower energy, an invisible fluctuation distorted the space, and then the tall, fair-skinned figure vanished instantly.

Teleport!

If you want to avoid a close-range attack in this situation, teleportation is the only option.

Even if you manage to hold your ground, it will take about half a second to build up your strength, but by then, it will be too late.

Looking at the Gardevoir that had reappeared to Milotic's left, Mikuri smiled slightly, revealing an appreciative look.

"Excellent, elegant judgment and calculation."

Using teleportation to dodge skills is not difficult.

Everyone knows that Gardevoir can teleport; Xia Chen knows it, and so does Mikeli.

However, Wallace still chose to have Milotic use Hydro Pump, which reflects his confidence in the speed at which his Pokémon could unleash its moves.

I will make my move before you finish your meditation. You will either have to eat my water cannon or teleport to interrupt your meditation.

Regardless of the final outcome, the moment the water cannon was fired, this game, in which there was no loss for Mikkel, had already begun.

The only situation in which Xia Chen could gain a positive benefit in this game was if he could teleport in the split second between the end of his meditation and the arrival of the water cannon.

Even so, this risky solution is still worthwhile for Milotic.

Because the bonus from meditation will dissipate when the Pokémon leaves the stage, while in rainy weather, as long as no Pokémon changes the weather, it will not disappear in a short time.

The only thing to watch out for is Gardevoir's potential counterattack.

…………

"Milotic, make a magnificent entrance into the water!"

A water-themed area should naturally take advantage of the home-field advantage of water-type Pokémon.

Since Gardevoir chose such an aggressive move as Teleport forward, it must be for the purpose of counterattacking. On the other hand, Milotic's water-type energy was not so abundant after consecutive Rain Dance and Hydro Pump. It is not shameful to temporarily avoid the limelight.

On the field, Milotic carried out its trainer's instructions without hesitation.

The water surged, accompanied by a tiny splash, and a magnificent tail with red and blue scales disappeared into the water.

Even during its strategic retreat, Milnas maintained its elegant demeanor.

Milotic ran cleanly and efficiently, while Gardevoir, charging forward, closed its eyes and gathered energy. This should have been an expected scene, but Miketsu frowned slightly.

His extensive combat experience told him that this was not a precursor to a Thunderbolt or a Psycho-Strike, because the energy fluctuation was not violent, but rather the peaceful nature of a transformation move.

So, should Gardevoir continue to indulge in Meditation?

Mikoli's heart skipped a beat. He felt it was no surprise that this bold decision came from Xia Chen, but it was something he couldn't accept.

After two meditations, Milotic would have no chance against Gardevoir.

While theoretically you could use [Dragon Tail] to force it back into its Poké Ball, the frustrating thing is that Gardevoir happens to be a Fairy-type Pokémon immune to Dragon-type moves.

Therefore, if Gardevoir were to meditate twice in a row, I would inevitably be forced to switch to a Pokémon in a sorry state.

That's not elegant at all.

"Water cannons!"

This time, Mikoli's command was devoid of any fancy embellishments, which was enough to show his eagerness.

wow-

Milotic, which had just entered the water, immediately surfaced, its mouth churning again.

It's no wonder that this is a Pokémon personally trained by Mikuri. It unleashed two super-powerful moves in a row. If it were an ordinary Pokémon, the second Water Cannon would definitely be somewhat weakened.

However, Milotic showed no signs of weakness, unleashing another powerful water cannon.

Because of the teleportation, the water cannon arrived in front of Gardevoir in almost an instant, but the latter still did not dodge or evade.

Why aren't you dodging?

Are you going to force yourself to complete this meditation again?

Mikoli raised an eyebrow slightly, pondering a solution.

There are essentially two ways to deal with buff-type status moves: one is to force them out of the field, and the other is to use the move that forces the status changes of the Pokémon on the field back to their original state—Mist.

There aren't many Pokémon that can master this Ice-type status move, but for a Water-type Gym Leader, it just so happens that he naturally has no shortage of such a Pokémon.

…………

The rain gradually intensified, with large raindrops forming lines that created ripples on the water's surface.

With the help of such rainy weather, the water cannon, which should have been unleashing tons of damage with overwhelming force, seemed to be blocked by some inexplicable wall in the air, and the frenzied water energy suddenly became sluggish.

