I caught a Pokémon

After saying that, Elder Ju turned around and walked into the dojo, leaving them with only his back view.

Xiao Guang, standing to the side, gave Xia You a "V" sign, which made the others chuckle.

Shaking his head, Xia You took the lead and followed in Ju Laoda's footsteps. Behind him, the three women followed, curiously looking around.

They hadn't walked far when they came to an elevator. After entering the elevator and going down for a few minutes, they found themselves deep underground!

When the elevator doors opened and the group stepped out, the first thing they saw was a narrow underground passage surrounded by yellowish-brown boulders. The path underfoot was made of hard stone, and every few meters there was a dim yellow light to dispel a small patch of darkness.

Inside the tunnel, several miners wearing hard hats and holding picks were hammering stones.

Upon seeing Boss Ju approaching, the group quickly greeted him, then turned their attention to Xia You and the other women behind him.

But most of the attention was focused on Yami and Makomo.

After all, the people working here are all roughnecks, so naturally, two beautiful women would attract their attention even more.

This made the two women feel slightly uncomfortable.

With just a glance from Boss Ju, these people lowered their heads again and went back to their work, demonstrating his authority.

After walking through a not-too-long passage, they arrived at a heavy, hidden door. The door's color and shape were indistinguishable from the surrounding stones. As Boss Ju fumbled for a switch on the wall, he pushed it open, revealing a much larger underground space.

This is the battleground for the Fanba Dojo.

Looking around, it resembles a mining site, with steel frames and iron boxes all around, as well as miners' lamps and conveyor pipes. In the center, there is a simple battlefield, and several spotlights on the elevated platform illuminate the area, making it less dark.

It's just really strange.

Xia You didn't understand. Since there were already ground-level buildings, why not build the dojo on the ground?

In such an underground space, to be honest, he was afraid that if the fighting went too far, they would all be buried alive here.

Is it simply to match the type of Pokémon that one is good at?

What's even stranger is that this underground space was dug beneath the dojo. Since the function has already been placed underground, why is there a dojo built above it?

Is it just to let people know that this is a dojo?

Xia You didn't understand, but for him, it wasn't something to worry about.

There were simple spectator seats on one side of the venue. Hikaru, Yami, and Makomo walked over and sat down leisurely.

However, it must be said that such an underground space is rather cold and damp, especially after a while, it is even more unbearable for women like them, which forces them to huddle together and tighten their clothes.

At this moment, Kiku-sama continued walking and had already reached the trainer command area on the other side, where he turned around and stood still.

Xia You walked to her side.

Looking at Xia You from afar, Elder Ju's aura suddenly changed, becoming more refined and profound, like a rock that has weathered storms, his gaze sharp as lightning.

For ordinary people, such a sense of oppression might move them, but for Xia You...

It was like a gentle breeze that passed by, without causing any ripples.

Just kidding. With his current state of mind and experience, how could the gaze of a museum owner possibly put any pressure on him?

Even though this gym leader is among the stronger ones in the Unova gym leaders.

Seeing that both sides were ready, a miner who had just followed them through the underground passage took on the role of referee for the match.

"Then, the Gym Battle between the Challenger and Kiku, the Gym Leader of Fanbado Gym, is about to begin. The number of Pokémon used in this Gym Battle is three. The battle ends when all of either side's Pokémon are defeated."

This is just the most normal competition rule.

Xia You waited until the referee finished reading the competition rules, and then saw that Boss Ju took out a Poké Ball first, before casually rummaging through her waist bag.

In terms of attributes, as a gym leader who specializes in Ground-type Pokémon, he prefers head-on, head-on battles and despises underhanded tactics, as can be seen from Ash's challenge to him in the anime.

Because of this personality, his Pokémon are all quite fierce and straightforward.

With a flash of light, Kiku's Pokémon appeared first.

It's a rascal crocodile.

As a Pokémon that first appeared in Unova, Krookodile is a Ground/Dark type Pokémon. It is the unevolved form of Krookodile and the evolved form of Krookodile. It is a cool Pokémon that is also very popular among trainers.

As a Gym Leader, it goes without saying that this Krookodile's skill level must be far above average.

After all, a strong general has no weak soldiers under his command.

