I caught a Pokémon

and……

This shouldn't be the opponent's strongest Pokémon, right?

I really don't know what his strongest form will be!

Neither Haruka, Yami, nor Hinata felt any surprise at this result, since they had all witnessed Xia You's strength before and therefore believed that he would definitely win in the end.

Seeing that Chuang Yi was holding the unconscious Patchlitz in his arms, Xia You clapped her hands gently.

"Impressive," Xia You smiled. "You and your Pachirisu caused some trouble for Umbreon during the battle. You and your Pachirisu are really strong!"

He opened his mouth.

He didn't know what Xia You meant. Was she really praising him? Or was she being sarcastic?

After all, no matter how you look at it, his Pachirisu is still somewhat inferior to Umbreon.

Little did he know, Xia You was genuinely praising him.

As mentioned before, Rangers fight differently from Trainers. They mostly cooperate with wild Pokémon to fight, so the strength of their partner Pokémon is not the standard for measuring their strength.

On the contrary, under such circumstances, the fact that this Pachirisu could withstand Umbreon's attacks for so long and even fight back is already a very impressive feat!

Ok……

If we use other people as benchmarks, based solely on the strength he just displayed, he should be equivalent to the top four in the Ayaka Tournament.

Don't underestimate this semi-final result.

After all, Ash was only in the top eight at the Soyoo Tournament!

Of course, although Ash's performance in the quarterfinals was somewhat below his usual level, it still shows that the top four in the Saiyu Tournament are quite impressive.

Then, considering that the entire Ranger League currently has more than a dozen chief trainers, it's clear what kind of force this is, not to mention the countless ordinary rangers.

No wonder the Ranger League has survived to this day and still has the strength to fight against the Pokémon League!

That's their true strength!

It could even be said that, compared to the loose structure of the Pokémon League, where gym leaders simply collect money, have their own lives, and are basically not under orders, the Ranger League is more powerful and formidable in some respects!

However, none of this concerns Xia You.

Once Umbreon returned to her side, Xia You crouched down and stroked its fur, then looked at Chuang Yi again.

At this moment, Chuang Yi regained his composure and nodded to Xia You.

"Thank you for your guidance. I now understand the gap between us. You truly deserve to be called the champion. From now on... I will continue to work hard to improve myself!"

"Keep it up," Xia You smiled. "You have a long road ahead of you. Being a ranger is a dangerous profession, so there's no harm in working hard to improve yourself!"

At this moment, Haruka, who was standing outside the arena, finally had time to chat with Hinata.

"Miss Hinata, where is that guy named Fuugetsu who was with you before? Isn't he with you?"

Hinata withdrew her gaze from Xia You and shook her head at Xiaoyao: "He's still in Kanto. We patrolmen are all under the command of the League for deployment and movement. He also has his own tasks to complete, and unless there are special circumstances, we are usually alone."

"So that's how it is!"

……

Meeting Hinata and Soichi was just a minor incident.

Because they each had their own things to do, they didn't even have time to properly talk after the battle before saying goodbye and parting ways there.

Before leaving, Hinata stared at Xia You for a long time, as if she had something to say.

But in the end, she didn't say it aloud; she simply followed behind Souichi and disappeared into the bushes.

This left Xia You somewhat puzzled.

Xiaoyao, however, seemed to have noticed something and couldn't help but sigh.

"It seems that Hyuga-san is still feeling a little guilty about not following your instructions back in Kanto."

"The Kanto incident?" Xia You was taken aback, then thought for a moment and realized that she was referring to the incident where she used Celebi to rescue another Celebi. She shook her head and said, "I had already forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it. How long has it been? I didn't expect her to still remember it."

Chapter 1007 You think you're so strong?

Binhai City is a port city built on a cape with a complex topography.

Just as its name suggests, this place is located on the easternmost part of the Sinnoh continent, bordering the sea. The scenery is very beautiful. It is not only a famous port city in Sinnoh, but also an important port for the Pokémon League. It faces the island where the Pokémon League is located on the other side of the strait.

