How come my Pokémon turned into a girl?

But… Qianye frowned. Pokémon like Onix were very sensitive to ground vibrations, especially since this was its most familiar ground. Even without vision, the slight vibrations caused by Pikachu's movement on the ground were enough to help it lock onto its target.

There was no time to remind him again, the situation on the field had changed drastically -

Pikachu, moving at high speed, suddenly felt a violent jolt beneath his feet, nearly losing his balance. Before he could react, the ground beneath him cracked, and a giant rock snake broke through the surface.

"Pickup!"

The violent impact made Pikachu's cute little face wrinkled, and the power of the earth permeated its whole body. It was in extreme pain and could no longer do anything to resist.

"Onix, tie it up tight."

Pikachu fell helplessly in mid-air, only to be greeted by Onix's massive body on the ground. The rock coiled around the yellow body, then began to tighten its grip.

"Pikachu!"

Xiaozhi clenched his fists, his expression etched with struggle. Pikachu's face was in agony as the bindings tightened. As its master, Xiaozhi couldn't bear to see this, but at the same time, he wasn't willing to admit defeat.

When he finally couldn't bear it anymore and wanted to stop the fight, someone spoke before him:

"Stop, Onix!"

It's Gon! Xiaozhi looked across in surprise. Onix on the field listened to the command and without hesitation, it stretched out its body, allowing Pikachu, who was almost suffocating, to finally fall to the ground.

Without caring about anything else, Xiaozhi rushed into the field and picked up the weak Pikachu.

"You should understand now. With your current strength, it is impossible for you to defeat my Onix."

Without the contemptuous tone of a winner, Xiaogang just calmly looked at the challenger below and said, it was more like a reminder than a mockery.

Ash's failure was inevitable due to multiple mistakes, and he still needs to grow... both in terms of his Pokémon and in terms of Ash himself as a trainer.

I don't know if he listened to it... Xiaogang looked at the back of the figure leaving the gym and running towards the Pokémon Center, shook his head, and turned his attention back to the other "challenger".

"My Onix wasn't depleted in the previous battle and can still fight... So, do you want to take over and continue the challenge?"

"Oh, I don't..."

“Yes, yes!”

The slight sound of metal interrupted Qianye's refusal. He stared blankly in front of him. Kokodora had jumped onto the rocky ground at some point, his blue eyes burning with fighting spirit.

"It seems your Pokémon can't wait any longer, so...are you ready to begin?"

"Uh, wait a moment."

Qianye trotted over to Kokodora and leaned over, intending to persuade it to give up the gym challenge. However, as he gazed at the flames burning beneath the azure blue, the words he had originally wanted to say retreated into his throat, reorganizing them into completely different words and uttering them:

"Onix is ​​a dual-type Pokémon with both Rock and Ground attributes. Rock types are countered by Steel types, so your Iron Head can effectively damage it. However, its Ground-type move, Dig, is also countered by both of them. Therefore, the ultimate winner will most likely be the one who lands a hit first..."

Onix determines the enemy's position through vibration. If you want to avoid this move, it is best to have a move that can briefly float in the air. Since your feet are not touching the ground, there will naturally be no vibration, but Kokodora does not have this move... Wait, vibration?

"Are you guys done with this discussion? It's almost time to get started."

Xiaogang's voice came from the opposite platform. He had plenty of patience, but as a gym leader, it was obviously not appropriate to allow the challengers who had already entered to discuss tactics endlessly.

"Well, please start."

Walking back to his command platform, Qianye took a deep breath and waited for Xiaogang's move.

That silver-white Pokémon... I've never seen it before, but does the armor covering its entire body have steel attributes?

With a rough idea in mind, Xiao Gang waved his hand forward, announcing the start of the challenge. The moment he made this move, the command from the other side came over—

"Kokodora, Ironhead!"

Sure enough! His original prediction was confirmed. Without hesitation, Xiaogang ordered in a deep voice: "Onix, use digging!"

Just like in the previous scene, Onix crashed through the rock layer underneath and quickly drilled its entire body into the large hole.

With a loud bang, Kokodora's iron head shattered a rocky mountain, sending flying fragments of stone splattering onto the ceiling. The silver head swung vigorously, shaking off the debris, but its azure eyes showed dissatisfaction with the damage it had caused.

Xiaogang looked at the hole behind Kokodora's tail and subconsciously wiped the sweat from his forehead. He still underestimated the explosive power of this little guy. If he hadn't given the order in time, Onix would probably have found it difficult to avoid this attack.

Really good, totally on a different level from that clueless youngster just now. But from now on, offense and defense will have to change.

No matter how destructive that Pokémon was, it couldn't possibly hit Onix underground. Conversely, the burrow attack could severely damage a Steel-type Pokémon, and it didn't seem to possess resistance to Grass or Bug-types that could negate the effects of the counter... In other words, Onix won!

