I caught a Pokémon

Before Paris could deny anything, Xi Ke covered her mouth with the back of her hand and revealed her signature smile.

"That won't do. Although the conference hasn't started yet, if your relationship were exposed in such a setting, it would surely have a significant impact on your 'reputation,' wouldn't it? So next time you go on a date, you'll definitely have to be careful of outsiders!"

As soon as she finished speaking, her companions chuckled and looked at Xia You and Paris with a hint of mockery.

Xia You never expected that, as an outsider, she would be drawn into the conflict between these two women.

What an undeserved disaster!

He glanced at Xi Ke indifferently, and was about to speak when Melissa walked out of the venue and returned to their side.

"What's wrong?" She looked around, then her gaze fell on Xi Ke, and she smiled, "Did something happen here?"

Chapter 1071 A Battle Simplified

Despite her sarcastic remarks towards Paris, Xi can't do anything to Melissa.

After all, unlike Paris, who seemed easy to bully, Melissa, no matter how you look at her, exuded a powerful aura and didn't seem like someone easy to get along with.

Moreover, the social status and popularity of a gym leader are clearly unmatched by any Pokémon-style designer.

In this world, those who are stronger ultimately have more influence.

“So it’s Miss Melissa. I didn’t expect to see you here.” Xi Ke nodded to Melissa, her words becoming somewhat restrained, and her attitude completely different from when she treated Paris. “I just came here to register, and I happened to see Lady Paris, so I came over to say hello. Well, since you have other matters to attend to, I won’t bother you any longer.”

Before Melissa could speak, Xi Ke turned and left with several companions.

It seems that his brief appearance here was simply to announce to Baris that he would be attending the conference.

Although Melissa was not clear about what had just happened, she could guess what it was just from the atmosphere.

"Honestly." Watching Xi Ke's retreating figure, she sighed helplessly, "Can't the Pokémon designers in our Eden City just get along?"

Only then did Xiaoyao realize that the tense atmosphere had suddenly disappeared. After relaxing, she couldn't help but ask curiously, "Who was that just now?"

“She is Xi Ke, a famous Pokémon-themed designer in our city.” It was Baris who answered her, looking very clear-headed, obviously the two of them were very familiar with each other. “We… have known each other since we were little, and have walked this path together. We are friends, and also… rivals.”

"Friends?" Xiaoyao hesitated. "Is that really true? Why does she seem to treat you rather unfriendly?"

Even ten-year-old Haruka could see the problem, which shows that the relationship between the two was really bad.

Paris shook her head: "Xi Ke is different from me. She comes from a privileged family and her family is very prestigious in Jiayuan City, so she likes to compete and always wants to compete with others."

Xia You wasn't interested in the love-hate entanglement between the two. He stopped Xiao Yao from asking any more questions and turned to look at Melissa.

"Miss Melissa, may we begin?"

“Of course,” Melissa nodded. “Please come with me.”

Just as the group was about to leave, Paris spoke up: "Um... I'm so sorry, can I come along and take a look too?"

"Oh?" Melissa was a little surprised. "Didn't you used to be uninterested in Pokémon battles? Why do you suddenly want to watch them now?"

"I happen to have nothing to do right now." Perhaps because she had dealt with Xi Ke so many times before, Paris seemed completely unaffected by the provocation just now, and instead smiled and said, "Besides, I also want to see what Miss Melissa's fighting style is like."

Melissa didn't speak, but turned to look at Xia You, who immediately understood what she meant.

“I don’t care.” He shrugged. “Whether there are special audience members or not makes no difference to me.”

Since Xia You had said so, Melissa naturally agreed to Barlis's request.

She led Xia You and the others away from the fashion show venue, walking towards a distance.

However... perhaps because it was too far from the dojo, she didn't take Xia You back to the Jiayuan Dojo, but instead went directly to an open-air battle arena in a nearby park!

This left Xiaoyao completely confused.

“Miss Melissa,” she asked tentatively, “don’t we need to go back to the dojo before the match?”

