Pokémon: Did you play Pokémon today?

Chapter 291 Uncle Liu: "...?"

What happened?

Uncle Liu frowned deeply as he looked at the motionless messenger bird, a sense of foreboding creeping into his heart.

Was the order not relayed? Or—

Before he could even figure out this strange situation...

With a hint of helplessness and a "can't bear to watch" expression, Bai Zhou spoke softly.

"Gengar".

His gaze fell on the Gengar, whose acting was exaggerated, whose body was covered in "wounds," and whose eyes twitched involuntarily at the corner of his eye as it was about to sacrifice itself for its trainer.

"Stop playing around—this is too much."

The words fell.

In the center of the field, a dog, covered in wounds and with unfocused eyes, was relentlessly performing its Nth "sit-up."

The Gengar suddenly froze in place.

Then, with a roll of his eyes, he fell to the ground cleanly, his eyes spinning in circles that signified his inability to fight.

But then, something even stranger happened.

This "fallen" Gengar's body rapidly melted and deformed, eventually turning into a thick pool of shadow.

It silently blended into the cracks in the ice on the ground and disappeared without a trace.

Uncle Liu:

This is also a shadow clone?! When was it replaced?!

Uncle Liu's pupils suddenly contracted, and for the first time, an expression of disbelief and shock appeared on his face. He even unconsciously took a small step forward.

If even this last "severely injured" Gengar is a clone—then where exactly is its original form?!

When did they start disappearing?!

Thinking of this, he suddenly shot a beam of light at the messenger bird that had been inexplicably disobeying commands since the beginning!

All that could be seen was that the messenger bird's body was now covered with countless dense, fine lines!

These patterns seemed to have a life of their own, slowly wriggling and tightening on its body, imprisoning it firmly in place, unable to even make the slightest wing tremor!

"A spell to freeze someone in place!?"

Uncle Liu was utterly shocked; the situation was completely beyond his expectations and control!

He had no idea when the messenger bird was immobilized!

He didn't even know when Gengar's true form disappeared from the field and sneaked into Delibird's side!

"Gagaga~"

Just then, a familiar yet slightly smirking laugh came from the shadow beneath the messenger bird's feet.

Gengar, wiggling its erect rear end, slowly emerged from the shadows, even patting Delibird on the shoulder with interest.

As Uncle Liu watched this scene, the shock on his face slowly faded, replaced by a mixture of self-deprecation and relief.

However, there was also a complex expression of deeper satisfaction.

"After the ice and snow melt, spring will come—I lost."

He chuckled softly.

"This old man of mine has become a bit arrogant."

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"What you're saying."

Bai Zhou immediately took over the conversation, his tone sincere and humble.

"The match isn't officially over yet, is it? Strictly speaking, it's at most a draw? After all, both sides are still on the field."

As he spoke, he gave a wink to Gengar, who was gloating in the arena.

"Genga!"

Gengar instantly understood. First, it gave Bai Zhou an exaggerated "OK" sign, then its expression turned serious and it nodded.

next second.

The black markings on the messenger bird instantly faded and disappeared!

The sudden release of the restraints caused the messenger bird, which had been struggling, to lose its balance and fall on its little bottom with a "plop."

"Chirp!"

The messenger bird let out a slightly aggrieved and flustered cry, fluttered its little wings, and hurriedly got up.

Then, without looking back, she darted back to Liu Bo's side, hiding behind his wide robe, looking at the Gengar with lingering fear as it smiled "kindly."

Uncle Liu couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head as he watched Bai Zhou's earnest attempt to save face by "talking nonsense."

"Smooth-talking—is that how that old man Daiki taught you?"

He feigned anger, but his eyes held a smile.

"Looks like it's time to have a good chat with him over tea."

Uncle Liu gently comforted the messenger bird beside him, which was still a little frightened. The messenger bird rubbed against his palm and quickly calmed down.

"Oh, right."

As if suddenly remembering something, he fumbled in his large robe for a moment, then gently tossed something toward the white boat.

"Here, take this."

Bai Zhou raised his hand and caught it steadily.

It was a uniquely designed badge, its entire body a pale blue like ice crystals, with a delicate and translucent snowflake inlaid in the center.

Frozen Badge.

Or rather, it symbolizes the recognition of the Ice-type Gym in the Johto region.

"Take it."

