"Come out, Beedrill! My strongest Pokémon!"
The Poké Ball hit the ground and sprang open. In a flash of white light, a Bug-type Pokémon appeared on the battlefield, its twin stingers shaped like lances. It was Giovanni's signature Pokémon: Beedrill!
Beedrill's body had three sections. Its antlike head bore two antennae shaped like sevens, while its crimson compound eyes could pick out the details of any attack within a 270-degree field of view. Few Bug-type Pokémon could match its ability to track movement.
Two pairs of transparent wings spread from its middle section, spanning far wider than its body and allowing it to dart through the air at high speed. Its limbs looked frail, but the steel stingers on its forelegs accounted for most of its weight.
Its lower section resembled an ordinary bee's, with yellow-and-black stripes and a protruding venomous stinger.
Bzz!
The instant Beedrill emerged from its Poké Ball, its wings began beating rapidly. Panic was plain in its compound eyes.
It looked down at itself, then at Serperior across the field. Sunlight flashed off Serperior's scales, and the glare struck Beedrill from multiple angles through its compound eyes. Dizziness swept over it. This is bad.
Serperior's sheer size only made things worse. Beedrill could tell its opponent had only recently reached Gym Leader level, yet those crimson slit-pupiled eyes still weighed heavily on it.
As Liu Jiaqing threw his Poké Ball, he turned back with a smug grin and addressed the students in the advanced class.
"As your future instructor, the first lesson I'll teach you is the importance of type matchups in Pokémon Battles—and of making proper use of your own Pokémon's strengths!"
"Serperior may be huge, but that must make it slow. Beedrill can fly, and its small, agile body lets it wear opponents down