No wonder Xiaoyao had this question. After all, in her opinion, gym battles should take place in gyms and be fought in a proper arena. The way it is now... is too hasty!

However, as soon as she said it, she immediately thought of the radio show at the Binhai Dojo.

Compared to that guy who doesn't even participate in gym battles and just gives away badges, it seems that battling in the wild isn't such a big deal.

"Don't worry." Melissa waved her hand dismissively. "Wherever the Gym Leader is, that's the Gym. Don't let a building blind you. It's just a formality. Isn't the ultimate goal of a Trainer to get a Badge from the Gym Leader? So, as long as the venue is normal, it doesn't really matter where you fight!"

Okay, you're the owner, you set all the rules, so no matter what you say, you're right.

Xia You didn't care whether the battle took place in the arena or not. She just felt that fighting a gym leader in such an open park would definitely cause quite a commotion, and passersby would inevitably watch and point fingers.

It's... a rather novel feeling, like the monkeys in the park.

But trainers don't need to be so particular about details.

This is just an ordinary field made of compacted soil, and according to Xia You, Melissa is a trainer who is proficient in Ghost-type, so fighting in such a field... well, actually, makes no difference.

In any case, Ghost Pokémon don't need a specific gym when battling.

From this perspective, it's no wonder Melissa dared to casually choose any opponent to fight!

It's just that Pokémon's nature allows her to be so unrestrained.

Thinking this, Xia You walked to one side of the battlefield, facing Melissa, who had also walked to the other side.

Meanwhile, Haruka and Paris consciously stepped aside, giving the battlefield to the two of them.

Melissa looked at Xia You and smiled, "Although it's not inside the dojo and there are no referees, the proper rules still apply."

As she spoke, she explained the rules of the dojo.

The rules are nothing more than each person sending out three Pokémon, and the Gym Leader cannot change them at will, and so on.

Of course, for someone like Xia You who often faces challenges, it doesn't matter whether she listens or not, but the proper procedures still need to be followed.

Actually, with Haruka and Paris present, Melissa could have easily asked one of them to act as the referee, but obviously, since the arena had been changed and simplified, Melissa had also skipped this tedious step.

Anyway, anyone with eyes can see who will win, and the referee, apart from announcing the start and end, although it's very impolite, the fact is... it doesn't make much difference whether he's there or not.

It was midday, the sun was shining brightly, the air was clear, and many tourists were scattered throughout the park.

However, since the two sides have not yet engaged in combat, no one else has noticed it for the time being.

But it's obvious that once the fight starts, the commotion will instantly attract people to come and watch.

Chapter 1072 Melissa and Paris's Surprise

Seeing that Xia You was ready, Melissa was the first to take out a Poké Ball.

She didn't know Xia You, nor did she know how strong this man was or what his fighting style was, so this time she simply sent out the standard lineup for the dojo battle, just like always.

But a standard lineup doesn't mean it's weak!

Especially for a trainer as skilled as Melissa.

With a flash of blue light, under Xia You's gaze, a Gengar was released from its Poké Ball and appeared on the battlefield.

Gengar...

To be honest, in all the previous battles, Xia You had always used Gengar to fight against others, and he rarely encountered anyone using Gengar to fight against him.

Especially when he saw Gengar's extremely familiar appearance, although it was not the same one as his own, it still gave him a dazed feeling of 'fighting against himself'.

There's no way around it, it's just too familiar!

At this moment, upon seeing its own kind, Xia You's Gengar also emerged from the shadows.

It grinned, seemingly wanting to volunteer to spar with its fellow creature, but before it could even speak, Xia You had already guessed what it was thinking, so she pressed its head down and pushed it back down.

"The gym battles should be used to train new partners. There's no need for you to participate in battles of this level. You should just watch the show!"

Hearing Xia You say that, Gengar muttered something under his breath, seemingly feeling a little regretful, but Xia You still forcefully stuffed it back into the shadow.

Because of the distance, Melissa didn't hear Gengar speak. However, as a fellow Ghost-type Pokémon trainer, she found Xia You and the Gengar that emerged from the shadows to be interacting in a rather novel way.