Xiaogang smiled confidently and looked at his opponent. Surprisingly, the black-haired boy didn't look anxious or flustered at all. He even had his eyes closed, completely oblivious to the situation on the field. What was he doing?

Vibration... It's not just walking on the ground that will produce vibrations. Onix's movement underground should produce even greater movement. When Qianye turns off his vision, he can better sense the subtle touch coming from under his feet.

Stopped.

Noticing the cessation of the vibration, Qianye suddenly opened his eyes. There was only one reason why Onix stopped moving - that was the moment when it was preparing to launch an attack!

"Cocodora, now!"

Under Xiaogang's astonished gaze, the long-awaited Kokodora opened its mouth, and then... spit out a stone forward.

The moment the stone hit the ground, Xiaogang suddenly understood the other party's purpose and shouted anxiously, "Onix! Wait..."

Unfortunately, he was still a step too slow. Where the rock had landed, a massive crack opened in the ground, and some monstrous creature threatened to burst forth from beneath the surface. Earth-attributed energy emanated from the crack, and if it had directly struck Kokodora, it might not have been able to resist under the dual restraint. However, it was currently positioned at the very edge of the crack.

Kokodora leaped up using all four legs to exert force. The aftermath of the earth hit it, but because the power was too small, it only felt a little uncomfortable. Instead, the impact force helped it leap higher into the sky.

"Now, use Iron Head again!"

The Kokodora in the air chirped in response, its silver head glowing white as it plummeted from the sky like a meteor. Driven by gravity, its unstoppable iron head aimed directly at the giant snake, which was attempting to escape into the ground again.

But it was too late... Under the gazes of the two trainers, the two heads, one big and one small, one made of rock and one made of steel, collided with each other at this moment!

Chapter 11 Get the Nibi Badge! Xiaogang's Gift

Onix's huge rock body let out a rough whine. The steel-attribute move that was enchanted by Newton for the second time hit it directly on the head. It almost felt that its stone head was about to shatter into pieces.

Then came a fainting sensation that clouded his consciousness, though it somewhat alleviated the intense pain in his head. His long, thick body swayed, but ultimately, unable to hold on, he collapsed to the ground.

"Come back, Big Rock Snake."

The red and white ball in Xiaogang's hand shot out a red light, retrieving Onix, which was curled up on the ground with circles of eyes. Looking at Kokodora, who was almost unharmed on the field, he hesitated for a moment and asked:

"What exactly is that stone..."

"It was bitten off from the smashed rockery when Kokodora used Iron Head for the first time. I had it choose a position behind Onix so that you wouldn't notice our little tricks."

Qianye scratched his head and replied, using the vibration of falling gravel to trick Onix into misjudging the opponent's position. This was the tactic he arranged for Kokodora before the battle. Judging from the results, the direction of the entire battle and the enemy's reaction were consistent with his previous expectations.

However, Kokodora's attacking talent surprised Qianye again. He originally thought that with Onix's amazing defense, Kokodora would need another move to finish it off, but it actually completed a fatal blow at the critical point of the battle.

"Not only were Onix's habits exploited, but the entire site's environmental factors were also taken into consideration..."

After hearing Qianye's explanation, Xiaogang couldn't help but admire him. He walked down the gym leader's platform, crossed the entire rocky area, and came to the boy. He said in a congratulatory tone:

"I give up. This Nibi badge is yours."

“Eh…” Qianye subconsciously took the badge engraved with a dark gray rock pattern, still unable to react: “Didn’t they say that two Pokémon would appear?”

Xiao Gang shook his head. "That's not necessary. The Gym Leader's responsibility is to test the level of the trainers. You were able to use the venue to win a beautiful victory on my home turf, which I am most familiar with. You have already demonstrated your strength as a trainer... In fact, I learned a lot from this battle."

There was no sense of deliberate flattery. Qianye was quite flattered by Xiaogang's heartfelt praise. After all, even until now, the boy had never felt that he had anything to do with the title of "excellent trainer".

"From your instructions just now, I guess you have a deep understanding of Onix and even Rock-type Pokémon as a whole... I really want to discuss this theory with you, but unfortunately I have to send Onix to the Pokémon Center now."

There was a hint of regret on Xiaogang's dark face. Although he became a gym leader at a young age, the young man did not think highly of himself because of this. Instead, he was more like a humble practitioner.

Rock...a calm mind and a strong will.

After hesitating for a moment, Qianye said, "This place is quite far from the Pokémon Center. I have experience caring for Pokémon before, so I can give Onix a simple treatment here first."

"Really? Thank you so much!"

Oh my god! God knows how those tightly closed eyes could radiate such a bright light. Although being looked at like that by a man gave her goosebumps, the words had already been spoken, and Qianye couldn't refuse any longer. He put his hands behind his back and turned his luggage bag over...

