I caught a Pokémon

"Keep it up!"

Lijia offered a soft word of encouragement, then walked to the stands and quietly watched the match.

She still had great faith in Xia You's strength and didn't think he would fall here.

Seeing that both sides were ready, the referee raised his two colorful flags.

"Now, let's begin the Gym Battle. You will use three Pokémon. The battle ends when either the Gym Leader or the Challenger's Pokémon are all unable to battle! The Challenger will go first, and only the Challenger can switch Pokémon during the battle. The Gym Leader cannot switch Pokémon at will!"

This is a very common competition rule.

The existence of such a rule often means that the gym leader is too strong and must be weakened in this way to match the strength of the average trainer.

Xia You could have had Pine Leaf send out his ace Pokémon to battle him, just like when he fought the Kikyo Gym or the Inkstone Gym. However, after thinking about it, he decided to focus on training and take this opportunity to train his other Pokémon.

Chapter 397 Increases Difficulty

According to the gym rules, Pinewood was the first to send out a Pokémon.

"Go, Gastly!"

He threw out a Poké Ball, and with a flash of blue light, a Gastly appeared in front of Xia You.

Looking at this Pokémon, as the initial form of Gengar, Xia You was quite familiar with Gastly, having owned it before. He not only knew its moves and skills but also understood its attack methods.

He touched his chin.

Ok…

It appears to be a simple battle.

However, since the main purpose was to train troops, and the opponent was in such a basic form, after thinking it over, Xia You released his Pokémon.

As the blue light flashed, a Pokémon resembling a cocoon appeared on the field.

"Oh? It's Shakiras..."

Pine Leaf put one hand on his hip, his gaze sweeping over Shakiras, his face somewhat solemn.

He rarely reads news from other regions, so he naturally didn't know Xia You, nor did he know the strength of the man in front of him.

However, being able to produce a Pokémon like Shakiras, which is relatively rare in the Johto region, means that one must at least have some strength, or rather... be quite lucky?

However, Gastly does have its disadvantages.

In terms of attributes, Shakiras's Ground type has a certain advantage against Gastly's Poison type, which gives it an edge at the beginning of the battle.

Sure enough, once the match started, the battle quickly tilted in Shakiras's favor.

As you can see, Sargeras performed exceptionally well. He was always able to anticipate Gastly's attacks in advance, responding to Xia You's commands. And between the two Pokémon's battles, after exhausting some of their stamina, Sargeras used Crunch to cleanly and decisively defeat Gastly.

Pine Leaf shook his head and helplessly recalled Gastly.

To be honest, his Gastly was defeated far too quickly and too easily in this battle...

As for Xia You, the reason he was able to fight so easily was twofold. Firstly, Gastly was only in its initial form and its abilities were not strong, while Shakiras had a higher overall ability. Secondly, he knew Gastly very well, so he could anticipate and deal with its various moves.

However, this also shows that Song Ye was just going through the motions and only regarded Xia You as an ordinary challenger.

In the audience, Lijia clapped softly.

As mentioned before, Xia You's victory was entirely within her expectations.

Back on the field, having been defeated so easily, Matsuba couldn't help but take things a little more seriously.

He's a gym leader, after all; he has his pride too!

After a slight hesitation, he originally intended to send out his second Pokémon in the same manner as when facing other challengers. However, seeing Xia You's calm expression, which did not seem to be happy about the victory, he suddenly had an idea and took out a Poké Ball from his other pocket.

"Go for it, this is my second Pokémon!"

As the blue light flashed, a Pokémon resembling a gray doll with a zipper pulled over its mouth appeared before Xia You.

Oh?

Cursed doll?

Xia You recognized the Pokémon at a glance, but...

This isn't a Pokémon from the Johto region, is it?

Moreover, just by looking at its aura, you can tell that this is definitely one of Pine Leaf's ace Pokémon!

For such a routine gym battle, shouldn't it be out of the question? Did it recognize me? Does it want to fight me with all its might?

