I caught a Pokémon

As expected of the Pokémon that Shaka sent out last in battle, it was indeed extraordinary, demonstrating the same strength as the previous two Pokémon.

However, as long as the wave missile is not completely destroyed, under Lucario's control, even if it is temporarily dodged, it will still circle back and continue to attack.

Although it was temporarily safe, the Desert Dragonfly could only continue to flee when faced with two wave missiles that turned around and attacked it again!

Chapter 1386 Dragon's Land

boom!

A wave missile successfully hit the desert dragonfly, creating a plume of black smoke.

The desert dragonfly had no time to react to its own pain, because the remaining wave missile was also rapidly approaching it.

To avoid being hit, it had no choice but to flee again. As it dodged left and right, it finally rushed out of the sandstorm in a panic, losing control of its power. At that moment, the sandstorm suddenly stopped.

Shaka's tactics have been broken.

The core of sandstorm tactics is to launch an unpredictable attack on the target in conditions of extremely low visibility, and to delay the target in the sandstorm as much as possible in order to continuously inflict damage.

However, under the power of the waveguide, the location of the desert dragonfly is clearly visible, just like usual.

In that case, there is no need to maintain the sandstorms any longer.

Without tactics, all that's left is the most primitive and intense form of combat.

In terms of strength, Lucario is indeed not yet comparable to Dragonite, and there is still a slight gap between the two. This is why it cannot handle Shaka's Flygon with the same ease as Dragonite, and cannot defeat two opponents of this strength in succession.

But this is only relative.

Even if Xia You's Pokémon are weak, how weak can they be?

It may not be able to beat Dragonite, but that doesn't mean it can't beat Flygon. It just means it will expend more energy and suffer more injuries.

With its Aura Sphere, Lucario can attack at both close and long range. When Flygon gets close, it uses melee combat to fight it; when Flygon flies away, it uses Aura Sphere to track and attack it.

Even a Desert Dragonfly would have a hard time competing with Lucario.

Although it attempted to retaliate under Xia You's command, Lucario could sense Xia You's thoughts through its Aura, so its counterattacks were largely ineffective.

Just as it was facing the wave missile again, the Desert Dragonfly flapped its wings and dodged to the side at the last second. But before it could catch its breath, Lucario had already leaped up and jumped in front of it.

Thanks to its dog-leg-like structure, Lucario, while not as adept at jumping as Greninja, can still leap into the air and hang there briefly with its explosive power.

Just as the two Pokémon faced each other, a Power-Up Punch was unleashed, and the bullet-fast punch rained down on Flygon.

One punch, two punches, three punches, four punches...

Every punch landed precisely, every punch was powerful and heavy!

The desert dragonfly let out a painful screech, enduring more than a dozen punches in a short moment, its body involuntarily plummeting downwards.

"Desert Dragonfly! Hang in there!!"

In the trainer command area, Shaka shouted loudly, his expression showing some anxiety, which was completely inconsistent with his usual calm and composed style.

It is clear that the current situation is indeed very critical for him, and he also really wants to win this battle, which is why his emotions are fluctuating so much.

In the arena, the desert dragonfly tried to regain its balance, but it wasn't very high off the ground, and after enduring so many attacks, how could it possibly regain its balance so easily?

In the blink of an eye, it was smashed to the ground.

At the same time, Lucario landed safely back on the ground and immediately began to approach Flygon again.

Flygon had just gotten up when it saw the menacing Lucario and put up a final stand.

But as it flapped its wings in vain and Lucario dodged, it meant it had no ability to fight back and was left on the ground to be approached by Lucario!

It goes without saying what a Fighting-type Pokémon will do when it gets close to its opponent.

Lucario gave Flygon no chance to return to the sky, and with a smooth combo, it finally defeated Flygon.

Three to zero.

Flygon lay in front of Lucario, completely incapacitated.

The referee quickly stepped forward to check, then raised his right hand.

