I caught a Pokémon

After lunch, Xia You finally got to face Qianli in the dojo battle.

Inside the Petalburg Gym arena, Xia You and Qianli stood on opposite sides, each in their respective half of the arena's trainer command area.

A very young apprentice came to the field and acted as the referee.

However, before he could explain the rules, Qianli interrupted him, then crossed his arms and said to Xia You:

"I don't need to explain the rules here to you again, do I?"

Xia You nodded.

Before parting ways with May and Max last time, he had overheard Max recounting his experiences at the Petalburg Gym during a casual chat. He learned that the rules there were three-on-three. In fact, if he hadn't stopped Max at the time, this boy who somewhat admired him would probably have revealed all the weaknesses of the Pokémon in the game.

This is truly a misfortune for our family.

"How do you want to play? Are you going to use your full starting lineup? To be honest, I'd also like to play against you, a two-time regional champion!"

"No way." Xia You shook her head. "Although I'm here to challenge the gyms, my main purpose is also to train my Pokémon. Just treat me as an ordinary challenger."

This is a trainer who is almost a 'Elite Four' level. Xia You has no plans to fight these people for the time being. He will wait until he has traveled around the world and challenged all the regions before he has a serious battle with these people.

"I see." Qianli Dao didn't seem to mind and simply nodded. "Then I understand."

As he spoke, he took out a Poké Ball from his pocket. As he threw it, a flash of blue light appeared, and the Pokémon that Xia You had seen before entering the room also appeared on the battlefield.

This is a lazy otter.

It looks just like a sloth, a common animal on Earth, with a somewhat blank face, brownish-gray fur, and darker stripes on its back.

Upon seeing this Pokémon, Misty, who was in the audience, also took out her Pokédex and pointed it at it.

Pokémon Pokédex entry: "Ding, Slakoth, a lazy Pokémon, Normal type. This Pokémon spends most of its day sleeping, sometimes lying down for more than 20 hours a day. It's content as long as it can eat 3 leaves. Because its heart only beats once per minute, it will lie down no matter what, and you will almost never see it move."

Chapter 673 The Surprisingly Lazy Otter (Please Subscribe)

This was Xia You's first time fighting against a lazy otter.

In previous trips, whether it was street battles or other formal competitions, very few trainers brought this kind of Pokémon into the arena.

The main problem is that it's just too lazy.

If it were its evolved forms, Hyperactive Apus or Slaking, that would be fine, but the limited advantages of the Sloth are overshadowed by its laziness, making it unremarkable in battles.

Moreover, most people simply don't have the patience to train it. After all, this kind of Pokémon is extremely averse to activity and only wants to stay in a fixed location, but trainers need to travel around constantly, so it's really impossible to accommodate it.

Especially when it's sleeping, it's impossible to wake it up no matter how you call it. If a trainer were to let it out to battle someone at this time, it would be a laughing stock.

Only a dojo master like Senri would nurture it with such care.

Faced with this lazy otter, Xia You also sent out her own Pokémon.

As the Poké Ball opened, his MetalGreymon appeared on the battlefield.

From an attribute perspective alone, while MetalGreymon cannot suppress Slakoth, Slakoth's Normal-type moves only deal half the damage to MetalGreymon due to its Steel attribute.

Moreover, the Sloth is only in its initial form, while the Metal Monster has evolved into its second form and is much stronger.

From these two points alone, the Metal Monster does indeed have an advantage.

However, although Xia You's MetalGreymon had some training in private, this was its first time participating in a gym battle, and it seemed to lack experience, which made the two Pokémon seem to be at the same level again.

Seeing that both players were ready, the match officially began at the referee's signal.

"Metal Monster, use telekinesis!"

"Lazy Otter, use Shadow Ball!"

As expected of a 'quasi-Four Heavens', perhaps having guessed what Xia You was going to do, Qianli issued his own orders at the same time as Xia You gave them at the start of the battle.

An invisible force collided with the shadow sphere in mid-air, causing a violent explosion.

He actually anticipated Xia You's instructions and made targeted defenses at the same time!

However, amidst the smoke from the explosion, a figure suddenly burst through the smoke.

