Bottom-tier trainers in the Pokémon world

Infernape swung its fists rapidly, propelling its body forward as if it were moving faster than the speed of sound, unleashing explosive punches.

In the blink of an eye, we arrived in front of the aluminum-steel dragon.

Boom!

A solid punch landed on the sturdy body of the aluminum-steel dragon, producing a dull thud.

"Aluminum-steel dragon, widespread destruction," Xia Yan commanded calmly, his expression unchanged.

"Roar--!!"

The little Aluminosi took a punch from Infernape, which hurt a lot, but it also successfully stirred up its pride as a Dragon-type Pokémon.

The sharp claws swung swiftly, sweeping across Infernape and sending it flying.

Wide-Area Destruction: A Dragon-type move that deals area-of-effect damage and reduces the opponent's physical attack.

As Infernape endured the attack, the intense pain caused it to furrow its brow.

"Fire Monkey!"

"Continue." Xia Yan wouldn't stop there.

Huo—

Aluminum Steel Dragon pushed off the ground with both feet and charged towards Infernape at a surprisingly good speed.

"So fast." Ryota was very surprised.

Because in his understanding, aren't Steel-type Pokémon all Pokémon with extremely high defense but poor speed?

Why is this aluminum-steel dragon so fast?!

It was another solid "wide-area destruction" attack.

After two attacks, Infernape's physical attack power was significantly reduced.

"This Steel-type Pokémon has really good speed." Daigo's eyes grew brighter and brighter; he felt he had found a new target.

"The 'Wide Area Devastation' move is also quite uncommon, but it seems to be very useful for Duraludon," Wataru remarked.

It's easy to see from its type combination that Duraludon's weaknesses are Fighting and Ground types. Since Fighting-type moves are mostly physical attacks, "Wide Area Devastation" can reduce physical attack power and enhance Duraludon's survivability.

"The only downside is that it can't fly, but its speed surpasses that of most Steel-type Pokémon, which somewhat makes up for it," Lance continued.

The more the two looked at it, the more pleasing the aluminum steel dragon seemed to them!

In the venue.

After Dracovish used "Wide Area Defense" three times in a row, Infernape's physical attack power was no longer a threat to it.

But soon.

"Cough!"

The Fire Monkey staggered to its feet, flames burning fiercely on its tail, and its aura rapidly growing stronger.

The "fierce fire" characteristic is activated!

"Fire Monkey, Flame Fist!" Ryota was extremely excited at this moment.

Since we've run out of Fighting-type moves, let's use Fire-type attacks!

Flames erupted from Chimchar's body, gathering in its fists, and it charged towards Duraludon in a few quick steps.

Xia Yan squinted.

He vaguely saw a bit of Daiya's shadow in this challenger, Ryota.

Perhaps this is the state of mind of a Fire-type Pokémon trainer.

Bang! !

The aluminum steel dragon stood still and took the punch from the fierce fire monkey head-on.

A charred fist mark appeared on the metal body.

Ding Ding Ding-

The aluminum-steel dragon took three steps back.

This attack still hurt a bit, even though Infernape's attack power was weakened so much.

This also surprised Aluminum Steel Dragon.

"That's it, stomp your feet." Xia Yan gave the final command.

Rumble!

Aluminum Steel Dragon slammed one of its feet into the ground, causing the ground to crack layer by layer. A crack rapidly spread towards Infernape, and exploded upon contact with it.

At that moment, Xia Yan's first thought was...

If we use Ground-type moves less often in the future, this place will be extremely destructive. How much will it cost to repair it later?

cough cough.

"Infernape!" Ryota rushed into the arena and caught Infernape, which was lying on the ground unable to battle.

This Ground-type move, "Stomp," finished off Infernape.

"I lost..." Ryota sat down on the ground, dejected, and hugged Infernape tightly.

Xia Yan walked slowly to the side of the aluminum steel dragon, patted it with satisfaction, and then looked at Ryota, "You're not bad."

"Ok?"

Ryota looked up in surprise.

“My evaluation criteria are not entirely based on winning or losing. You have met my requirements, so... it is yours.”

Xia Yan took out a brand new badge.

This was the first badge he issued as a gym leader.

He didn't expect to see such a promising talent in the very first match today.

Although this guy isn't particularly strong, Xia Yan saw the bond he shared with the spirits.

Therefore, Xia Yan felt that he deserved to receive this badge.

Such a person, if he can maintain his fiery personality, may not reach the level of Da Ye, but at least his achievements will not be low.

Of course, this is on the premise that you can remain steadfast in your beliefs even when you're battered and bruised.

"Thank you, Mr. Xia Yan."

Ryota quickly stood up, bowed to Natsuhiko, and carefully accepted the badge.

Then, under a barrage of cameras, he happily displayed the dragon-themed badge.

The audience erupted in applause.

"They're issuing badges already? This guy's abilities are way inferior to Xia Yan's," Wu Song said, adjusting his glasses.

Da Ye grabbed Wu Song by the neck and said, "What do you know? This is called passion. Xia Yan felt that boy's passion and they admired each other."

He also has high hopes for the challenger, Ryota.

If he were the gym leader, he would definitely issue badges.

"Mutual appreciation?" A-Liu glanced at the calm Xia Yan, then at the excited Liang Tai, and shook her head.

"However, Brother Wusong, it's inevitable that there's a big gap between the challenger and Mr. Xia Yan. It would be surprising if he could fight Mr. Xia Yan to a standstill, wouldn't it?"

“That’s true, Xia Yan held back on that last Flame Fist.” Wu Song nodded.

He then lowered his head and opened another book, Wanlong's latest work. "Call me when the next match starts. There are still more than three hundred pages left. I should be able to finish reading it in five minutes."

The first challenger surprised Xia Yan.

However, the three people who came after him left Xia Yan somewhat disappointed.

The second badge was never given out.

"Xia Yan's standards are really high," Kona exclaimed.

"Isn't he worried that this will deter many challengers?" Daigo also expressed surprise at Natsuhiko's strictness.

“You don’t understand,” Wataru explained with a smile. “Aren’t trainers people who know it’s difficult, but still push forward?”

Upon hearing Du's words, the others nodded thoughtfully.

That seems to make some sense.

During a break.

Before Natsuhiko could even receive the information about the next challenger from Kikuna...

Kikuno then called him aside.

"What's wrong, King Kikuno?"

Xia Yan was somewhat surprised to see Kikuno's slightly embarrassed and serious expression.

"Today's five challengers... I hope you can win the last match, regardless of whether you get a badge in the end."

Upon hearing this, Xia Yan raised an eyebrow.

He felt that Kikuno must have some special reason for saying that.

"We absolutely have to win?"

Kikuno pursed her lips, her expression somewhat solemn.

"No, I mean I hope you will do your best to win, because you don't necessarily... can actually win."

This made Xia Yan even more curious about what kind of challenger Kikuno would take so seriously.

"who is it?"

“Someone who… recently swept through all the gyms in the Kanto and Hoenn Leagues and won first place in the final tournaments,” Kikuno said.

"Kanto and Hoenn..."

This really surprised Xia Yan.

Although many gym leaders do not send out their strongest Pokémon to battle.