I caught a Pokémon

Sigh, no matter how many times I visit, the underwater world remains as mysterious and secluded as ever, which is truly fascinating!

Ryuji walked to the glass, pointed to the seabed, and said to Xia You, "Alright, we've arrived. This is the arena for the Ryugu Dojo!"

Is this the battlefield?

Xia You looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the seabed outside the dojo had been cleaned up and a rectangular framework of the arena had been drawn with white lines.

He asked in surprise, "So, the fighting style of the Dragon Palace Dojo, just like its name suggests, involves fighting in the water?"

“That’s right!” Ryuji smiled, clearly satisfied with Xia You’s reaction, and then explained, “Actually, it’s not just the Pokémon; during battles, even the trainers have to go into the sea together!”

Oh? A battle at sea is quite rare indeed!

This was the first time Xia You had ever seen a battleground on the seabed. Needless to say, apart from those Pokémon that could breathe and move freely in the sea, the other types of Pokémon would definitely be unable to participate in this battle!

At this moment, Ryuji took two underwater breathing apparatuses from the side and handed one of them to Xia You.

"This small breathing apparatus, once held in your mouth, allows you to breathe underwater for more than twenty minutes, enough for a battle. By the way, can you swim underwater?"

"Well... I once experienced a shipwreck and have some experience with diving. Although I'm not an expert, at least I won't panic in the sea."

Taking the respirator, Xia You asked again, "What are the rules for this match?"

"The rules are simple: it's a standard three-on-three battle. You win by defeating all the Pokémon!"

Xia You pondered for a moment. The rules were fine, but he was slightly troubled about the choice of Pokémon to participate in the battle.

Blastoise is far away in Sakuragi Park, and there's no switch here to bring it over, so he currently only has one Water-type Pokémon: Gyarados.

However, if you use Gyarados in the battle, not only will the strength be extremely unequal, but Xia Yeyou is also afraid that it will destroy the gym along the way!

Fortunately, it has another Pokémon that can fight underwater that it can use.

Since Xia You hadn't brought her swimming trunks, Ryuji gave her a new set for free. After changing into them in the changing room, Xia You and Ryuji went up the stairs, put on their breathing apparatus, and jumped into the sea through an entrance.

Pfft!

The moment Xia You entered the sea, the seawater stimulated him, and goosebumps rose all over his body. However, because the sun was high in the sky and the seawater was not cold, he gradually adapted to the temperature and pressure of the seawater after a dozen seconds.

After stretching his limbs a few times, Xia You swam to the Trainer Command Area on one side. When he turned around, he saw that Ryuji was already ready, and the three Pokémon that had just performed with him—Spiritowy, Manta Ray, and Lanturn—had somehow appeared beside him.

It seems that these three Pokémon are not only his ballet partners, but also his battle Pokémon!

Seeing that Xia You was ready, Long Si waved his hand, and the Thousand Needle Fish was the first to swim towards the battlefield.

Thousand Needles is a Water/Poison type Pokémon with distinct colors on its back and belly. It looks like a puffed-up pufferfish and has more than a dozen sharp spines all over its body.

It is said that because of its round body, the needlefish is not very good at swimming. In order to launch its venomous needles, it will inflate its body by swallowing water. The larger the opponent, the more water it will drink, causing its body to swell continuously!

Xia You took out a Poké Ball, and with a flash of blue light, Dragonair appeared in front of Needlefish.

In terms of type, Dragon-type Dragonair doesn't have a double super type advantage against Water-type Pokémon, but Water-type moves take half damage when they hit Dragon-type Pokémon.

This directly caused the Thousand Needle Fish to lose most of its fighting power!

Chapter 344 Hakron's Three-in-a-Row

Inside the dojo room, Sabrina had already walked to the audience area and casually found a seat to sit down.

From her perspective, the view was expansive, as if she were watching an underwater performance, allowing her to take in the entire battlefield.

At this moment, she crossed her legs, looking very relaxed, clearly believing from the bottom of her heart that Xia You would easily win this game!

After all, this is just a private dojo, and its strength is nowhere near that of those regular dojos. Unless Xia You is careless and suffers an unexpected defeat, he has no chance of losing!

Meanwhile, underwater, Ryuji stood in the trainer command area. Seeing Xia You looking over, he pointed to the indicator light next to him.

Because they cannot make a sound underwater, they can only communicate using simple sign language and indicator lights.

Xia You turned her head and looked through her diving mask. She saw the lights change from red to green and knew that the competition had officially started!

He waved to Hakron, who understood and immediately charged towards the Thousand Needlefish.

Although it is not a Water-type Pokémon, Dragonair can still swim as nimbly as a sea serpent in the ocean. However, since it cannot be commanded with words, it is undoubtedly a great test for Xia You and Dragonair to have a good understanding.