The crocodile looks like a standing crocodile. Except for its pink belly, its body is mostly brown with black stripes, black protrusions on its back, sharp teeth and claws, making it look very ferocious.

In terms of habits, crocodiles live in groups of multiple individuals, with females usually at the center of the group. The males collect food and bury it in the sand as a reserve of food when they fail to hunt.

The membrane covering the eyes of the crocodile protects them from sandstorms and allows it to sense the heat of objects, enabling it to see its surroundings even in the dark and hunt accurately.

However, it is very afraid of getting cold. Although it has special eyes that can see things in the dark, it is not very active because the desert nights are cold. On nights when the temperature drops, it will hide deep in the sand of the desert.

Xia You had dealt with this kind of Pokémon before, so seeing it again now naturally didn't feel unfamiliar.

I'm already very familiar with it.

But since it's a Pokémon that prefers heat to cold, why is Kiku using it in this battle?

If we're going to use it for combat, shouldn't we place the battlefield on the ground?

While thinking this, his hands didn't stop moving, and at that moment he released his Pokémon.

It's his Snivy.

Actually, he had captured Snivy a long time ago and had fought many battles with it. Based on his experience, it was long overdue for it to evolve.

But for some reason, it seems to have suppressed its evolutionary instincts and remained in this stage.

We'll have a chance to ask it after this gym battle is over.

I'm not the kind of person who forces Pokémon to evolve. If Snivy is willing to stay in its current evolved form, then I will support it.

After all, with its current lineup, it has already passed the awkward early stage and has a very solid foundation. Even if it doesn't evolve, it won't have much of an impact.

back to the front.

With both Pokémon ready, and the referee waving his hand, the long-awaited Fanbado Gym battle officially began!

Chapter 1337 Another one-versus-three battle?

The vine snake landed gracefully, its slender body appearing particularly agile under the mine lights.

It glanced at the menacing crocodile opposite it, its emerald tail swaying gently, its expression carrying a hint of innate arrogance and composure.

In contrast to the elegant Snivy, Crocodile, true to its name, is like a thug, sizing up its opponent.

Xia You and Boss Ju issued the order to attack almost simultaneously.

Just as Xia You said before the match, he would not take up too much of Boss Ju's time and would try to finish the match quickly.

The vine snake coils around itself with countless sharp blades of grass, spinning and cutting forward—its signature move: the grass mixer.

Meanwhile, Crocodile quickly swung its body, kicking up a lot of dust, trying to obscure its vision and interfere with the power of Grass-type moves.

After all, from an attribute perspective, the Ground-type Crocodile is indeed at a disadvantage against the Grass-type Snivy. To achieve victory, it must disrupt the battlefield to create opportunities for itself.

The sandstorm instantly filled most of the area.

Enveloped in dust, the vine snakes' sharp leaves lost their target, disappearing into the thick sandstorm and carrying only specks of yellow sand.

It must be said that the strategy of Thug Crocodile and Boss Chrysanthemum was indeed correct.

Because of its unique body structure, once these sandstorms engulf the Snivy and the battlefield, its unique eyes allow it to remain unaffected by the sandstorms, making it easy to find the Snivy's weaknesses in such sandy conditions and launch an attack when the opportunity arises.

This is also the most correct way to fight when you are at a disadvantage in terms of attributes.

Moreover, under such a sandstorm, the crocodile can fully display its ferocious side, which is also in line with the fighting characteristics of Boss Kiku.

For most challengers facing this situation, besides switching Pokémon, there probably aren't many good ways to deal with it.

But Xia You is clearly no ordinary person.

His Pokémon are not ordinary Pokémon either.

Faced with this change in the battlefield, Snivy first took a few steps back, avoiding the area with the densest sandstorm to prevent itself from being engulfed and ambushed by Crocodile. Then it let out a low growl, its internal energy surging wildly, and used Leaf Storm on the entire sandy area!

Whoosh whoosh! !

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! ! !

Countless green leaves, moving at incredible speed, shot towards the dust cloud like countless green threads.

Instantly, the dust that hadn't had time to spread was riddled with holes, as if it had been sieved!

Not only that, but because there were so many of them and the density was so high, even the crocodiles hiding in the dust were not spared. As the dust dissipated, they were also knocked out of the dust by these flying leaves!

Under such attribute advantage and the power of the move, Crocodile's body was instantly covered with wounds of various sizes.