It was supposed to be a water cannon when it was fired, but when it hit, it was only as effective as a water gun.

What's happening here?

Exclamations of surprise could be heard from the audience from time to time.

Mikoli on the field only paused for a moment before quickly reacting.

Gardevoir didn't just use Meditation, it used Light Screen!

He looked towards the arena, wanting to confirm his conjecture, only to see a semi-transparent glass-like energy barrier suddenly appear in front of Gardevoir, its strange halo flashing intermittently under the reflection of the dome lights.

It's a wall of light!

Light Screen is a Psychic-type status move. Its effect is simple: it reduces the damage from special attacks taken from the opponent. If the energy level of the setup is high enough, the reduction can be close to half!

Mikoli frowned. Double meditation was manageable; a single white mist could neutralize its effects. But with the light wall erected, dealing with it required more than just a single white mist.

On the field, the water jet, which was called a water cannon but was actually not much stronger than a water gun, hit Gardevoir but failed to create much of a splash.

Light Screen was immediately effective against special attack moves like Hydro Pump. Combined with the boost to its special defense from Calm Mind, Gardevoir, which already had extremely high special defense and bulk, managed to withstand the Hydro Pump without even flinching.

Meditation combined with the wall of light allows you to do whatever you want in front of Milotic.

With the stage already set up, Xia Chen had no more worries.

"Gardevoir, Thunderbolt!"

"Sana!"

In response to a delicate shout, bright, crackling electricity suddenly flashed from the orange-red horn on Gardevoir's chest, where energy was stored.

Water-type has few weaknesses, but Electric-type is one of them. This is one of the main reasons why Xia Chen chose Gardevoir as his first choice. Type advantage should not be blindly believed, but it should not be ignored either.

The dazzling silver Thunder Dragon roared as it charged toward Milotic on the water's surface. Unable to retaliate against the three attacks it unleashed in quick succession, Milotic had no choice but to take the hit of the Thunderbolt while in a meditative state.

Shila-

A violent current surged through Milotic's long body, the water amplifying the electrical potential. The bright yellow electric light tightly enveloped its entire wet body, causing even a creature as durable as Milotic to let out a bloodcurdling scream.

…………

"Continue, 100,000 volts!"

Before the previous 100,000 volts had even finished, Xia Chen suddenly spoke up.

Since one move is effective enough, there's no reason for him to switch to another; he should aim to secure the first blood in one fell swoop.

With Reflect in front of her, Gardevoir could unleash its full power without worry, and in an instant, a bright yellow lightning dragon roared out once again.

Just as Milotic was being overwhelmed by this combo, a red light flashed behind him, engulfing Milotic and causing him to disappear.

At the same time, a huge black shadow appeared where Milotic had just been, and withstood the 100,000 volts.

The raging lightning could not shake it in the slightest; the thick arms that had blocked the lightning with their bare hands seemed exceptionally reliable.

"Swamp——"

The roar was deafening, and the black shadow that took over the field appeared. It was a giant blue muscular monster, Swampert, with a height of nearly two meters and a thick base.

Xia Chen's expression remained unchanged. Both the timing of the exchange and the Pokémon that came on were entirely within his expectations.

The presence of Meditation and Reflect makes it impossible for the opponent to switch to a special attack-oriented Pokémon. Among the more powerful Water-type physical attackers that Wallace can fight, there are only a few: Sharpedo, Gyarados, and the Swampert in front of us.

Gyarados is four times weak to Electric, Sharpedo is being tormented by Fairy-types, and facing Gardevoir doesn't seem like a good choice either, so Swampert's appearance is only natural.

The only questionable point is the strength of this Swampert.

Near-King level!

Feeling the feedback transmitted back by the power of waveguide, Xia Chen felt a tremor in his heart, and then his expression became solemn.

In fact, the boundaries for classifying the strength of Pokémon are not strict.

The level that people usually discuss is a Pokémon's energy level, which determines the power of the moves it can unleash.

In addition, physical strength, six-dimensional abilities, combat experience and the like are all factors that affect the combat power of a Pokémon. However, these are either directly proportional to energy intensity or vary greatly from person to person, making them difficult to determine.

Just like Xia Chen's Pokémon, their energy levels may have just broken through the Gym level, but looking at their battle records, things like the green Blastoise and Steven's Metagross were all defeated.