In contrast to Xia You, Ryuji and his Pokémon seem to have no such problem, as they often rehearse dances underwater with their Pokémon and are extremely familiar with water.

Ryuji merely glanced at it, and the Thousand Needle Fish launched an attack with perfect coordination.

As it inhaled seawater, its body swelled continuously. Once it reached a certain size, it suddenly exerted its strength, and more than a dozen poisonous needles were fired at Hakron simultaneously, covering a large area!

Faced with the sharp poison needles being shot at it, Hakron immediately unleashed Dragon's Fury. Compared to the other move, Dragon's Fury, with its greater power, not only deflected the poison needles but also continued forward with its aftershocks, eventually striking the Thousand Needlefish!

The poison needles scattered and slowly disappeared into the ocean currents.

With a single, decisive blow, Xia You continued her attacks relentlessly.

He made a swishing motion with his right hand. Seeing this, Hakron took advantage of the moment before the needlefish could stand up and immediately rammed into it, sending the needlefish rolling backward more than ten times!

The fact that he landed two attacks in a row surprised Ryuji, and his heart jumped into his throat.

Although Water-type Pokémon have an advantage in the ocean, Dragonair is clearly not at a disadvantage in the sea either!

This match didn't seem like a good omen from the very beginning...

Shaking his head to dispel the ominous thought, and once the Thousand Needlefish regained its balance, under Ryuji's command, it immediately retaliated. Its poisonous needles began to emit a ghostly green light as it charged towards the Dragon Hakuryu!

It's a poison-attribute move—Poison Strike!

If it hits, it can not only cause considerable damage, but also has a chance to trigger a poison effect!

In the critical moment, Hakron glanced behind it and saw Xia You's right hand drawing circles in the water. It understood immediately, and the next second, with its mouth open, it used Tornado!

What happens when you use a tornado underwater?

On land, needless to say, it would form a powerful tornado that would sweep everything away. On the sea, it would form a waterspout that would absorb seawater. As for underwater, it would be like this: the tornado forms an underwater vortex that keeps swallowing up the surrounding seawater!

As the vortex grew larger and its suction became stronger, it eventually occupied half the area! The needlefish, unable to dodge in time, was also sucked into the vortex!

The Thousand Needle Fish's balloon-like body makes it difficult to swim, and Xia You took advantage of its slow speed, making it unable to escape the vortex's attack range!

Sure enough, pulled by the enormous suction, the needlefish was directly drawn into the whirlpool. Despite its desperate attempts to escape, no matter how much it twisted its body, it could not leave the area.

Glug glug...

The whirlpool stirred up a lot of bubbles in the seawater!

After struggling for a long time, the Thousand Needle Fish finally ran out of energy and was pulled into the center of the vortex, where it began to spin wildly out of control!

When the vortex finally disappeared, its eyes rolled back, completely dizzy from being spun around!

This time, Hakuryu didn't even need to finish off the Thousand Needlefish; it had already lost its ability to fight.

Seeing the unconscious Needlefish floating towards the surface of the sea due to loss of control of its body, Ryuji quickly took out a Poké Ball and silently recalled it.

After stealing another glance at the composed Xia You, Long Si couldn't help but exclaim: This person's Pokémon are really amazing!

Unfortunately, he had neither watched Xia You's matches nor read any related reports, so he naturally wouldn't know that the man in front of him was the champion of this year's Indigo League and an honorary trainer of the Orange League!

Even without knowing Xia You's identity, he could clearly sense that there was indeed a significant gap in strength between the two!

Shaking his head, Ryuji composed himself and sent out a second Pokémon, this time a Manta Ray swimming over.

Because she rarely dealt with Pokémon, Xia You couldn't help but take a few glances at them.

Manta Ray is a Water/Flying type Pokémon. Its appearance is somewhat similar to that of a manta ray on Earth, a flat, devil-like fish. It is said to have a very gentle temperament, usually swimming leisurely in the water, but occasionally leaping out of the sea and flying on the surface.

Xia You remembered that the Giant Winged Fish had outstanding special defense, so in this battle, they should try to use physical means to decide the outcome!

Thinking of this, he glanced at Hakron's condition.

Since she hadn't been attacked and hadn't expended much energy, even though her opponent switched to a second Pokémon, Xia You didn't switch out Dragonair because it was in good condition. Instead, she continued to use it to fight Ryuji!

The indicator light turned green again.

When the battle began, Dragonair used Dragon Dive to close the distance and collide with Mantidobacter's body. While dodging Mantidobacter's counterattack, it seized the opportunity to use Tight Bind, using its tail to strangle Mantidobacter's body. Although Mantidobacter quickly broke free due to its size, it was still hit by Dragonair's smooth combo and lost a lot of stamina!

The next second, the roles reversed, and at Ryuji's urging, it was the giant flying fish's turn to attack.