Thinking of this, Xia You glanced at Song Ye in surprise, only to see that the man was smiling at her.

From his smile, Xia You instantly understood what he meant.

So that's how it is. They saw they won too easily, so they increased the difficulty...

"What's wrong?" Pine Leaf chuckled. "Are you confused? If this Pokémon is proving difficult for you, or hard to handle, I can switch to another Pokémon!"

Xia You smiled and shook her head, saying, "It's okay, I think I can handle it. Besides, didn't the referee say before the match that gym leaders can't change their Pokémon? How can we make an exception for you? Most importantly, before the battle even starts, it might not be me who's finding it difficult, but you!"

Upon hearing this, Songye raised his eyebrows in surprise.

An interesting man!

To be able to make such bold statements, one must possess considerable strength, which proves that one's strategy of temporarily changing tactics was correct!

Come on, let me see what you're really capable of!

At this moment, Xia You had already waved and called Shakiras back.

Since the opponent has changed their strategy, we can no longer use it in the fight.

Unfortunately, it seems that the training exercise will not be able to take place.

When Shakiras returned to his side, he squatted down, first patting its head approvingly to show his praise, and then put it back into its Poké Ball.

After doing all that, he stood up, took out his Pokédex as usual, and pointed it at the Cursed Doll.

As the saying goes, "Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle." Before engaging in battle, you should at least learn more about your opponent.

Pokémon Pokédex entry: "Ding, Cursed Doll, Puppet Pokémon, Ghost type. Cursed Doll was originally a pitiful, discarded doll. Cursed energy seeped into the cotton, and intense resentment transformed the doll into a Pokémon. It uses junkyards as its habitat and can be found in dark alleys. It is said to seek out the child who abandoned it and wander around its vicinity, intending to find the person who abandoned it to take revenge. If its need for attention is met, it will turn back into its original doll."

An interesting concept...

But the idea of ​​a doll turning into a Pokémon is probably just fake, right?

Putting away the Pokédex, Xia You couldn't help but ponder which Pokémon to use to deal with it.

Those few in the third formation are definitely not going to work; it seems we'll have to use our main force as well.

With that in mind, he had an idea. After rummaging around in his right waist pouch for a while, he threw out his Poké Ball.

"Go, Crystal Steelix!"

As the blue light flashed, a Pokémon of immense weight and imposing presence, gleaming with a crystal-clear light, landed heavily on the battlefield.

boom!

The loud noise it made when it landed made Pine Leaf's eyebrows twitch. When he saw the Pokémon clearly, he was equally impressed by its beauty and magnificence!

He rubbed his eyes, staring at the Pokémon in front of him in disbelief!

"This is a Shiny Steelix? No... wait, Shiny Steelix isn't this color. Could it be some kind of mutation?"

Xia You nodded: "You're right, it is indeed a mutation, which I subdued by chance. I think it's probably the only one of its kind in the whole world."

"I see..." Matsuba exclaimed, "So this is your strength!? I can tell from the pressure you exude. You're definitely different from Shakiras just now! This makes me even more eager for the battle!!"

Oppression?

Hearing his words, Xia You smiled slightly.

If we're talking about intimidation, you haven't seen my giant red Gyarados yet. Once you see it, you'll understand what true intimidation is!

Chapter 398 Battle Against the Cursed Doll

The Crystal Steelix is ​​over 9 meters long with an enormous head, while the Cursed Doll is only a little over 1 meter tall. The two Pokémon, one super huge and the other very small, are now on the same field, creating a striking visual contrast.

But Xia You wouldn't underestimate this Ghost-type Pokémon just because of that.

Small bodies often contain enormous energy!

In terms of attributes, Crystal Steelix is ​​a Ground/Rock type, and it has no type advantage against Ghost-type Cursed Doll, which is good news for Pine Leaf.

At least you don't have to worry about being countered by attributes and not being able to unleash your full potential.

