The official challenge match had ended. Although the challenger had lost this time, Qiao Ran had still witnessed a Pokémon battle of an exceptionally high standard.
Not only that, the high-intensity Giant Beast Battle had delivered an incomparably thrilling audiovisual spectacle. Whenever the match reached a critical point, the audience erupted into cheers and shouts of encouragement. The atmosphere was absolutely explosive.
Even Qiao Ran had gotten fired up. In the end, he could only let out Vulpix and hold her to cool himself down.
"The match is over. It's about time to leav... Hm?"
After the match, Qiao Ran recalled Vulpix, his cooling tool, into her Poké Ball and prepared to leave the venue first. However, just as he stood up, he discovered that someone had suddenly come over to him.
"You applied for a challenge, right?"
The person standing before him was the girl he had encountered at the Gym entrance earlier. Compared to her previous bedraggled appearance, though, she now looked completely refreshed, back to her cold and aloof young-lady demeanor.
What was more, she had changed into a clean school uniform. Qiao Ran could even smell the scent of shampoo or perhaps body wash on her.
This girl... Don't tell me she went to take a shower?
"Yes, I applied..."
"Then come with me."
The girl cut off Qiao Ran, who seemed like he still wanted to say something, and immediately led the way. She was swift and decisive in everything she did. In the few seconds Qiao Ran was left standing there in a daze, she had already vanished in a flash.
"Damn, are you leading the way? You're running away, aren't you?!"
A curse slipped out of Qiao Ran's mouth as he hurried after her at a jog.
The girl led Qiao Ran through passage after passage, weaving through the interior of Longjiang Gym. The Gym was enormous, its various corridors tangled and complex, yet the girl seemed to know every route by heart and never hesitated in the slightest.
At last, the two stopped before a large door.
"We're here."
The girl took out a keycard and opened the door. Before them was a huge indoor arena. Unlike the stadium used for matches, both sides of this arena held plenty of training equipment. At a glance, it was clearly a training ground.
At the far end of the arena stood a tall figure—Long Xiangdong, the Gym Leader of Longjiang City Gym.
He had not noticed it in the stadium before, but seeing him up close now, Qiao Ran suddenly realized that the Gym Leader's height was astonishing. He was easily over two meters tall.
"You're here? You're the challenger?"
Upon noticing Qiao Ran's arrival, Long Xiangdong's gaze swept over him several times like blades. It was impossible to tell what he was looking for.
Qiao Ran felt his scalp tingle beneath that stare. He remembered that this Gym Leader had not examined the previous challenger like this in the stadium.
"Yes. I'm Qiao Ran from Longjiang City Third Middle School. I just became an adventurer this year."
Qiao Ran nodded, acknowledging his identity under the pressure Long Xiangdong gave off.
Satisfied by Qiao Ran's response, Long Xiangdong nodded and took his position at the other end of the arena.
"Good. You should know that even with a Reservation Exemption Card, you still need to pass a trial to obtain a badge, right? And every Gym has its own special rules. Even if we skip the Giant Beast Battle, I'll set new ru..."
However, just as Long Xiangdong was speaking, a voice suddenly interrupted him.
"Wait."
The girl suddenly spoke, then ran over to Long Xiangdong's side and whispered something in his ear. Long Xiangdong also bent down and obediently listened to her.
Qiao Ran could not hear what they were saying, but judging from Long Xiangdong's somewhat conflicted expression, it did not seem to be anything particularly proper.
"Sorry, challenger. The person you'll be challenging this time may have to change."
In the end, Long Xiangdong gave an apologetic smile. He looked rather helpless, but he still stepped aside and gave his position to the black-haired girl.
"She is the one you need to challenge this time—my daughter, Long Jiangxue!"
"With her strength, she is more than qualified to serve as a touchstone for a rookie Trainer."
"Wha... what?????"
The sudden turn of events made Qiao Ran's eyes widen as he looked at the girl standing across from him.
She... was actually the person I needed to challenge this time??? And her name was Long Jiangxue—she was the Gym Leader's daughter??
