Why is my Pokémon girl a bit strange?

Eve, standing opposite Qiao Ran, didn't seem to care how much his words might antagonize people. She took out a Poké Ball and released her Pokémon.

"Come out! Jynx!"

"Jynx..." Qiao Ran looked at the Pokémon that appeared on the field, his eyes sparkling with excitement.

He had a feeling that his opponent this time could indeed bring him quite a surprise. Although Jynx's base stats weren't outstanding, Eve and Jynx possessed something other trainers lacked.

— A deep understanding.

It was this very thing that allowed him and Vulpix to keep winning until now.

"Since you've come all this way, I'll defeat you while I'm at it. What does Pokémon battling truly hide? I think I've already experienced it."

Eve took her stance on the field, crossing her arms.

"Alright, then let me see if you can defeat me!" The fire in Qiao Ran's eyes blazed.

"If you lose, you have to tell me the secret to your performances! This is my first Pokémon battle, and if what you said earlier is true, I should be able to win the championship, right?"

The girl opposite him met Qiao Ran's gaze unflinchingly. In her eyes, a similar light flickered.

Once she escaped her past confinement, she too had embarked on a path to pursue her dreams.

"Go! Jynx! Show him what we're made of!"

Section 38 | 038 [Vulpix VS Jynx!]

"Jynx! Let's use Powder Snow!"

Following Eve's command, Jynx pursed her lips, and a fierce aura of frost began to erupt from her mouth.

"Us too, Vulpix, use Powder Snow!"

Qiao Ran also had Vulpix use the same move. The icy aura collided in the center of the arena, and the chilling atmosphere even lowered the temperature of the entire venue.

However, the clash of their moves seemed to end without a clear victor. Yet, with just this one move, Qiao Ran had already gauged the opponent's strength.

— On par with Vulpix, or perhaps even a bit stronger.

The control and speed with which Powder Snow was used were the results of countless repetitions.

"Jynx, do it again!"

"What?" Hearing Eve's command, Qiao Ran was slightly startled. The move hadn't worked before; why would she repeat it?

"Vulpix, Powder Snow again!"

The outcome was the same as before. The two moves gradually dissipated in the middle of the arena. However—Eve's lips curved into a slight smile.

"Now! Let me show you the results of our countless training sessions! Jynx, pout!"

"Mimi mimi!"

At Eve's instruction, Jynx immediately performed an action no one expected—she gradually narrowed the opening of her mouth from which she had been spraying Powder Snow. As the spray range shrank, a series of chain reactions occurred!

Jynx's Powder Snow became rapid and intense, instantly overwhelming Vulpix's Powder Snow. It then struck Vulpix directly, and even Qiao Ran behind her was sprayed in the face by the swiftly whistling wind and snow.

"Wh... what...!"

Qiao Ran's eyes widened. This girl... what was she...?

"Didn't expect that? My Jynx is quite skilled at controlling her lips. While it's difficult to control her lips when using moves, as you can see, she managed it!"

Eve laughed smugly.

"These are little tricks I prepared for my performances. I didn't expect them to be quite useful in battle, though."

"...Well done."

Qiao Ran took a deep breath and brushed off the ice shards clinging to his clothes. He had to admit, this girl might indeed have a certain talent for battling. He had only encountered two trainers who fought by utilizing their Pokémon's unique characteristics.

One was Long Jiangxue, the daughter of the Longjiang Gym Leader, and the other was Eve, standing before him.

"Can you still hold on, Vulpix?"

Qiao Ran looked at Vulpix in the arena. She had been fighting all morning and was already somewhat exhausted. She had just taken a direct hit from Powder Snow. Although she had resistance that halved the damage, the harm was unavoidable.

"Mmm-ooh."

Vulpix glanced back at Qiao Ran and nodded humanly, indicating she could still fight. Or perhaps it should be said... having transformed for so long, she now used human-like gestures even in her Pokémon form.

"Is that so? You want to win this championship too."

A smile appeared on Qiao Ran's face as he stroked his chin.

It wasn't just Vulpix; he wanted to win this championship too. All the effort he and Vulpix had put in that morning was at stake. At such a critical moment, they couldn't back down.

Moreover, his opponent was a trainer who had only recently picked up the craft. He had to defeat her, even if it meant risking his honor as a trainer.

"Jynx is an Ice and Psychic-type Pokémon... This combination of types has many weaknesses, but it just so happens that none of these weaknesses seem to be within Vulpix's attack range."

Qiao Ran began to think rapidly. To inflict the greatest damage, one naturally had to target weaknesses. However, unfortunately, most of Vulpix's current moves were Fairy and Ice-type, neither of which could gain an advantage against Jynx.

"Fortunately, Jynx's stat distribution is quite unique. Her Special Attack reaches an outstanding 85 in the first stage, but her Defense is correspondingly weak, a mere 15, less than half of even Caterpie's..."

"So, she's a glass cannon type of Pokémon?"

A glint flashed in Qiao Ran's eyes as he reached his conclusion.

"Vulpix, approach the opponent first!"

"Awooo!"

Vulpix, obeying the command, started running on its short legs. However, Eve, seeing Vulpix's action, didn't feel panicked at all.

"Approach? Did you forget what Jynx and I did on stage back then? You won't be able to get close to me! Jynx, Ice Beam!"

"Mimi Mimi Lips!"

As the beam was released, a long ice path appeared in front of Jynx. Then, Jynx pushed off with its feet and started gliding on the ice.

The incredible speed not only stunned Vulpix, who was still running, but also surprised the audience.

"...So fast!"

Watching Jynx's skilled movements, beads of sweat formed on Qiao Ran's forehead. Although Jynx had weak defenses, this particular Jynx seemed to have honed its various "techniques" to the extreme, making it very difficult to deal with.