Uncle Liu's voice was gentle.

"Consider it a keepsake. You—and your Gengar—are both worthy of it."

Upon hearing this, the messenger bird beside him finally relaxed completely and gently placed the red gift bag it had been clutching tightly onto the ice.

In an instant, the howling and raging snowstorm across the entire sea suddenly stopped!

Immediately afterwards, the cold mist and dark clouds that filled the sky and earth seemed to be parted by an invisible hand and quickly dissipated.

The bright and warm sunlight poured down without any obstruction.

They reclaimed this azure sea, refracting rainbow colors onto the broken ice crystals.

at the same time.

Not far away, behind a small ice floe that was deliberately used to obscure the view.

"He won!? Dr. Shirazuki—he really defeated Senior Liu Bo!?"

Xiaoqian rubbed her eyes hard, then peeked out to look again and again, her face filled with disbelief.

She swallowed hard, feeling that her brain was having trouble processing what she had just witnessed.

"But... wasn't Gengar supposed to have collapsed? How did it suddenly reappear completely unharmed?"

"And then Senior Liu... admitted defeat?! What on earth happened?!"

She turned her inquisitive gaze to Xiaochun, who was also somewhat dumbfounded beside her.

"This—how is this possible!"

Xiaochun snapped out of her daze, her arrogant expression almost slipping off her face, but she quickly forced it back down.

"Senior Liu Bo is clearly so strong—even my Dragonite wouldn't dare say it could withstand that blizzard head-on—"

Feeling a little embarrassed by Xiaoqian's gaze, she coughed twice and resumed her usual haughty demeanor.

"Ahem—this battle is indeed at a very high level, Xiaoqian, did you understand it?"

She considered herself one of the top trainers in the Johto region, but that brief but intense battle just now was completely beyond her understanding of combat!

Is this really the power that Pokémon can display?! That absolute control over the environment, the precision and scale of the moves—

"If I understood it, would I be asking you?"

Xiaoqian almost went crazy.

"If I'm not mistaken, that Gengar on the battlefield" was probably all shadow clones from the very beginning.

Xiaochun took a deep breath, trying to adopt the posture of an analyst, and began to quickly review every detail of the battle.

After a moment, she explained to Xiaoqian in as calm a tone as possible: "Its true form has already secretly hidden somewhere else—as for when and where it hid, well—this tactical detail is very subtle and requires further analysis."

"It was at the moment when the Shadow Orbs fell, creating a massive energy shock and visual disruption."

Ah Si's steady voice broke in.

His dynamic vision and combat intuition were extremely sharp, and as a clear-headed observer, he captured many key details of the duel just now.

"Senior Liu Bo cleverly used the explosion as cover, allowing the messenger bird to successfully use its Stand to take the brunt of the subsequent attacks, thus completing its escape. But similarly—"

Ah Si's eyes revealed undisguised admiration.

"The Doctor didn't miss that perfect opportunity for chaos either."

He paused, seemingly organizing his thoughts.

"He not only seized upon the flaw in Senior Liu's creation of the Stand, but also accurately predicted Senior Liu's next command intentions."

"That Gengar—it probably used a stealth attack or something similar to sneak into the shadow of the Delibird during the intervals when it was creating its Substitute, and remained hidden until the very end."

"The final immobilization spell successfully hit, forcibly controlling the messenger bird and completely rendering it unable to move or retaliate."

.

"The balance of victory or defeat was completely tilted at that moment. Senior Liu Bo saw this clearly, which is why he decisively chose to concede defeat."

Ah Si concluded, giving Bai Zhou's tactical skills extremely high praise in his tone.

"This was a complete victory in terms of tactics and timing."

"Wow, that's amazing!"

Xiaoqian's eyes lit up as she listened. Although she still didn't quite understand some of the details, the feeling of "masters exchanging blows, each move potentially fatal" thrilled her.

"It's like watching a championship match!"

"Cough cough."

Xiao Chun coughed twice again to bring the two back to reality. She pointed in the direction of the battlefield and lowered her voice.

"Senior Uncle Liu has left. Now—it's our turn to take the stage."

The three of them looked in the direction he pointed.

On the broken ice field, the masked man and his messenger bird had vanished without a trace.

Only Shirazuchi remained standing in the same spot, seemingly examining the badge in his hand.