At that moment, the girl had already taken out a Poké Ball and assumed a battle stance.
"I'm your opponent, and my rules are very simple."
The girl placed a finger to her lips and softly uttered three words.
"Young Beast Battle!"
"The so-called Young Beast Battle is the opposite of a Giant Beast Battle. Both sides may only send out Pokémon under one meter... no, under 0.7 meters tall. The format changes from three-on-three to two-on-two. Whoever wins two matches first wins this battle!"
Long Jiangxue explained the rules she had set and limited the height to within 0.7 meters.
Most Pokémon under 0.7 meters were young and still in their early growth stages. Only a small number of Bug-types or fully evolved Pokémon of other types fell within that range.
Although the rule seemed rather strict, it did not really impose much of a limitation on Qiao Ran. None of the Pokémon he currently owned were especially large, so even a 0.7-meter limit would not affect him much.
"And 0.7 meters... Isn't my Dianxi exactly 0.7 meters..."
Qiao Ran suddenly thought of something, and his expression froze slightly. This girl... Did she deliberately set this rule just to force him to use Dianxi?
"Hmph. I won't go easy on you in a Gym battle. Go, my Pokémon!"
Long Jiangxue was the first to throw out her Poké Ball. A flash of light appeared, and a serpentine Pokémon with blue skin and a white belly appeared on the field. It looked like a small snake, but in truth, it was a genuine Dragon-type Pokémon.
—Dratini.
And it was a Pseudo-legendary in its juvenile stage, far superior to that disgrace to dragons, Garchomp, whom Qiao Ran had fought before.
"Dratini... I suppose that's what you'd expect from a Dragon-type Gym?"
Seeing Dratini appear, Qiao Ran could not help feeling a little envious. He remembered spending a long time hunting for a shiny Dratini in the game. After finally evolving it into a shiny Dragonair, his heart had completely shattered when that shiny Dragonair evolved into a shiny Dragonite...
Why... Why was shiny Dragonite covered in that moldy-goblin green color?! Dratini and Dragonair were both pink, okay?!
Of course, with the system's help now, Qiao Ran had no reason to envy Long Jiangxue. His partner Dianxi was even more outstanding than Dratini, and his Vulpix had better coordination with him than any Pokémon. He had no reason to back down here.
"This Pokémon was entrusted to me by my father to raise. I have been with her ever since she was an egg. She's only just over a year old, a true young beast. But compared to students her age, she has received far more training. So—let me see how you plan to defeat her!"
Long Jiangxue stared intently at Qiao Ran's Poké Ball, as if she were anticipating something.
The young lady of this Gym not only had Pokémon resources beyond those of her peers, but also an exceptionally favorable training environment. She wanted to see what kind of response the boy before her could come up with.
Why could he catch Dianxi on the back mountain when she could not???
Why?!
"As you wish. I'll defeat you."
As Qiao Ran spoke, he secretly took out his Rotom Phone and glanced at his opponent's level.
"Dratini, Level 24"
"A level 24 Dratini... It seems she's still some way from evolving... No, evolution in this world isn't the same as in the games."
Somewhat differently from what Qiao Ran had imagined, Pokémon evolution in this world was not as strict as it was in the games, where a Pokémon needed to reach a certain level before it could evolve. After all, over the past few days, he had already seen too many Pokémon that had reached their final evolutions before attaining the appropriate level.
Sometimes, under intense stimulation, Pokémon could evolve. So this Dratini still had plenty of potential.
Then Vulpix should take this battle.
After thinking for a moment, Qiao Ran threw his Poké Ball. The young little howler, Vulpix, appeared on the battlefield. Seeing that he had sent out Vulpix instead, Long Jiangxue's expression stalled slightly, as though she were disappointed.
"You don't plan to send out Dianxi? Hmph..."
The young lady crossed her arms over her chest, seemingly intending to make Qiao Ran realize his mistake.
"I'll serve as the referee for this match." The once imposing Gym Leader Long Xiangdong turned into a doting father before his daughter, and now he was even acting as a referee tool.