"Flygon is unable to battle, Lucario wins! Therefore, the winner of this gym battle is—Challenger Xia You!"

Seeing that it was finally over, Xiaoguang and Yami, who were watching from the sidelines, breathed a sigh of relief.

Although the outcome was predetermined, it was clear that this gym battle was one of the longest Xia You had ever fought, especially since he had fielded Dragonite from his second-string lineup.

Just as Xia You said, Mr. Shaka in front of him is indeed the strongest gym leader in the Unova region!

However, it is also obvious that he is still no match for Xia You, and the gap in strength between the two is still quite obvious.

Shaka stood there, looking at the desert dragonfly lying on the ground, and remained silent for a long time. In that instant, he felt as if he had unloaded all his burdens and was just a defeated man.

Then he slowly withdrew it, raised his head, and looked at Xia You.

That look in his eyes was complex, containing reluctance, disappointment, and emotion, but more than anything, it was a deep sense of relief.

“Young man,” he said, his voice strangely hoarse, “you won. You truly deserve the title; you are the strongest trainer I have ever seen!”

Shaka was completely convinced by this statement. Given his age, social status, and experience, he had seen most of the world's strongest individuals. Yet, he could still say that Xia You was the best trainer he had ever met. This meant that, at least in his eyes, Xia You was truly incredibly powerful, unmatched by anyone else.

He was so skilled that even in a 6-on-6 all-out battle, he felt he had no chance of winning.

Given Xia You's current mindset, defeating such a master wouldn't exactly excite him.

Even if he genuinely praises himself.

But joy is certain.

After all, nobody wants to lose.

He first walked over to his Lucario, patted its head as a reward, and then went to Shaka.

As the young man drew closer, Shaka shook his head and spoke again.

"The last time I was beaten 3-0 and felt so powerless was when I was young, which was more than 40 years ago. I never thought that I would experience it again at this time when I was planning to retire."

"It's my honor," Xia You said with a soft laugh. "It also proves that my efforts were not in vain. Besides, isn't it perfectly normal for a young person to defeat their predecessor?"

Xia Ka chuckled and didn't discuss the matter further. Instead, he solemnly took out a badge from his pocket and handed it to Xia You.

"This is my legendary badge, proof of defeating me. Please accept it."

Xia You didn't stand on ceremony and directly took the badge in her hand, examining it closely.

This legendary badge resembles a scepter or the head of a seahorse. It has golden edges, an obsidian-like texture, and a red gemstone set in the very center, resembling an eye.

It's pretty good; at least among all the gym badges, it's at a mid-level.

Not ugly, but not outstanding either.

As for why it's called the Legendary Badge...

Xia You didn't know either.

“Young man,” Shaka said solemnly, “I have a feeling about you.”

What premonition?

“You will become a champion,” Shaka said with certainty. “Not just a champion of a certain region, but… a champion who can influence an entire era. You will become a milestone.”

Xia You paused for a moment, then smiled.

"Lend your blessings."

In front of Shaka, he put the badge into his badge collection box.

At this moment, Yami and Xiaoguang also walked to his side. Seeing that the three of them intended to leave, Xia Ka seemed to want to say something, but in the end, he only nodded slightly and did not speak.

He must have many feelings to express, but he probably can't put them into words right now.

Especially as a defeated party.

……

As we left the Shuanglong Dojo, the sun was high in the sky.

The battle lasted for several hours, which shows how intense and exhausting the fight was.

But we finally succeeded.

"Let's go." Xia You stretched. "We'll go back to the Pokémon Center, pick up Makomo, and then continue our journey before it gets dark!"

Xiao Guang and Ya Mi naturally had no objections.

The three of them retraced their steps back to the Pokémon Center, retrieved their belongings, and reunited with Makomo.

For some reason, this time... Xia You felt that Makomo's gaze towards her seemed a little strange.

It's like... dissecting yourself.