The Gengar next to him was smugly swinging its legs, examining its claws in the sunlight, as if admiring the results of its "performance".

"Let's go."

Xiaochun took a deep breath, her eyes sharpening again.

"Cheer up, don't embarrass us Johto region gym leaders in the upcoming exchange."

At Xiaochun's signal, the three rowed their respective small boats, slowly emerging from behind the hidden ice floes, heading towards the direction of the white boat.

The edge of the shattered battlefield.

As Bai Zhou was basking in the warm sunshine, he suddenly sensed several undisguised gazes.

He turned his head and, upon seeing the three small boats rowing straight toward him, and the three familiar figures on them, his expression turned strange.

He wondered why he felt like several "burning" gazes were spying on him in the dark when he was fighting Liu Bo earlier. It turned out that it wasn't just his imagination!

A warning bell rang in Bai Zhou's mind, and his gaze locked onto Xiao Chun on the small boat at the front.

Wait! Could she be—

They're probably just camping out here, waiting to fight him, right?

No way?! We just finished defeating Uncle Liu, and now three more Lords of the City are showing up?

Noticing Bai Zhou's gaze, Xiao Chun not only didn't avoid it, but instead straightened her head and puffed out her chest.

That air of arrogance, a mixture of pride and defiance, emanated almost without any attempt to conceal it.

Oh no! We've been ambushed!

Bai Zhou met Xiao Chun's eyes, which held a hint of eagerness, and then, recalling her consistently arrogant personality and the things he had done in the past—

He became increasingly certain that he had guessed correctly.

Is it really necessary to hold a grudge like this? It's one thing to do it yourself, but to drag Xiaoqian and Asi along! Teaming up to ambush him?

Bai Zhou instinctively wanted to slip away and ordered Chou Chou Fish to run smoothly.

But then I thought—that's not right!

He still needs to find the Gym Leader of the Smoky Ink Gym and obtain authorization for her in Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver.

What about the characters in it?

If I run away now, it will be even more awkward when we meet next time, and it will be even harder to bring this up.

After a 0.1-second internal struggle, Bai Zhiyi Zhou ultimately chose to remain where he was.

Alright, let's have a battle then.

It's just a matter of letting Gengar do some more work; it won't take up much time anyway.

He even adjusted his posture, adopting a nonchalant demeanor, and quietly waited for the three "malicious" small boats to approach.

A moment later, the small boat arrived.

A subtle and slightly awkward atmosphere began to permeate the air.

Neither side spoke first, waiting for the other to reveal their hand.

Xiaochun, on the other hand, was not as calm as she appeared on the surface.

She felt that she had had some "minor friction" with Bai Zhou in the past, and now that she had taken the initiative to ask for authorization to create the character image, she was afraid that he would refuse on the grounds that she had "bad attitude".

His gaze was somewhat unfocused, and he dared not look Bai Zhou directly in the eye.

Bai Zhou's side was purely feeling guilty and adopting a tactical wait-and-see approach.

He pretended to be admiring the scenery around him, and even took the time to nod to Xiaoqian and Asi behind Xiaochun, giving them a polite smile that was a model of professionalism, as a way of saying hello.

When Bai Zhou looked at her like that, Xiao Qian shyly looked away slightly, a faint blush rising on her cheeks.

Ah Si responded with a generous smile and a strong voice, but he wisely remained silent, leaving the "negotiation rights" entirely to the leader, Xiao Chun.

In the end, it was Xiaochun who couldn't hold back any longer.

She took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind.

"Um—Dr. Shiraishu! I was young and impetuous before, and I did the wrong thing. I—I formally apologize to you here!"

Her voice was a little tense at first, but it became clearer and clearer as she spoke, even carrying a kind of frank stubbornness.

"Also! Regarding the licensing of the Johto region Gym Leader's character design in Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver —"

She raised her head, finally daring to meet Bai Zhou's gaze with unprecedented seriousness.

"I hope you can get us, the true Johto Gym Leaders, involved too! After all, we are the Trainers who best represent the Johto region's Gym Leaders!"

"Okay, I accept your challenge—"

Almost reflexively, Shirazu began to reply according to the "responding to the gym leader's challenge" procedure that he had rehearsed in his mind.

But he was startled halfway through his sentence!

Wait a minute!

The conversation is going in completely different direction than I expected!

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