Because of its distance, every year when the tournament is held, countless trainers set off from here by boat to the Pokémon League, striving to realize their dreams. It can be said to be a place where dreams take flight.

Its navigation lighthouse, located on the coast, shines brightly over this sea, guiding countless passing ships. Basically, as soon as people see it, they know they have arrived in Sinnoh.

From a topographical perspective, the entire city is built on a narrow cape and surrounded by mountains. To make up for the lack of space, the city has laid solar panels to form elevated pedestrian walkways to provide energy for the entire city. Therefore, it is jokingly referred to as a city that never lacks electricity.

After traveling for more than a day, Xia You, Xiao Yao, and Ya Mi arrived here without any problems.

This was several hours faster than they had anticipated, giving them more time to spare.

However, they didn't waste any time. Since it was only noon, after entering the city, the group didn't stop at the Pokémon Center to rest or even have lunch. They went straight to the Seaside Gym.

It must be said that once they stepped onto the streets, they discovered that the city was filled with solar panels, escalators, and mobile devices, giving it a strong futuristic feel.

This reminded Xia You of Larousse, the Hoenn technology capital she had visited before.

However, it's clear that the technological feel here is too low and cannot be compared to Larousse City.

"No matter how many times I ride it, I have to say, it's really convenient." Riding the escalator on the street, without having to walk, these long elevators take them wherever they want to go. This made Xiaoyao exclaim, "People who live here must be so happy to not have to rush around when they go out!"

Xia You shook her head: "It seems that technology has changed our lives, but compared to this way of traveling, I still prefer to walk around on my own, as a form of exercise, rather than being controlled by these machines in such a modern city."

It can only be said that this is a difference in perspective.

The world is so big, naturally some people like this kind of technology, after all, technology represents progress, and people should not live in the present forever, but naturally some people are indifferent, and Xia You is obviously the latter.

Just as he said, he prefers nature to technologically advanced cities!

Hearing Xia You's reply, Xiao Yao didn't dwell on the issue and focused her attention on the upcoming gym battle.

Who is the owner of this place?

“It’s Denji,” Yami answered her, then glanced at Xia You and hesitated, “But the upcoming gym battle shouldn’t be easy.”

"Huh?" Xiaoyao was taken aback and asked, puzzled, "Why do you say that?"

Yami shook her head: "I heard that Denji is a very strong person. He has never lost since he became the gym leader!"

"Never lost!?" Haruka exclaimed in surprise. "Really? Does that mean no one has ever been able to take the badge from him?"

"I heard that's how it is."

"That...that's really impressive." Xiaoyao clicked her tongue in amazement, but then smiled nonchalantly. "It's okay, no matter who it is, they definitely can't beat Brother Xia You!"

If a Sinnoh native who didn't know the situation heard this, they would definitely think that this little girl was too arrogant. After all, for so long, everyone who challenged Denji believed that they could definitely defeat him and take the badge from him, but obviously, in the end, they all failed without exception.

Anyone can talk big.

But clearly, these people don't know that today's challenger is no ordinary person.

Listening to the two women's discussion, Xia You couldn't help but think about the situation of this seaside dojo.

As the official gym of Binhai City, the gym leader of Binhai Gym is Denji, and as his name suggests, he is an expert in electric-type abilities.

As Yami said, this man who looks just like the Fourth Hokage is arguably the strongest among all the gym leaders in Sinnoh!

He was even called the Thunder of the Coast because of his immense strength, which shows that he was indeed extraordinary!

He's a man worth taking seriously...

It seems that this time, I finally won't have to let my Pokémon fight on their own.

Because of the elevator, they arrived at the seaside dojo very quickly.

Speaking of which, this seaside dojo is located on a wide lawn in the city, a little away from the city's bustling high-rise buildings. Apart from the solar panels on the top of the building that generate electricity, it is not much different from other common venues, just like a circular arena.