"Hehehe, this is also part of the performance technique. How do you feel about its practical effect? Can't you handle it anymore?"

Watching Jynx on the field, creating a path with Ice Beam while performing figure skating, Eve quietly brought her finger to her lips.

"I know you're definitely holding back, right? Your strength is definitely more than this. Since you're still unwilling to make a move, I'll show you my most beautiful performance!"

"Jynx! Ice Beam! Psychic!"

"Mimi Mimi!"

Jynx gently opened its mouth, using Ice Beam to create a path filled with thorns on the ground. Then, its eyes turned blue, and psychic energy spread from its body. In an instant, countless thorns exploded, sweeping the ground clean. The thorns transformed into sharp ice spikes, dancing with Jynx as it slid across the ice.

She was a dancer of ice, a pioneer who cut through thorns. The ice spikes spun with her movements. The magnificent combination of skills and exquisite control earned rounds of applause from the surrounding audience.

"It's over, Jynx, give our opponent the final blow!"

Listening to the applause, Eve waved her hand with satisfaction. Following her movement, the ice spikes spinning around Jynx all shot towards Vulpix's location. Surrounded by countless ice spikes, Vulpix had no way to dodge!

Victory!

Eve clenched her fist excitedly. However, in the very next second, something completely unexpected happened.

"Huh?"

Jynx, which had been unleashing its skills, suddenly collapsed straight down, falling onto the ice with its eyes rolled back—and behind Jynx, Vulpix had appeared!!

"What... happened?"

Eve's expression froze. She stiffly turned her head to look in the direction the ice needles had been fired, only to see a Vulpix snowman, riddled with ice needles, and a small hole buried in the snow.

Digging... a hole?!

"This—is my winning strategy!!"

Seeing everything that had happened on the field, Qiao Ran's lips curved slightly, and he pointed a finger at the dumbfounded Eve.

"Your skill combination is strong, and your synergy is astonishing, but you made one mistake."

"—You were too focused on your performance! You didn't even notice Vulpix's actions!"

"While you were focused on your performance, your defeat was already sealed!"

Section 39 039 [Do You Like It?]

"You're really strong... As expected of the performer I had my eye on."

"Likewise, you're not bad either. If you had more experience in battles, I might have been the one losing this time."

The battle ended, and Qiao Ran and Eve shook hands amicably. Although they hadn't known each other well before, after a thrilling battle, they both felt a newfound respect for each other.

Qiao Ran recognized Eve's talent, and Eve felt Qiao Ran's strength.

This was undoubtedly an unprecedented step forward for both of them.

"Although battling is fun, I still think exhibition matches are more interesting. Hehe, I prefer seeing Pokémon shine on stage rather than showing off their strength with force. Right, Jynx?"

"Mimi Mimi!" Hearing Eve's words, Jynx nodded vigorously.

If she hadn't been so engrossed in her performance just now, she wouldn't have missed Vulpix's subtle movements. Balancing battle and performance... it was truly difficult.

"If you're interested next time, would you like to have another match with me?"

Qiao Ran invited Eve. His Vulpix still had a lot of room for growth, and Qiao Ran felt that Eve's Jynx would be a great learning opportunity. Of course, not to learn that kind of focus on performance, but those special techniques.

"Of course, I'm always ready!" Eve's face lit up with an excited smile, and she stepped forward to grab Qiao Ran's hand.

"So, are you planning to invite me for special training in the middle of the night?!"

It was clear that this girl had misunderstood something again.

Qiao Ran's mouth twitched. Midnight special training... what was that? Why couldn't he understand what she was saying???

"...No, I'll only invite you during the day."

"Eh... Do you prefer training during the day? People might see."

"See... So what?"

Qiao Ran's expression grew stranger. What was this girl talking about?

"Why can't my late-night special training be seen??"

"If you see it, you can't be a genius anymore," Eve replied, blinking, as Qiao Ran stared at her in disbelief.

She seemed a little confused as to why Qiao Ran would ask such a question.

"So when I trained before, I always chose times when no one was at school, and my classmates never found out. They genuinely believed I figured everything out on my own. I'm a genius at school too."

Eve wore a mischievous expression, and Qiao Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He thought Eve was talking about something strange, but it was all just his own misunderstanding?

"Congratulations, you have received the reward for this competition, a Mysterious Evolution Stone!"

The competition organizer handed a small box to Qiao Ran.

"This box already contains an Evolution Stone. As for what kind of Evolution Stone it is, you'll have to discover that for yourself. This is a token of our appreciation and a surprise. We hope you like it."

"Thank you."

Qiao Ran took the box and put it into the backpack behind him. He didn't plan to open it right away; he'd wait until he got back to his room and opened it with Suicune and the others.

"Well done, Vulpix. You're the biggest contributor this time. Do you want any reward?" Qiao Ran held Vulpix in his arms. Even though it was just a competition on a boat, he was happy nonetheless.

Qiao Ran loved victory, not out of desire, but simply for the sake of it.

"Awooooomph." Vulpix responded, wriggling in Qiao Ran's arms and closing her eyes peacefully. She didn't immediately address the topic of rewards.

Although it was comfortable in Qiao Ran's embrace, she was indeed a little tired.

"This is nice..."

Dianxi, standing nearby, cast an envious glance. If only she could lie in Qiao Ran's arms like this, but... with her height and weight, it was difficult to achieve in either her human or Pokémon form.

However, Dianxi craved a deeper connection with Qiao Ran. Especially after transforming into her human appearance, she found it hard to control certain desires to do things. These were feelings she couldn't experience when she was a Pokémon with her mineral body.

"Are you planning to go back to the room to rest? I still want to wander around outside."