It turned out that the metal monster had quietly approached, using the smoke as cover to drift across the halfway point and charge towards the lazy otter!

When it got close to the lazy otter, the metal monster raised its two iron claws and used them to grab the lazy otter fiercely!

The two iron claws gleamed coldly, appearing both fast and precise.

However, just as the metal claw was about to touch the sloth, the sloth dodged to the side with extremely nimble steps, easily avoiding the attack!

Oh?

Xia You raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to care. Instead, she issued the second command.

The metal monster continued to use its metal claws to grab the lazy otter, but this time, the lazy otter simply took a step and dodged the metal monster's attack again.

Now, Xia You had no choice but to take it seriously.

His gaze sharpened as he carefully observed the Sloth's movements, only then realizing that Qianli's Pokémon was somewhat unusual.

As a Pokémon that is generally recognized as moving relatively slowly, people actually have certain stereotypes about Sloth, thinking that it is slow and clumsy.

But what was presented to Xia You at this moment was a completely different situation!

The lazy otter dodged and weaved, dodging each of the metal monster's attacks with a 'wobbly' and 'light' manner!

I see……

It seems that Qianli must have given it special training targeting its weaknesses, which explains its performance.

In that case, it seems I can no longer engage in close combat with it and need to switch to another method of attack!

Thinking of this, Xia You gave another order, commanding the metal monster to move towards his half of the field.

But this time, when he wanted to leave, it was Qianli who refused to comply.

Perhaps realizing what Xia You was about to do, seeing the metal monster retreat, he quickly ordered the lazy otter to entangle it closely!

"That's it! Lazy Otter, use a surprise attack!"

Caught off guard, the lazy otter suddenly stretched out its arm and struck the metal monster. Fortunately, Xia You was on guard against this move and made the metal monster float into the sky in time, barely dodging the attack!

Just as Qianli had guessed Xia You's plan, Xia You also understood his thoughts.

It's just a defensive counter-attack, nothing really that big of a deal.

However, taking this opportunity, Metal Monster finally managed to distance itself from Lazy Otter and return to its original half of the field.

The lazy otter didn't chase after it. It seems that although it could easily dodge the metal monster's close-range attacks with its agile footwork, its speed hadn't changed. Catching up with the floating metal monster in such a spacious battlefield was obviously not an easy task.

"Metal Monster, Psychic Attack!"

Xia You used the same trick again. He didn't believe that the Lazy Otter's Dark Ball could successfully block the Metal Monster's psychic attacks every time. If it made a mistake even once, he would be able to seize the opportunity!

Qianli naturally understood Xia You's plan.

However, he clearly has other ways of dealing with this.

"Lazy Otter, use Blizzard!"

The lazy otter opened its mouth and spat out crystalline snowflakes. These snowflakes grew larger and denser in the air, eventually forming a fierce blizzard that blew in large swaths toward the metal monster.

Although the Ice-type Blizzard only deals half damage to the Steel-type MetalGreymon, Qianli's purpose is not the MetalGreymon itself, but something else entirely.

Amidst countless snowflakes, the originally invisible mental force suddenly seemed to take shape, rushing through the air.

Having discerned its trajectory, the lazy otter easily dodged the attack with a simple twist of its body.

That wasn't all. The cold snowflakes blew onto the metal monster, instantly covering its metallic body with a layer of frost!

As a result of the frost, the joints on the metal monster's body began to slowly become unable to rotate freely!

So that's what they were planning!

Xia You understood Qianli's plan at a glance.

Because Metallica is not a Pokémon in the form of a 'living life', and may not even have blood flowing to renew the cold stone, its body surface temperature is extremely low. Once covered by ice and snow, it cannot melt the ice and snow on its own, nor can it remove it!

Sure enough, the next second, affected by the blizzard, the metal monster swayed a few times, as if it could not even maintain stability in the simple matter of floating.

That's really something. This Pokémon is so weak, yet now it not only has a unique way of dodging, but it can also use Ice-type Blizzard, and who knows what other tricks it might have up its sleeve.

All I can say is that Senri has trained his Pokémon exceptionally well!