"The battle begins!"
"Dratini! Flamethrower!"
"Mii!"
The instant the battle began, Long Jiangxue launched an attack. A Flamethrower shot straight toward Qiao Ran's Vulpix. The surging flames carried overwhelming heat, raising the temperature inside the Gym considerably.
Qiao Ran was startled. As expected of a Gym Trainer's daughter—both her command ability and her coordination with her Pokémon surpassed the students at school by several levels.
"Vulpix! Dodge!"
Faced with the roaring flames, Qiao Ran could only have Vulpix use the godly move Dodge. Vulpix took a tiny sidestep, barely avoiding the flames and reaching a safe area.
This was truly the only option. Vulpix did not currently possess any moves capable of canceling out the flames. Since she could not neutralize them, she could only evade them.
Fortunately, with the current level of coordination between Qiao Ran and Vulpix, their success rate with Dodge was incredibly high. As long as their opponent was not someone several levels above them like that previous Garchomp, Qiao Ran felt Vulpix might have a chance.
"Dratini, keep using Flamethrower!"
"Mii!"
Long Jiangxue pressed her advantage and used Flamethrower again. Receiving the command, Dratini unleashed flames from her mouth once more, scorching everything before her.
For an Ice-type Vulpix, this move was a true killing blow. A single hit could deal tremendous damage to her. Long Jiangxue still believed Qiao Ran's previous dodge had merely been a lucky escape.
However, after Dratini unleashed Flamethrower again, Long Jiangxue suddenly realized that the Vulpix across from her seemed to become an afterimage. Her form gradually blurred, concealing itself within wind and snow.
Wind and snow?
She touched her cheek and felt something wet and icy cold.
"This is... Hail? A weather move??" Long Jiangxue blankly stared at the tiny snowflake in her palm.
"When did that happen???"
She had clearly not heard any command from Qiao Ran, nor had she seen Vulpix make any movement. How had Hail been activated?
When? When had she activated it?
Long Xiangdong's eyes also gleamed. Even he, a well-traveled Gym Leader, had failed to see how Qiao Ran had issued the command.
Yet that Vulpix's every movement seemed to be completely synchronized with her Trainer.
Could it... be that legendary Aura Power?
This boy...
He had initially thought his daughter had casually handed a challenge card to some pretty-faced novice her age. He had never expected that this kid actually had some real skill.
"So this is what's happening. Is it the Snow Cloak Ability?"
Watching Vulpix's elusive form flicker through the snow, Long Jiangxue did not panic at all. Instead, she calmly analyzed the situation.
"That's right." Qiao Ran nodded, confirming her conclusion.
Vulpix's Ability was Snow Cloak—an Ability that increased evasion in snowy weather. As long as it snowed, his Vulpix was truly a god of instantaneous movement.
"So it's time for our counterattack."
"Vulpix! Aurora Beam!"
"Look out! Dratini, dodge!"
Hearing Qiao Ran's voice, Long Jiangxue immediately became nervous. Just as Vulpix feared fire, Dragon-type Pokémon were also extremely afraid of the power of ice.
Aside from the Fairy Type, famous for producing dragon slayers, only Ice-type Pokémon could put such pressure on dragons at the top of the food chain.
Hearing Long Jiangxue's voice, Dratini also vigilantly scanned her surroundings. However, due to Snow Cloak, she could not immediately determine Vulpix's position.
"Now!"
Qiao Ran's gaze sharpened. His eyes pierced through the layers of snowy mist and focused on the same point as Vulpix.
"Awoo!"
Vulpix opened her small mouth, and an Aurora Beam pierced through the snow, shooting straight toward Dratini.
"Dodge!"
Long Jiangxue stared fixedly at the beam, but—Dratini's reaction was ultimately one step too slow. She looked as though she wanted to evade, but against the beam that had suddenly struck from the snow, she was powerless to do so.
Aurora Beam struck Dratini squarely in the body, and she immediately cried out in pain.
It was super effective!
"Mii——!!!"
Before you continue