When the battle begins, both Pokémon act simultaneously.

"Cursed Doll, use Shadow Ball!"

"Crystal Steelix, approach it!"

Under the command of the two trainers, the Cursed Doll conjured a Shadow Ball and threw it at the Crystal Steelix, which charged toward the Cursed Doll with unstoppable momentum!

The dark orb flew closer and closer, but the Crystal Steel Serpent neither dodged nor avoided it, and just charged straight at it!

In fact, given its enormous size, it would be extremely difficult to evade attacks in such a small space unless it burrows underground.

However, this is an indoor space, and the ground outside is covered with flooring. If a drill is used, and the foundation is accidentally broken, the structure of the house will inevitably be damaged.

There's no need to fight a battle and destroy someone else's dojo.

Snapped!

As expected, the Shadow Ball hit the Crystal Steelix. Although it caused damage, the Steelix seemed unfazed by its thick hide and continued to charge straight at the Cursed Doll.

The next second, as it opened its huge mouth, its massive head slammed down towards the cursed doll!

This bite is a full two meters high. Although it's not like Gyarados with its teeth full of sharp teeth, if it bites a Cursed Doll, it can definitely swallow it whole!

Faced with the gaping maw so close at hand, the cursed doll vanished into thin air. When it reappeared, it was already behind the Crystal Steel Serpent!

Seeing the Crystal Steelix's back exposed to it without any defense, it was about to continue using Shadow Ball when it heard the sound of wind beside its ear and a shadow as fast as lightning flashed past its eyes!

Before it could react, it felt a tremendous force strike it. In an instant, it felt as if it had been slapped by something, and its body involuntarily crashed heavily to the ground!

boom!

The cursed doll was thrown into the middle of the field, and it felt a little dizzy.

When the cursed doll came to its senses and looked around, it saw the crystal steel snake slowly turning its head, staring at it with its blood-red eyes, and its tail slowly retracting!

Compared to the bewildered Cursed Doll, Pine Leaf, standing to the side, naturally witnessed what had happened.

Just after the Cursed Doll dodged, the Crystal Steelix seemed to have guessed its location and used Iron Tail without hesitation to strike the Cursed Doll.

That speed was so fast that he didn't even have time to warn his Pokémon!

It was as if we had anticipated its actions!

"You've got some skills..." He looked at Xia You. "Whether it was Gastly just now or Cursed Doll now, you can always predict their actions. It seems you're quite familiar with the attack methods of Ghost-type Pokémon."

In the first round of combat, both sides seemed to have suffered damage, but Pine Leaf also understood that the Crystal Steelix clearly had the upper hand!

Xia You shrugged, offering no explanation.

Ghost-type Pokémon only have a few attack methods, and Gengar has used Vanish and Reappear countless times, so he knows this move very well!

Meanwhile, after the cursed dolls regrouped, Matsuba issued another order.

"Use Night Demon Shadow!"

A terrifying black light emanated from the cursed doll, then transformed into a phantom before rapidly sweeping towards the Crystal Onix!

Xia You's eyes narrowed slightly, but she still managed to make the Crystal Steel Serpent withstand the attack.

The phantom arrived in an instant, striking the Crystal Steelix, which grunted and took a step back.

This move can damage the target, and the amount of damage depends on the strength of the user. The Cursed Doll is undoubtedly very strong, so the damage it caused to the Crystal Onix was naturally not small.

Shaking its head, the Crystal Onix stared intently at the Cursed Doll with its blood-red eyes.

Unexpectedly, after successfully striking, Pine Leaf made no further move. Instead, it scrutinized Xia You for a long time and asked, "Why didn't you have your Pokémon burrow underground to avoid my Nightshade? That's a signature move of many Ground-type Pokémon, isn't it?"

He must have realized that Xia You could have dodged, but instead made no move and let the Crystal Giant Onix take the hits.

This is very illogical!

Upon hearing Song Ye's words, Xia You was taken aback at first, then laughed.