However, this method is only effective against other trainers; it's not enough against him.

These thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant, but aloud he had already given the order without hesitation: "Use Mind Hammer!"

As a psychic-type move, Mind Hammer concentrates the power of thought on the forehead to attack, and sometimes the sheer force of this move can even frighten opponents and make them back down!

Protected by superpowered energy, the metal monster charged at the sloth otter once again.

Although this back-and-forth movement rendered the previous stretching effort futile, there was nothing that could be done about it.

This is the best choice Xia You has made among all the moves that Metal Monster currently possesses.

This time, because the two Pokémon were some distance apart, Metagross had enough acceleration, so that when it got close to Slakoth, its momentum had reached its peak!

However, the Gym Leader's Pokémon are not so easily intimidated.

Under Qianli's command, the lazy otter changed its previous laziness and its momentum also changed suddenly. It stopped dodging and chose to meet the metal monster head-on!

Under the watchful eyes of Xia You, Qianli, Mitsuko, and Xiaoxia, as the two Pokémon drew closer and closer, they finally collided violently...

Chapter 674 What did you teach it? (Please subscribe)

"Both the Sloth and the Metal Monster are incapacitated, resulting in a draw in the first battle!"

As the referee held up the two colored flags, it meant that Xia You and Qianli's first battle had ended in a lose-lose situation.

There's nothing we can do about it.

After their initial clash, the two Pokémon continued their battle for quite some time.

The two sides exchanged blows, and after the initial probing, they pushed the battle to its simplest and most brutal stage—face-to-face close combat!

It must be admitted that this lazy otter has been trained quite well by Qianli. In terms of performance, strength, and experience, it is undoubtedly superior to the metal monster.

However, MetalGreymon relied on its superior defense and the fact that Normal-type moves are halved in its effectiveness, so it used Steel-type moves and managed to fight MetalGreymon to the death!

Seeing this result, however, did not bring Xia You any sense of relief.

Qianli could only smile helplessly at this.

There's really... absolutely no way to do it.

After all, type advantage can often play a decisive role when two Pokémon cannot gain a significant advantage, as was the case in the battle just now.

"Well done." Qianli praised Xia You, "Actually, don't underestimate my lazy otter just because it hasn't evolved yet. It's very strong. Before you, too many people have fallen to it because they underestimated it."

Xia You knew that he wasn't just making empty boasts or trying to save face.

Judging from the strength this lazy otter has shown, it will indeed give those trainers who are unaware of its abilities or are just starting out a profound and unforgettable 'surprise'!

Xia You smiled and said, "Being able to fight it to a draw is indeed due to the Metal Monster's advantage in certain attributes. I am already very satisfied with this result."

Seeing the young man before him so humble and unassuming, Qianli nodded in satisfaction.

No wonder he's a man who can win two regional championships in a row; he's truly extraordinary, and his attitude alone deserves praise.

Indeed, only someone like that truly deserves to be the role model his son admires and be his example!

After recalling their respective Pokémon, Senri took out a second Poké Ball.

"Next up is the second battle, but I must warn you, my Pokémon is stronger than the Slakoth from before!"

"I understand. Bring it on! Now that we're done playing around, I need to get a little more serious!"

Okay, I take back what I just said. It seems this man isn't so modest after all...

Hearing Xia You's answer, Qianli smiled slightly, not caring, and threw out the second Poké Ball.

Then, a flash of blue light appeared on the battlefield, and a Pokémon that was all white, with a tuft of red hair on its head, sharp claws, and a tail, resembling a standing ape, appeared.

This is……

Upon seeing this Pokémon, Misty, who was sitting next to Mitsuko in the audience watching the battle, took out her Pokédex again.

Feedback on the Pokédex came in very quickly.

Pokémon Pokédex entry: "Beep, Hypersatius, the Pokémon of the Hypersatius type, Normal type, the evolved form of Sloth. Compared to the lazy Sloth, Hypersatius is always restless and wants to cause trouble. It can't even sit still for a minute. Its heart can beat at 10 times the speed, and its blood is boiling. If it doesn't move its body, the stress will accumulate excessively, making its physical condition worse."