……

"Coco~"

The biggest contributor to Qianye's first gym battle yawned loudly and leaned on Qianye's shoulder. She had no interest in the discussion between the man she had chosen and the defeated opponent about the habits, food preferences and care and breeding knowledge of rock-type Pokémon. If it was about what kind of powerful moves they could learn, maybe she would have the patience to listen to something.

But her lack of interest didn't mean others weren't interested. Xiao Gang looked at the silver-white creature on Qianye's shoulder, and once again recalled its heroic appearance as it descended from the sky like a comet.

"This Pokémon...is called Kokodora, right?"

Hearing this, Qianye, who had just applied medicine to Onix's massive head, turned around and replied, "Yes, it's a Pokémon from the Hoenn region, with the attributes of Rock and Steel."

Hoenn? It's not a native Pokémon, no wonder I've never seen it before. But besides Steel, there's also Rock-type Pokémon. Maybe I'll have a chance to visit the Hoenn region.

Apart from rocks, Xiaogang's favorite Pokémon are steel and ground-attribute Pokémon. With the bonus of his hobby, the more he looked at it, the more he felt that Kokodora was a beautiful Pokémon, so much so that he couldn't help but reach out to touch its smooth and hard shell.

However, Kokodora, who had been keeping her eyes closed as if taking a nap, suddenly opened them. Her threatening gaze made Xiaogang's hand stop in mid-air. He had no doubt that if he continued to reach out, she would bite him without hesitation.

He withdrew his hand and coughed a few times awkwardly. This was the first time that Xiaogang's affinity with rock Pokémon failed. He couldn't help but admire Qianye again for being able to tame such a unique Pokémon.

"?"

Qianye cast a puzzled look over. He inexplicably felt that the admiration in the Rock Gym Master's eyes had become even stronger. He hadn't said anything remarkable just now, had he?

"Oh...right! Please wait here for me."

Suddenly realizing that he had gained so much from the other party but had not yet expressed anything, Xiaogang immediately stood up and walked towards a room in the gym.

A moment later, he walked over to Qianye, holding a uniquely shaped stone. It was a spherical stone, its smooth surface gleaming with a translucent white luster. At first glance, it looked more like a hard egg.

From the first moment he saw the stone, Qianye felt as if he was firmly trapped by some kind of gravity, and he could no longer take his eyes off it.

"It seems you like it very much, which reassures me. This is one of our family's collections. It's said to have originally been a meteorite. Although there's no way a meteorite could possibly look like this... it's certainly an exquisite collectible. In return, please accept it."

Feeling the subtle connection between himself and the stone, Qianye finally gave in and took the white stone into his arms.

The moment it touched his chest, his heart suddenly palpitated, followed by a burning sensation emanating from the stone. The pain almost made Qianye throw the stone away subconsciously.

"what happened to you?"

Looking at the boy who was suddenly surprised after taking the stone, Xiaogang asked hurriedly.

"No...nothing."

Qianye shook his head. The peculiar feeling only lasted for a moment before disappearing like lightning. Could it be... just my illusion?

……

At night, after saying goodbye to Xiaogang, Qianye did not immediately set out on his next journey, but instead found a suitable hotel in Nibi City to stay temporarily.

Lying on the clean and tidy single bed, Qianye placed the newly acquired white stone on his abdomen, and kept groping on the surface with his hands, but he could never trigger that strange touch again.

"After all this time...it really is just an illusion."

Smiling at himself, Qianye looked at the two figures, one black and one white, curled up together on one side of the bed. He felt relieved, and a feeling of fatigue suddenly surged into his mind.

We had stayed up all night to get to Nibe City, but as soon as we arrived at the Pokémon Center, Satoshi dragged us directly to challenge the gym. We really didn't have a single moment of rest the whole time.

His eyelids drooped heavily as if filled with lead, and soon the only sound in the room was the sound of even breathing.

In the darkness, the stone on Qianye's chest emitted a faint white light. Little fluorescent particles floated into the sky and gathered into the shadow of a girl in a white dress. She looked at Qianye below with a smile and hummed an ancient and elegant melody.

The next day.

Qianye opened his eyes and stretched comfortably. The sleep he had last night was definitely the most enjoyable he had had in years. It was like lying in the warm embrace of his mother, with a soothing lullaby lingering in his ears.

Only when he regained consciousness a little, he realized how strange his thoughts were. His mother had never mastered the standard skill of a good wife and mother, such as singing a lullaby. He was imagining something he had never experienced.

Shaking his head and looking to his side out of habit, Qianye's body suddenly paused because he did not see the two familiar figures around him.

Qian Ye jumped out of the bed without even changing his clothes. He pushed the door open and rushed out. After stopping several hotel staff along the way to ask questions, he rushed to an open space behind the hotel.

There, he finally saw Heizi struggling with a piece of rotten wood, and Kokodora, who kept hitting the ground with her iron feet and looked quite impatient.