Why do I have this feeling?

But I guess I'm just overthinking it.

After all, Makomo had just finished her research and probably hadn't gotten out of that state yet, which is why she felt that way when she saw Makomo's gaze.

They didn't take it to heart. After lunch, the group left the Pokémon Center and instead of exploring Twin Dragons City, they headed west and left the area.

Their next route will likely take two directions.

The first option is to leave Odd Dragon City, head south, cross the vast forest, and go to Raven City, which is also located in the Central Unova region, to challenge the Raven Gym.

However, getting there is not easy. There are almost no main roads. It takes four or five days to travel through dense forests to reach Raven City. Along the way, you will not only have to deal with complex terrain, but you may also accidentally enter the territory of many wild Pokémon and encounter unexpected troubles.

However, choosing this path also has its advantages.

That means if Xia You succeeds in challenging Raven City, he will have completely ended his travels in the western and central Unova regions and can then focus on the eastern Unova region.

The second option is to continue west along the wide, unobstructed road, first reaching the East Unova region to challenge the Bluebo City, then circling around the East Unova region before heading back to Raven City to challenge the Raven City Gym.

This option makes the road easier to travel and allows you to pass through major cities along the way, but it also takes more time, since it's a long detour.

Xia You wasn't the type to make decisions unilaterally, so as the group left the Pokémon Center, he posed the question to Yami, Makomo, and Hikari, wanting to see what their choice would be.

Almost simultaneously, all three chose to continue eastward to challenge Bo City in Qinghai.

Xia You didn't even need them to explain their reasons; she could guess that they didn't want to spend so many days in the forest, dealing with a large number of wild Bug-type Pokémon.

There's no way around it, it's a forest, so it's obvious there will be a lot of Bug-type Pokémon.

However, it must be mentioned that Ssangyong City is actually closer to another place.

That's the Pokémon League headquarters here, which is also the location of the upcoming Higaki Conference—Higashi City.

This also means that after they go around in circles and finally arrive in Raven City, if they want to get from Raven City to Higaki City, they will still have to cross the central forest.

However, since the tournament is still far off, and the destination after challenging the Raven Gym is still unknown, it's not currently under consideration.

It's not currently under consideration.

Heading west, they left Shuanglong City behind.

Before sunset, they arrived at a village nestled among the hills.

This is the land of dragons.

The village of Longzhixiang is not very large. Standing on a small hill and looking down, you can only see about twenty houses.

These houses are not only scattered, but most of them are also made of wood. There are also barns and farmland nearby. If you didn't know beforehand that this was the famous Dragon Village, you would probably think it was just an ordinary village.

"This is the Land of Dragons?"

Makomo looked around curiously, her tone full of doubt.

Upon hearing her words, Xiao Guang couldn't help but chuckle.

"Sister Makomo, you're supposed to be from the Hezhong clan, and if you don't even know this, how could we possibly understand?"

Makomo was somewhat helpless: "If you ask me which paper came from which place, which doctoral student is the most famous and what they are best at researching, I would definitely know. But something like Dragon Village... I have never been in contact with it before."

Xiao Guang understood all of this; she was just joking.

However, although Makomo didn't know, it was clear that someone else did.

After watching for a while, Xia You took the lead and stepped down the hillside towards the Dragon Village. As she walked, she said with a smile, "Don't be fooled by how backward this place looks. The people here have been cultivating and respecting Dragon-type Pokémon for generations, and many outstanding Dragon-type trainers have emerged from here, which is why it is so famous."

Xia You explained to the group as she walked down the hillside.

"Like Shaka before, although he is the Gym Leader of Odd Dragon City, he also came from Dragon Village. He would come back here from time to time to participate in the Pokémon Battle Tournament held here every year and give pointers to the young people. And there are countless people like him. That's why the people who come from here are so strong and continue to make Dragon Village famous. This is inseparable from this tradition."