"Oh? That's interesting." Melissa nodded, her gaze towards Xia You filled with admiration, as if to say, 'So you also have a Ghost-type Pokémon.' "The way you and your Gengar interact is really unusual. You actually let it hide in your shadow instead of putting it in a Poké Ball. It's clear that you two have a very good relationship."

Xia You and Gengar naturally have an excellent relationship.

As for not putting Gengar into a Poké Ball, it's simply because that's how they first met, and given Gengar's strength, it's convenient for it to go out and do things at any time, so Xia You is happy with that.

However, he didn't need to tell anyone else; he simply nodded, as a response to Melissa's praise.

Melissa didn't care about Xia You's indifference and focused her attention on the game.

Under her watchful gaze, Xia You took out a Poké Ball and made her own choice.

As the Poké Ball opened, his Umbreon appeared in front of Gengar the next second.

In terms of attributes, one of these two Pokémon is a pure Dark type and the other is Ghost and Poison type. Therefore, when facing Gengar, Umbreon has a certain advantage in both offense and defense.

This also shows that Xia You really values ​​Melissa.

Although I didn't send out my main Pokémon like I did against Denji, I still took the type advantage into account, greatly reducing the chances of losing.

As for the reverse attribute causing a setback?

He's not the kind of idiot who's occasionally careless.

Right... someone who's coming soon.

On the other side, seeing that the two Pokémon were ready, Melissa, acting as referee, signaled the start of the battle.

As the two Pokémon moved together, May and Vallis's expressions also became serious.

For Xiaoyao, her natural wish was for Xia You to win the dojo match smoothly, and that had never changed.

As for Paris, although she was Melissa's friend and had known her for many years, she had never seen such a challenge before, so she couldn't help but be curious.

She wanted to see how Melissa fought.

Most importantly, she had heard about Melissa's prowess from more than one person, so she wanted to see for herself how this powerful Gym Leader of the Sinnoh continent defeated those challengers.

Melissa is so strong, this match should be a breeze for her, right?

Perhaps such battles will inspire me when designing clothes.

Just as she thought, it wasn't just a whim that Paris suggested she come and watch the gym battle. It was because she had recently hit a bottleneck in her career, suffering from a lack of inspiration, which had prevented her from designing any fashion that satisfied her for a long time.

This is a terrible situation for a famous designer who has competitors like Xi Ke.

This is a good opportunity to see Melissa and her Pokémon battle; it might open up some new ideas!

Under Baris's expectant gaze, the two Pokémon officially began their battle.

only……

From the very beginning, the situation seemed completely different from what she had anticipated.

The scene that Melissa would easily defeat her opponent as expected did not occur. On the contrary, under the command of the handsome challenger, his Umbreon dodged and weaved, constantly pulling and tugging at Gengar, and repeatedly gained the upper hand!

This greatly surprised her!

And what followed was a great deal of curiosity.

what happened?

Who is this man?

How could they possibly gain an advantage over Miss Melissa!

For Xia You, this battle was indeed quite easy.

Of course, this doesn't mean Melissa's Pokémon isn't strong or her command style isn't sharp. If it were any other challenger, this Gengar would definitely cause them a lot of trouble.

But it's just that I... know Gengar too well!

As a result, he can anticipate Gengar's every move and respond appropriately.

Whether it's ranged attacks, melee combat, or poison, nothing can pose a threat to him.

It is clear that Xia You's experience was not merely a sensory illusion of 'fighting with himself,' but his actual combat performance seemed no different from when he practiced fighting Gengar.

Melissa also found this kind of battle very troublesome.

After all, since all her attacks were predictable, it meant she couldn't inflict any real damage on the opponent with Gengar.

But she also had many doubts.

Before this, she had encountered other trainers who also used Gengar, but no matter how familiar she was with Gengar, it was impossible to predict its next move and understand it to this extent.

Could it be that this man's Gengar has always been his sparring partner?

Despite her doubts, Melissa was not the type to give up easily.