Two Pokémon chased each other in the sea, using various moves to weave through the water and create ripples.

It was noticeable that this battle was slightly more difficult than the previous one. At the very least, the giant flying fish was swimming much faster than the needlefish, which made it easier for it to dodge some attacks.

Even so, the giant flying fish is still no match for the dragonfish.

In the end, Hakuryu found an opportunity and knocked it unconscious with a single blow from its tail!

After defeating his two opponents, Hakron came to Xia You's side and happily rubbed his forehead against Xia You's arm.

Through their two recent battles, Xia You and it have become increasingly in sync!

Having fought this far, Xia You had to mentally assess Long Si's strength.

He discovered that Ryuji's two Pokémon were indeed stronger than those of the average trainer, and were quite skilled. No wonder he dared to open a gym here.

However, Ryuji's battle style was rather conventional, and his command was not particularly outstanding, which slightly diminished the strength of his Pokémon.

On the other side, having lost both battles, Ryuji sent out his last Pokémon—Lantern.

Lantern is a Water/Electric type Pokémon. Its design is based on the anglerfish, a type of lanternfish that lurks in the deep sea and hunts with its glowing tentacles. Of course, Lantern looks much cuter than the anglerfish.

This Pokémon is Ryuji's last trump card. Whether he can turn the tide depends entirely on the performance of the lanthanum!

Unfortunately, after the first two battles, Dragonair had gained momentum and confidence. In the third round, although Lanturn's electric-type moves caused Dragonair a lot of trouble, even though it was injured, Dragonair still attacked fiercely and ended up defeating three Pokémon in a row by itself!

Even after the Lightbulb Monster fell into a coma, Ryuji still couldn't believe his eyes!

I... I was actually defeated by someone using only one Pokémon!?

After all, being defeated in a 1v3 situation is a very shameful thing, which means that the gap between your strength and the opponent's strength is too huge!

This was undoubtedly a bucket of cold water poured on his dream of building a dojo!

Could it be that my abilities are truly unsuitable for becoming a gym leader?

Chapter 345 Sabrina Leaves the Team

Xia You recalled Dragonair into its Poké Ball and then took the escalator back to the gym from the seabed.

He went to the changing room, took off his swimming trunks, threw his diving mask and underwater breathing apparatus aside, rinsed and dried himself off, and changed back into his regular clothes. When he finished doing all this and returned to the lobby to meet up with Sabrina, Ryuji happened to walk over from the other side.

Upon seeing Xia You, Long Si simply shrugged with a wry smile.

"Your Dragonair is amazing! My Pokémon are no match for it! Is it your ace? How did you train it to be so strong?"

trump card?

Xia You hesitated for a moment.

How should I answer him? If I tell him that Dragonair is only his third-tier Pokémon and is far from being an ace Pokémon, would that be too discouraging for him?

After organizing her thoughts, Xia You smiled and said, "Dragonair hasn't evolved to its final form yet; it's still in its growth stage. But I believe that once it evolves, it will definitely become one of my ace Pokémon! As for training, I actually think that if you shorten the time spent practicing ballet and focus more on developing its battle abilities, your Pokémon will eventually grow to this level of strength!"

See, expressing the same meaning in a roundabout way—that's the art of language!

Hearing him say that, Ryuji immediately understood that the powerful enemy who had easily defeated him was just an ordinary Pokémon!

The gap is so obvious, it's really disheartening!

Was I really wrong to want to become both a museum owner and an excellent aquatic ballet dancer?

The two chatted briefly for a while, and seeing that quite some time had passed, Xia You prepared to say goodbye and leave.

The Ryugu Gym doesn't have any badges or anything like that to prove you defeated Ryuji, so it's less of a collectible item. But it wasn't a wasted trip, at least it gave Dragonair a lot of experience, and it's clear that it's taken another step forward in its evolution.

After waving goodbye to Ryuji, Xia You and Sabrina left the Ryugu Dojo and summoned Charizard once again.

This time, they didn't linger, but planned to head straight to Saffron City, where the Saffron City Gym is located!

……

Kanto, Golden City.

When Xia You and Na Zi arrived, it was already the morning of the third day.

The Charizard flew intermittently from the central and eastern parts of Johto to the central part of Kanto, a distance of nearly two thousand kilometers. Excluding the time spent resting at night, it took it almost a day and a half to fly.

Such a long journey must have exhausted it.

Although Xia You could have switched to another Pokémon like Zapdos along the way to let Charizard rest, he chose not to do so. Instead, he took the opportunity to train Charizard's endurance and see where its limits were!

It now seems that Charizard's stamina is indeed extremely abundant. After carrying him and Sabrina for so long, it is only a little tired.

In the open space in front of the Goldenrod Gym, Charizard flapped its wings and descended from the sky.