It is evident how rapidly it has grown under Xia You's training during this period.

Without the protection of the dust, the battle would no longer cause any significant disturbance.

Ju Laoda was already using the same lineup he used to deal with ordinary challengers to fight Xia You. Now that his attributes are countered and his tactics have been broken, how could he possibly win?

After a few rounds of fighting, Krookodile, enduring the pain, rolled over, its Dark-type energy coiling around its sharp teeth, and fiercely lunged at Snivy. Snivy, having used Foresight, had its tail glow green again and used Leaf Blade to precisely slash Krookodile's relatively vulnerable side of its neck.

The effect is outstanding!

The crocodile let out a mournful cry and fell heavily to the ground, its eyes darting around.

"Crocodile is incapacitated!" the referee announced loudly. "The winner of the first battle is Snivy!"

Boss Ju was somewhat surprised as he withdrew the crocodile, his expression becoming more serious.

He hadn't expected this unevolved Snivy to be so troublesome, with both its strength and tactical application being quite outstanding.

It seems this is no ordinary challenger.

However, despite this, he did not change his default lineup, but instead sent out a second Pokémon—Blue Toad—under everyone's watchful eyes.

Many people may not be familiar with blue toads.

This is a Pokémon that has not yet been found in wild populations outside of the Unova and Galar regions, making them quite rare in the eyes of trainers in other regions.

Judging from its appearance, the design concept of the blue toad may be based on a toad tadpole that has grown hind legs, and the tumor on its head may also be inspired by a loudspeaker.

It has a thick, round body, no hands, and its entire body is light blue, with a beige belly. There are black stripes between the blue skin on its waist and back. There are many ice-blue tumors covered by black skin on its body. There are three tumors on its head, with the one in the middle being the largest.

As a Ground/Water type Pokémon, Blue Toad generally lives in water and on land.

After weakening its prey by emitting sound waves powerful enough to cause headaches, it uses its sticky, long tongue to block its opponent's movements and entangle its captured prey. If the bump on its head vibrates, not only will waves appear in the water, but the ground will also shake like an earthquake. Sometimes it will also make a pleasant call, and the larger the bump on its body, the wider the range of its calls.

Xia You had only seen these Pokémon from afar in the muddy swamp before, but had never actually fought them.

However, this doesn't matter, because Ash caught this kind of Pokémon in the anime. Although it didn't appear many times, Xia You still has some understanding of its fighting style and habits.

Without further ado, seeing that the two Pokémon were ready, the second battle began immediately.

As soon as the blue toad appeared, it puffed out its cheeks and unleashed a powerful water cannon shot, making a very impressive entrance.

However, this battle will not change just because Kiku has switched to a new Pokémon.

After all, the Blue Toad, with its Ground and Water attributes, is at a greater disadvantage in terms of attributes than the Crocodile from before.

This is an inherent advantage or disadvantage in terms of attributes, and even Boss Ju doesn't have a good solution. He can only regard the young man in front of him as a clever challenger who knows how to use his attribute advantages to fight.

The vine snake leaped lightly, grazing the edge of the water column, leaving a small crater in the ground where it had been standing.

"Sludge bomb!" Old Ju immediately shouted, changing the command.

Several clumps of purple mud emitting a pungent odor were spat out by the blue toad, their trajectories cleverly blocking the vine snake's escape routes.

Faced with such an attack, Xia You responded quickly.

"Whips, whip them away!!"

Two vines lashed out like nimble snakes, precisely shattering several clumps of mud in mid-air. A few toxic sludge splattered, but the vine snake nimbly dodged them and jumped back to create distance.

"Now's the time, Blue Toad! Use Rock Smash and charge forward!"

As a powerful gym leader, even though it wasn't his ace Pokémon that was on the field at that moment, he still managed to seize the fleeting opportunity.

Blue Toad slammed its powerful hind legs into the ground, its body glowing with the faint light of Fighting-type energy, and crashed into the Snivy that had just landed like a cannonball!

If this impact lands squarely, even with its inferior attributes, the Blue Toad's sheer size would be enough to inflict considerable damage.

However, Xia You and Tengteng She's tacit understanding far exceeded Ju Laoda's expectations.

"Tie a knot in the grass!" Xia You's command was concise and decisive.