As they walked along the path on the lawn to the entrance of the dojo, before they could even push the door open, a neutral electronic voice came through the microphone from inside the dojo.

"Welcome! How can I help you?"

Without Xia You needing to answer, Xiao Yao stepped forward and said to the electronic screen, "We're here to participate in the gym challenge. Is the gym leader here?"

Please look at the bottom right.

As the electronic sound rang out again, a box in front of Xia You and the others suddenly opened, revealing a box full of badges.

At a glance, there are at least several hundred!

Looking at these badges, Xiaoyao was extremely surprised: "What does this mean?"

"Please take one of them." The electronic voice continued, "For those who come to challenge the gym, you can now take a badge directly without battling."

"What!?"

Upon hearing that such a thing actually happened, Xiaoyao and Yami both stared wide-eyed in astonishment.

They had expected things to go smoothly, but they never imagined it would go this smoothly!

You can get badges without even playing a battle!?

Is this still an official gym?

Yami curiously picked up two of them and played with them in her hand for a while.

Xia You and Xiao Yao looked over at the same time and saw that the shape of the badge was like a lighthouse. In fact, its name is indeed the Lighthouse Badge, just like the iconic navigation lighthouse in Binhai City!

"Is this the lighthouse emblem? Can we really take it now?"

The electronic voice gave an affirmative answer: "That's right, please accept it!"

Holding the two badges, Yami turned to Xia You: "What do we do now?"

Shaking her head, Xia You looked at the screen and asked, "Is Denji here? I want to fight him directly."

"Sorry." The electronic voice was completely flat. "Mr. Denji is not currently at the gym. He has already made it clear that challengers can take the Lighthouse Badge without battling. If you have any other questions, please leave a message here and I will notify him later and have him contact you as soon as possible."

He's not here after all...

I knew this gym battle wouldn't go so smoothly...

If it were an ordinary person in this situation, especially when time was tight, they might just grab the badge and leave.

But he couldn't do that.

After all, his pride as a trainer makes him unwilling to accept victory without a fight. Most importantly, he is no longer an ordinary trainer.

If word got out that a man who had won three regional tournaments had taken the badge from a gym leader who had never experienced defeat without even fighting, and without the leader's knowledge, it would undoubtedly be a laughing stock.

People might even think that he, the champion, is afraid of electric vehicles!

So, others can just take these badges, but he has to defeat Denji fair and square!

But Denji isn't at the dojo right now, so how do we find him?

As they were pondering this, a woman's voice suddenly rang out behind them.

"Eh? Aren't you... Mr. Xia You?"

Upon hearing the voice, Xia You immediately felt it was somewhat familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before. Surprised, he turned around and saw a slender girl standing not far away, looking at him!

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be none other than Ami, the Gym Leader of the Asagi Gym in the Johto region!

"Ami?" Xia You asked, somewhat surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Neither Xiaoyao nor Yami recognized Ami, but seeing that Xia You seemed to know her, the two couldn't help but look at this rather frail-looking woman with suspicion.

"It really is you!" Ami smiled. "I thought you looked familiar, so I followed you over. I didn't expect you to be here to challenge this gym. What? Didn't you know the gym leader wasn't here anymore?"

Xia Youyi shrugged: "I just arrived here today, so I'm not very familiar with anything here."

At this point, he sensed from Ami's tone that she seemed to know Denji, and couldn't help but ask, "Do you know Denji?"

Ami nodded and chuckled, "I've been studying battle techniques for Coordinators in Binhai City these past two days. It was by chance that I met him. What? Are you looking for him?"

She studied battle techniques for Coordinator Trainers.

What does it mean?

Are you planning to change careers?

However, since he wasn't familiar with Ami, he didn't feel comfortable asking for the reason. He simply said, "As you can see, I came here to challenge this seaside gym. I happened to hear that Denji is very strong, so I wanted to have a match with him."

“I knew it.” Ami suddenly realized. “I knew you couldn’t just take the badge like the others. Okay, come with me. I just saw him.”